WW1 Aberdare Roll of Honour

Aberdare Cottage Homes - WW1 Roll of Honour

Researched by Rosemary Nicholson, Volunteer, Glamorgan Archives

Contents

Introduction Quick Reference Guide to list of names Aberdare Cottage Homes Roll of Honour Bibliography

Page 3 Page 5 Page 7 Page 117

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Introduction

To commemorate the anniversary of WW1, I was asked to research the men whose names appear on the Aberdare Cottage Homes Memorial Roll held at the Glamorgan Archives.

There are a total of 83 names on the Roll, some with more information than others, and upon undertaking initial research it seemed that they had all attended the Industrial School at St Fagan in Trecynon, Aberdare.

According to Kelly's Directory of 1910: "The Industrial School of Merthyr Tydfil Union, Trecynon, to give it its correct title, was built in 1871 by the Guardians, originally used as an Infirmary, and in 1877 converted to its present use. There is a new receiving home, also 2 Cottage Homes; the School is intended to separate pauper children from the influence of the adults, and gives a training to the children in different trades and occupations, and there is an industrial trainer for each department. The institution holds 200 children, with Thomas J Owen as Superintendent".

My research was undertaken in two ways; Primary sources using documents held at the Glamorgan Archives and Secondary sources online via Ancestry, Find My Past, Forces War Records and the Aberdare Leader Newspaper web site.

Whilst attending the Archives, I started by looking up their online catalogue in order to access documents held there. These included records of the Industrial School and Cottage Homes; the Aberdare School Boys Register; the Guardian Minute Books and Admission & Discharge Registers of the Merthyr Union Workhouse. There is a bibliography at the back of this research.

I spent several months reading through these documents looking for the names on the Roll; sometimes the names jumped out at me, other times I could only find family members mentioned. Gradually I built up their early lives. Alongside this I went online trying to trace birth details along with census entries and military history. This allowed me to build up the men's stories leading up to and including WW1.

Within each personal record, I have used a colour code when documenting the research - black for the information found in documents in the Archives, green for information found online and red for the military information also found online.

Some of the names revealed an interesting hidden history of information, whereas other names, due to lack of initial information did not reveal very much at all. Among them there are four servicemen who won the Military Medal (MM), one who received the Distinguish Conduct Medal (DCM) and nine are recorded as casualties.

Whilst reading through the Merthyr Union Workhouse Guardian Minutes, I came across the following items of interest. In volume UM/1/39, the Children's Homes Committee of 13th June 1912 noted that the King and Queen came on a visit to Aberdare. I would imagine that they did not actually visit the Children's Home but stopped somewhere in the town or even just passed through.

The other item of interest came within volume UM/1/42, the Children's Homes Committee of 13th May 1915 - Page 55 Item No 195 titled "Roll of Honour". It states "The Superintendant having reported that a considerable number of old boys from the Homes were serving their Country, we recommend that he prepare a complete list and submit to the next meeting of the Committee with a view of them appearing on a Roll of Honour". Following on, the Children's Homes Committee 30 Sep 1915 - Page 370 Item 1180 - "We recommend that the Superintendent prepare a Roll Of Honour of boys serving with the Colours, and that the same be suspended in the Committee Room at the Home" and finally the Children's Homes Committee 11 Nov 1915 - Page 457 Item 1488 ? "The Superintendent submitted a list of Old Boys who had joined the Colours to do duty for their Country".

Although I have found as much information as it is possible at this time, the research is far from complete. If anyone recognises a possible ancestor amongst the names on the Roll of Honour and is able to fill in any missing details, please contact the Glamorgan Archives as we would love to hear from you.

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