Thursday,
July 12,
Italian Lead Miners in Ceredigion,
The
ANNOTICO Report
Another
example of Literary License and Embellishment to focus on some
"slight" rifts for Controversy and Profit, and Completely ignore the
Mine Owners in their HUGE and Egregious InHumane
Exploitation of the Miners, both Welsh and Italian.
And
the Eagerness with which the English Media give a Negative Headline to Italians,
while the article content is completely contrary!!!!!!
"Boomerang"
producer Dafydd (Let's call him "Daffy") Llyr James in a TV
production in progress claims "bickering" between Welsh and Italians
closed the mine.
However
Local Historian Simon Hughes claimed there was little or no animosity between
the Welsh and Italian miners, and locals even went out on strike with their
foreign colleagues over pay.
Mr Hughes, who has been
researching the history of lead mines in the region for 40 years, said:
"The relationship between the locals and the Italians was very good.
"I don't
think there was anything serious or organised in the
area and what did happen, which was minor, has been embellished.
"I have a
diary of a Welsh miner from the time and there's no evidence of animosity
towards the Italians.
"They were not taking the jobs of local miners because the Italians
were doing the jobs the locals didn't want to do."
'Bickering' Miners in Spotlight
Claims
of industrial unrest and racial conflict between Welsh and Italian lead miners
in the early 20th Century could be examined in a TV drama.
BBC. News
Thursday,
12 July 2007
Producers claim
there was "constant bickering" after the Italians arrived at Frongoch near Aberystwyth in
1901.
TV producer Dafydd Llyr James said there was
evidence from police and newspaper reports from the time that problems between
the workers existed.
However, this is
disputed by one mining historian, who called it a myth.
Mr James, who is behind the
planned drama for production company Boomerang, said one police report showed
that more officers were sent to the mining area following a large-scale dispute
between miners.
There were even
reports of an explosion near where the Italians were billeted, he claimed.
Mr James, who is also an
historian, said: "I'm not saying all the Italians and Welsh didn't get on,
in fact, when they first arrived there was a big party and songs from both
cultures were sang.
"But over
time the constant bickering, misunderstandings due to the language difficulties
and cultural differences led to the mine closing."
But local
historian Simon Hughes claimed there was little or no animosity between the
Welsh and Italian miners, and locals even went out on strike with their foreign
colleagues over pay.
Mr Hughes, who has been
researching the history of lead mines in the region for 40 years, said:
"The relationship between the locals and the Italians was very good.
"I don't
think there was anything serious or organised in the
area and what did happen, which was minor, has been embellished.
"I have a
diary of a Welsh miner from the time and there's no evidence of animosity
towards the Italians.
"They were
not taking the jobs of local miners because the Italians were doing the jobs
the locals didn't want to do."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/
Ceredigion's
Italian Miners (edited)
Mid
and we've had a very specific question about some of the people
who used to work here.
Geraint from
"I'm doing
research on the Frongoch mine up by Pontrhydygroes. In 1900, the mine decided to employ 80
miners from
Angela got in touch to say my
ancestors lived in and worked the mines of Goginan and
Cwmbrwyno old lead mines:
"An ancestor
of mine (Dan Jones) wrote a small book in Welsh which I have had translated
into English. Dan was born at the end of 1888, the book was written a little
after the end of the Second World War, but recalls earlier times from the turn
of the century onwards.
I can not imagine
that there were many Italians in Bontgoch or the
mining areas at that time, [He mentions only one crippled (injured in
the mine) Italian organ Grinder with a Monkey that fascinated the villagers]
Giordano
Sivini from
The italian
miners came from
Geraint
ex Aber
I am surprised at
the term 'bickering miners'. Most of the disputes were directed at the company.
The Welsh strikes were based on the company's policy and working practices. The
Italians struck for the same reason. The Welsh animosity for the Italians was
based on their being allowed to work extra hours. Many Italians had left before
the strikes. One Italian was murdered, but it appears down to a bar-room brawl.
The police presence was precautionary and the Chief Constable actually praised
the conduct of the strikers. The perpetrators of the explosions were never
caught, although a search of the Italian barracks did locate some illicit
dynamite. This was however not surprising, breaches of the explosives act
appear to have been common practice in the mining belt in general. The mine was
fined for the insecurity of their stores. I fervently hope Boomerang do not
want to sensationalise the event by playing t he race
card, which may get in the way of research of the actual history. There are
precious few records of the events.
Eleri Davies, Penygroes, Carmarthenshire
There were a
number of different strikes but mainly about money and that the Italian miners
were given preference over the local men. In April 1900 there was trouble
because the Italian miners worked on Saturday afternoon and were also allowed
to work underground which attracted higher wages. They agreed not to work on
Saturday afternoon. There were further strikes in August and November - more
police were brought to the area because of all the problems. Finally in March
9th 1901, after 25 Welsh miners were laid off because of a slip in the mine,
there was a dynamite explosion near! the barracks
where the Italian miners were living. The Italian miners had been allowed to
continue working. On the following Wednesday there was an explosion near Cwmnewyddion the home of Captain Heine when several windows
were smashed, nobody was hurt in either incidents. On April 13 1901 part of the
l ander which carried water
from the leet to the top of the wheel used for
pumping was blown away. There are also reports of 6 Italians being attacked on
the way home form a public house in Pontrhydygroes.
Eleri Davies, Penygores, Carmarthenshire
By the time of
the 1901 census there were only 41 Italians living in the barracks on Frongoch itself. Not all of them were Italians some were of
Swiss origin. One died and is buried in Llantrisant
church which looks down onto the mine. However they worshiped at 'Capel Saeson' (The Chapel of the
English) which was an old Weslyan Methodist chapel
that had closed down. According to the sale catalogue, there were 72 beds in
the barracks so it's likely that some had already left before the census. Most
had left by April 1901, to north of
Steve Pitman, Stroud, Gloucestershire
My ancestors used
to own the Miners Arms Hotel in Pontrhydygroes. They
were there during the 1901 Census. This shows one of their borders was an
Italian mining engineer from
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/mid/sites/
history/pages/frongoch_mine.shtml
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