by Mike Hall
1994: The reputed skull of St Teilo, mounted on Art Nouveau silver, was returned to Llandaff Cathedral on this date, St Teilo’s Day, by the last of the male line of the Mathew family, its traditional keepers. Though the skull has been dated by experts only to the fifteenth century, it was revered for hundreds of years as a true relic of one of Llandaff’s patron saints. In medieval times three churches, Llandaff, Llandilo Vawr and Penally, all claimed to possess his body. (Llandaff Cathedral guidebook)
February 10th
1794: To mark the completion of the canal from Merthyr Tydfil a flotilla of horse-drawn boats arrived in Cardiff ‘laden with the produce of the ironworks to the great joy of the whole town’. The borough’s Water Bailiff, a Mr Bird, was given the honour of steering the first one. In the words of one observer ‘nothing appears more extraordinary than, from a boat navigating this canal, to look down on the River Taff dashing among the rocks a hundred yards below’. In 1793, before the canal was completed, Judge Hardinge, travelling from Brecon to the Cardiff Assizes, travelled from Merthyr to Pontypridd by boat, accompanied by Samuel Homfray, with a harpist in attendance to entertain these two eminent gentlemen. (Glamorgan Historian, 1972)
1977: A lorry demolished the landmark glass canopy over the entrance to Cardiff’s Queen’s Hotel. (Stewart Williams, Cardiff Yesterday)
February 11th
1877: At the borough police court Nicola Campi, an Italian sailor, aged 26, was charged with stabbing Lorenzo Fasserci, also an Italian. ‘Bute Dock Police Sergeant Grist stated that on receiving information of the occurrence he boarded the vessel lying in the East Bute Dock. He found the defendant on board who, on being accused of stabbing the complainant said in Italian ‘Yes, I did’ and produced the sheath knife which he had used for the purpose. The complainant being still unable to leave the Hamadryad hospital ship, the prisoner was remanded.’ (Western Mail)
1887: William Thorne was fined £15 after being found guilty of defacing the statue of John Batchelor in The Hayes by throwing paint at it. Batchelor, a former Mayor of Cardiff, had been a combative Radical. When he died in 1883 his colleagues decided to erect the statue in his memory. His political enemies objected strongly to its prominent location and it had to be given police protection. (Stewart Williams, Glamorgan Historian, 1972)
February 12th
1884: The trial began in Cardiff of Dr William Price (84) of Llantrisant who was accused of attempting to burn the body of his infant son, instead of burying it, and with intent to prevent the holding of an inquest. Price was quite a character: freethinker, Chartist, herbalist, vegetarian, nudist, nationalist and, it would seem, father in his old age. He habitually dressed in green coat and trousers with a red waistcoat and a fox-skin cap with the fox’s brush hanging down behind. He had become an ardent advocate of cremation in preference to burial. The judge, Sir James Fitzjames Stephens, summing up, expressed the view that Price had broken no law that he knew of. He said that it was his strong view that it was not the duty of judges to introduce new crimes. The first jury could not reach agreement on a verdict. A second trial took place in which Price was acquitted. This was the Test Case that The Cremation Society of England (set up in 1874) needed. Accepting the judge’s stipulation that cremations should be organised in such a manner that gave no offence to neighbours, the first cremation took place in 1885 in Woking. (Elizabeth Dart, ‘When Legal History was Made in Cardiff’ in The Cardiff Book, Vol.3, 1977)
February 13th
1923: First BBC radio broadcasts from Cardiff. The call-sign of the studio (a small room above a cinema in Castle Street) was 5WA. The opening ceremony was conducted by John Reith, the BBC General Manager. The first programme was at 5 p.m. and consisted of stories for children. Later in the evening listeners heard Mostyn Thomas (baritone) and the Carston Quartet. At 10 p.m. the Wireless Orchestra presented ‘dance music and a pot-pourri of Welsh airs’. Initially the BBC had no intention of providing a special service for Wales. Cardiff was seen merely as the headquarters of its West Region and there were no Welsh people on the staff. The only Welsh language broadcasts that could be picked up in the area came from Radio Eireann. W.J. Gruffydd, Professor of Welsh at University College in Cardiff, set up Cylch Dewi to campaign for Welsh-language programmes. Station head E.R. Appleton replied that it was natural to restrict broadcasting to the official language and that it would be wrong to yield to ‘extremists’ who were trying to force Welsh on listeners. (John Davies, A History of Wales, 1990 (in Welsh), 1993 (English))
February 14th
2010: Rugby player Andy Powell, who had been capped fourteen times for Wales, was arrested after a golf buggy was taken from the team’s hotel and driven along the M4 in the small hours. He was subsequently charged with ‘driving a mechanically-propelled vehicle while unfit through drink’. Powell and the rest of the Wales players had spent the previous evening celebrating their dramatic 31-24 victory over Scotland at the Millennium Stadium. Wales had trailed 14-24 with only four minutes to go but in what the South Wales Argus described as ‘the greatest comeback since Lazarus’ had taken advantage of the Scots being down to thirteen men after two men were ‘sin-binned’ by the referee. Powell admitted that he and a friend had driven the buggy along the motorway to a service station after finding that the hotel was not able to serve them breakfast at 4 a.m. ‘This kind of behaviour cannot be tolerated in a professional elite sporting environment,’ the WRU stated. ‘We have acted quickly and incisively in order to leave no ambiguity over the dim view we take of this situation’. Powell was sacked from the squad. (Western Mail)
February 15th
1773: A cockfighting event held in Cardiff brought in spectators from a wide area, even including inmates from the town jail. Howell Morgan of Pentyrch, also a rat-catcher, Methodist preacher and classical scholar, was so highly-regarded in the sport that he corresponded with the King of Denmark on the subject. (William Rees, Cardiff: A History of the City, Cardiff Corporation, 1969)
1784: ‘…was buried in St Athan the Revd. Mr Basset, 32 years of age, of a lingering consumption. He had been at Bath for his health and at the hot wells in Bristol where he died. A severe Methodist, he had been Curate at St Fagans and afterwards at Penmark.’ Basset had been appointed in 1778 and was the founder of Methodism in the parish. He lived at Aberthaw but it was said that ‘neither wind nor rain prevented his going to St Fagans to perform his functions’. (Charles F. Sheppard, ‘The Parish of St Fagans’, Glamorgan Historian, 1972)
February 16th
1870: ‘Timothy Hayes was charged at Cardiff Police Court with causing an obstruction and also with being drunk. Police Constable Penreo stated that the prisoner and about seven others were standing together. He told them to move on. The prisoner, who had a wheelbarrow, refused to do so and said he was working there. The prisoner said he was not drunk but that he had a drop of beer in him. He said that the Constable had struck him and knocked him down, and that the Constable was drunk. He had witnesses but they were not present. The case was adjourned.
‘David Williams was charged with stealing 4 cwt of pig iron, the property of Mr Rossiter. The prisoner was employed as a haulier by the prosecutor. The iron had been given into his charge to be taken to the Great Western Railway. He had sold it to Mr Timothy Donovan, a marine-store dealer, for which he had received 3s 4d. Mr Rossiter said he had missed altogether about 25cwt. The prisoner pleaded guilty and was sentenced to four months hard labour.’ (Western Mail)
February 17th
1903: The death of Dr Joseph Parry (born 1841), composer of the famous song ‘Myfanwy’. Born in Merthyr Tydfil, Parry had worked in a mine as a child and later at the Cyfarthfa Ironworks. He emigrated with his family to Danville, Pennsylvania, where he worked in an iron mill. It was while he was there that he began to compose music and he was awarded the Bardic title ‘Pencerdd America’ when he was inducted into the Gorsedd at the 1865 Aberystwyth Eisteddfod. A public subscription fund enabled him to study at the Royal Academy of Music and
in 1874 he became Professor of Music at Aberystwyth University. He later became Head of Music at the new University College, Cardiff. As well as ‘Myfanwy’, he composed many hymn tunes, including ‘Aberystwyth’ and the first Welsh language opera, Blodwyn. The duet ‘Hywel a Blodwyn’ became a favourite for concert performances. He wrote the ‘Tydfil Overture’ for the Cyfarthfa Band, saying that it was this band that first stimulated his interest in music. He is buried beneath a florid and imposing memorial in St Augustine’s churchyard, Penarth. (John Davies et al., The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales, 2008)
February 18th
1967: The birth of athlete Colin Jackson. Good at sport from an early age, he played rugby and basketball for Llanedeyrn High School and football for the county. In his athletics career he specialised in the 110 metre hurdles. He was World Champion three times, went undefeated at the European Championships for twelve years, was twice Commonwealth Champion and won an Olympic silver medal. His time of 12.91 seconds, set at Stuttgart on August 20th 1993, set a world record that was unbeaten for almost thirteen years. He also helped the British 4 x 100 metre relay team to the World silver medal. After retiring from the track in 2002, he went into sports management and coaching and became a commentator for BBC Sport. He appeared in Strictly Come Dancing in 2005. A role model for the young, in ‘Raise Your Game with Colin Jackson’ he spoke with international stars such as Davina McCall and Jenson Button about the importance of learning. (Wikipedia)
February 19th
1646: The Civil War came to South Wales. Royalist forces from Raglan, led by Sir Charles Kemeys, were sent to Cardiff to support Sir Edward Carne who had secured the town and besieged the castle. To counter this, Parliamentary forces under Major General Laugharne were diverted from the siege of Aberystwyth to relieve the castle and a warship under control of Parliament was despatched to the port.
Fighting took place on the Heath, north of the town. The Royalists were routed and Cardiff was retaken by Parliament. Some 250 Royalists are believed to have been killed in the skirmish. There was a major battle at St Fagans in May 1648 (see May 8th) and Oliver Cromwell himself visited Cardiff eight days later. In 1650 Cromwell’s government established the first state school in Cardiff but this was closed in 1660 after the restoration of Charles II. It was the Republic’s navy that first gave a warship the name ‘Cardiff’. This was in 1653 and she was a 36-ton, 18-gun frigate. (John May, Millennium Cardiff, Castle Publications, 1999)
February 20th
1950: Cardiff said a sad farewell to its trams. The last one made its final journey along the Whitchurch Road route. To mark the occasion it was lit up with rows of fairy-lights. A poem displayed on the sides of the vehicle read:
Goodbye, my friends this is the end, I’ve travelled miles and miles
And watched your faces through the years show anger, tears and smiles.
Although you’ve criticised my looks and said I was too slow,
I got you there and brought you back through rain and sleet and snow.
To all of you old-timers and you still in your teens
Who drove with me through peace and war packed in just like sardines
I’d like to thank you one and all for the patience you have shown
And say farewell to the finest folk that a tram has ever known.
(Stewart Williams, Cardiff Yesterday)
February 21st
1860: The birth of William Goscombe John, the famous sculptor, whose work still beautifies the city. Born in Cardiff, as a youth he helped his father, who was working on the restoration of the castle. He studied at the South London School of Technical Art and in Paris. During his working life he won commissions for many monuments to the great and the good, such as that to the Cardiff shipping magnate John Cory in front of the City Hall. His work can be seen in the National Museum of Wales, St Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey. Sir William died at the age of 92 and is buried at Hampstead cemetery. In 2001 his memorial to his wife Marthe (whom he met in Paris and who died in 1923) was stolen from the cemetery. It was recovered but stolen again in 2007. (Wikipedia)
1986: Charlotte Church was born Charlotte Maria Reed in Llandaff. Aged only 11, she found fame as a classical singer. Her big break came when she sang ‘Pie Jesu’ over the phone on the TV show This Morning, followed by a performance on ITV’s Big Talent Show. (Wikipedia)
February 22nd
1859: The boiler of the tug Black Eagle exploded at Bute Docks. Eight men lost their lives and many more were badly injured. Debris was hurled over a wide area. One heavy piece of metal crashed through a roof 150 yards away. The tug had been purchased second-hand in London and had only left the Thames four days before. She had just arrived in Cardiff and was towing the Sunderland brig Milo out of the dock when the blast occurred. Accident investigators suggested that there was not enough water in the boiler. (John Richards, Cardiff: A Maritime History, The History Press, 2005)
1935: Bleddyn Williams, the Cardiff, Wales and British Lions centre born at Taff’s Well. He played twenty-two times for Wales. During his wartime service in the RAF he spent a week living rough after piloting a glider carrying medical supplies to troops crossing the Rhine. When he finally met up with British forces, his Commanding Officer said, ‘Williams, aren’t you supposed to be at Welford Road tomorrow playing against the Dominions? They need you. Go now!’ and packed him off on the last supply plane to Brize Norton. He played in the match and scored a spectacular try. (T.D. Breverton, The Welsh Almanac, Glyndwr Publications, 2002 / Wikipedia)
February 23rd
1877: ‘In connection with the Mount Tabor Primitive Methodist Sunday School, Moira Terrace, a valedictory meeting was held on Thursday evening in honour of Mr & Mrs Lewis who are leaving Cardiff for Darlington. After tea, a few remarks were made by the Revd J. Lee. Mr J. Ramsdale, on behalf of the school, presented Mr & Mrs Lewis with a valuable testimonial, consisting of a magnificent silver tea and coffee service. After a suitable reply by Mr and Mrs Lewis various addresses were given. The presentation was supplied by Messrs Hooper and Allen, 20 Duke Street and is on view at their shop today (Saturday).’ The same issue of the paper also recorded a more melancholy event: ‘On Friday afternoon Robert Grant, aged 17, an apprentice on board the ship Parraca of London and at present loading in Bute Dock for Hong Kong, fell overboard and was drowned.’ (Western Mail)
February 24th
1798: Ballots were held at the Cardiff Arms to raise a militia in the face of the threat to the western coastline of Britain by Napoleon’s army. The recruits selected were trained at Cardiff Castle under Captain Wyndham Lewis with John Alexander, a Cardiff weaver, as Sergeant Major. The zeal with which men responded is shown by Rees in Cardiff: A History of the City, describing ‘the chance visit of Colonel Sangster who was passing through Cardiff on his return from West Wales. Finding the Cardiff troops already assembled for training, he personally conducted their exercise for three hours and again for a further five hours from 5 o’clock on the following morning, the incident characteristic of the spirit of the common people in face of the national emergency.’
February 25th
1893: ‘Further correspondence has passed between Mr W.M. Shepherd, on behalf of the Cardiff Master Builders’ Association, and the representatives of the stonemasons, bricklayers and plasterers. These letters indicate that a crisis has now been reached in the Cardiff building strike. The stonemasons held another meeting in the Gladstone Hall and passed a resolution not to accept the employers’ proposal in regard to the worked-stone rule, and stating further that they had no alternative than to continue the struggle. The masters on the other hand say they are determined to stand by the resolution passed at their recent meeting and to close negotiations unless their proposals made at that meeting are accepted by March 1st. Therefore, unless the masons in the meantime hold another meeting and come to terms the strike, so far as the employers are concerned will in a few days be at an end.’ (Western Mail)
February 26th
1776: A ‘Box Club’ was established by William David, innkeeper, of St Fagans. Members were required to ‘cast in 6d every three weeks’. Twenty men joined and the Revd Robatham and James Robatham were made stewards. They were instructed ‘not to swear or make drunks’. Such clubs were common at that time but in the nineteenth century were superseded by Friendly Societies. (William Rees, Cardiff: A History of the City, Cardiff Corporation, 1969)
1900: Funeral of 63-year-old Harry Blatchford who had been shot by a mentally-ill employee, Tommy Sweetman, at a dairy yard in Conybeare Road. Sweetman had attempted to bury the body but his crime was soon discovered. Blatchford had been employed by Tommy’s father to collect and transport hay to feed his animals, taking over a job that Tommy had done since his release from a lunatic asylum. When his father dismissed him from this responsibility and gave the job to Harry it gave Tommy what he saw as sufficient motive to do away with him. (Mark Isaacs, Foul Deeds & Suspicious Deaths in Cardiff, Wharncliffe, 2009)
