1866 Machynys Iron & Tinplate Company was incorporated on 13 February 1866 for the purposes of establishing a works on a site at Machynys near the New Dock. The company considered various proposals before abandoning their plans for their works at Machynys. Eight years later in 1874 the Burry Tinplate Company was formed and they erected their works on the site rejected by the Machynys Iron & Tinplate Company in 1866.

On 3rd March, shareholder William Rosser, who was a surveyor, reported to a shareholders’ meeting, that there were three possible sites available for the new works. Three other shareholders, Joseph Hepburn, John Bowen and Joseph Maybery were asked to examine each of the three available sites and to make a detailed report. These three men were well qualified to conduct the survey and make a report because Hepburn and Bowen were engineers, and Joseph Maybery was an experienced iron maker having been involved with the South Wales Foundry with his father (Joseph Maybery senior) and brother (John Maybery).

The Post Office Directory of 1866 stated that William Rosser Esq. a Civil Engineer who surveyed the coalfield, confidently calculated that the coal resources would last for 1790½ .years. Unless the ½ was a misprint, his calculations must have been very meticulous.

1869 The Board of Health, with William Rosser as Chairman, celebrated the opening of Quarry Mawr Waterworks, but locals suggested that it was a ‘palpable waste of money’.

A Petition was given to Charles William Nevill, at the Copperworks office, by the workers asking the company to continue supplying free coal. A public meeting was held at the Town Hall, chaired by William Rosser, Chairman of the Board of Health, to discuss plans for a new town railway which would start at St David’s Line. The railway would run between the Great Western Railway Crossing and Penyfan, passing over Tyisha Farm, crossing Wern Road and the adjacent Works. From Wern Road the railway would run to the upper part of the Bres Field, where a station would be built conveniently placed near the New Market.

1874 Burry Tinplate Limited, was established near New Dock at Machynys and had a reservoir capable of holding 2 million gallons of water. The major shareholders were William Rosser (Land Agent), Henry Rees (Colliery Proprietor), and John Powell (Iron Founder). The majority of the shareholders lived in Llanelli and the surrounding area.

1878 A Brass Plate at Parc Howard states:

Llanelly Board of Health

Cwm Lliedi Reservoir

Opened September 1878

John Beavan Phillips, Chairman

John Randell

David Evans

William Rosser

Charles William Nevill

Henry John Howell

Benjamin Jones

William Howell

Robert Margrave

Thomas Thomas

David Davies

Casamayor William Gausson

John Jennings, Clerk

Beardmore & Barnes, Engineers

Edwin Henry Douglas, Resident Engineer

Smith & Fawkes, Contractor

1882 By September of this year a tramway had been built and Colonel Hutchinson, a Board of Trade Inspector, inspected the new system before it was opened to the public. He expressed his approval of the scheme and declared it had passed his inspection and could be used before the certificate was received. The Guardian expressed concern that caution should be exercised before the public was allowed to use the tramway.

Many local children followed the tramcar up and down the line during a trial run when William Rosser (engineer), Mr W Howell (solicitor to the company), Captain Rees and John S Tregoning (chairman of the Board of Health) accompanied Colonel Hutchinson. Everything seemed to go well apart from the slow progress when angular turns were made. Any delays during the turning manoeuvre were made up on the level road. In order to celebrate the event, Mr F C Wimby, the contractor, invited some of the shareholders and their friends to a luncheon at the Stepney Arms Hotel at 4 pm. A grand spread of fish, fowl, flesh, sweets, etc. was provided by Mr and Mrs Isaac and a liberal supply of luxurious drinks and cigars followed the meal.

1890 Major changes in manufacturing methods forced iron to give way to steel and companies either closed their forges or opened steel plants.

The Old Lodge Works were restarted and the original shareholders all lived at Llanelli. They included Henry Rees, Thomas Herbert, William Rosser and Aaron Stone, large shareholders in the Burry Company, and John Powell of Glanmor, who was a major shareholder in the Western Company.

Newspaper Report