Welsh Journals

The Crawshays at Langland by R. J. Hart Little has appeared in print concerning the history of one of the larger buildings in the Swansea and Gower area, namely what is now the Langland Bay Convalescent Home of the Workingmen's Club and Institute Union. When Richard Crawshayl left his parents' Yorkshire farm for London at the age of sixteen in 1755 he could not have foreseen that he would be founding a dynasty whose history mirrored that of the Industrial Revolution in Britain. He established business contacts in London which eventually led him to Merthyr Tydfil, where he became the sole owner of the Cyfarthfa Ironworks in 1794; in the early years of the nineteenth century these were the largest ironworks in the world, and Merthyr was the most populated town in Wales. Richard's son William and grandson, also William, eventually suc- ceeded him. The second William built Cyfarthfa Castle at Merthyr in 1824 and his third son, Henry, built a house in Langland Bay in 1856 as a holiday home, and that house was the nucleus for the present Convalescent Home. Henry Crawshay's earlier years and education at Merthyr Tydfil have not been recorded, but at the age of seventeen he was sent to Scotland to gain knowledge of iron-founding. In 1831 when he was aged nineteen his father made him manager of the Hirwaun Ironworks, another family enterprise. In that year, after the most serious of the Merthyr riots, The Cambrian newspaper records that he returned to the rightful owners certain arms that had been seized by the rebels and then recaptured, described as "fourteen sabres, 2 muskets, 1 carbine and 6 pistols". His father was then one of the most unpopular local industrialists, particularly in view of the fact that the troops sent to quell the unrest were quartered at Cyfarthfa Castle. Whilst at Hirwaun, Henry formed an attachment to, and eventually married, Lisa Eliza Harris of Penderyn, one of the workers in the foundry. This union was totally opposed by the Crawshay family, according to the strict class conventions of the time. As a result, Henry distanced himself from the main family at Cyfarthfa, and he was transferred by his father to manage the Cinderford Ironworks, another of the family businesses, in the Forest of Dean, in 1847. The Crawshay interests in that area became extensive, including the mining of coal and iron ore and the development of local railways. The town of Cinderford was largely built for the workers in these industries. Henry Crawshay prospered, and built a mansion at