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Home » Articles » Crawshay Family of Cyfarthfa, Merthyr TydfilCrawshay Family of Cyfarthfa, Merthyr Tydfil
This theme contains images relating to the Crawshay ironworks, instruments from the Cyfarthfa band and photographs of the Crawshay family taken by Robert Thompson Crawshay (1817-79) in the late nineteenth century.
This theme contains images relating to the Crawshay ironworks, instruments from the Cyfarthfa band and photographs of the Crawshay family taken by Robert Thompson Crawshay (1817-79) in the late nineteenth century.
The Crawshay family, originally from Yorkshire, were the owners of a vast iron empire. Richard Crawshay (1739-1810) had initially leased and then purchased the ironworks of Anthony Bacon at Cyfarthfa in Merthyr Tydfil, which prospered over a short period of time. He gave the Abercarn Estate to his son-in-law Benjamin Hall and bought the Union Works in the Rhymney Valley. Upon his death in 1810, Richard Crawshay bequeathed three-eighths of his property to his son William, three-eighths to his son-in-law Benjamin Hall and two-eighths to his nephew Joseph Bailey. The Cyfarthfa works were carried on by Richard's grandson, William, who in 1825 built Cyfarthfa Castle at a cost of £30,000. William retired to Caversham Park in 1847 and died there twenty years later. William Crawshay acquired the old Hirwaun Works and Collieries for his sons Henry and Francis, who succeeded him after his death. Henry managed the Hirwaun Works for a few years until Francis took his place as manager. William's other son Robert Crawshay managed the Cyfarthfa Works and in 1846 married Rose Mary Yeates who established the Poetic Memorial Fund. Robert Crawshay founded the virtuoso Cyfarthfa Band in 1838, famous for winning the second day of the first ever Crystal Palace Championships in 1860, and instigated the Merthyr Horticultural Society in 1856. He was also a keen photographer.
With steel becoming a more popular metal it was considered that if the Cyfarthfa Works was to continue, it needed to be converted from an iron to a steel works, as had been the case with Dowlais and other similar works. Robert's refusal to change to steel production eventually brought about the closure of the works in April 1874. In his later years he was almost blind and totally deaf. He died in 1879 and left the Cyfarthfa works to his three sons, although William Thompson Crawshay was the only one who took an active interest in Cyfarthfa. The works was converted to a steel production plant at a cost of £150,000 and reopened in 1882. It closed again in 1910 but in 1915 was reopened to produce pig iron and shell steel during the Great War. Production finally ceased in 1919.
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