Other evidence also shows the living conditions were bad during The Nineteenth Century. A Report to The General Board of Health said that,
“The houses have been built without any
system… having very bad ventilation and
no regard whatsoever to drainage… only
two rooms… occupied by up to 5 or 6 persons.”
We know this is a reliable source because the government issued it.
Another report from The General Board of Health shows that many diseases broke out from dirt and filth. During the month of May in 1849 three epidemics of cholera broke out almost simultaneously,
“In Pont-y-storehouse on the 26th May;
In Padwran-fach on the 27th May;
At River-side on the 28th May.
These places are about the dirtiest in the town.”
This is another reliable source that shows us how dirty the living conditions were in Merthyr.
Many people died from cholera. Below is a table showing how many people died from cholera.
The houses above are third class houses. Any third class house would have three families living in it at any one time. One family would live upstairs, one downstairs and one in the basement/cellar.
Second class houses are only different in terms of size and space but they were still dirty, unhealthy and had no running water. Only one family occupied second-class houses.
Even first class houses were very unclean and had no strip of garden, no backdoor or outlet, no toilet, no drain to carry away house refuse and no pump or pipe for the supply of water.
When renting these houses there are three different categories. The most skilled craftsmen and ironworkers rented the best houses. They could afford to pay in the region of 10-13 shillings a week. The semi-skilled labourers occupied the second category and would pay in the region of 4-10 shillings. The third category was occupied by the unskilled labourers and lived in the worst accommodation available. They would pay in the region of about 1/6-10 shillings an month and in some cases more.
Working conditions were as bad if not worse than living conditions. During the Nineteenth century many people moved into Merthyr because of the jobs available. There was call for skilled and unskilled, young and old.
Children as young as 7yrs old worked in the iron works in dangerous jobs that could leave them injured and scarred for life or even killed on some occasions. Some of the jobs that children would have to do were; Trappers, Ironworkers, Miners, Drawers, Stroking, Puddling, Shingling & Rolling and Shops.
In the Ironworks most people worked a week of nights and a weeks of days, both 12-hour shifts. The working conditions were very cramped, dim, dirty, cold and extremely dangerous. There were many dangers involved in jobs in the ironworks, some more serious than others. Some of the dangers were burning, suffocation and being crushed on the rolling machines or if the roof collapsed in with the earth shattering explosions to free the iron.
Below is a record of the total number of people working in the Plymouth works in 1842
From the evidence that I have studied I conclude that the video ‘Day Return, Labyrinth of Filth’ does not present an accurate picture of Merthyr during the Nineteenth Century. Some of the information portrayed in the film is correct but a lot is over exaggerated and added on to make the film more interesting.