LEWIS
,
Sir
WILLIAM THOMAS
(
1837
-
1914
),
first B
ARON
M
ERTHYR
of S
ENGHENYDD
,
coal magnate
;
b.
5 Aug. 1837
, son of
Thomas William
Lewis
,
engineer
to the
Plymouth iron-works
(
Merthyr Tydfil
), was at school under
Taliesin
Williams
(q.v)
, but at 13 was articled to his father. In
1855
he became
assistant-engineer
in the service of the
Bute estate
, and in
1864
mineral agent
to that estate. In the same year he m.
Anne
, daughter of
WILLIAM
REES
, owner of
Llety-Shenkin colliery
,
Aberdare
(she d.
1902
); her grandfather,
ROBERT
THOMAS
(a
west Wales
man) had, in
1828
, opened at
Waun Wyllt
(
Abercanaid
) what seems to have been the first level for marketing household (as opposed to smelting) coal, and his widow,
LUCY
THOMAS
(‘
mother of the Welsh coal trade
’;
1781-27 Sept. 1847
) carried on his work, and later (with her son
WILLIAM
THOMAS
)
initiated the sale of Welsh steam coal
in
London
.
William
Thomas
opened the
Llety-Shenkin colliery
in
1843
, and his brother-in-law,
William
Rees
, afterwards took it over.
W. T.
Lewis
now, in addition to
managing the Bute pits
at
Treherbert
, launched out on his own account;
between 1870 and 1880
he acquired control of the pits (later known as ‘
Lewis Merthyr
’) in the lower
Rhondda
; he also
prospected
in the
Rhymney valley
, and
sank a pit
at
Senghenydd
in
1895
. In
1880
he became
acting trustee
to the
Bute estate
, and
greatly expanded its docks
at
Cardiff
. He grew to be a
dominating force in the South Wales coal and allied trades
. A tentative association of
Aberdare
coal-owners
set up by him in
1864-5
developed, in
1872
, into the ‘
South Wales and Monmouthshire Coalowners' Association
,’ in reply to the growth of trade unionism in the area and the frequent strikes. He himself claimed to have
originated the famous ‘sliding scale’ method of fixing wages
, but this claim has been disputed on behalf of
H. Hussey
Vivian
(
lord Swansea
)
(q.v.)
and others — see
Elizabeth
Phillips
,
Pioneers of the Welsh Coalfield
, 256-61. Granted his principles,
Lewis
may be called philanthropic; and though regarded as a hard man, he was frequently invoked as a
mediator in industrial disputes
. A
member of numerous royal commissions on matters concerned with coal-mining
, he also took part in the local government of his county and of the towns of
Merthyr Tydfil
and
Aberdare
. He was
knighted
in
1885
, made a
baronet
in
1896
, and raised to the
peerage
in
1911
. He had two sons and six daughters, one of whom m.
C. A. H.
Green
, later
archbishop
. He d.
27 Aug. 1914
.
Bibliography:
-
Who was who?
;
-
Elizabeth Phillips
, op. cit., especially chapter xxv.
Author:
Emeritus Professor Robert Thomas Jenkins, C.B.E., D.Litt., Ll.D.,
F.S.A., (1881-1969), Bangor
