Year Total Wales (000) Total Glamorgan (000) Glamorgan %age of Wales 1881 1,572 511 32.5% 1891 1,771 687 38.79% 1901 2,013 860 42.7% 1911 2,421 1,121 46.3%

Population of Wales and Glamorgan, 1881 to 1911:
At the end of the C19th, the county of Glamorgan held over a third of the total population of Wales. By 1900 Glamorgan had became one of the most densely populated parts of Britain.

Coal Production and Employment Opportunities.

Mines and Quarries (Mainly coal mining) Agriculture Year Male Female Male Female 1881 102 1 100 11 1891 145 1 99 9 1901 189 - 92 12 1911 256 - 96 20

Occupations, Wales from 1881 to 1911 (000s): For the same period, the number of men employed in metal manufacture, engineering, transport and communications also increased.
Agriculture was the only occupation with a declining male workforce.

South Wales Coal: Manpower and Output 1855 to 1900 Year Manpower Saleable Output (Tons) 1855 N/A  8,552,000 1865  - 12,656,000 2875 -  14,173,000 1876 -  16,972,000 1877 -  16,911,000 1878 -  17,417,000 1879 -  17,819,000 1880 -  21,166,000 1881 -  22,234,000 1882 -  22,817,000 1883 -  24,975,000 1884 -  25,552,000 1885 -  24,343,000 1886 85,13O 24,204,000 1887 86,915 26,046,000 1888 91,423 27,355,000 1889 99,426 28,064,000 1890 109,935 29,415,000 1891 116,624 29,993,000 1892 117,713 31,207,000 1893 117,989 30,155,000 1894 124,655 33,418,000 1895 126,199 33,040,000 1896 125,205 33,868,000 1897 126,802 35,806,000 1898 128,813 26,724,000 1899 132,682 39,870,000 1900 147.652 39,328,000

Coal production in the Cynon Valley had continuously increased from the 1850s and there was a huge increase in coal production between 1890 and 1900.

The actual cutting of coal was unmechanised and relied on man, muscle, pick and shovel. The consequence of this was that more and more colliers were needed to produce the coal. The industry was very labour intensive and when there were not enough local men to fill the vacancies immigrant manual workers were sucked in by the pull of high wages and long term employment. With the war in South Africa swelling up the South Wales Borderers travelled through South Wales in the 1890s trying to recruit young men. The Battalion record book recalls how difficult it was to persuade men to join up but reveals the reasons. “From the recruiting point of view the march was less successful than in other respects. These were prosperous days in South Wales, unemployment was hardly known, both coal mining, and iron and steel industries were flourishing and afforded ample outlets at high wages for the ambitious and for the surplus labour of the population of the rural areas. A fair number of recruits were obtained for the Militia but barely twenty for the Live.”
(Ref: ‘The South Wales Borderers 24th Foot 1689-1937’ by C. T. Atkinson, page 373.)

Housing and Living Conditions.
Housing accommodation for this expanding influx of people lagged behind the need. Private builders used local quarried stone to build terraced houses that spread up and along the sides of valley towns. Some employers built housing for their employees. The rush to complete the properties for the immigrant workers and their families held back careful town planning, however the standard of housing was much better than that built previously. Many miners aspired to own their homes. Building Clubs were a popular way of financing the building of houses. Groups of working men collectively would borrow money to finance the building of a house for each member. Members would pay subscriptions to pay off the loan. The houses built in this way were often of a superior quality and comfort. However, in many places there were not enough houses for working coal miners and their families. The pressure on house owners to provide accommodation sometimes resulted in property becoming badly maintained. Throughout most of the years of the century, villages and towns in the valleys of South Wales had no mains water, no sanitation or easy and free access to medical treatment.