Henry Austin Bruce, the Duffryn Estate and the development ofan industrial society: Mountain Ash 1845 – 1895
2016
Henry Austin Bruce gained recognition as an important figure in Welsh and British political
life during the latter half of the nineteenth century. He was particularly active in the fields
of education and social policy, being a proponent of progressive moves towards increased
provision of these public services for working people. After a period in London, he
returned to his ancestral estate at Duffryn to help superintend his father’s properties in that
area. As a landowner in industrial Glamorgan, he was well placed to observe the impact of
industrialisation on those communities and to appreciate the consequences of the inaction of
the elite, alongside understanding the efforts that were successful in improving conditions.
His actions at Mountain Ash were those from which he gained the experience he applied
elsewhere. Henceforth, his career saw him undertake efforts to improve the condition of the
people in ever widening spheres. Nevertheless, he did not have total freedom of action even
at his home, Duffryn was a place with experience of socio-economic change and much of
that was outside his influence. At Mountain Ash, he was able to influence practical change
in the evolution of the shape of development and the evolution of public services for this
nascent community. It was in the questions where he had most personal interest, as shown
in numerous public addresses he gave, that he sought to exert the greatest influence. These
were in the facilitation of the provision of religion, education and ‘well-ordered
amusement.’ In these activities he had the support of an equally interested family,
particularly, Norah his wife, his agents and a growing socially aware class, which he
encouraged. Bruce played a role as an industrial landowner that has often been overlooked
in the wider literature of the history of South Wales, this thesis helps address that oversight.
Keywords:
- Correction
- Source
- Cite
- Save
- Machine Reading By IdeaReader
0
References
0
Citations
NaN
KQI