Rhondda Blue Plaques

RHONDDA VALLEYS

James Murphy – Treharne Drive, Pentre

James Patrick "Jimmy" Murphy (27 October 1910 - 14 November 1989) was a football player and later a manager. He played more than 200 times for West Bromwich Albion and made an appearance in the 1935 FA Cup Final. He also briefly played for Swindon Team and also called up to the Welsh national football team during the 1930s.

During the Second World War, Murphy was giving a speech about football to a band of troops, and in attendance was Matt Busby. Busby was so impressed that, upon his appointment as manager of Manchester United, he made Murphy the first signing of his tenure at the club. In his role as assistant manager, it was Murphy's responsibility to scout and train the young footballers who were to become the "Busby Babes", which included the likes of Duncan Edwards and Bobby Charlton.

After the Munich air disaster of 6 February, 1958, he temporarily took over as manager while Matt Busby recovered from his injuries and, having assembled a substitute team, steered United to the FA Cup final. Murphy had not been on the fatal flight because he had been away managing the Welsh team in a World Cup qualifying game. Murphy managed Wales at the 1958 FIFA World Cup Finals, when they reached the quarter-finals in their only appearance in a World Cup. They lost 0-1 to Brazil (the eventual winners), to a goal by the young Pele.

Despite being approached to manage Brazil, Juventus and Arsenal, he remained as assistant manager at Old Trafford until 1971.

Pendyrus Male Choir – Ty Ebenezer, Tylorstown

Formed in 1924, Pendyrus Male Choir has performed at all the major venues throughout the British Isles as well as undertaking extensive tours abroad. Previously a champion of competition, the choir has not competed since 1968. Under the direction of the late Glynne Jones MBE the choir maintained much of the traditional repertoire but also achieved an enviable reputation for broadening its horizons.

They explored 16th century Italian church music and lesser-known works by classical composers, and became acknowledged for their performance of contemporary British, European and American compositions. They also commissioned works by several Welsh composers. This wide-ranging repertoire has earned the choir frequent performances with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, with international soloists and under the direction of distinguished conductors. It is also the only Welsh choir to have been invited to the prestigious Aldeburgh Festival.

Since its first overseas concert tour in 1965, Pendyrus Male Choir has toured in Canada, America, Australia and New Zealand. It has also performed in Brussels, St Petersburg and Moscow.

William Abraham MP – St Stephen’s Avenue, Pentre

William "Mabon" Abraham (14 June 1842 – 14 May 1922) was a Welsh trade unionist and Labour politician, and a Member of Parliament for the Rhondda from 1885 to 1920. He was born in Cwmafan in 1842 and became a coal miner at the age of ten. Abraham was elected at the 1885 general election as the Liberal-Labour (Lib-Lab) MP for the new Rhondda constituency one of twelve Lib-Lab MPs elected that year.

In 1898 he was one of the chief negotiaters on behalf of the colliers in the Welsh coal strike of 1898, and although the miners were unsuccessful in their action it saw the creation of the South Wales Miners' Federation of which Abraham became president.

After his re-election at the January 1910 general election, he and the other Lib-Lab MPs from the Miners' Federation of Great Britain joined the Labour Party. He held the Rhondda seat until its abolition at the 1918 general election, when he was elected for the new Rhondda West constituency. He resigned his seat in 1920, and died two years later aged 78.

Castell Nos – Mountain Above Maerdy

In the forest to the east of Maerdy is all that remains of a medieval Welsh castle. Castell Nos was probably built by the Welsh lords of Meisgyn, descendants of Iestyn ap Gwrgant, the last Welsh king of Glamorgan. These hills remained in Welsh control long after the Norman marcher lords had conquered the richer land to the south.

Treorchy Male Choir – Red Cow, Treorchy

The world-famous Treorchy Male Choir was originally formed in 1883 and sang for Queen Victoria at Windsor in 1895 but was reformed following World War II in October 1946 under the baton of John Haydn Davies. A registered charity which still performs around thirty concerts a year, they became a household name after winning a record amount of first prizes at the National Eisteddfod of Wales, followed by making frequent television and radio broadcasts and recording more than fifty records and cds, the majority for EMI.

The Choir has toured USA, Canada, Australia many times and was the first Welsh Choir to sing at the Sydney Opera House which they have sold out on three occasions. They have performed with Sir Tom Jones, Dame Shirley Bassey, Dame Julie Andrews, Ella Fitzgerald, Burt Bacharach, Kathryn Jenkins, Bryn Terfel, Aled Jones, Sir Harry Secombe and appeared in a star-studded line-up on the Royal Variety Show along with frequent performances prior to international rugby games at the Millennium Stadium.


Cory Band – Rear of Partridge Street, Ton Pentre

Consistently in the forefront in the competitive league tables of the first division brass bands, the Cory Band's most successful year was 2000 when it won both the titles National Champion Band of Great Britain and the British Open Championship. Originally formed as The Ton Temperance Band in 1884, it is still based in Ton Pentre. Under their present conductor Robert Childs, the band was invited to perform in 2001 at a prestigious gala festival featuring the finest four bands in the country at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. A few months later it narrowly missed winning the title of Champion Band of Europe by one point. In 2002 the band were selected to play for the Queen's jubilee celebrations, and in 2003 performed with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the last night of the Welsh Proms. They were also featured during the opening celebrations of the Wales Millennium Centre. They are the Brass Band in Residence at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. They became European Brass Band Champions in May 2008.

Elizabeth Andrews – Bailey Street, Ton Pentre

Elizabeth Andrews (1882–1960) was the first woman organiser of the Labour Party in Wales. She was born into a mining family at Hirwaun in the Cynon Valley, one of eleven children (two of whom died during childhood). She was obliged to leave school at the age of twelve, in order to help at home. Ten years later, a letter she wrote to the press in support of Evan Roberts gained her some attention, and she joined the women's suffrage movement at about the same time. She was one of three women who gave evidence before the Sankey Commission in 1918.

As soon as women received the vote, the Labour Party appointed four female organisers, of whom Andrews was one. She campaigned tirelessly for health and education services. One of her great successes was the opening of the first nursery school in Wales in the Rhondda in 1938.She retired in 1948. She played a key role in pit head baths being installed in collieries.

Tonypandy Riots – The Powerhouse, Tonypandy

The Tonypandy Riots of 1910 and 1911 was a series of violent confrontations between coal miners and police that took place at various locations in and around the mines of the Cambrian Combine, a business network of mining companies formed to regulate prices and wages in south Wales. The riots were the culmination of industrial disputation between workers and the mine owners. The term "Tonypandy riot" initially applied to specific events on the evening of Tuesday, 8 November 1910 when strikers, impassioned by extended hand-to-hand fighting with police, smashed windows of mining officials' homes and most of the shops in the town.

The conflict arose when the Naval Colliery Company opened a new coal seam at the Ely Pit in Penygraig. After a short test period to determine what would be the future rate of extraction, owners claimed that the miners deliberately worked more slowly than they could. The miners on the other hand argued that the new seam was more difficult to work in than others and that the miners were paid by the ton of coal removed, not by hours of work so working slowly would gain them no advantage.

In August of 1910, owners posted a lock-out notice at the mine. The miners went on strike. The owners then called in replacement workers. The miners responded by picketing the work site. They were joined by thousands of others who successfully acted to shut down all the local pits except one Llwynypia colliery. Rioting occurred, and Glamorgan's chief constable requested military support from then British Home Secretary Winston Churchill.

Churchill did send troops, which was exceptional on the UK mainland, and an action for which he was widely criticised at the time and for years afterwards. He did not specifically deploy them but authorised their use if deemed necessary by civil authorities. As the prime measure, he deployed large numbers of metropolitan police officers. The question of whether troops opened fire on strikers is controversial and appears to lack documentation, but it reflects the deep anger at troops being present at all.

Although no authentic record exists of casualties, as many of the miners would have refused treatment in fear of being prosecuted for their part in the riots, nearly 80 policemen were injured and over 500 other people. Samuel Rhys, a miner who sustained head injuries, said to have been inflicted by a policeman's baton, later died of his injuries.

Donald Houston – Thomas Street, Tonypandy

Donald Daniel Houston (November 6, 1923 - October 13, 1991) was a hardworking Welsh actor whose first two films - The Blue Lagoon (1949) with Jean Simmons, and A Run for Your Money (1949) with Sir Alec Guinness - were highly successful. Later on his career he was cast in many military roles, and also in comedies such as the Doctor and Carry On series.

Donald Houston was born in Tonypandy, and was the elder brother of actor Glyn Houston. He would sometimes indulge his Welsh accent as well as hide it behind an English public school veneer. He had a solid career as a character actor in British film and television, with good parts in several well known films, including 633 Squadron (1964), The Longest Day (1962) (in which he appeared alongside Richard Burton), Where Eagles Dare (1968) (again with Burton), and The Sea Wolves (1981). His forte tended to be authority figures, often military, such as the brilliant but tough David Caulder, the head of Moonbase 3 or as Dr. Francis in Thirteen to Centaurus (from the anthology series Out of the Unknown).

He could also handle comedy well, as he proved with Doctor in the House (1954) and the later Doctor in Distress (1963), both significant successes in Europe. In 1991, Donald Houston died quietly in Portugal at age 67.

Cymmer Independent Chapel – Cymmer Hill, Porth

The earliest independent chapel in the Rhondda appointed its first minister in 1752. Little is known of its earlier history although it is reputed to have been established in 1740. The church is later described as Yr Hen Gapel and is known to have assisted in the establishment of several other churches in the area.

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