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Maesteg in the Parish of Llangynwyd

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"MAESTEG, a town and a sub-district in Bridgend district, Glamorgan. The town is in Llangonoyd parish; stands on the river Llynvi, and on the Llynvi Valley railway, 9 miles NW by N of Bridgend; occupies a sequestered spot, entirely surrounded by ranges of hills; is a place of recent origin and of rapid growth; owes its rise and progress to the establishment and extension of ironworks; and has a station on the railway, a post office‡ under Bridgend, a chapel of ease to Llangonoyd, several dissenting chapels, and two British schools. ..." [From John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72)  on Vision of Britain]

"MAESTEG, with the hamlet of Cwmdu, is a thriving village in the parish of Llangynwyd, 9 miles (8 by rail) from Bridgend (its post town), sitauted on the river Llynvi, and in a neighbourhood abounding with mineral wealth. Here are situated theextensive works belonging to the Llynvi, Tondu and Ogmore Coal and Iron Company, who are also proprietors of between two and three thousand acres of coal and ironstone chiefly in this parish. The works consist of seven furnaces, four of which are blast, producing railway and merchant iron of every description. Cwmdu is governed by a Local Board of Health, established in 1858. The church at Maesteg in a chapel of ease, to the mother or parish church of Llangynwyd, and is a neat stone edifice, inthe Gothic style of architecture. The services in it are conducted alternately in the Welsh and English languages. There are also several chapels for dissenters, and a National and other schools. A fair is held on May 3rd. Population of Cwmdu hamletin 1851, 3,350; in 1861, 4,154, and in 1871, 5,836" [Slaters Commercial Directory 1880]

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Bibliography

References to the town of Maesteg at

Wakefield, Arthur. Little boy lost. Valley & Vale, 1994. Born in the Welsh valleys (Maesteg) during the early part of the 20th Century, Arthur Wakefield struggled to overcome the stigma of illegitimacy and carve out his own identity.

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Business & Commerce Records

  • Brewers Motor Services
    1918-75: records
    [Glamorgan Archive Service, Cardiff]
  • Llynvi Valley Gas Company
    1868-1949: shareholders' registers, minutes, accounts, wages book
    [Glamorgan Archive Service, Cardiff]
  • Llynvi Valley Railway
    1845-83: directors, shareholders and committee minutes, interest books, ledgers, journals, balance sheets, cash books, and miscellaneous records
    [Public Record Office, Kew, London - Reference: RAIL 383]
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Church History

Various items - on the People's Collection Wales site

  • Bethania, Maesteg
  • Interior view of Bethania Baptist Chapel, Maesteg, with the congregation and school pupils.
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Church Records

For full and up-to-date details of their holdings see the sites of Glamorgan Record Office and/or West Glamorgan Archives

Maesteg consists of two modern parishes :-

Non Conformist Registers Deposited
ChapelBaptismsMarriagesBurialsOS Map RefDeposited/
Copies
Zion, Baptist-1911-1937-SS 85459136GRO
Tabor, Calvinistic Methodist1860-19841910-1968, 1971-1979-SS 85439106NLW
Carmel, Congregational1807-1837--SS 85679102PRO/
WGAS
Carmel, Congregational1829-1840--SS 85679102GRO
Castle Street, Wesleyan-1935-1968-SS 85359141GRO

GRO - Glamorgan Record Office, Cardiff
NLW - National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth
PRO - Public Record Office, London
WGAS  -  West Glamorgan Archive Service 

A set of fiche have been produced by the Glamorgan Family History Society covering the burial registers and Monumental Inscriptions of Bethania Welsh Baptist Church, Maesteg. Visit their website for information on how to purpose the fiche.

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Description & Travel

Maesteg - on Wikipedia

You can see pictures of Maesteg in the Parish of Llangynwyd which are provided by:

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Directories

Transcript of complete name listing for Maesteg, with the parishes and villages of Cwmdu, Baidan, Bettws, Llangeinor, Llangynwyd, Nantyfyllon and Spelter, from Slaters Directory for 1880.

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Gazetteers

The transcription of the section for Maesteg from The National Gazetteer (1868) provided by Colin Hinson.

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Maps

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SS853914 (Lat/Lon: 51.609712, -3.657815), Maesteg in the Parish of Llangynwyd which are provided by:

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Military History

Various items - on the People's Collection Wales site

  • Maesteg war memorial
  • Demobilisation account of Hiram Davies DCM of Maesteg, 8 February 1919
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Occupations

Coal mines that were in production at various times in the Llynfi Valley in the period 1840-1985. A list by David Lewis

The People's Collection Wales site has material for this area, use the onsite search box

Bryn Navigation Colliery, Maesteg on the Welsh Coal Mines site

Maesteg Deep Drift  on the Welsh Coal Mines site

Details of extant records on Archives Network Wales for the following;

  • Coegnant Colliery records      "Report Books 1973-1981; N.C.B seam name lists 1956; Letters 1934; Birth Certificate 1890"             
     " .........is situated near Maesteg in the Llynfi Valley. The first shaft was sunk in 1882 by the Llynfi Coal and Iron Co. Ltd. In 1888, Colonel North bought the Llynfi company and transformed it into North's Navigation Collieries Ltd. This company was in turn purchased in 1916 by Lord Rhondda (David Alfred Thomas). By 1929, the colliery had become part of the newly formed Welsh Associated Collieries Ltd. ....................................."
  • North's Workmen's Institute (Maesteg)              "Minutes 1919-1965; agendas 1954-1958; Institute constitution, undated (c1923); Institute rules and standing orders, undated; wages books 1936-1961; financial records 1929-1957; miscellaneous papers undated (c1923-1964); Institute posters 1925-1934 and 1980."

Various items - on the People's Collection Wales site

  • Collecting money outside Maesteg Co-op (Miners' Hardship Fund) 
  • Staff outside Rees and Williams shop in Maesteg.
  • Finale of a fashion show organized Hayden Thomas in Maesteg
  • Workers at a clothing factory, Maesteg, 10 February 1950
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Public Records

Details of extant records on Archives Network Wales for the following;

  • Maesteg General Hospital records       " ....... including admission registers, 1937-1967; out-patient department registers, 1951-1965; registers of operations, 1943-1980; records relating to Maesteg Urban District Council maternity home registers of births, 1921-1947; registers of expectant mothers, 1947-1952; maternity registers, 1956-1986; registers of cases, 1946-1954"
  • Maesteg Urban District Council records      " ........ includes: council and committee minutes, 1897-1974; public health inspector and medical officer of health, annual reports, 1966-1967; and surveyors department, planning applications and bye-laws, 1859-1945."
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Religion & Religious Life

The 1904-1905 Great Revival in Maesteg - on the People's Collection Wales site

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Schools

Details of extant records on Archives Network Wales for the following;

  • Maesteg Secondary School records     " .......... comprising of letter books of clerk to governors, 1913-1923"
    "In 1898 a school was erected on a site Castle Street, Maesteg to educate 208 mixed pupils. At this time it was called Maesteg Higher Standard school, but its name was changed by 1920 to Maesteg secondary school........................."    
  • Maesteg Welsh school records          " ...... comprising of attendance register for the school, 1948-1952; notes made by Miss Roberts; newspaper cuttings, 1963-1972"
    "The Welsh school in Maesteg was established in 1947 in Yr Aelwyd, Commercial Street, Maesteg as a voluntary nursary school as part of a campaign to prove to the authorities a demand for a Welsh medium education in the area. In 1949 it transferred to the vestry of Bethania Welsh Baptist Chapel in Maesteg and, as some children were of school age, qualified staff were appointed including its first headteacher, Miss Nansi Roberts, a pioneer of Welsh medium education. ............................."

Various items - on the People's Collection Wales site

  • Bethania, Maesteg: School pupils, 1904
  • School in the early 20th century at Maesteg
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Social Life & Customs

Various items - on the People's Collection Wales site

  • Maesteg Salvation Army Band, 1907
  • A team photo of the 1st XI from 1932 at Maesteg Secondary School