Life and work in Merthyr Tydfil in the nineteenth century.

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History Coursework – Life and work in Merthyr Tydfil in the nineteenth century.

The growth of industry in Merthyr was the main reason for the huge increase in population over a hundred years from 1750 to 1851. The population was estimated at four hundred people for the year 1750,this was just an estimate so we do not know how reliable this is as it is just an estimate and was not an official system. However by 1801 the first census was introduced and this produced an official figure for the population in Merthyr at the time, which was seven thousand people. This shows a massive increase in population in just over fifty years. The population continued to rise up until 1851 where it reached forty six thousand people.

Source A1

The area of Merthyr was ideally situated for an iron works, as the mountains above were inexhaustible sources of Iron ore, coal, limestone, firestone and fire clay. There were several iron works in Merthyr at the time but the ones of Mr.Crawshays were the grandest and largest. The workers earnings averaged £3 a month. This covered Men, Women and Children. The maximum wage of the workers was nine Guineas, which was £9.45 per month. However this compared to Crawshay was nothing as he was earning a bumper £36,000 per annum. These facts and figures come from source A2 from the resource booklet. Rev. George Capper produced the source in a journal of a tour of Wales. This therefore makes the source a very reliable piece of evidence as Reverend George wrote it, who would have been a trustworthy and respected member of society. Also he would have had no reason to adopt a biased view on the subject. The source is very useful to a historian studying the works in Merthyr as it gives information regarding the size of the works and wage structures of the factory.            

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Transport played a major part in the growth of Merthyr as an industrial town. In 1790 plans were put forward to construct a canal, which would go from Merthyr to Cardiff.

It cost £103,600 and took four years to build. On its completion in February 1794 the canal measured 24½ miles. The canal allowed raw materials to be transported at a much faster rate than previously, it could also transport a larger amount of goods at a time, compared to the old method of a horse and cart. Source A5(ii) shows how in ten years the use of the ...

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