23rd August

2013-08-23
By: Huw Llywelyn Rees
Posted in:

On 23rd August 1911, rioting in Bargoed resulted in Mr. Barnett, a Jewish jeweller, whose shop had been plundered, appearing at the door with a revolver and threatening to shoot anyone continuing the depredations. The attackers thereupon withdrew.

1911 saw the rioting and strikes of the Great Unrest which swept across south Wales, starting in Cardiff docks, the unrest took in railway workers in Llanelli, the colliers in the Valleys and culminated with the copper workers in Swansea.

However when the rioting reached the valleys of Monmouthshire and eastern parts of Glamorgan it took on a darker and more disturbing aspect. What started with a handful of miners leaving a Tredegar pub on a Saturday night, rapidly escalated into 250 people attacking Jewish-owned businesses; unpopular for their perceived high prices and sharp practices.

Soon the disorder took in industrial towns such as Caerphilly, Ebbw Vale and Bargoed. Although nobody was injured or killed, Jewish-owned businesses and houses were looted and burned over the course of a week and resulted in Home Secretary Winston Churchill calling in the army.

The Marble Church (St.Margaret's Church), Bodelwyddan, a prominent landmark visible for many miles in the lower Vale of Clwyd in Denbighshire, was consecrated on 23rd August 1860.

The church was erected by Lady Willoughby de Broke in memory of her husband. It is part constructed of Belgian Red marble, "Anglesey marble" and elaborate woodwork. It also features stained glass windows of Saint Margaret and Saint Kentigern.

The church is located near Kinmel Hall where a camp used by Canadian troops during the First World War was situated. In 1918-19, a Spanish flu pandemic struck the camp with many of the victims buried in the churchyard.

Then in 1919, a riot in the camp, resulted in the death of five Canadian soldiers, who are also buried in St Margaret's Churchyard. The cause of the riot was the diversion of a ship sent to take the soldiers home and it is suggested that the five soldiers were executed for mutiny. However, this is denied by the Canadian Government.

Hollywood star Gareth Hughes, was born into a working-class family in Dafen, Carmarthenshire on 23rd August 1894.

After undertaking some local amateur roles aged 15 he walked to London and joined a West End theatre group, who took a tour to the United States. Hughes received rave reviews, becoming a favourite in particular of JM Barrie, which encouraged him to enter the emerging silent film industry. Usually cast as a callow, sensitive hero, he became a Hollywood star and enjoyed the accompanying lifestyle of a townhouse, a chauffeur and a groom for his horses. He made a fortune (which he later lost in the Wall Street Crash), but his spirituality led him to become a church minister to a tribe of Paiute native Americans, on whom he had an immense impact and is still remembered by them above all other ministers.

Born on this day 1941 in Wrexham

Arfon Griffiths - former Wales soccer international. At Wrexham, for whom he made a club record 591 Football League appearances, scoring 120 goals, before becoming the club's manager, he is a true legend and is affectionately known as the 'Prince of Wales'. Griffiths played a major role in Wrexham's glory years of the 1970's, which included promotions in both 1962-63 and 1969–70, reaching the quarter-final of the European Cup Winners Cup in 1976 and reaching the quarter-finals of both the League and FA Cups.

Griffiths was awarded the MBE in 1976 for his services to Welsh soccer, and in 2006, he was made Club President of Wrexham, as well as being added to the club's Hall of Fame.

wefwe

..