The collection - during the process of being cleaned and boxed
The records of the Monmouthshire and South Wales Coal Owners Association represent a major source of information for the history of coal mining in Wales and industrial relations in the South Wales coalfield prior to nationalisation.
Founded as the Aberdare Steam Collieries Association in 1864, the Association changed its name to the Monmouthshire and South Wales Coal Owners Association in 1890. Following nationalisation of the coal industry in 1947, the Association began to wind down its activities and arranged for the transfer of its records to the National Library of Wales. These came to the Library during the 1940s and 50s. Listing and cataloguing work was carried out subsequently, but covered only one third of the archive leaving large parts inaccessible and forgotten. Recently it was decided that, owing to the importance of the collection, the entire archive should be fully catalogued.
Notes describing 'engine dip'
These records form one of the largest archive collections in the Library, containing large series of administrative files, minute books, papers of committees and Conciliation Boards, dispute books, financial records, reports of legal proceedings, bound collections of circulars and press cuttings, scrapbooks, research reports, statistics, photographs, and a significant amount of material relating to the Mining Association of Great Britain. There are also over 60 framed photographs of Chairmen of the Association, and works by early Secretaries, including survey books by Alexander Dalziel.
He produced a survey of Merthyr Vale Colliery, 1878–1879, containing reports and first-hand observations on numerous matters including underground workings, lamp lighting procedures, ventilation, payment of wages, and colliery management. These surveys also contain reports and plans on matters including the provision of miners’ housing and stable arrangements at pits. They are interesting for their inclusion of drawings, rough sketches, maps, plans, and photographs.
Plans of miners' houses
Dalziel’s surveys are bound in two volumes and provide his personal insight into varied aspects of colliery operation, such as what machinery was utilised, what (if any) safety measures were being investigated and implemented, reflecting general working conditions in the South Wales coalfield. They are unique by nature and complement the more formal surviving records of the Association, providing a rich dimension to the collection as a whole.
The collection is currently being catalogued.
Lorena Troughton