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Opening Times

1st April - 30th September
Daily	10am - 5:30pm
1st October - 31st March
Monday	CLOSED
Tuesday	10am - 4pm
Wednesday	10am - 4pm
Thursday	10am - 4pm
Friday	10am - 4pm
Saturday	12pm - 4pm
Sunday	12pm - 4pm
Free Admission

Contact

If you require any information about the Castle, feel free to contact us any time:

Tel: +44 (0)1685 723112
Email: museum@merthyr.gov.uk

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Personalities - Collection

Tinted Photograph Of Harry Hartley Southey

Not recorded

Harry Hartley Southey (1871-1917) was the eldest son of Harry Wood Southey, who came to Merthyr from Somerset in the 1860s to work on the Merthyr Express newspaper, which publication he eventually owned. From his earliest years Harry Southey had a desire for travel and during his youth was able to travel to the Black Sea, the North Cape, various European countries, America and the Far East. He was particularly interested in Egypt, and on a visit in 1901 was able to buy a quantity of Egyptian antiquities which he later added to when stationed in Egypt during 1916. Harry Southey was a well-known in Merthyr owing to his connexion with the newspaper, and also ran the Merthyr branch of the territorial army. He enlisted during the 1914-1918 conflict and was fatally wounded at the Battle of Gaza in 1917.



Statue Of Richard Trevithick

480mm height x 180mm width x 180mm depth

This is a scale model of the bronze statue erected outside of the library in Camborne, west Cornwall. Richard Trevithick (1771-1833) was born in the heart of the Cornish tin and copper mining district, and from an early age showed an interest in engineering. The mines of Cornwall were pumped of water using steam engines patented by Thomas Newcomen that were costly to run. Trevithick improved the design by using high-pressure steam, which paved the way for more efficient, cheaper engines. His inventions led to the first steam-propelled wheeled vehicle (in 1801) and by placing an engine on tracks he effectively invented the railway train, at Penydarren in 1804.



Portrait Of Rose Mary Crawshay With Son Richard

2220mm height x 1600mm width

Rose Mary Crawshay (1828-1907), formerly Yeates, was the wife of Robert Thompson Crawshay, the last of the Ironmasters before the closure of the works in 1875. Born of landed gentry in Berkshire, Rose Mary’s marriage in 1846 brought her to Merthyr Tydfil as the new mistress of Cyfarthfa Castle. Forward thinking with a social conscience, she quickly set about organising free meals for the poor and established libraries in the local villages for the education of the workers. She was also an early advocate of cremation and women’s suffrage, years before such things were permitted by law. She is shown with her youngest son Richard Frederick Crawshay (1859-1903), dressed as a girl, in the usual fashion of the 1860s.



Portrait Of Richard Crawshay

1165mm height x 1010mm width

The first of the Cyfarthfa Ironmasters, Richard Crawshay (1739-1810) was born of yeoman stock in Yorkshire and in his teens moved south to London in search of his fortune. By perseverance (the family’s watch-word) he was able to gain the controlling interest in the recently established Cyfarthfa works and founded the Crawshay dynasty’s association with Merthyr Tydfil, which endured for over a century.



Portrait Of Margaret Morgan (‘Macws’) Of Cefn Coed

560mm height x 710mm width

Margaret Morgan (1815-1896), known as ‘Macws,’ was a well-known character in Cefn Coed, where she was born and lived all her life. She learnt to read the Welsh language at school in Vaynor Church, and won fame as a Welsh elocutionist. She married Rees Morgan, with whom she had one son. The portrait was painted by Henry Dyke Pearce (1848-1895) of Merthyr Tydfil.



Plaster Bust Of Frank Treharne James

520mm height x 180mm width x 180mm depth

F. T. James (1861-1942) was a member of a family that had involved itself in public service in Merthyr for more than a century. Amongst other public offices, he was variously clerk of the Board of Guardians, Superintendent Registrar, clerk to the Gelligaer and Rhigos Rural District Council, clerk to the Merthyr Assessment Committee, and Lord Mayor. He was made a freeman of the borough in 1939. F. T. James was largely responsible for the foundation of Cyfarthfa Castle Museum and Art Gallery in 1910 and was closely involved in the affairs of the museum as Chairman of the Museum Committee until his death in 1942.



Photograph Of Penry Williams

Not Recorded

A native of Merthyr, Penry Williams (1802-1885) demonstrated artistic talents from a young age and came to the notice of the Ironmaster William Crawshay II, who encouraged the young man and became his patron. Despite having little formal education or training, Williams went on to study at the Royal Academy in London and became an accomplished artist. In style, stood between the classicalism of the eighteenth century and the realism of the later nineteenth, and after he established himself in Rome from the 1820s, he painted Italian subjects for the delight of British buyers. The Procession to the Christening was painted for J. J. Guest, who gave it to his new bride Charlotte as a wedding gift.



Johnny Owen’s Belt

760mm height x 100mm width

Popularly known as the ‘Matchstick Man,’ Johnny Owen (1956-1980) represented Wales 7 times during his amateur career, and went on to hold the British and European Bantamweight titles. He won 25 fights, lost 2 and drew 1. His fight with Lupe Pinter in Los Angeles, in 1980, resulted in him being knocked unconscious, and he was left in a coma from which he never recovered.



Cast Marble Bust Of Sir Josiah John Guest

860mm height x 620mm width x 330mm depth

The names of Josiah John Guest (1785-1852) and his second wife Charlotte Guest (1815-1895) are indelibly linked to the ironworks at Dowlais and to the great efforts they made to improve the lives and conditions of their employees. J. J. Guest’s grandfather John came to Dowlais from Shopshire during the 1760s, as work’s manager for the owner William Lewis. Guest was rewarded for his labour by a partnership in 1782, and was succeeded by his son Thomas. J. J. Guest was the younger of two sons and came to have the controlling interest of the Dowlais works, which in the mid nineteenth century was the largest iron producing concern in the world. Guest held strong views on the important political concerns of the day and was M.P. for Merthyr Tydfil after the enfranchisement of the town in 1832. He supported Free Trade, the abolition of slavery, and the reform of the church.



Boxing Match Poster Featuring Howard Winstone

512mm height x 356mm width

Howard Winstone (1939-2000) held many boxing titles, including the British Featherweight Championship and the European Featherweight championship. He defeated Mitsunori Seki at the Royal Albert Hall in January 1968 to become the World Featherweight Champion, and although he held the title for only 6 months, to many fans he is still their champion. This early poster is advertising a boxing match at the Drill Hall, Swansea, on Thursday 22 November 1962, between Howard Winstone and Brain Curvis.