FIRST SCHOOLS

Religious persecution and the reformation of churches meant that learned priests had more time on their hand and to supplement their income they established a number of small schools.

Because of his opposition to church reforms he also lost his parish between 1646 and 1650, although he continued to receive some tithes paid to him. To supplement his meagre income he established a small school in Llangan. Later he moved to London to become Chaplain to the Royalist Earl of Peterborough.  Francis Davies later returned to Wales to become Archdeacon of Llandaff Cathedral in 1660 and Bishop of LLandaff in 1667.

The Welsh Not was a piece of wood inscribed with the initials WN to be hung around the neck of pupils who had spoken Welsh, so as to dissuade the use of the Welsh language during the school day.

DAVID JONES

The parish of LLangan is closely associated with David Jones –  its rector for 43 years, from 1767 until his death in 1810.

David Jones was one of the most powerful and influential preachers of his day, drawing groups of thousands to his services. His charismatic preaching and beautiful voice led to him being known as the ‘angel of LLangan.’ He was known throughout Wales and often preached in Bristol and London. But where did his journey start and what inspired him with such passion?

David Jones’s birthplace in Carmarthenshire,

Source Well digger website

David’s parents did not have enough money to send him to university, but he got into Carmarthen Grammar School and studied hard, becoming a Deacon by the time he was 22. He then served as a Curate, firstly in North Wales, then Brecon later at Caldicot in Monmouth.

It was during David’s time at Monmouth that he was heavily influenced by William Read of Trefethin who introduced him to the writing of Puritans such as John Flavel. This gave David a deeper and more personal understanding of the Gospels and changed David’s style of preaching from one of explaining text in the bible to an impassioned anointing of the Holy Spirit.

David moved to Crudwell in Wiltshire and came to the attention of the influential Countess of Huntington. Through her efforts David, at the age of 33, came to the rural village of LLangan as the rector of St Canna’s and St Marys Hill.

At this time LLangan was a spiritual backwater with a population of no more than 300. Within a few years though – such was the power of David’s evangelical preaching –  that crowds of thousands of people would come from all over Glamorgan to hear him preach.

Often David would address them through a window, or on the steps of the medieval pillar cross in the grounds of the church.

David was 45 when he married Sarah Bowen in 1771; they lived in the rectory at Coychurch and had three children: Maria, Daniel and David Bowen. Sarah died in 1792, aged 60. David later remarried and lived at Manorowen.

Salem Chaepl, Pencoed

David was a man of God and a man of peace, He spoke from the heart and his importance in the religious and spiritual life of Wales cannot be countered.

His preaching took him to all corners of Wales and to many English cities where people would walk or ride from miles to hear his voice.

Little wonder that he was known as the “Angel of LLangan”.

David’s influence on the church did not end there as his great- grandson Llewellyn Llewellyn became the first Dean of St. David’s Cathedral in 1840.

William Williams (Williams Pantycelyn) sang about Jones Llangan:-

“The stones melted with his freshness and in the strength of his sweet gospel he made the most hardened oak bend flexibly like the rushes”.

JOHN PRITCHARD

John Prichard was a well-known and highly respected architect who had a reputation for building and restoring in the neo-Gothic style.

Arguably, his most famous achievement was the restoration of Llandaff Cathedral, but he was also responsible for the design and restoration of several other notable buildings, bridges and churches in south Wales.

John Prichard was born in Llangan on the 6 May 1817. He was the twelfth son of the rector Richard Prichard, the vicar-choral of Llandaff, where he served for 35 years. They were descended from the Prichard family of Collenna, a substantial estate in near Tonyrefail.

Prichard trained as an architect under Thomas Larkins Walker, who in turn was deeply influenced by the neo-Gothic style of Augustus Pugin.

John Pritchard made a good business decision when he established a practice in Llandaff, Cardiff because this eventually resulted in becoming the official diocesan architect in 1847. Much of John Pritchard’s work as an architect was done in collaboration with John Seddon.

A great deal of John Pritchard’s major commissions were restoration works  the most famous of which would be  that of Llandaff Cathedral between 1843–69. This included the full restoration of the south-western tower. A substantial part of the work  was however destroyed by bombing during the Second World War.

The Prichard Bridge, built in 1880 to allow carriages to cross the feeder channel between the River Taff and the Llandaff corn mill, was named after the architect and is now a Grade II listed building. The mill was demolished in the 1930s, the feeder stream has long ceased to exist and the lower part of the bridge is no longer visible.

John Pritchard’s grave, LLandaf Cathedral

A List of the buildings that John Pritchard was responsible for include:

• Llandaff (1843–1869) restoration
• Prichard Bridge, Llandaff (c.18
• Nazareth House, Cardiff (1875)
• St Cadfan’s Church, Tywyn (1877) restoration
• Church of St Swithin, Ganarew (1850)
• Church of the Holy Cross, Cowbridge (1850–1852) restoration
• St Michael’s Church, Cwmafan (1851).
• The Church of St Julius and Aaron, Llanharan (1856–1859) restoration
• Ettington Park, near Stratford upon Avon (1858–1862) restoration.
• Church of St John, Llandenny (1860-5) with John Pollard Seddo
• St Margaret’s Church, Roath (1870) commissioned by the Marquess of Bute
• St Crallo, Coychurch (1871) restoration
• Church of SS. Illtyd, Gwynno & Tyfodwg, Llantrisant (1874) restoration
• St Catharine’s Church, Baglan (1875–1882) restoration
• Church of St Thomas a Becket, Monmouth (1876)
• St Mary’s Nolton, Bridgend (completed 1877) build.
• St Mary’s on Chapel Hill, Tintern, Monmouthshire (1863–1868) restoration.
• Elerch Vicarage

TURNPIKE ROADS

As trade and travel increased it became more important to keep roads open and in good condition.

It was in 1764 that the first Turnpike Act affecting Glamorgan was passed, the original act having been passed nationally in 1663.  Prior to this Act every Parish was legally obliged to look after its roads, which were generally no more than dirt tracks.

Sketch of an 18th century turnpike road

The Turnpike in Treoes was situated on the Treoes to Llangan road, just past the entrance to Yr Efail.

MORDECAI FAMILY

The Mordecai family have been associated with Treoes for many years, but where did they come from and what was their background?

It was possibly the woollen industry that first brought the Mordecai family to Treoes. The earliest record is of an Edward Mordecai (Genealogy website mytree.net) who was born in LLangan in 1751,   When he was just 15 years old Edward married Gwenllian (John) Popkin, 11 years his senior in 1766.  They had four children: Thomas born in 1771, Mary born in 1776, Edward born in 1778 and William born in 1781.  There is no explanation of the use of the name John by Gwenllian, it could be possible that she had been married before marrying Edward Mordecai, or that she was given the Christian names of Gwenllian John.

Gwenllian came from an ancient Welsh family, reputed to be descended from Rhodri Mawr. Her father was Sir. Esq. Thomas Popkin born 1695 in Forrest in the Parish of Llansamlet. He owned an Ironworks in Llansamlet and also had a lease of coal mines in Lougher.

The following is an extract from The History and Antiquities of Glamorganshire and its Families:–

“There were Popkins of Ynys Tawe and Forrest, both of the same lineage, the former, the senior line and both now extinct. They claimed descent from Rhodri Mawr King of Wales, through his eldest son Prince Anarawd (succ.AD877) Gruffydd Gethin, the first named in the pedigrees as an Ynys Tawe, ninth in descent, had a son Hopkin ap Gruffydd, and he a son David ap Hopkin of Ynys Tawe, who married Eva daughter of Jenkin ap Leyshon of Avan, of the race of Iestyn ap Gwrant. Hopkin ap David ap Hopkin followed, and had a son David ap Hopkin whose son Hopkin David of Ynys Tawe had an eldest son: David Popkin, who finally fixed the patronymic as a surname. He married Jennet daughter of Robert William of Court Rhyd-hir, and with other children, had a son and successor John, second son of ………”

The Forrest junior line begins with Hopkin, second son of the above Hopkin David of Ynys Tawe and continues at Forrest near Neath for ten generations. This line seems to have held a higher position in the county than the senior. Thomas Popkin of Fforrest was Sheriff of Glamorgan in 1718 and his son Thomas held the same office in 1755.

Tracing Edward Mordecai’s ancestry is not easy. There is a record of an Edward Mordecai who died in Llansamlet in May 1715. His son, William Mordecai, was born also in Llansamlet a year earlier, in 1714. Could the Edward Mordecai born in Llangan in 1751 be their descendant?. There is a possible connection here, as Gwenllian’s family also originated in LLansamlet.  

The name Mordecai appears to have Jewish origins and during periods of anti-Semitism, family members could have used the alias of Mort or Morton or Moreton. There are local records of Mordecai being used as an alias. For example, in mytree.net,, we have a reference to Mary Mort alias Mordecai.  Other references to the name of Mort in the Parish are contained in St Canna’s parish records between 1836 and 1847 and of Moreton in 1887.

The Family Tree shows the death of Edward Mordecai as Feb 1782, whilst significantly St Canna’s Parish records show both Edward (buried 7th Feb 1782) in the name of Mort and Gwenllian (buried in 1815) with the name of Mort and the alias of John.

Another significant use of the name Mort is the name change of David Mordecai, born in Margam and married to Ann nee Llewellyn, who changed their name from Mordecai to Mort in 1871. Their son Thomas Mort migrated to the Ukraine, where he married Rachel Thomas and had six children. He returned briefly in 1905 before emigrating to the United States of America.

 It does not take a far stretch of the imagination to associate the Mordecai family with Gwenllian Walsh and Watcyn or Watkin Morton who lived in Goston in the 14th century and their possible descent from Rhodri Mawr via Princess Nest as well as the claimed descent from Rhodri Mawr via Gwenllian Popkin.

The following is a contract drawn up between Thomas Mordecai, Edward Mordecai and William Mordecai to maintain Gwenllian their mother. (From the Glamorgan Archives)

“Be it remembered that it is contracted this 19th day of April 1809 & between Morgan Philip, Churchwarden & Tho’s David Overseer of the Poor of Llangan, & of the one part. And Thomas Mordecai, and Edward Mordecai, Weavers of the Parish of Llangan and William Mordecai Weaver of the Parish of St Mary on the other part, do hereby agree to maintain Gwenllian John a parishioner of the above said Parish of Llangan, at our proper cost and charges, find and Provide and allow, our cause to be found whatever necessary to her the said above named Gwenllian John their mother – now chargeable to the above named Parish. They the sons Thos. & Edwd. Mordecai, and Wilm. Mordecai, being to pay thus Thos. Mordecai is to pay one half and Edwd. Mordecai is to pay one Third and Wilm. Mordecai is to pay one Third unto the Overseers hands or cause to be paid whatever sum or sums that shall be wanted for her necessary relief- likewise Morgan Philip the Churchwarden and Thos. David the Overseer of the Poor allow her sixpence weekly towards Gwenllian John’s relief and also allow her sixpence towards John Thomas’s lodgings, and the house is to be jointly occupied by both of them.  Signed in the presence of Edmund Jenkins, Thomas Mordecai the mark of Edward Mordecai, Rees Jones, William Mordecai.”

As Thomas Mordecai, Gwenllian’s son had married Catherine Thomas it is possible that John Thomas Gwenllian’s lodger was Catherine’s father.

Descendants of Edward and Gwenllian and their son Thomas who are still residents of Treoes, as are the Mordecai family of Ty-Phillip and the family of the late John Richards son of Ivor Richards and Alice Mordecai, late of Great House.

Descendants of Edward and Gwenllian and their son Edward who are still residents of Treoes are the Jenkins family, by way of the marriage of Cecilia Mordecai (granddaughter of Edward) to Evan Jenkins and their son George Miles Jenkins.

FARMING

Most people still lived off the land for most of the 19th century, as villages and industry grew, it was becoming more difficult to find agricultural labour.

On nearly every farm wheat and barley was produced, and we can safely assume that this was so in Treoes due to the presence of the Malt House adjoining the Star Inn.

The remains of Candy Mill

Fferm Goch – our local Welsh Land Settlement

(Many thanks to Roland Ward for his kind help for this article . His book is called “Something must be done….A History of the Welsh Land Settlement Society.”)

How the settlements came about

In 1929 the Wall Street crash resulted in $25 billion ($319 billion in today’s values) being wiped off the value of the stock market – and this led to a 10 year worldwide downturn called the Great Depression.

In the UK, there was heavy unemployment and in Wales the worst hit areas were in the coal and steel making areas in the south – and especially in the Rhondda Valley.

The quote ‘something should be done..’ was attributed to the then King Edward VIII, when he visited South Wales in November 1936. A few weeks later he abdicated.

The Government acknowledged that some state help was needed. And this led to the establishment of the Welsh Land Settlement Society Limited in 1936. There had been the idea of communal farming as Land settlements in the 19th century, but it had never been tried with industrial unemployed, only those with some agricultural experience.

The Land Settlement approach in Wales

There was a provisional programme for settling 500 families and by 1938 land had been acquired for half this number. Unlike in England, which used the small holding model, the Welsh Land Settlement Society decided to base their settlements, mainly on co-operative farms, at:

• Boverton/ Trebeferad (Llantwit Major) – 652 acres started in 1936.
• Sealand Flintshire – 851 acres started in 1937 – this site involved the settlers moving 150 miles away from family and friends.
• Llanfair Discoed in Monmouthshire – 282 acres and started in 1939.
• Fferm Goch, Llangan / St Mary Hill – Red Farm was purchased in 1939 and was quite small at 212 acres, plus the farmhouse and farm buildings and the first houses of the Garden Village were completed in 1939. Fferm Goch would be the last of the Settlements as war broke out in September 1939.
• Rosemarket near Milford Haven was based on small holdings with 34 houses scattered on the 378 acre site with each house having 5-10 acres together with a central farm, which was run along the co-operative lines.

 Setting up the settlements

The settlers were recruited at Labour Exchanges where they signed-on for unemployment benefit. They and their families were interviewed and their houses inspected. The men were generally 35-45years old, former miners and had a family. Some entire families became settlers – for example in Sealand three brothers moved with their families and settled in North Wales.

Most of the men were former miners, but some had been out of work for several years and were not physically fit enough to do agricultural work. Therefore, a 12 month market garden training and fitness training programme was given to the men on existing settlement sites, whilst their families remained in the Valleys.

The men were paid unemployment benefit during their training, but if they remained (and some did opt out), then they were paid the local agricultural wage with the promise of bonuses if the Settlement was profitable. After training, the men could move their families to the Settlement once the houses were built.

The houses in each “Garden Village”, including Fferm Goch, were designed by Cardiff architects to suit the design and layout of each Settlement, but most were built in an open quadrangle shape with a village green in the middle. The houses themselves were mainly semi-detached, with a downstairs bathroom, kitchen, living room and three bedrooms above  – and luxuries at the time, included hot running water and inside toilets!

Some of the original occupiers/lodgers of the Garden Villages were training  for, or in the building trade. For instance, we know from the 1939 Electoral Register that a plasterer and builder’s labourer lodged in number 1 Fferm Goch whilst completing the remaining houses.

Fferm Goch had the advantage of being close to Boverton, which helped for training and support. The first foreman, Reginald Newman, had been a settler at Boverton and had met King Edward Vlll in 1936 showing him round his house –  and according to the newspapers he offered the king a glass of wine.

25 years of trading and then decline

The Settlements traded successfully for 25 years between the late 1930’s to 1960, covering the period of the war and the rationing years. But by the late 1950s, mechanisation led to a decline and coupled with constant operational problems, including flooding, led to almost all of the Settlements recording trading losses. The houses were gradually sold to local authorities, and the sites ceased trading in the 1960s.

 History of the Fferm Goch settlement

The Fferm Goch Settlement lies across the parish boundaries of St Mary Hill (no.s 1-7) and Llangan (no.s 8-24). We know that 1-7 were finished and occupied in time for the 1939 Register in September. This was a register commissioned by the Government to identify, age and obtain the occupation of the population in readiness for war.

The 1939 Register gives a fascinating glimpse into the ages and jobs undertaken by the first settlers in 1939.

Number 1 Fferm Goch

Reginald Newman born 1891 – 48 years: Land Settlement Foreman

Ann Newman born 1893 – 46 years: domestic work

Reginald Newman born 1922 – 17 years: Land settlement assistant – Agriculture

Ernest Price born 1902 – 37 years: Plasterer

Frederick Bunford born 1914 – 25 years: Builders labourer

Number 2 Fferm Goch

Arthur J Wall born 1896 – 46 years: Land Settlement lorry driver

Dorothy Wall born 1897-42 years: Land Settlement worker

Edith Gladys Wall (later Battrick) born 1923 – 16 years: Land Settlement worker

Bessie Wall (later Thomas) born 1926 – 13 years: at School

Reginald Phillips born 1914 – 25 years: Land Settlement worker

Number 3 Fferm Goch

Henry Jones born 1892- aged 47 years: Land Settlement worker

Annie Jones born 1896 – 43 years: Domestic work

John R Jones born 1922 – 17 years: Land Settlement worker

Dorothy Jones born 1926 – 13 years: at school

Number 4 Fferm Goch

Thomas Samuel born 1902 -37 years: Land Settlement Market Gardener

Elizabeth Samuel born 1902 – 37 years: Land Settlement market gardener

Pearl E Samuel (later Steele) born 1926: 13 years – at school

Christine Samuel (later Goodwin) born 1936: at home, under school age

Richard Jeffreys born 1872 – 67 years

Number 5 Fferm Goch

William Smith born 1888 – 51 years: Land Settlement market gardener

Mary Smith born 1888- 51 years: Land Settlement worker

Number 6 Fferm Goch

William S Evans born 1894 – 45 years: General Farm worker

Norah Evans born 1897 – 42 years: Land Settlement worker

Ivy Evans (later Hodges and then McCabe) born 1920 – 19 years: Land Settlement worker

William T Evans born 1924 – 15 years: Land Settlement worker

Doris Evand born 1926 – 13 years: at school

Number 7 Fferm Goch

Margaret Dunkley born 1889 – 50 years: Domestic duties

Joyce Dunkley (later Reed) born 1927 – 12 years: at school

John Morgan born 1857 – 82 years – retired collier

The glass houses, that were part of the market gardening facilities at Fferm Goch.

After the war, we can track the first settlers from the 1945 Electoral Role (ER) and many stayed on for the entire period of the Settlement until Fferm Goch closed in 1960. Many stayed on afterwards, as they had brought their families up in the area.

For example:

• Reginald Newman, the first foreman and his wife lived at no 1 Fferm Goch until the 1963 Electoral Register and his son Reginald Junior, who in 1939 was a Land Settlement Assistant, married Gwyneth and moved into number 7, where they lived from the 1948 ER until at least 1972.
• In number 3, Henry and Annie Jones and their family, who had transferred from the Sealand Settlement, were still living there at the time of the 1966 ER and their son Terry was still living at Fferm Goch in 2013. (For further information on Terry’s story, see the wordpress link at the end).
• William and Nora Evans and their family at no 6 remained until at least the 1960 ER.
• At number 9 Emlyn and Gwyneth Davies and their family were still living there at the 1978 ER.
• At No 10 Lewis and Sarah Hughes were still living there at the 1978 ER, as were the Daniels family at no 11.
• Idris and Elizabeth Lewis at no 21 were also still at Fferm Goch at the time of the1972 ER.

 House swapping

There were several examples of settlers moving between houses, for example John and Jennie Stuckley lived at no 18 from the 1945 ER, but by the 1972 ER they were living at number 3. Cyril and Enid Kettley moved between 23 and 24, as did Cyril and Ernest Hemming who moved between 22 and 24.

Strong community spirit

Many of the settlers, even if not amongst the original war-time ones, remained for long periods and many stayed on after the Settlement ceased trading. All the Settlements encouraged and fostered a community spirit, helped by the lay out of the houses themselves, as well as a community hall.

In Fferm Goch this was in an old farm building and current Treoes residents remember cycling to the Hall for dances and clubs.

Whilst the Settlements may not have been a long term financial success, they did succeed in creating a sense of a community spirit – as evident in Roland Ward’s excellent research on all the Settlements.

Local Authority ownership

Fferm Goch and most of the other Settlements ceased trading in the early 1960s and any settlers who had not reached retirement age were paid compensation. The houses were sold to the Local Authorities, with an agreement that all original settlers and their widows could remain living in their houses, with their rents fixed for their lifetimes.

Paul Stephens’ research on the Settlements for his MA found that in 1993 just one house was still lived in by an original settler or his widow. Mr and Mrs Morgan moved into their house in Boverton in 1936 when the agricultural rent was 4/- a week. Fifty-seven years later in 1993 Mrs Morgan was still living at the house and still paying 4/- a week rent!

At Fferm Goch the fields were sold for farming, and the nurseries were sold on as a separate business. In recent years, more houses have been built, but the Fferm Goch houses are still easy to identify.

Reflections on the success or failure of the settlements

In his book Roland Ward has a very interesting chapter on whether the Land Settlements were a success or failure. The Settlements were certainly costly to set up, with buying the land, building the houses, training the men – he calculates it cost £1,800 per settler and his family, which was a very large sum in the mid 1930’s. But against this, 300 unemployed industrial workers and their families were given valuable work and homes, with additional benefits of improved housing, working in the fresh air, better food and a healthier lifestyle.

However, the profitability of the settlements was hampered by high wages, inflation and not necessarily the best land chosen for the farms for example, Sealand flooded. Boverton was the only Settlement that remained in profit.

In addition, there was no formal apprenticeship scheme (apart from some father and sons e.g. Reginald Newman senior and junior at Fferm Goch) and as all the original settlers were of a similar age when recruited, they grew old at the same time. By the time the 25-year leases on each Settlement’s land were up for renewal, many were approaching, or at, retirement age. Even if the Settlements had been profitable, there had been no formal succession planning for the next generation.

Success or failure, these Land Settlements provide a fascinating insight into an attempt by the Government of the day to try and tackle unemployment in the coal mining areas through local food growing, even if only on a small scale.

Further information can be found at: https://wlssealand.wordpress.com/2013/04/03/welsh-land-settlement-society-ltd/