Cambrian Collieries
of Cardiff
Early 1870s, Samuel Thomas and two brothers, John Osborne Riches and Osborne Henry Riches, jointly owned the Cambrian colliery.
1872 The sinking of No.1 shaft at Cambrian Colliery in the main Rhondda Valley was begun by S. Thomas and J. Riches and Co.
1874 No. 2 shaft was sunk.
1879 Thomas died. After his death the mines were carried on by Messrs. J. H. Thomas and D. A. Thomas, M.P.
By 1885 the Cambrian Collieries Ltd. had become the new owners and they sunk No. 3 shaft the same year.
1887 Osborne Riches died; control of the colliery passed to Thomas' sons, John Howard and David Alfred, who ran it until 1896
1891 A fourth shaft was sunk
1895 it became the first colliery of the Cambrian Combine.
1895 The company was registered on 4 December, to take over properties from Thomas, Riches and Co. [1].
1896 The colliery became part of Cambrian Collieries Limited, with a capital of £600,000.
1896 Cambrian Navigation No. 1 and No. 2 pits employed 2,488 men underground jointly, with a further 340 employed on the surface[2]
1905 David Alfred Thomas began to implement his plan to control and regulate the steam coal trade in South Wales and this led to the formation of the Cambrian Combine whose policies led in 1910 to the Tonypandy riots.
1913 A proposal was made to amalgamate the collieries in the Combine, namely the Cambrian, the Glamorgan, the Britannic, and the Naval, with D. A. Thomas in charge[3]
1918 David Alfred Thomas died
1929 July: Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds acquired the Cambrian, Glamorgan Colliery, Naval and Britannic Merthyr collieries from the liquidator[4]
1930 Became part of Welsh Associated Collieries
1936 Welsh Associated Collieries were merged with Powell Duffryn Steam Coal Co to form the Powell Duffryn Associated Collieries.
See Also
Sources of Information
- [1] Welsh Coal Mines