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Notable Businesses

The Coal Industry

William Roderick

Samuel Rohde

Accident at Alfred Watney’s Gwendraeth Works Colliery

Originally it was coal that made Llanelli and the coal seams had descriptive names such as The Rosy Vein, The Fiery Vein, The Golden Vein and the Bushy. The earlier pits were merely outcrop workings but as science and technology progressed the workings went deeper and deeper.

1540 Leland’s Itinerary stated:

‘At Llanelthle a village of Kidwilli Lordship a VI Miles from Kiwelli, the Inhabitants digge Coles, elles scant in Kidwelli Land.’

‘There be 11 Maner of these Coles. Ring Coles for Smith be blowid and waterid.’

‘Stones Coles be sumtime waterid but never blowen. For blowing extingushit them.’

‘So that Vendwith-Vaur Coles be Stone Coles, Llanethle Coles Ring Colis.’

In other words Llanelli coal was bituminous and Gwendraeth was anthracite.

1618 Welsh coal was considered expensive being 6s 8d. per chaldron (1 ton 13cwt) instead of 3s. As a result an impost tax was levied on exported coals to keep the price down at home.

1709 John Rees paid Sir Thomas Stepney £11 11s 6d for Royalty on coals worked under his lands.

1727 Llanelli was said to have a thriving trade in coals and it was Samuel Rohde who first recognised the merits of the ‘Fiery vein’ and promoted the town greatly by doing so.

1771 A map of the Spitty district shows the area covered with old pits and old coal works.

1832 At a public meeting in Swansea to promote the repeal of the export tax, it was stated that it amounted to nearly 100% on the invoice value of the coal. The duty paid in 1832 was: at Swansea £544; at Llanelly £541; at Newport £368 and at Cardiff £67.

The growth of the foreign trade of Llanelli and other Welsh ports started after 1832.

1840 Llanelli had a long tradition of foreign trade especially in house coals exported to Norman and Breton ports and anthracite which was exported to other parts of the world. However, following the hostilities with France during the Napoleonic Wars the French trade did not really begin to accelerate until about 1840. There was a large import duty on coals entering France and the British Government placed a large duty on exported coals.

1902 According to John Innes in Old Llanelly, published in 1902, coal seams under the town proper were:

The Rosy Vein, about 2 ft thick

The Fiery vein, about 3 ft thick

The Gold or Cilfig Vein, about 2 ft thick

The Bushy, Furnace or Caereithin Vein, about 2 ft thick.

William Roderick

1738-1823

William Roderick was born in 1738 and lived at Myddynfych, Llandybie, Carmarthenshire. As early as 1770 he is known to have been involved in Llanelli’s developing coal industry. As an Agent to Lord Dinefwr and the Alltycadno Estate of the Clayton family, he knew the potential of the partly developed coalfield.

1794 William Roderick, is said to have left Llandeilo for Llanelli with his partner Griffith Bowen. Griffith Bowen and William Roderick were related by marriage. Griffith Bowen’s daughter Ann, married William Jones, Sarah Roderick’s brother which made William Roderick brother-in-law to William Jones.

William Roderick and Griffith Bowen obtained substantial coal leases for landunder Llanerch, Talsarnau and the Wern districts of Llanelli, from Sir John Stepney. The partnership took over the Collieries opened by John Allen (husband of Mary Stepney, daughter of Sir John Stepney 6th Baronet.

Roderick was ambitious and planned to erect copper or iron works, construct waterways and canals and to install engines to drain his colliery workings. He was anxious to exploit his resources and his connections with Thomas Bowen, a local industrialist who had considerable knowledge and expertise working the Llanelli coalfield. Roderick persuaded the 79 year old Bowen to consider entering into a partnership with him. It was finally agreed that Thomas Bowen and his widowed daughter Margaret Griffith would form a partnership with William Roderick.

The partnership re-opened a number of old pits previously worked by John Allen and possibly worked by Thomas Bowen himself. It invested heavily in their new coal mining enterprises but suffered several major setbacks, from which they were never to fully recover. However the English Industrialists were arriving and they were to take a great interest in the Partnership’s assets.

1805 Margaret Griffith, Bowen’s widowed daughter and business partner, married Henry Eaton, who later became one of the Trustees to the Burgesses and Collector of Customs in 1817.

The partnership of Roderick, Bowen and Eaton – which had started with such high hopes – was troubled by flooding in their pits and was forced to end its involvement with Llanelli’s coal mining industry.

1808 By May 24 1808, William Roderick was heavily in debt – due to his involvement in other failed ventures – and was declared a bankrupt. The same year he was forced to advertise his leasehold interest in Brynhafod and Brynhafod Mill, for sale and it was more than probable that at this time he moved to Bradbury Hall. Although William Roderick was declared insolvent, he was not completely ruined, and he and his family lived at Bradbury Hall until he died.

1823 William Roderick died on May 10 1823, aged 85, after suffering much pain.

Samuel Rohde

Major Samuel Rohde of Oakley Farm, Kent, was a London Merchant who introduced Llanelli coals to London and other major city markets. He also persuaded the Admiralty to test and then adopt Llanelli coals and was the person who initially ensured that the name of Fiery Vein was well known in the markets.