What was life like in Swansea, Wales in the late 1800's and early 1900's?
My great great grandfather was born in Milton Damerel, Devonshire, England He married a young lady from Monkleigh, Devonshire, England. Between the 1871 and 1881 censuses they moved with several of their children to Swansea, Glamorganshire, Wales. On the 1881 Wales census his occupation is listed as a "laborer in steel works". I am interested to learn what life was like in the area during the late 1800's and early 1900's in the Swansea area.
Thank you for your help,
Eileen
Antworten
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One source of information about the area is the newspaper. The National Library of Wales has newspapers online. The Cambrian, for example, is available for 1804-1910.
Swansea Museum has a brief history online with topics to explore in more depth http://www.swanseamuseum.co.uk
They also have a collection of pamphlets relating to the social history of the area.
Researching the address where your relatives lived, you may then find out what conditions they lived under (there were slum areas that were later demolished, for example). The address may also lead you to the church they attended and local schools with their histories.
If you contact Swansea Museum or the National Library of Wales, they may direct you to some publications that will give you a brief overview of your topic of interest.
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There are several books I know of that may be of interest. I'll list two here and suggest that we create a list in the FamilySearch wiki and add a link on this page. That will allow us to create a growing list as additional sources are discovered.
- Our Welsh Mother's Land: Chapters in Welsh Women's History 1830-1939 edited by Angela V. John
- Life as We Have Known It edited by Margaret Llewelyn Davies (especially pages 67-72: In A Mining Village by Mrs. F. H. Smith)
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Carol, Thank you-good leads.0
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Darris, Thank you. I’ll check these out. Adding a book list to the Wiki and linking it from Community sounds like a great idea.0