The records in this collection were gathered by David Emlyn Evans, a native of Fochriw, who died in 1997. He was seeking to gather the most comprehensive collection of records of Fochriw village history that was possible. He intended to use these as the core of a village history which he planned to write. Illness prevented this.

The Merthyr Express Records for the century 1864-1964 made from microfilm at Merthyr Public Library were given back to Merthyr Public Library in Emlyn’s will and are now at Dowlais Library. A duplicate set has been given to Museum Heritage Services of Caerphilly Borough Council.

The Fochriw Merthyr Express records for the period 1942-64 appeared mainly in the Rhymney Valley Edition, not the Town Edition of the Merthyr Express. Bound copies of the Rhymney Valley Edition from 1916 (from memory), can be viewed at Newport Public Library only.

All the Merthyr Express records in the collection were copied into Microsoft Word by Peter Bowen, a close friend of Emlyn, using the printouts obtained by Emlyn from Merthyr Public Library, and photos of records at Newport Public Library. Inevitably there will be inaccuracies in the copying. Any checking necessary can be made using the originals at Dowlais and Caerphilly Heritage Services, or by studying the almost complete set of scans and photographs of original records which is available as 10 Files.

Merthyr Express Records, 1864-1964, By Year (File 1);

Merthyr Express Records, 1864-1964, By Topic (File 2)

A set of records in date order – approximately 2,000 A4 pages – has been prepared as File 1, but it may well be that the 37 Topic Files - File 2 - extracted from the yearly records - Ambulance; Places of Worship; Sports; Distress; Colliery; Deaths/Burials; Marriages; Places of Worship; Schools; etc. – may provide quicker access to subjects of immediate interest.

Census Records for Fochriw: 1841–1891 – transcribed and available on Excel as File 4. The original printouts of the Census records have been passed to the Gelligaer Local History Society.

Pentwyn Churchyard Records 1860–c.1991: over 4000 burials - on Excel as File 5. Copies of original records from which this File was made have been passed to the Gelligaer Local History Society.

Fochriw Photographs inc. Maps – File 3 & File 9 - digital copies of approximately 500 photographs and documents; organized by topic roughly matching those in the Merthyr Express Topic File. The original photographs and documents are now in the Glamorgan Record Office along with all other Fochriw archives collected by Emlyn and bequeathed to the G.R.O. in Emlyn’s Will.

Scans & Photographs of the Original Merthyr Express Records 1874-1962. File 10

All those who knew Emlyn will know that the concept of a peoplescollectionwales would have delighted him, and that he would have been equally overjoyed to know that the material he gathered was placed there. He would also have marvelled at the fact that every record he possessed, the physical bulk of which was a major problem for him towards the end of his life, can now be stored on, and accessed from, a pen-drive smaller than a little finger.