Ysguborwen
Encyclopedia
Ysguborwen is a 19th century house in Aberdare
Aberdare
Aberdare is an industrial town in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Dare and Cynon. The population at the census was 31,705...

, in the county borough
County borough
County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control. They were abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 in England and Wales, but continue in use for lieutenancy and shrievalty in...

 of Rhondda Cynon Taff
Rhondda Cynon Taff
Rhondda Cynon Taf, or RCT, is a county borough in the South Wales Valleys of Wales. It consists of 3 valleys: the Rhondda Valley, Cynon Valley and Taff-Ely Valley...

, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

.

Ysguborwen was built by Samuel Thomas, one of the pioneers of the Welsh
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...

 trade.

Although the Thomas family had held land in the area since at least 1477, Ysguborwen house was built between 1852 and 1855. It was here in 1856 that David Alfred Thomas
David Alfred Thomas
David Alfred Thomas, 1st Viscount Rhondda PC , sometimes known as D. A. Thomas, was a Welsh industrialist and Liberal politician...

, first Viscount Rhondda, was born. The South Wales Daily News described the house as, 'A tasteful and imposing building.' Although early profiles of D. A. Thomas describe him as 'of Ysguborwen,' D. A. Thomas actually resided at Llanwern
Llanwern
Llanwern is an electoral ward and community in the urban-rural fringe of the City of Newport, South Wales. Llanwern ward is bounded by the M4 and Langstone to the north, Ringland, Liswerry and the River Usk to the west, the River Severn to the south and the city boundary to the east...

, outside Newport
Newport
Newport is a city and unitary authority area in Wales. Standing on the banks of the River Usk, it is located about east of Cardiff and is the largest urban area within the historic county boundaries of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent...

, the house at Ysguborwen being occupied by his brother, J. H. Thomas.

The house is today a nursing home.

Sources

  • South Wales Daily News, Wednesday 7 March, 1888
  • J. Vyrnwy Morgan, Life of Viscount Rhondda (London, 1819)
  • Ysguborwen Care Home Website: http://www.ysguborwen.entadsl.com
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