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Royal Glamorgan Light Infantry

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197-676: The Glamorganshire Militia , later the Royal Glamorgan Light Infantry , was an auxiliary regiment reorganised in the county of Glamorganshire in South Wales during the 18th Century from earlier precursor units. Primarily intended for home defence, it served in Britain and Ireland through all Britain's major wars and supported the civil powers in peacetime. It became a battalion of the Welsh Regiment in 1881, and saw active service in

394-412: A "reasonable" level of economic activity, and the anthracite coalfield in western Glamorgan (and eastern Carmarthenshire) also managed to maintain production and exports above pre-war levels. With the outbreak of World War II the coalfields of Glamorgan saw a sharp rise in trade and employment. Despite the demand the want for the youth to conscript in the war effort in the valley areas meant that there

591-481: A 200-string escort for a supply convoy to Schweizer-Reneke , whch fought off an attack on the outward journey. Returning to Vryburg the convoy was attacked by some 500 Boers for about 3 hours, and the escort suffered a number of casualties. From 2 to 26 January 1901 Lt-Col Perkins commanded a convoy escort to Kuruman , but Boer probes were driven off by the accompanying cavalry and artillery. Other convoys to Kuruman (13–19 April) and Takoon (5–15 July) were uneventful, but

788-474: A coastal region, it experiences a milder climate than inland. Swansea is exposed to rain-bearing winds from the Atlantic , also cooling summer temperatures. From 1804 until the 1920s, Swansea experienced continuous population growth. The 1930s and 1940s was a period of slight decline. In the 1950s and 1960s, the population grew and then fell in the 1970s. The population grew again in the 1980s only to fall again in

985-600: A community under the patronage of St. Peter's Gloucester . The building of parish churches also began in the 12th century, densely in the Vale, but very sparsely in the upland and northern areas. The Laws in Wales Acts of 1535 established the County of Glamorgan through the amalgamation of the Lordship of Glamorgan with the lordships of Gower and Kilvey ; the area that had previously been

1182-656: A detachment of 120 men of the 55th Foot and the Swansea Troop of the Glamorgan Yeomanry . Towards the end of the day about 8000 strikers assembled, and when they refused to disperse after the Riot Act had been read, the magistrates ordered the Yeomanry to disperse them. This they accomplished without bloodshed using only the flat of their swords, and around 30 arrests were made. The RGLI staff remained at Merthyr for 10 days, but

1379-475: A draft of 100 recruits who had completed their training, and a further draft of 88 men on 2 September. In early August the battalion left Prieska and together with the De Aar detachment went to Vryburg , where Lt-Col Perkins was appointed commandant and the battalion formed a small Mounted infantry (MI) detachment. There were frequent clashes between British and Boer patrols around Vryburg. In November 3 Welch provided

1576-607: A few months, about 100,000 people were converted. This revival in particular had a profound effect on Welsh society. Swansea is covered by the Swansea and Gower Methodist Circuit . The Ebenezer Baptist Church dates from November 1875 when the foundation stone was laid for Tabernacle chapel in Skinner Street. The first pastor, the Rev. J. D. Jones, was called in February 1876 and the new building

1773-472: A fleet of 500 oceangoing ships carrying out Welsh coal and bringing back metal ore from around the world. At that time most of the copper matte produced in the United States was sent to Swansea for refining. Smelters also processed arsenic, zinc, tin, and other metals. Nearby factories produced tinplate and pottery. The Swansea smelters became so adept at recovering gold and silver from complex ores that in

1970-402: A former county borough: West Glamorgan , Mid Glamorgan , South Glamorgan . The name also survives in that of Vale of Glamorgan , a county borough . Glamorgan comprised distinct regions: the industrial valleys , the agricultural vale and the scenic Gower Peninsula . The county had boundaries with Brecknockshire (north), Monmouthshire (east), Carmarthenshire (west), and to the south it

2167-404: A large Kuruman convoy (10–29 August) was fired on from a house flying a white flag and the 3rd Welsh's MI took some prisoners. On 29 September the 3rd Welsh moved from Vryburg to Kimberley from where small detachments were widely spread to man the line of blockhouses and to guard railways. The battalion was concentrated at Kimberley on 4 February 1902 and entrained for Cape Town, where it boarded

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2364-636: A large draft for other regiments, with Lt-Col Thrale Perkins of 3rd Bn Welsh acting as office commanding troops. Majestic reached Cape Town on 1 March and the battalion went by train to camp at De Aar . On 15 March it joined a flying column under Maj-Gen Lord Kitchener on a forced march to Prieska , but the Boers avoided combat. From Prieska 3rd Bn carried out convoy escorts and reconnaissances, and rounded up sheep. It maintained detachments at De Aar, Deelfontein and Kenhardt . The battalion's Maxim gun section arrived from Cardiff on 20 April, followed on 27 May by

2561-518: A large labour force – up to 200 men – suggestive of large communities nearby. Archaeological evidence from some Neolithic sites (e.g. Tinkinswood) has shown the continued use of cromlechi in the Bronze Age . The Bronze Age – defined by the use of metal – has made a lasting impression on the area. Over six hundred Bronze Age barrows and cairns , of various types, have been identified all over Glamorgan. Other technological innovations – including

2758-500: A larger Royalist to prevent a siege of Cardiff. The period between the Laws in Wales Acts and the industrialisation of Glamorgan saw two distinct periods architecturally. From the 1530s throughout to 1650, the newly empowered gentry attempted to show their status by building stately homes to show their wealth; but the period from 1650 through to the mid-1750s was a fallow time for architectural grandeur, with few new wealthy families moving to

2955-618: A local outcropping of coal near the surface, gave Swansea economic advantages in the smelting industry. Early iron smelting within Glamorgan was a localised and minor industry, with historical evidence pointing to scattered ironworks throughout the county. John Leland mentions a works at Llantrisant in 1539, an operation in Aberdare existed during the reign of Edward VI and two iron furnaces were recorded as being set up by Sir W. Mathew in Radyr during

3152-523: A mound of earth known as a round barrow ; sometimes with a distinctive style of finely decorated pottery – like those at Llanharry (discovered 1929) and at Llandaff (1991) – that gave rise to the Early Bronze Age being described as Beaker culture . From c. 3350 BP, a worsening climate began to make agriculture unsustainable in upland areas. The resulting population pressures appear to have led to conflict. Hill forts began to be built from

3349-540: A period under canvas it moved back into the barracks as winter quarters. In April 1804 the Glamorgans were one of 12 Welsh militia regiments awarded the prefix 'Royal', as the Royal Glamorgan Militia . The regiment was still at Pevensey Barracks during the summer of 1805, when Napoleon was massing his 'Army of England' at Boulogne for a projected invasion. With 432 men in 6 companies under Lt-Col Henry Knight, it

3546-575: A total population of 300,352, making it the third largest urban area in Wales and the 27th largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Over 218,000 individuals are white ; 1,106 are of mixed race ; 2,215 are Asian  – mainly Bangladeshi (1,015); 300 are black ; and 1,195 belong to other ethnic groups . The Office for National Statistics 2010 mid-year population estimate for the City & County of Swansea

3743-832: A tour of Wales. Swansea obtained the further right to have a Lord Mayor in 1982. Within the city centre are the ruins of the castle , the Marina, the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery , Swansea Museum , the Dylan Thomas Centre , the Environment Centre , and the Market , which is the largest covered market in Wales. It backs onto the Quadrant Shopping Centre , which opened in 1978, and the adjoining St David's Centre opened in 1982. Other notable modern buildings include

3940-706: A troop of 40 horse under Captain Martin Button Generally the militia declined in the long peace after the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. Jacobites were numerous amongst the Welsh Militia, but they did not show their hands during the Risings of 1715 and 1745 , and bloodshed was avoided. Under threat of French invasion during the Seven Years' War a series of Militia Acts from 1757 re-established county militia regiments,

4137-475: Is 232,500. In 2001, 158,457 people in the local authority area (71 per cent) stated their religion to be Christian , 44,286 (20 per cent) no religion , 16,800 (7.5 per cent) did not state a religion and 2,167 were Muslim . There are small communities of other religions, each making up a little under 1 per cent of the total population. Swansea is part of the Anglican Diocese of Swansea and Brecon and

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4334-555: Is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales . It forms a principal area , officially known as the City and County of Swansea (Welsh: Dinas a Sir Abertawe ). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in the United Kingdom . Located along Swansea Bay in south-west Wales, with the principal area covering the Gower Peninsula , it is part of the Swansea Bay region and part of

4531-614: Is also a dual carriageway for much of its route through Swansea. Other notable local roads include the A484 , which provides a link from Fforestfach west to Llanelli , and the A4118 , the main route westwards from the city centre across Gower to Port Eynon . Swansea railway station is served by two train operating companies : Bus routes in the area are operated predominantly by First Cymru , with smaller operators such as Adventure Travel , South Wales Transport and DANSA also operate some routes in

4728-649: Is complex, providing diverse scenery. The Gower Peninsula was the first area in the United Kingdom to be designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Apart from the southeast corner, the whole of the Gower Peninsula is within the AONB. Swansea has numerous urban and country parklands. The region has featured regularly in the Wales in Bloom awards. To the north are the Lliw uplands which are mainly open moorland, reaching

4925-519: Is derived from the Old Norse name of the original Viking trading post that was founded by King Sweyn Forkbeard ( c.  960 –1014). It was the name of the king, 'Svein' or 'Sweyn', with the suffix of '-ey' ("island"), referring either to a bank of the river at its mouth or to an area of raised ground in marshland. However, the Norse termination -ey can mean "inlet", and the name may simply refer to

5122-549: Is focused on a triangle defined by Gowerton , Gorseinon and Loughor along with the satellite communities of Penllergaer and Pontarddulais . About three-quarters of Swansea is on the coast—the Loughor Estuary , Swansea Bay and the Bristol Channel . The geology of the Gower Peninsula ranges from Carboniferous Limestone cliffs along its southern edge from Mumbles to Worm's Head and the salt-marshes and dune systems of

5319-402: The 7th millennium BP – the free standing megalithic structures supporting a sloping capstone (known as dolmens ) ; common over Atlantic Europe . Nineteen Neolithic chambered tombs (or long barrows ) and five possible henges have been identified in Glamorgan. These megalithic burial chambers, or cromlechi , were built between 6000 and 5000 BP, during the early Neolithic period,

5516-757: The 93rd Highlanders were struggling with rioters outside the Castle Inn where negotiations with the employers had broken down (the Merthyr Rising ). Rioters tried to disarm the Highlanders, who opened fire, killing and wounding many in the crowd, while suffering several wounded themselves. Reinforced by the RGLI detachment and the Cardiff troop of the Glamorgan Yeomanry, the Highlanders withdrew to Pen y Darren House . Next day

5713-522: The British Isles ), which the regular army increasingly saw as a prime source of recruits. They served in coast defences, manning garrisons, guarding prisoners of war, and for internal security, while their traditional local defence duties were taken over by the Volunteers and mounted Yeomanry . In an attempt to have as many men as possible under arms for home defence in order to release regulars, in 1796

5910-478: The Brown Lenox Chainworks , which during the 19th century was the town's main industrial employer. The largest change to industrial Glamorgan was the opening up of the South Wales coalfield , the largest continuous coalfield in Britain, which occupied the greater part of Glamorgan, mostly north of the Vale. The coalfield provided a vast range in quality and type, but prior to 1750 the only real access to

6107-630: The Council of State . At the same time the term 'Trained Band' began to disappear in most counties. Under the Commonwealth and Protectorate the militia received pay when called out, and operated alongside the New Model Army to control the country. By 1651 the militias of the South Welsh counties appear to have been combined, with the 'South Wales Militia' being ordered to rendezvous at Gloucester to hold

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6304-678: The Diocese of Llandaff became incorporated into the Province of Canterbury, the Bishop of Llandaff rebuilt over the small church with the beginnings of Llandaff Cathedral in 1120. In the western region of Morgannwg two monastic foundations were sited, a Savigniac house in Neath in 1130 and the Cistercian Margam Abbey in 1147. In the Vale a Benedictine monastery was founded in 1141, Ewenny Priory ,

6501-553: The Elizabethan era . By 1666 a furnace was in operation in Hirwaun and in 1680 a smelting hearth was established in Caerphilly . Despite the existence of these industries, the scale of production was small, and in 1740 the total output of iron from Glamorgan was reported at 400 tons per year. Glamorgan, now falling under the protection of the crown, was also involved in the conflicts of

6698-518: The General Strike of 1926 and then most disastrously the interwar depression of 1929–1931, which changed the face of industrial Glamorgan forever. In 1932, Glamorgan had an unemployment rate of more than 40 per cent, and one of the highest proportions of people receiving poor relief in the United Kingdom. This was a contrast with relatively recent prosperity: for example, in 1913 unemployment in Merthyr

6895-666: The Industrial Revolution . Glamorgan was the most populous and industrialised county in Wales, and was once called the "crucible of the Industrial Revolution", as it contained the world centres of three metallurgical industries (iron, steel and copper) and its rich resources of coal. Under the Local Government Act 1972 , the county boroughs and administrative county of Glamorgan were abolished on 1 April 1974, with three new counties being established, each containing

7092-614: The Late Pleistocene – at which time the cave overlooked an area of plain , some miles from the sea. From the end of the last ice age (between 12,000 and 10,000 BP) Mesolithic hunter-gatherers began to migrate to the British Peninsula – through Doggerland – from the European mainland . Archaeologist Stephen Aldhouse-Green notes that while Wales has a "multitude" of Mesolithic sites, their settlements were "focused on

7289-571: The Loughor estuary to the north. The eastern, southern and western coasts of the peninsula are lined with numerous sandy beaches both wide and small, separated by steep cliffs. The South Wales Coalfield reaches the coast in the Swansea area. This had a great bearing on the development of the city of Swansea and other nearby towns such as Morriston. The inland area is covered by large swathes of grassland common overlooked by sandstone heath ridges including

7486-605: The Mansels at Margam , Williams of Neath , the Herberts at Cardiff and Swansea, Sir David Ap Mathew of Llandaff, and the Stradlings of St Donats . The main industry of Glamorgan during this period was agriculture. In the upland, or Blaenau area, the hilly terrain along with many areas being densely wooded, made arable farming unprofitable, so the local farming concentrated on the rearing of horses, cattle and sheep. The lowland, or Bro

7683-675: The Marina . In the Second World War , Swansea's industrial importance made it a target of German bombing; much of the town centre was destroyed during the Swansea Blitz on the 19, 20 and 21 February 1941 (the Three Nights Blitz ). ) In 1969, Swansea was granted city status to mark Prince Charles 's investiture as the Prince of Wales . The Prince made the announcement on 3 July 1969 during

7880-531: The Marquess of Bute with the intention of erecting buildings to meet the administrative, legal and educational needs of Glamorgan's county town. From 1901 onwards, Cathays Park was developed into "possibly the finest... civic centre in Britain" with a range of public buildings including the Baroque City Hall and the rococo -style University College . The majority of Nonconformist chapels were built in

8077-521: The Roman Catholic Diocese of Menevia . The Catholic see is based in Swansea at St. Joseph's Cathedral in the Greenhill area. Swansea, like Wales in general, has seen many Non-conformist religious revivals . In 1904, Evan Roberts , a miner from Loughor (Llwchwr), just outside Swansea, was the leader of what has been called one of the world's greatest Protestant religious revivals. Within

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8274-753: The Second Boer War . Transferring to the Special Reserve in 1908 it trained thousands of reinforcements for that regiment during World War I . After a shadowy postwar existence, the militia was disbanded in 1953. The universal obligation to military service in the Shire levy was long established in England and was extended to Wales. King Henry VIII called a 'Great Muster' in 1539, which showed 1000 men available for service in Glamorgan, of whom only 29 had 'harness', and there were only seven horsemen. The legal basis of

8471-447: The Tawe valley also became a location for the manufacture of nickel after Ludwig Mond established a works at Clydach in 1902. Even at its peak, copper smelting was never as significant as iron smelting, which was the major industrial employer of men and capital in south Wales before the rise of the sale-coal industry. Ironmaking developed in locations where ironstone , coal and limestone were found in close proximity – primarily

8668-423: The Uplands area. Around 160 people in Swansea indicated they were Jewish in the 2011 census. The following table shows the religious identity of residents residing in Swansea according to the 2001, 2011 and the 2021 censuses: The M4 motorway , with junctions 44 to 47, bypasses Swansea, replacing the A48 as the main east–west route. Both the M4 and the A48 connect with Neath , Port Talbot and Cardiff to

8865-430: The historic county of Glamorgan and the ancient Welsh commote of Gŵyr. The principal area is the second most populous local authority area in Wales, with an estimated population of 241,282 in 2022. Swansea, along with Neath and Port Talbot , forms the Swansea Urban Area , with a population of 300,352 in 2011. It is also part of the Swansea Bay City Region . During the 19th-century industrial heyday, Swansea

9062-524: The terrace house or miners cottage, railway stations, hospitals, churches, chapels, bridges, viaducts, stadiums, schools, universities, museums and workingmen's halls. As well as the architecture of Glamorgan entering modernity , there was also a reflection to the past, with some individuals who made the most from the booming industrial economy restoring symbols of the past, building follies and commissioning Gothic-style additions to ancient churches. Robert Lugar 's Cyfarthfa Castle in Merthyr (1825) and

9259-472: The wheel ; harnessing oxen ; weaving textiles ; brewing alcohol ; and skillful metalworking (producing new weapons and tools, and fine gold decoration and jewellery, such as brooches and torcs ) – changed people's everyday lives during this period. Deforestation continued to the more remote areas as a warmer climate allowed the cultivation even of upland areas. By 4000 BP people had begun to bury, or cremate their dead in individual cists , beneath

9456-461: The 'Active Army', even though these formations were entirely theoretical, with no staff or services assigned. The RGLI was assigned to 2nd Brigade of 3rd Division, IV Corps in Ireland. The intention had been to raise a second militia battalion for the brigade district, and on 1 April 1880 the RGLI was increased from eight to twelve companies, but it was never expanded to a second battalion. The Childers Reforms took Cardwell's reforms further, with

9653-402: The 'Constitutional Force' to counterbalance a 'Standing Army' tainted by association with the New Model Army that had supported Cromwell's military dictatorship. Sir Edward Mansel, 4th Baronet was appointed a commissioner of militia in Glamorgan in 1660, and was a colonel of foot from 1665. The militia forces in the Welsh counties were small, and were grouped together under the direction of

9850-456: The 1800s they received ore concentrates from the United States, for example from Arizona in the 1850s, and Colorado in the 1860s. The city expanded rapidly in the 18th and 19th centuries, and was termed "Copperopolis". From the late 17th century to 1801, Swansea's population grew by 500%—the first official census (in 1841) indicated that, with 6,099 inhabitants, Swansea had become significantly larger than Glamorgan 's county town, Cardiff , and

10047-420: The 1990s. In the 21st century, Swansea is experiencing a small amount of population growth; the local authority area had an estimated population of 228,100 in 2007. However, by the 2021 census, this population growth has reversed its trend very slightly with the population declining by 0.2% Around 82% of the population were born in Wales and 13% born in England; 13.4% were Welsh speakers. The population of

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10244-440: The 19th century. They progressed from simple, single-storey designs to larger and more elaborate structures, most built in the classical style. Perhaps the most ambitious chapel was John Humphrey's Morriston Tabernacle (1872), incorporating Classical, Romanesque and Gothic elements, which has been called the 'Noncomformist Cathedral of Wales'. Industrial architecture tended to be functional, although some structures, such as

10441-424: The 1st Bn and the Severn Volunteer Infantry Brigade. In 1897 the training was at Cowshot Camp, near Brookwood, Surrey , and the battalion participated in divisional field days at Aldershot with other militia and regular battalions. In 1898 battalion training was held at Slwch near Brecon , while the 1899 training was carried out at Bulford Camp on Salisbury Plain as part of a full division. As relations with

10638-665: The 2004 local elections until the 2012 council elections saw the council return to Labour control. For 2009/2010, the Lord Mayor of Swansea was Councillor Alan Lloyd, and in 2010/2011 Richard Lewis was the Lord Mayor. The Lord Mayor changes in May each year. The Senedd constituencies are: The city also falls under the South Wales West regional constituency which is served by Tom Giffard ( Conservative ), Sioned Williams ( Plaid Cymru ), Altaf Hussain (Conservative) and Luke Fletcher (Plaid Cymru). The UK parliamentary constituencies covering Swansea and their MPs are: Swansea may be divided into four physical areas. The geology

10835-427: The 20th century, heavy industries in the town declined, leaving the Lower Swansea Valley filled with derelict works and mounds of waste products from them. The Lower Swansea Valley Scheme (which still continues) reclaimed much of the land. The present Enterprise Zone was the result and, of the many original docks, only those outside the city continue to work as docks; North Dock is now Parc Tawe and South Dock became

11032-417: The 8th-century king Morgan ab Athrwys, otherwise known as "Morgan Mwynfawr" ('great in riches') who united Glywysing with the neighbouring kingdoms of Gwent and Ergyng , although some have argued for the similar 10th-century ruler Morgan Hen . It is possible it was only the union of Gwent and Glywysing that was referred to as Morgannwg. By virtue of its location and geography, Morgannwg or Glywysing

11229-417: The Act of Union, allowed the leading Welsh families to gain in wealth and prosperity, allowing equal footing to those families of English extraction. Old monasteries, with their lands, were acquired by the wealthy and turned into country houses; their notable residents preferring to live in gentry houses rather than the fortified castles of the past. Major families in Glamorgan included the Carnes at Ewenny ,

11426-416: The Act, militia units could be embodied by Royal Proclamation for full-time service in three circumstances: The RGLI was rapidly revived, with recruitment well advanced by early 1853. The regiment's 900 recruits assembled at Cardiff on 20 May 1853 for 28 days' training under the permanent staff supported by instructors from the 73rd Foot and 85th Foot . Some of the men were housed in Longcross Barracks, but

11623-404: The American coal miners' strike. Cardiff Docks reached an exporting peak in 1923, but soon production fell and unemployment in the upland valleys began to increase at a dramatic rate. Between April 1924 and August 1925 the unemployment rate amongst South Wales miners jumped from 1.8% to 28.5%. Several factors came together to cause this collapse, including the over-valuation of sterling, the end of

11820-441: The American flag was raised, and the king was cursed. A 50-man detachment of the Glamorgans preserved the peace in Lancaster, behaving well under serious provocation. Their commander, Lieutenant Jenkins, showed considerable skill in restoring quiet. On 17 and 18 September 1781 Major-General Styles inspected the regiment in two 'divisions' at Preston and Wigan . He reported the regiment as looking well and being fit for service, but

12017-435: The BT Tower (formerly the GPO tower) built around 1970, Alexandra House opened in 1976, County Hall opened in July 1982. Swansea Leisure Centre opened in 1977; it has undergone extensive refurbishment which retained elements of the original structure and re-opened in March 2008. The City and County of Swansea local authority area is bordered by unitary authorities of Carmarthenshire to the north, and Neath Port Talbot to

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12214-431: The Bedfordshires. The Irish Rebellion of 1798 led to legislation being passed to allow British militia units to volunteer for service in Ireland : the Glamorgan Militia was one of those that volunteered and was accepted. In May 1799 it marched from Kent to Portsmouth , where on 15 June it was embarked on the transports Hebe and Dictator for passage to Cork . On arrival it marched to Fermoy , where it remained for

12411-535: The Boer Republics deteriorated in the autumn of 1899, the militia were warned for embodiment. The Second Boer War broke out on 12 November and 3rd Battalion, Welsh Regiment, was ordered out on 21 November. Due to limited barrack space only 55 men per company (a total of 660) were embodied, on 4 December. The companies were then sent to their war stations: A draft of 189 Militia Reservists was sent on 16 December from Pembroke Dock by rail to Southampton . Next day it embarked on SS Avoca and sailed to South Africa to join

12608-401: The British output of copper . The industry was developed by English entrepreneurs and investors such as John Henry Vivian and largely based in the west of the county, where coal could be purchased cheaply and ores imported from Cornwall , Devon and later much further afield. The industry was of immense importance to Swansea in particular; in 1823 the smelting works on the River Tawe , and

12805-481: The Bronze Age, it was not until non- ferrous metalworking became a major industry in the late 17th century that Glamorgan saw a concentration of works appearing in a belt between Kidwelly and Port Talbot. Smelting of copper started around Neath under the Mines Royal Society c.  1584 but the scale of the works increased dramatically from the early 18th century when Swansea displaced Bristol as Britain's copper smelting capital. Easy access to Cornish ores and

13002-438: The Central Regiment trained at Cardiff and Cowbridge. The Local Militia proved less popular that the Volunteers, and few men chose to re-engage when their four years' service expired in 1812; they were replaced by balloted men. However, in 1814 200 mainly balloted men of the Central Regiment volunteered for guard duty at Stapleton Prison, outside their county. The Eastern and Central Regiments carried out their last training in 1814,

13199-426: The Glamorgan coast – e.g., Burry Holms (Gower Peninsula). Excavations at one – Dunraven hill fort ( Southerndown , Vale of Glamorgan) – revealed the remains of twenty-one roundhouses . Many other settlements of the Silures were neither hill forts nor castles. For example, the 3.2-hectare (8-acre) fort established by the Romans near the estuary of the River Taff in 75 AD, in what would become Cardiff,

13396-462: The Glamorgan men found service in England very disagreeable, and in the autumn of 1778 the men whose enlistments were due to expire the following summer declared that they were not willing to re-engage. `The Lord Lieutenant of Glamorgan, Lord Mount Stuart , who was also the regimental colonel, suggested that they should be allowed two months at home in exchange for re-enlisting, and 150 did eventually rejoin. From 1780 Lord Mount Stuart's second-in-command

13593-428: The Government created the Supplementary Militia, a compulsory levy of men to be trained for 20 days a year in their spare time, and to be incorporated in the Regular Militia in emergency. Glamorgan's new quota was fixed at 622 men, and in April 1797 the Glamorgan Militia sent a party back from Kent to Cardiff to train the embodied Glamorgan supplementaries (who were to be encouraged to join the 44th Foot ). In January 1798

13790-484: The Gower Peninsula was not under the Lordship of Glamorgan, and became the Gower Lordship which had previously been the cantref of Gŵyr . The lowlands of the Lordship of Glamorgan were manorialized, while much of the sparsely populated uplands were left under Welsh control until the late 13th century. Upon the death of William, Lord of Glamorgan , his extensive holdings were eventually granted to Gilbert de Clare in 1217. The subjugation of Glamorgan, begun by Fitzhamon,

13987-438: The Great Depression because of the high proportion of its workforce employed in primary production rather than the manufacture of finished products. Other parts of Britain began to recover as domestic demand for consumer products picked up, but unemployment in the South Wales Valleys continued to rise: the jobless rate in Merthyr reached 47.5 per cent in June 1935. However, the coastal ports, Cardiff and Swansea, managed to sustain

14184-576: The Late Bronze Age (and throughout the Iron Age (3150–1900 BP)) and the amount and quality of weapons increased noticeably – along the regionally distinctive tribal lines of the Iron Age. Archaeological evidence from two sites in Glamorgan shows Bronze Age practices and settlements continued into the Iron Age. Finds from Llyn Fawr , thought to be votive offerings , include weapons and tools from

14381-574: The Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age. The hoard, described as "one of the most significant prehistoric metalwork hoards in Wales" has given its name to the Llyn Fawr Phase , the last Bronze Age phase in Britain. Excavations at Llanmaes , Vale of Glamorgan, indicate a settlement and "feasting site" occupied from the Late Bronze Age until the Roman occupation . Until the Roman conquest of Britain ,

14578-628: The Lord President of the Council of Wales . As Lord President, the Duke of Beaufort carried out a tour of inspection of the Welsh militia in 1684, when the Glamorganshire contingent consisted of a regiment of foot and one troop of horse under the command of his sons the Marquess of Worcester and Lord Arthur Somerset. In 1697 it consisted of 483 foot in nine companies under the command of Sir Edward Mansel, and

14775-767: The North Somerset coastal beacons, guarding Stapleton Prison, and manning the Avon forts, as well as providing town guards at Bristol. In November the Milford Haven detachment was relieved by the Royal Pembroke Militia and rejoined HQ at Bristol. By now the regiment was well short of its establishment of 483 (six companies), many men having transferred to the Regulars, and the regiment was allowed to recruit volunteers 'by beat of drum' in Glamorgan and surrounding counties. While

14972-444: The RGLI this was with the 41st (Welsh) and 69th (South Lincolnshire) Regiments, which were to be linked in No 24 Brigade Sub-District covering the counties of Pembroke, Carmarthen and Glamorgan. Brigade HQ was at Cardiff but the depot was initially at Fort Hubberstone , Pembrokeshire. From 1873 the annual training for the RGLI was held in a tented camp at Maindy Field in Cardiff. The site

15169-415: The RGLI was more active than most regiments. In mid-October 1816 a series of strikes at the ironworks of South Wales led to the permanent staff of the RGLI being called out to aid the civil power. The adjutant, Capt Ray, led his 24 armed sergeants and buglers by coach to Merthyr Tydfil , reporting to the magistrates at the Castle Inn on 18 October. Ray organised a defence and later in the day was reinforced by

15366-582: The Regular Militia were the mainstay of national defence during the Napoleonic Wars, they were supplemented from 1808 by the Local Militia, which were part-time and only to be used within their own districts. These were raised to counter the declining numbers of Volunteers, and if their ranks could not be filled voluntarily the militia ballot was employed. Even though Glamorgan's quote was 2418 – six times

15563-490: The Rhondda grew from 3,035 in 1861 to 55,632 in 1881, peaking in 1921 at 162,729. Much of this population growth was driven by immigration . In the ten years from 1881 to 1891, net migration to Glamorgan was over 76,000, 63 percent of which was from the non-border counties of England – a proportion that increased in the following decade. Until the beginning of the 18th century, Glamorgan was almost entirely agriculture based. With

15760-537: The River Tawe, the manor of Kilvey beyond the Tawe, and the peninsula itself. In the following years, Henry built Swansea Castle c.  1106 , and minted coins bearing the names Swensi , Sweni and Svenshi c.  1140 . Swansea was designated chief town of the lordship and received its first borough charter sometime between 1158 and 1184 from William de Newburgh, 3rd Earl of Warwick . This charter contains

15957-528: The Swansea built-up area within the unitary authority boundaries in 2011 was about 179,485 and the council population was 238,700. The other built-up areas within the unitary authority are centred on Gorseinon and Pontarddulais. In 2011, the Gorseinon built-up area had a population of 20,581 and the Pontarddulais built-up area had a population of 9,073. The wider urban area , including most of Swansea Bay , has

16154-770: The Victorian terrace of Cardiff or the ribbon cottages of the valleys. Several of these projects were failures architecturally and socially. Of note were the Billybanks estate in Penarth and Penrhys Estate (Alex Robertson, Peter Francis & Partners) in the Rhondda, both described by Malcolm Parry , the former Head of the School of Architecture at Cardiff University, as "...the worst examples of architecture and planning in Wales." Swansea Swansea ( / ˈ s w ɒ n z i / SWON -zee ; Welsh : Abertawe [abɛrˈtawɛ] )

16351-575: The War Office rather than their county lords lieutenant and by now the battalions had a large cadre of permanent staff (about 30). Around a third of the recruits and many young officers went on to join the regular army. Under the 'Localisation of the Forces' scheme introduced by the Cardwell Reforms of 1872, the militia were brigaded with their local regular and volunteer battalions on 1 April 1873. For

16548-639: The Welsh Regiment. The CO, Lt-Col Gould, offered the services of the battalion for the Anglo-Egyptian War then in progress, but the offer was not taken up. In April 1888 the battalion was again increased to 12 companies, but once again no 2nd battalion was formed. The Martini-Henry rifles were replaced (except for recruits) by the Lee–Metford in June 1895. That summer the battalion trained at Porthcawl alongside

16745-639: The Western in 1815, in which year the regiments were stood down. The Local Militia was disbanded in 1816. In March 1812 the Royal Glamorgan Militia was converted to the Light infantry role, entailing changes to its uniform and training, and it became the Royal Glamorgan Light Infantry (RGLI). In June that year it left Bristol and marched to the East Coast of England, where it was stationed at North Yarmouth for

16942-454: The addition of part of the former Lliw Valley Borough. The new authority received the name City and County of Swansea ( Welsh : Dinas a Sir Abertawe ). Swansea was once a staunch stronghold of the Labour Party which, until 2004, had overall control of the council for 24 years. The Liberal Democrats were the largest group in the administration that took control of Swansea Council in

17139-567: The adjutant, 11 NCOs and four buglers, accommodated at the St Mary Street Armoury. The regimental band was privately funded by the colonel, the Marquess of Bute , and gave weekly public concerts in the grounds of his residence, Cardiff Castle . The militia ballot was enforced for the last time in March 1831 during another period of industrial unrest. It was unpopular in South Wales because of

17336-509: The area that would become known as Glamorgan was part of the territory of the Silures – a Celtic British tribe that flourished in the Iron Age – whose territory also included the areas that would become known as Breconshire and Monmouthshire . The Silures had hill forts throughout the area – e.g., Caerau ( Cardiff ), Caerau hill fort, Rhiwsaeson ( Llantrisant ), and Y Bwlwarcau [Mynydd Margam], south west of Maesteg – and cliff castles along

17533-405: The area. Of the eight major gentry houses of the time only St Fagans Castle survives with its interior intact; five, Neath Abbey, Old Beaupre Castle , Oxwich Castle , Llantrithyd and Ruperra Castle are ruinous. Of the remaining two manors, The Van at Caerphilly was reconstructed in 1990 while Cefnmabli was gutted by a fire in 1994. The old castles became abandoned throughout this period due to

17730-505: The burial mound at Cillibion and the hill fort at Cil Ifor. There are also the remains of a Roman villa also on the Gower peninsula. The area that would become Swansea was known as the Cantref Eginog in ancient times, located on the eastern edge of the cwmwd (commote) of Gwyr, the easternmost cantref of Ystrad Tywi . This area was noted for its valuable land and was highly contested by

17927-698: The cantref of Gwynllwg was lost to Monmouthshire . With Wales finally incorporated with the English dominions, the administration of justice passed into the hands of the crown. The Lordship became a shire and was awarded its first parliamentary representative with the creation of the Glamorganshire constituency in 1536. The Reformation , which was closely followed by the Dissolution of the Monasteries , led to vast social changes across Britain. These events, along with

18124-405: The centre of Swansea from its northern suburbs. Cefn Bryn , a ridge of high land, is the backbone of the Gower Peninsula. Rhossili Down, Hardings Down and Llanmadoc Hill are up to 193 metres (633 ft) high. The highest point is located Penlle'r Castell at 374 metres (1,227 ft) on the northern border with Carmarthenshire . Swansea has a temperate oceanic climate ( Cfb ). As part of

18321-507: The century progressed, symbols of the past industrial period were torn down and replaced with industrial estates populated by unadorned geometric factories. With concrete becoming the favourite post-war building material, larger office blocks began appearing within the cities, though few were of any architectural significance. Despite entering a fallow period of architectural design, several structures of note did emerge. Although work began in 1911, The National Museum of Wales (Smith and Brewer)

18518-523: The chain of signal stations across Devon and Somerset . It then moved into Cornwall , with the main body at Pendennis Castle , Falmouth, from 7 May, where it was joined by the signal post guards once they had been relieved by the North Hants Militia . By June 1810 the regiment had relieved the Lancashire Militia at Bristol, with a detachment at Milford Haven . The duties included maintaining

18715-462: The city centre towards the north, south and west; along the coast of Swansea Bay to Mumbles ; up the Swansea Valley past Landore and Morriston to Clydach ; over Townhill and Mayhill to Cwmbwrla , Penlan , Treboeth and Fforestfach ; through Uplands , Sketty, Killay to Dunvant ; and east of the river from St. Thomas to Bonymaen , Llansamlet and Birchgrove . A second urbanised area

18912-677: The city during the Worcester campaign . Bussey Mansell was nominated as a colonel of militia in 1655, and to command the whole militia of South Wales in 1659 during Sir George Booth 's Cheshire Rising . After the Restoration of the Monarchy , the Militia was re-established by the Militia Act 1661 under the control of the king's lords lieutenant, the men to be selected by ballot. This was popularly seen as

19109-525: The coal subsidy, the growth of electric power, the adoption of oil as the fuel of choice for many industries, and over-expansion of the mines in the late nineteenth century. The Welsh coal owners had failed to invest mechanisation during the good years, and by the 1930s the South Wales Coalfield had the lowest productivity, highest production costs and smallest profits of all Britain's coal-producing regions. These structural problems were followed by

19306-672: The coastal plains", the uplands were "exploited only by specialist hunting groups". Human lifestyles in North-West Europe changed around 6000 BP; from the Mesolithic nomadic lives of hunting and gathering, to the Neolithic agrarian life of agriculture and settlement. They cleared the forests to establish pasture and to cultivate the land and developed new technologies such as ceramics and textile production. A tradition of long barrow construction began in continental Europe during

19503-516: The coastline during this period. Archaeological evidence shows that humans settled in the area during an interstadial period . The oldest known human burial in Great Britain – the Red Lady of Paviland – was discovered in a coastal cave between Port Eynon and Rhossili , on the Gower Peninsula. The 'lady' has been radiocarbon dated to c. 29,000  years before present (BP) – during

19700-421: The collieries and shipping dependent on them, supported between 8,000 and 10,000 people. Imports of copper ores reached a peak in the 1880s, after which there was a steep fall until the virtual end of the trade in the 1920s. The cost of shipping ores from distant countries, and the growth of foreign competitors, ended Glamorgan's dominance of the industry. Some of the works converted to the production of zinc and

19897-402: The copper plants of Swansea. In 1828 the South Wales coalfield was producing an estimated 3 million tons of coal, by 1840 that had risen to 4.5 million, with about 70 percent consumed by local commercial and domestic usage. The 1840s saw the start of a dramatic increase in the amount of coal excavated within Glamorgan. Several events took place to precipitate the growth in coal mining, including

20094-537: The corner of St Mary Street and Wharton Street in Cardiff, which became known as The Armoury, and housed the permanent staff and weapons. The regiment was embodied for fulltime service on 4 January 1761, now under the command of Earl Talbot . The regiment was marched from Cardiff to be stationed at Bideford , North Devon , but once it reached Bristol its destination was changed, and it went into barracks at Topsham , near Exeter in South Devon, until May. By June 1762

20291-703: The crown. With the start of the First English Civil War , there was little support from the Welsh for the Parliamentarians. Glamorgan sent troops to join Charles I at the Battle of Edgehill , and their Member of Parliament Sir Edward Stradling was captured in the conflict. In the Second English Civil War , the war came to Glamorgan at the Battle of St Fagans (1648), where the New Model Army overcame

20488-588: The date, and the King's South Africa Medal with two date clasps. It was also awarded the Battle honour South Africa 1900–02 . Glamorganshire Glamorgan ( / ɡ l ə ˈ m ɔːr ɡ ən / ), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( Welsh : Morgannwg [mɔrˈɡanʊɡ] or Sir Forgannwg [ˈsiːr vɔrˈɡanʊɡ] ), was one of the thirteen historic counties of Wales in the south of Wales . Originally an early medieval petty kingdom of varying boundaries known in Welsh as Morgannwg (or Glywysing ), which

20685-537: The demand. The richest source for steam coal was the Rhondda Valleys, and by 1856 the Taff Vale Railway had reached the heads of both valleys. Over the next fifty years the Rhondda would grow to become the largest producer of coal of the age. In 1874, the Rhondda produced 2.13 million tons of coal, which rose to 5.8 million tons by 1884. The coal now produced in Glamorgan far exceeded the interior demand, and in

20882-666: The discovery of steam coal in the Cynon Valley , the building of a large masonry dock at Cardiff and the construction of the Taff Vale Railway . In 1845, after trials by the British Admiralty , Welsh steam coal replaced coal from Newcastle-upon-Tyne as the preferred fuel for the ships of the Royal Navy . Glamorgan steam coal quickly became a sought-after commodity for navies all over the world and its production increased to meet

21079-518: The disembodied militia was recalled for garrison duty. In April the RGLI was ordered to recruit up to strength, and it was embodied at Cardiff on 7 July. On 12 August the regiment set out for Swansea, but was re-routed to Bristol. On 8 September the RGLI and the Worcestershire Militia were ordered to embark in transports from Bristol to Waterford in Ireland. Disembarking on 20 September, the RGLI

21276-664: The duties included manning the chain of Martello towers and providing working parties for the Royal Staff Corps engaged in military engineering, such as the Royal Military Canal . While at Hythe the regiment volunteered for active service; while this offer was not accepted, large numbers of the men transferred to the regiments of the line, the Royal Staff Corps and other services. Napoleon abdicated in April 1814, and with

21473-402: The earliest reference in English to Sweynesse and gave it the status of a borough , granting the townsmen (called burgesses ) certain rights to develop the area. In 1215 King John granted a second charter, in which the name appears as Sweyneshe . A town seal which is believed to date from this period names the town as Sweyse . Another charter was granted in 1304. From the early 1700s to

21670-582: The early Welsh kingdoms. During the Viking Age , the mouth of the Tawe became a focus for trade, and a trade post may have been founded sometime between the 9th and 11th centuries. The settlement remained under Welsh control until the Norman Invasion of Wales , when Iestyn ap Gwrgant ceded the settlement as part of the new Lordship of Gower to Henry de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Warwick in the early 1100s. The Lordship included land around Swansea Bay as far as

21867-565: The east and Carmarthen to the west. The A483 dual carriageway links the city centre with the motorway at junction 42 to the east and junction 47 to the north-west. On departing Swansea to the north, the A483 multiplexes with the A48 before continuing through mid Wales and terminating at Chester . The A4067 connecting Mumbles with the city centre and continuing up the Swansea Valley towards Brecon

22064-401: The east. The Urban Subdivision of Swansea covers all urbanised areas within the city boundary, with a population of 179,485, it is considerably smaller than the unitary authority. The local government area is 378 square kilometres (146 sq mi) in size, about 2% of the area of Wales. It includes a large amount of open countryside and a central urban and suburban belt. In 1887, Swansea

22261-643: The first of them about 1500 years before either Stonehenge or the Egyptian Great Pyramid of Giza was completed. Two major groups of Neolithic architectural traditions are represented in the area: portal dolmens (e.g. St Lythans burial chamber ( Vale of Glamorgan ), and Cae'rarfau (near Creigiau )); and Severn-Cotswold chamber tombs (e.g. Parc Cwm long cairn , ( Parc le Breos Cwm , Gower Peninsula), and Tinkinswood burial chamber ( Vale of Glamorgan )), as well as tombs that do not fall easily into either group. Such massive constructions would have needed

22458-546: The following year, but recovered thereafter. The permanent staff were also employed as instructors with the new Rifle Volunteers . The Militia Armoury and Store was moved from the Old Guild Hall in 1860 to a new site at Blackweir, while the men assembled for training were accommodated at Longcross Barracks or in billets. The Militia Reserve introduced in 1867 consisted of present and former militiamen who undertook to serve overseas in case of war. From 1871 The militia came under

22655-467: The foothills of the Black Mountain range. To the east is the coastal strip around Swansea Bay . Cutting through the middle from the south-east to the north-west is the urban and suburban zone stretching from the Swansea city centre to the towns of Gorseinon and Pontarddulais . The most populated areas of Swansea are Morriston , Sketty and the city centre . The chief urbanised area radiates from

22852-521: The formation, disappearance, and reformation of glaciers which, in turn, caused sea levels to rise and fall. At various times life has flourished, at others the area is likely to have been completely uninhabitable. Evidence of the presence of Neanderthals has been discovered on the Gower Peninsula . Whether they remained in the area during periods of extreme cold is unclear. Sea levels have been 150 metres (490 ft) lower and 8 metres (26 ft) higher than at present, resulting in significant changes to

23049-639: The former St. Andrew's United Reformed Church. This would replace the existing central Mosque on St Helens Road and be in addition to the other three existing mosques (Swansea University Mosque, Hafod Mosque, Imam Khoei Mosque). Swansea is represented in Buddhism with the Dharmavajra Kadampa Buddhist Centre, Pulpung Changchub Dargyeling (Kagyu Tradition) and a branch of the international Dzogchen Community (Nyingma Tradition). Swansea Synagogue and Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall are both located in

23246-492: The four-storey engine house at Cyfarthfa Ironworks (1836), were built to impress. Coal mining eventually became the dominant industry in Glamorgan and tall winding towers – originally made of timber or cast iron, later steel – became symbolic icons. After the First World War, there was an initial drop in coal and iron production, there was still enough demand to push the coalfields to their limits, helped by events such as

23443-675: The fruitless Siege of Gloucester , which was relieved by the Earl of Essex on 5 September. The two regiments may then have marched with the Royal Army in pursuit of Essex and been engaged at the First Battle of Newbury , where Mansel was killed. A third regiment recruited from Glamorgan participated in the same campaign: commanded by Richard Donnell, it may have recruited volunteers from the Glamorgan TBs. Bassett's regiment may have been at Cardiff when it

23640-464: The great ironworks, Penydarren Ironworks was built in 1784. These works made Merthyr Tydfil the main centre of the industry in Wales. As well as copper and iron, Glamorgan became an important centre for the tinplate industry. Although not as famous as the Llanelli or Pontypool works, a concentrated number of works emerged around Swansea, Aberavon and Neath towards the late 19th century. Glamorgan became

23837-443: The industrialisation of the county, farming became of far less importance, with industrial areas encroaching into farming lands. In Glamorgan, from the late 19th century, there was a significant reduction away from arable land towards pasture land. There were two main factors behind this trend; firstly the increase in the population of the county required more milk and other dairy produce, in an age before refrigeration. Secondly there

24034-516: The invention of the reverbatory furnace in the late 1600s, copper smelting could use coal rather than the more expensive charcoal. At the same time, the mines of Cornwall were increasing copper production. Swansea became the ideal place to smelt the Cornish copper ores, being close to the coalfields of South Wales and having an excellent port to receive ships carrying Cornish copper ore. Because each ton of copper ore smelted used about three tons of coal, it

24231-429: The late 1800s, Swansea was the world's leading copper-smelting area. Numerous smelters along the River Tawe received copper and other metal ores shipped from Cornwall and Devon, as well as from North and South America, Africa, and Australia. The industry declined severely in the late 1800s, and none of the smelters are now active. The port of Swansea initially traded in wine, hides, wool, cloth and later in coal. After

24428-478: The late 19th century additions to Cardiff Castle , designed by William Burges , exemplify how Gothic was the favoured style for rich industrialists and entrepreneurs. Greek Revival architecture , popularised in France and Germany in the late 18th century, was used for a number of public and educational buildings in Wales including the Royal Institution of South Wales in Swansea (1841) and Bridgend Town Hall (1843). In 1897, Cardiff Corporation acquired land from

24625-420: The later half of the 19th century the area became a mass exporter for its product. In the 1890s the docks of South Wales accounted for 38 percent of British coal exports and a quarter of global trade. Along with the increase in coal production came a very large increase in the population, as people emigrated to the area to seek employment. In Aberdare the population grew from 6,471 in 1841 to 32,299 in 1851 while

24822-399: The likelihood of the militia being used in support of the civil power against strikers. The RGLI assembled at Cardiff for 28 days' training from 12 May, with very few men having any previous military experience. On 3 June the regiment's permanent staff and a detachment of militiamen under training were despatched under Lt-Col Richard Morgan of Llandough Castle to Merthyr, where a detachment of

25019-402: The linked battalions forming single regiments. From 1 July 1881 the 41st and 69th Regiments became the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Welsh Regiment , with the RGLI forming the 3rd (Royal Glamorgan Militia) Battalion. The 3rd Battalion had previously been armed with the Snider Rifle ; at its 1882 training it was re-equipped with Martini–Henry rifles, and the uniform had been altered to that of

25216-546: The lower-grade ore could not support transportation to Swansea. The Swansea and Mumbles Railway was built in 1804 to move limestone from the quarries of Mumbles and coal from the Clyne valley to Swansea and to the markets beyond. It carried the world's first fare-paying rail passengers on the same day the British Parliament abolished the transportation of slaves from Africa. It later moved from horse power to steam locomotion, and finally converting to electric trams, before closing in January 1960, in favour of motor buses. Through

25413-417: The majority were billeted in inns and lodging houses around the town. The drill ground was Cardiff Arms Field and the armoury and store was at the Old Giold Hall. The 1852 Act also introduced Militia Artillery, and a separate Royal Glamorgan Artillery Militia was formed as a new unit at Swansea at the end of 1854. War having broken out with Russia and an expeditionary force sent to the Crimea in 1854,

25610-433: The men being conscripted by means of parish ballots (paid substitutes were permitted) to serve for three years. There was a property qualification for officers, who were commissioned by the lord lieutenant. An adjutant and drill sergeants were to be provided to each regiment from the Regular Army , and arms and accoutrements would be supplied when the county had secured 60 per cent of its quota of recruits. Glamorganshire

25807-469: The men's training was below average because they had been dispersed in quarters for a long time. Their movements were slow, the men aimed too high when firing volleys, the officers looked unmilitary, and the NCOs were too old. However, the drums and fifes were well played. By summer 1782 the regiment was back in South Wales, quartered at Swansea. On 29 July it was ordered to march via Bristol, Bridgwater , Exeter, Tavistock and Truro to Falmouth , where it

26004-408: The militia obligation was universal, it was clearly impractical to train and equip every able-bodied man, so after 1572 the practice was to select a proportion of men for the Trained Bands , who were mustered for regular training. In the 16th Century little distinction was made between the militia and the troops levied by the counties for overseas expeditions. However, the counties usually conscripted

26201-422: The militia was called out to take over garrison and defence duties at home. The RGLI was embodied on 4 January 1855 and was billeted in Cardiff, where there were numerous reports of drunkenness and street fighting. Over 100 men decline to re-engage when their term of enlistment expired, and a further 169 volunteered to transfer to the regulars by May, with others following later. There were a number of desertions, and

26398-425: The militia was updated by two acts of 1557 covering musters ( 4 & 5 Ph. & M. c. 3) and the maintenance of horses and armour ( 4 & 5 Ph. & M. c. 2). The county militia was now under the Lord Lieutenant , assisted by the Deputy Lieutenants and Justices of the Peace (JPs). The entry into force of these Acts in 1558 is seen as the starting date for the organised Militia of England and Wales . Although

26595-407: The militia, though officers continued to be commissioned: following the death of the Marquess of Bute, Charles Kemeys-Tynte , MP, formerly lt-col of the West Somerset Yeomanry , was appointed colonel of the RGLI on 4 January 1849. He was joined on 3 April that year by Lt-Col J.N. Lucas and Maj Sir Charles Morgan, 3rd Baronet , formerly of the Glamorgan Yeomanry . The Militia of the United Kingdom

26792-411: The most populous and industrialised county in Wales and was known as the 'crucible of the Industrial Revolution'. Other areas to house heavy industries include ironworks in Maesteg (1826), tinplate works in Llwydarth and Pontyclun and an iron ore mine in Llanharry . Alongside the metalworks, industries appeared throughout Glamorgan that made use of the works' output. Pontypridd was well known for

26989-453: The mouth of the river. The area around Swansea has a unique archaeological history dating back to the Palaeolithic . Finds at Long Hole Cave on the Gower Peninsula have been interpreted as those of the first modern humans in Britain, and the same area is also home to the oldest ceremonial burial in Western Europe, discovered at Paviland in 1823 and dated to 22,000 BC. The area also has many Bronze Age and Iron Age sites, such as

27186-421: The new security brought by Glamorgan coming under the protection of the crown, with only the Stradlings of St Donat's Castle electing to remain in their old ancestral home. By the 17th century, the availability of fine building stone permitted the construction of high-quality lime-washed rural cottages and farmhouses in the Vale of Glamorgan, which drew favourable remarks from travellers. A Glamorgan yeoman of

27383-428: The northern and south-western parts of the South Wales coalfield . In the second half of the 18th century four ironworks were built in Merthyr Tydfil . In 1759 the Dowlais Ironworks were established by a partnership of nine men. This was followed by the Plymouth Ironworks in 1763, which was formed by Isaac Wilkinson and John Guest , then in 1765 Anthony Bacon established the Cyfarthfa Ironworks . The fourth of

27580-420: The number of the county's Regular Militia – there was no difficulty in obtaining men willing to transfer from the Volunteers, and only about 90 men were required by ballot. The men were divided into three regiments that began their service on 24 September 1808: The regiments began their first training in April and May 1809, the Eastern Regiment at Cardiff, the Western and Central Regiments at Swansea; subsequently

27777-416: The presence of the regulars allowed them to return to Cardiff. In March 1818 the permanent staff were deployed to prevent looting of a cargo ship wrecked at Aberthaw , and in May that year they prevented a riot in Cardiff. Militia ballots were periodically held but the regiments were only assembled for training in 1821, 1825 and 1831. Meanwhile, the permanent staffs were reduced in 1829: the RGKI now had only

27974-543: The present day though many are now ruinous. Of the castles built during the medieval period, those still standing above foundation level include, Caerphilly Castle , Cardiff Castle , Ogmore Castle , St Donat's Castle , St Quintins Castle , Coity Castle , Neath Castle , and Oystermouth Castle . Many of the castles within Morgannwg were attacked by forces led by Owain Glyndŵr during the Welsh Revolt of 1400–1415. Some were captured, and several were damaged to such an extent they were never maintained as defences again. When

28171-475: The prisoners of war at Stapleton Prison . It also provided considerable numbers of recruits to the regiments of the line. On 10 January 1808 the Royal Glamorgans marched out of Bristol for Exeter, where in June it was brigaded with the South Devon Militia and Exeter Infantry Volunteers at a camp on Broad Clyst Common. Early in 1809 the regimental HQ was at Tiverton with detachments across Devon at Exeter, Crediton , Pensington and other places, including guards on

28368-469: The prominent Cefn Bryn . The traditional agricultural landscape consists of a patchwork of fields characterised by walls, stone-faced banks and hedgerows. Valleys cut through the peninsula and contain rich deciduous woodland . Much of Swansea is hilly, with the main area of upland being located in the council ward of Mawr . Areas up to 185 metres (607 ft) in elevation range across the central section: Kilvey Hill , Townhill and Llwynmawr separate

28565-424: The regiment was back in Glamorgan, with four companies quartered in Swansea and the remainder in Cardiff. The Swansea companies went by sea to Cardiff, and then the whole was shipped across to Bristol. In September a number of the militiamen got into a fight with local butchers and sailors in St Nicholas Street, in which two sailors were killed and others on both sides wounded. Several were imprisoned and one militiamen

28762-418: The regiment was further reduced in September when 165 men were given leave to help with the harvest. Although the RGLI volunteered to serve in overseas garrisons and was rumoured to be going to the West Indies, the regiment did not leave Cardiff during its embodiment, which ended on 27 May 1856 From 1858 the militia regularly assembled for their annual training. The RGLI only mustered 250 men in 1858, and fewer

28959-416: The regiment was stationed at Wells, Somerset , with a detachment at Frome . It the marched to Kent where it joined the Dover Garrison on 16 June. In October it moved to Canterbury for winter quarters. The French Revolutionary Wars saw a new phase for the English militia: they were embodied for a whole generation, and became regiments of full-time professional soldiers (though restricted to service in

29156-478: The region are early stone monuments, waypoints and grave markers dating between the 5th and 7th century, with many being moved from their original position to sheltered locations for protection. The most notable of the early stone markers still in its original place is on a high mountain ridge at Gelligaer . Of the later plaitwork patterned standing crosses the finest and best preserved is the 9th century 'Houelt' stone at Llantwit Major . The Lordship of Glamorgan

29353-421: The regulars at the front. On 8 January 1900 a second embodiment was carried out at Maindy Baracks, providing 190 other ranks to replace the Militia Reserve draft. On 17 January the battalion volunteered for active service, and reorganised into the standard eight-company field establishment. The battalion left Pembroke Dock aboard two trains on 12 February and at Southampton was embarked on the RMS Majestic with

29550-483: The rest of the year under the command of Col Awbery. During the year a number of men from the regiment volunteered to transfer to the Regular Army, reducing its strength to about 400 men. On 22 December the Glamorgans marched to Dublin , where they provided a guard on the Parliament buildings when the Act of Union was passed. In May 1800 the regiment took passage for Liverpool and marched back to Cardiff and then via Swansea to Pembrokeshire . Regimental headquarters (HQ)

29747-420: The rioters gave way and were dispersed by the Yeomanry without further casualties. In 1835–6 the permanent staffs of militia regiments were further educed, and all weapons except those of the staff were withdrawn. The RGLI was not directly involved in the Chartist disturbances of 1839–40, but the permanent staff were involved in training special constables . After 1831 neither ballots nor training were held for

29944-405: The seams was through bell pits or digging horizontally into a level where the seam was exposed at a river bank or mountainside. Although initially excavated for export, coal was soon also needed for the smelting process in Britain's expanding metallurgical industries. Developments in coal mining began in the north-eastern rim of Glamorgan around the ironworks of Merthyr and in the south-west around

30141-419: The strikers ambushed two detachments of Yeomanry but withdrew from Pen y Darren House on seeing that it was well guarded. However, on 6 June they again approached the house and refused to disperse when the Riot Act was read. The magistrates thereupon handed over to Lt-Col Morgan who, giving the words of command slowly and clearly, ordered the Highlanders and Militia to load, and the Yeomanry to draw sabres. At this

30338-413: The summer. In September it marched into Kent to winter quarters at Ramsgate , with a company at Margate and a detachment at Westgate . On 31 December it moved to Canterbury, where it stayed in 1813 with a detachment at Ashford. There was a large garrison at Canterbury, and regiments were regularly exercised. In November 1813 the regiment was relieved at Canterbury and joined the garrison at Hythe , where

30535-462: The supplementaries joined the regiment at Ashford, Kent . On 8 July 1798 a general order was issued to form temporary battalions from the flank companies (Grenadier and Light companies) of militia regiments in the Southern District. The Grenadier Company of the Glamorgans joined those of the Bedfordshire , Denbighshire , Derbyshire, Middlesex and Northamptonshire Militia in the 3rd Grenadier Battalion at Shoreham-by-Sea , commanded by Lt-Col Payne of

30732-452: The time generally lived in greater comfort than his contemporaries of the more westerly or upland parts of Wales such as Cardiganshire or north Carmarthenshire . From the mid-18th century onwards, Glamorgan's uplands underwent large-scale industrialisation and several coastal towns, in particular Swansea and later Cardiff , became significant ports. From the late 18th century until the early 20th century Glamorgan produced 70 per cent of

30929-416: The trained bands beyond securing the county armouries for their own full-time troops. Most of Wales was under Royalist control for much of the war, and was a recruiting ground for the King's armies. In 1642 Sir Anthony Mansel was the Royalist governor of Cardiff with a garrison drawn from the Glamorgan TBs. From August 1643 Mansel and Sir Richard Bassett, each with a regiment of Glamorgan TBs, were engaged in

31126-410: The transport Lake Erie for home. The battalion arrived at Maindy Barracks on 8 March where the men were presented with their campaign medals and paid off as the 3rd Welsh was disembodied. During the campaign it had suffered either 31 or 35 men killed in action or died of disease. The medals awarded were the Queen's South Africa Medal with clasps for 'Cape Colony', 'Orange Free State', 'Transvaal' and

31323-404: The unemployed and criminals rather than send the trained bandsmen. Between 1585 and 1602 Glamorgan supplied 970 men for service in Ireland and 30 for the Netherlands . The men were given three days' 'conduct money' to get to Chester , the main port of embarkation for Ireland. Conduct money was recovered from the government, but replacing the weapons issued to the levies from the militia armouries

31520-432: The uplands and in the coastal regions, reflecting the increasing population and the need for new cheap housing to accommodate the hundreds of thousands of workers coming into the area. As the towns urbanised and the hamlets became villages, the trappings of modern life were reflected in the buildings required to sustain new and growing communities. The period saw the appearance, not only of the works and pits themselves, but of

31717-419: The war ending the militia recruiting parties were ordered to cease their activity. The regiment marched back to Bristol, where it was engaged in escorting French prisoners from Stapleton to Portsmouth. It then marched back to Cardiff where on 25 June the men were paid off and it was disembodied. Napoleon escaped from Elba in 1815 and the war was resumed. To relieve the regulars for the Waterloo campaign some of

31914-433: The west end and a single gothic church to the east end. It was originally built as a place of worship for Norwegian sailors when they visited the UK. It was relocated to Swansea in 1910 at a site directly opposite the Sainsbury's supermarket on the River Tawe. The city is home to 10% of the total Welsh Muslim population; Swansea's Muslim community is raising money to open a new central mosque and community centre in

32111-412: Was threatened with invasion by the Americans' allies, France and Spain. The militia were called out, and the Glamorgans assembled on 26 March. Shortly afterwards they were marched to Warley Camp in Essex , where a division of Regular and Militia battalions was concentrated and exercised together, the Glamorgans being part of the 'Reserve of the Left'. Because of the differences in culture and language,

32308-450: Was Lt-Col Sir Herbert Mackworth, 1st Baronet , MP for Cardiff . At the end of the training at Warley the regiment returned to winter quarters at Cardiff. Early in 1780 it joined the Bristol Garrison until May when it was relieved by the Monmouthshire Militia and was ordered north to Lancashire . At the time Lancaster and Preston were disturbed by the ' No Popery ' agitation: there was unauthorised military drilling among young men,

32505-458: Was a heavy cost on the counties. With the passing of the threat of invasion, the trained bands declined in the early 17th Century. Later, King Charles I attempted to reform them into a national force or 'Perfect Militia' answering to the king rather than local control. The Glamorgan Trained Bands of 1638 consisted of 400 men armed with 200 muskets and 200 Corslets (body armour, signifying pikemen ). They also mustered 36 horse.< Glamorganshire

32702-480: Was a shortage of workers to run the mines; this in turn saw the introduction of the Bevin Boys , workers conscripted to work in the mines. During the war both Cardiff and Swansea were targets for German air attacks due to their important docks. After the First World War, Glamorgan, as was typical for Britain as a whole, entered a period of modernity, which saw buildings built and designed for functionality rather than splendour with period features watered down. As

32899-404: Was a township at the mouth of the river Tawe, covering 4,562 acres (1,846 hectares) in the county of Glamorgan . There were three major extensions to the boundaries of the borough: the first in 1835, when Morriston , St Thomas , Landore , St John-juxta-Swansea and part of Llansamlet parish were added; again in 1889, when areas around Cwmbwrla and Trewyddfa were included; and when the borough

33096-441: Was already being embodied when Revolutionary France declared war on Britain on 1 February 1793. The warrant for calling out the Glamorgan Militia was issued on 2 February. Under Col Lord Mount Stuart (son of the previous colonel, who was now Earl of Bute) the regiment marched to Plymouth to begin garrison duty. Mount Stuart died on 22 January 1794, and Lt-Col Richard Awbrey of Ash Hall assumed active command on 21 April. By May 1796

33293-421: Was an employment shortage in farming due to the call of better paid industrial work, and pastoral land was less work intensive. Stock rearing became prominent with breeds such as Hereford , Devon and Shorthorn cattle being bred in the Vale of Glamorgan, while the unenclosed wilds of the Gower saw Welsh Ponies bred on the commons. The industrial period of Glamorgan saw a massive building program throughout

33490-423: Was applied was the University Hospital of Wales (S.W. Milburn & Partners). Begun in the 1960s, and completed in 1971, the building is the third largest hospital in the United Kingdom and the largest in Wales. It was designed to bring the care of patients, research and medical teaching together under one roof. The demands of modern living saw the growth of housing estates throughout Glamorgan, moving away from

33687-607: Was below 2 per cent and the borough had 24,000 miners. By 1921, the number of employed miners had fallen to 16,000, and in 1934, it was down to 8,000. Steel production was no less depressed than the coal industry. The inter-war years saw the closure of the old Cyfarthfa and Dowlais works, as steel-making became increasingly concentrated in the coastal belt. Both the coal and steel industries were increasingly dominated by large amalgamations, such as Powell Duffryn and Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds . The smaller companies progressively disappeared. Glamorgan suffered disproportionately during

33884-453: Was bordered by the Bristol Channel . The total area was 2,100 km (811 sq mi). Glamorgan contained two cities, Cardiff , the county town and from 1955 the capital city of Wales, and Swansea . The highest point in the county was Craig y Llyn (600 metres (1,969 ft)) near the village of Rhigos in the Cynon Valley . Glamorgan's terrain has been inhabited by humankind for over 200,000 years. Climate fluctuation caused

34081-557: Was built over an extensive settlement established by the Silures in the 50s AD. The region originated as an independent petty kingdom named Glywysing , believed to be named after a 5th-century Welsh king called Glywys , who is said to have been descended from a Roman Governor in the region. Saint Paul Aurelian was born in Glamorgan in the 6th century. The names Morgannwg ( Morgan + territorial suffix -wg , 'territory of Morgan') and Glamorgan ( gwlad + Morgan , 'land of Morgan') reputedly derive from

34278-467: Was described as "Wales' finest interwar building". Although functionality often deprived a building of interest, Sully Hospital (Pite, Son & Fairweather) is an example of a building which gained from its functional requirements. Initially built for tubercular patients, whose cure required the maximum amount of light and air, the functional architecture left a striking glass-fronted building, completed in 1936. Another hospital to which functionalism

34475-404: Was devoted to more general branches of farming, cereal, grass for pasture, hay and stock raising. Non-agricultural industries were generally small scale, with some shallow coal pits, fulling mills , weaving and pottery-making. The main heavy industry of note during this period was copper smelting, and this was centred on the towns of Swansea and Neath. Although copper had been mined in Wales since

34672-471: Was due to migration from within and beyond Wales—in 1881 more than a third of the borough's population had been born outside Swansea and Glamorgan, and just under a quarter outside Wales. Copper smelting at Swansea declined in the late 1800s for a number of reasons: copper mining in Cornwall declined; the price of copper dropped from £112 in 1860 to £35 in the 1890s; in the early 1900s, mining shifted to lower-grade copper deposits in North and South America, and

34869-480: Was enlarged in 1918 to include the whole of the ancient parish of Swansea, the southern part of Llangyfelach parish, all of Llansamlet parish, Oystermouth Urban District and Brynau parish. In 1889, Swansea attained county borough status and it was granted city status in 1969, which was inherited by the Swansea district when it was formed by the merger of the borough and Gower Rural District in 1974. In 1996, Swansea became one of 22 unitary authorities with

35066-433: Was established at Haverfordwest , with detachments spread around the county. The regiment remained there throughout 1801. Hostilities ended with the Treaty of Amiens on 27 March 1802, and the Glamorgan Militia returned to Cardiff to be disembodied. However, the Peace of Amiens was short-lived and Britain declared war on France once more in May 1803. The Glamorgan Militia had already been re-embodied in April, and by June it

35263-421: Was established by Robert Fitzhamon following the defeat of Iestyn ap Gwrgant , c.  1080 . The Lordship of Morgannwg was split after it was conquered; the kingdom of Glamorgan had as its caput the town of Cardiff and took in the lands from the River Tawe to the River Rhymney. The Lordship took in four of the Welsh cantrefi , Gorfynydd , Penychen , Senghenydd and Gwynllwg . The area later known as

35460-407: Was finally completed by the powerful De Clare family, and in 1486 the kingdom was granted to Jasper Tudor . The legacy of the Marcher Lords left the area scattered with historic buildings including Norman castles, Cistercian Abbeys , churches and medieval monuments. The kingdom of Glamorgan was also notable for the number of castles built during the time of the Marcher Lords , many surviving to

35657-407: Was given a quota of 360 men to raise. The county's arms were issued in January 1760 and the men assembled in two parts at Cardiff and Swansea on or shortly after 19 January. The regiment was organised as seven companies including a Grenadier Company, with Sir Edmond Thomas, 4th Baronet of Wenvoe Castle , appointed as lieutenant-colonel commandant. Its headquarters (HQ) was established at a house on

35854-526: Was lost to Parliament in 1645. Donnell was governor of Swansea when that was also captured that year. Mansell's regiment may have been taken over by his stepson Bussey Mansell , who in 1645 briefly joined the anti-war Glamorgan ' Clubmen ' or 'Neutrals' before defecting to Parliament and being appointed commander of the Parliamentary forces in Glamorgan. Once Parliament had established full control in 1648 it passed new Militia Acts that replaced lords lieutenant with county commissioners appointed by Parliament or

36051-446: Was more economical to ship the copper ore to Wales rather than sending the coal to Cornwall. The first copper smelter at Swansea was established in 1717, followed by many more. Once smelting was established, the smelters began receiving high-grade ore and ore concentrates from around the world. More coal mines opened to meet demand from northeast Gower to Clyne and Llangyfelach . In the 1850s Swansea had more than 600 furnaces, and

36248-413: Was not completed until 1927 due to the First World War. Designed to reflect sympathetically in dimensions with its neighbouring city hall, the dome-topped museum combines many architectural motifs with Doric columns at its facade, while internally a large entrance hall with stairs, landings and balconies. Percy Thomas ' Guildhall in Swansea, an example of the 'stripped modernist' style completed in 1936,

36445-402: Was opened in July that year. The church was served by a number of ministers until 1911 when the Rev. R. J. Willoughby came to the church. The church has an organ by Harrison & Harrison . The Norwegian Church is a Grade II listed building in the docklands area of the city. The church building was originally located at Newport Docks . The building consists of a Seaman 's Mission to

36642-436: Was ordered to send 200 men overland to Newcastle upon Tyne for the Second Bishops' War of 1640. However, substitution was rife and many of those sent on this unpopular service would have been untrained replacements. Control of the militia was one of the areas of dispute between Charles I and Parliament that led to the English Civil War . When open war broke out between the King and Parliament, neither side made much use of

36839-423: Was revived by the Militia Act 1852 , enacted during a period of international tension. As before, units were raised and administered on a county basis, and filled by voluntary enlistment (although conscription by means of the militia ballot might be used if the counties failed to meet their quotas). Training was for 56 days on enlistment, then for 21–28 days per year, during which the men received full army pay. Under

37036-404: Was sent to Youghal , where it took up its station on 8 October. On 26 January 1816 it moved to Clonmel , where it was stationed until ordered back to England on 22 April. It embarked at Cobh of Cork on 29 April, arriving back at Bristol on 6 May. It was then marched back to Cardiff and disembodied on 17 May 1816. There was another long peace after Waterloo and the militia were neglected, though

37233-452: Was stationed at Winchester in Hampshire , later moving to the encampment at Stokes Bay , Gosport , here it was reinforced with supplementary militiamen. That winter it was quartered nearby at Haslar . It left in March 1804 and moved along the South Coast, with short periods iof duty at Southbourne , Eastbourne and other places before arriving at Pevensey Barracks on 22 June. Here it was kept on high alert for anti-invasion duties. After

37430-445: Was stationed with the Royal Carnarvonshire Militia , forming part of Brigadier-General Moore Disney 's brigade. In November 1805 the regiment left Pevensey for winter quarters at Hailsham . It then moved to Horsham , and then in May 1806 marched to Bristol. There, as well as duties with the garrison brigade, the regiment provided detachments to help man the guns in the Shirehampton and Avonmouth forts, and guards and escorts for

37627-436: Was the key centre of the copper-smelting industry, earning the nickname Copperopolis . The Welsh name , Abertawe , translates as mouth/estuary of the Tawe and this name was likely used for the area before a settlement was established. The first written record of the Welsh name for the town itself dates from 1150 and appears in the form Aper Tyui . The name Swansea , pronounced /ˈswɒnzi/ (Swans-ee, not Swan-sea),

37824-457: Was the second most populous town in Wales behind Merthyr Tydfil (which had a population of 7,705). However, the census understated Swansea's true size, as much of the built-up area lay outside the contemporary boundaries of the borough; the total population was actually 10,117. Swansea's population was later overtaken by Merthyr in 1821 and by Cardiff in 1881, although in the latter year Swansea once again surpassed Merthyr. Much of Swansea's growth

38021-514: Was the second part of Wales, after Gwent, to fall under the control of the Normans and was frequently the scene of fighting between the Marcher Lords and Welsh princes. The earliest buildings of note included earthwork dykes and rudimentary motte-and-bailey hillside defences. All that remains of these fortifications are foundations that leave archaeological evidence of their existence, though many were built upon to create more permanent defensive structures. The earliest surviving structures within

38218-438: Was then invaded and taken over by the Normans as the Lordship of Glamorgan . The area that became known as Glamorgan was both a rural, pastoral area, and a conflict point between the Norman lords and the Welsh princes. It was defined by a large concentration of castles. After falling under English rule in the 16th century, Glamorgan became a more stable county, and exploited its natural resources to become an important part of

38415-543: Was then used for the new Maindy Barracks opened in 1877 as the depot for the linked regiments. The RGLI closed its Blackweir stores and moved to the depot, which included quarters for the permanent staff. Although often referred to as brigades, the sub-districts were purely administrative organisations, but in a continuation of the Cardwell Reforms a mobilisation scheme began to appear in the Army List from December 1875. This assigned Regular and Militia units to places in an order of battle of corps, divisions and brigades for

38612-420: Was to be stationed. The Treaty of Paris ended hostilities in 1783, and the militia was stood down. The Glamorgans marched back to South Wales and were disembodied at Cardiff. From 1784 to 1792 the militia ballot was used to keep up the numbers and the regiments were assembled for their 28 days' annual peacetime training, but to save money only two-thirds of the men were actually mustered each year. The militia

38809-507: Was tried for murder. Two other privates of the regiment were convicted of taking bribes to let French prisoners of war out of prison in Knowle, Bristol , and one was sentenced to be shot. However, the war was ending, and in December the regiment was marched back to Cardiff. There it was disembodied, the weapons being returned to store and the men paid off and dismissed to their homes, to be called out for periodic training. The American War of Independence broke out in 1775, and by 1778 Britain

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