ABERDARE HISTORY

Situation at the turn of the Century

Census: 43,557 a decennial increase of 4926 or 12.81%.
Perhaps the main characteristic of the first decade of the 20th century was the remarkable decrease in epidemics in Aberdare.

An Aberdare Leader editorial commented that although the demon Small Pox was still about, Aberdare was remarkably free. There were regular outbreaks in the less fortunate Merthyr and Pontypridd areas.

Census: 50,844 a decennial increase of 7,487 or 17.26% This increase was reflected in other Glamorganshire towns.

State of Welsh Language

Census returns show that English was rapidly usurping the place of the Mother Tongue.

Aberdare therefore compared very favourably with other Glamorgan towns, and some 50 years ago, 3,300 people living in Aberdare spoke Welsh only.

Accounting for the subsequent decline of the Welsh language in the Glamorganshire coalfield, Professor Brinley Thomas points out that between 1860 and 1880, nearly 7 out of 10 immigrants into the region came from the Welsh counties of West Wales. But between 1880 and 1890, only 4 out of 10 came from these counties, and in the decade 1890 to 1900 the proportion was reduced to just over 3 out of 10. The majority of the remainder came from Gloucestershire, Somerset, Devon and particularly Cornwall. This was virtually the beginning of the bilingual problem, which did not exist at the beginning of the 19th century. When B.H. Malkin visited the Cyfarthfa Works in 1805, he noted that the language of the workmen was almost entirely Welsh, the number of Englishmen was inconsiderable, ‘the people came from the interior and mountainous parts of Wales’.

A similar situation existed in the Fifties.

The adult population of Merthyr was 35,093 of whom 9,120 were Merthyr born, over 14,000 had come from Radnor, Pembroke, Carmarthen and Cardigan. 2,330 were of Irish extraction. It is reasonable to believe that similar features prevailed at Aberdare. The bilingual Problem began after 1880. Other interesting changes, this time with regard to housing, are reflected in the following figures:

Rateable Value of the Parish £185,623, assessable value £168,177 and these figures remained fairly constant throughout the decade.

Rateable value £183,523 assessable value £170,293. Meanwhile rates had increased from 6/6 in the £ in 1903, to 8/2 in 1911. The latter figure included 1d Library Rate and 2/5 towards Education included in poor rate of 5/2. House rents had also risen in some cases by more than 50%. Cottages, which in 1900 had paid 3/- a week, were now rented at a pound a month or more.

By this year, the Urban Area contained an estimated population of 53,744 living in 10,792 houses.

Rates had jumped to 10/4 in the £, made up of 4/4 District Rate and 6/- Poor Rate. The reason for this increase was that whereas the expenditure in 1903 of the District Council and Education Committee was nearly £34,804, in 1916 it had risen to £115,932. During the same period, the Rateable Value of the district had risen by less than £5,000.

The Annual Report of the M.O.H., Dr. Pritchard, showed a great decline in the mortality rate.

1914: 99 per 1,000;    1913: 117 per 1,000;    1904: 239 per 1,000.
76% of local schoolchildren had bad teeth.

Census: 55,007. The decennial increase was 4,233 or 8.3%. There were 28,200 males and 26,807 females. Of the then total, 37,242 were over 14 years of age; hence, the child population was 17,765 consisting of 8,904 boys and 8861 girls. This was the highest official return for Aberdare. Thenceforth there is a period of steady decline. The strikes of 1921 and 1926 were followed by 10 years of industrial depression.

Census: 48,746 showing an intercessor decrease of 6,261 or 11.4%. There were 36,033 over 14; thus, the child population was 12,713 consisting of 6,425 boys and 6,621 girls. The interesting thing about these figures is that whereas the total population had decreased by 11.4% the child population had decreased by 28.75%. This suggests that the major migration from Aberdare was from the younger parent section with families of growing children. It was, however, during the decade after 1931 that the most serious decline occurred. Owing to the war, there was no official census in 1941, but the course of the decline is revealed by numerous returns from the local Labour Exchange. The number employed in the coal industry in the Aberdare Valley in

1927 was 19,500;    1934 less than 12,000;    1936 circa 10,000.

NUMBERS EMPLOYED IN THE COAL INDUSTRY IN THE ABERDARE VALLEY

The Aberdare figures include men employed at Aberaman Engineering Works. The highest rate of unemployment occurred in the Parish of Aberdare itself.

The number of unemployed colliers was 2,752 or 29% of the colliery labour force.

The number of unemployed colliers was 4,593 or 50% of the colliery labour force.

Ministry of Labour returns of unemployed miners in Aberdare:

The total number of persons wholly unemployed at Aberdare on May 25th was 5,530.

It is estimated that between April 1931 and June 1935 some 2,520 inhabitants of Aberdare, (representing 5.17% of the population), left the town. The situation improved slightly with the introduction of light industries after 1938.

Census: 40,932 a decrease of 7,814 over the previous 20 years or 16.1%.
Percentage decrease of population in some South Wales towns 1931–1951.

Neath 3.1,   Ammanford 8.2,   Llanelli 10.6,   Merthyr Tydfil 14.1
Aberdare 16.1,   Mountain Ash 17.9,   Rhondda 21.2.

Census Provisional figures: 39.044. Intercensal decrease 1888 or 4.6% 19,087 males and 19,957 females. Number of inhabited houses was 12,841.