The Cardiff Book of Days (12 page)

1881:
The death of William Burges (born in 1827), the architect responsible for the restoration of Cardiff Castle in collaboration with the Marquis of Bute (
see
March 18th). Burges' artistic vision offered an escape from nineteenth century industrialism and a return to an imagined medieval ‘golden age'.

‘Supremely confident in any style,' writes Simon Jenkins in his 2008 book
Wales: Churches, Houses, Castles
, ‘Burges could design a palace, a stained-glass window or a set of toiletries to order. In the bonding of Bute and Burges, money met art in the most fruitful alliance in Victorian aesthetics … The exterior of the castle peers over the battlements of the wall that separates it from the city. Corners are adorned with watch-towers, pinnacles, flags and banners. The clock-tower might be from Carcassonne'.

Sadly, the work on the castle – and the Butes' ‘holiday cottage', Castell Coch – were left unfinished on Burges' death. The Bute family never again spent more than two months a year in Wales. In 1947 the then Marquis generously donated both properties to the people of Wales and they are now major tourist attractions visited by thousands every year.

1713:
Birth in Llandaff of Francis Lewis, one of the signatories of the American Declaration of Independence. He was the only son of a clergyman, also called Francis. Orphaned at an early age, he went to live with an aunt and uncle. He went into commerce in London but emigrated to Whitestone, Long Island, in 1734. Taken prisoner while serving as a mercantile agent for the British, he was allegedly ‘shipped to France in a box' in 1756. On his release he returned to America and became active in the cause of Independence. He became a member of the New York Provincial Congress and was elected as a delegate for New York to the Continental Congress in 1775. His home at Whitestone was destroyed by British troops during the War of Independence. His son, Morgan Lewis, fought in the war and later became Governor of New York State. (T.D. Breverton,
The Welsh Almanac
, Glyndwr Publications, 2002 / Wikipedia)

1949:
John Toshack, football player for Liverpool and Wales, and later Manager of the Welsh national team, was born in Cardiff. A striker, he was part of the successful Liverpool team of the 1970s where he forged a forward partnership with Kevin Keegan. He had started his career with Cardiff City, signing for them as a 16 year old (
see
November 13th) before moving to Liverpool in November 1970 for a fee of £110,000. During his time with the club he scored ninety-six goals and Liverpool won the First Division Championship three times, the UEFA Cup twice and the FA Cup once. His career was, however, blighted by injuries and in 1978 he moved to Swansea City as player-manager. He was very successful there, taking Cardiff's deadly local rivals from Fourth Division to First in just three seasons. He had two spells as manager of Wales, the second ending when he resigned in September 2010 following a 0-1 away defeat to Montenegro in a Euro 2012 qualifying game. (T.D. Breverton,
The Welsh Almanac
, Glyndwr Publications, 2002 / Wikipedia)

1973:
The death of theatre impresario Binkie Beaumont, whose productions dominated the West End of London for over twenty years. Born in South Wales, his long career in theatre management began in Cardiff before he moved on to work at the Barnes Theatre in London. In 1936 he teamed up with H.M.Tennent in stage production and management. Both men were dissatisfied with what they saw as the low standard on offer in the West End at that time and were convinced that they could do better. Tennent died in 1941 but Binkie Beaumont went on to become one of the leading theatrical figures of the 1940s and '50s, particularly adept at staging polished shows with big-name casts. He was later rather unkindly described as ‘the camp baron of the profitable comedy and the well-made play'. His star waned in the 1960s with the onset of the ‘Angry Young Man' and ‘kitchen-sink drama'. When John Osborne's
Look Back in Anger
was premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, Beaumont walked out at the interval. Nevertheless, he was one of the founder members of the board of the National Theatre and continued working until his death at the age of 64. (T.D. Breverton,
The Welsh Almanac
, Glyndwr Publications, 2002 / Wikipedia)

1944:
Cyncoed-born Brian Evans, a Flight Lieutenant in the RAF, took part in the famous ‘Great Escape' from Stalag Luft 3. Having learned that fellow prisoner, USAF Lieutenant Emmett Cook, had studied Mechanical and Civil Engineering before the war, Evans recruited him to assist with the planning of the escape attempt. Unbeknown to their German captors, they set out to map the camp as accurately as possible. Using a protractor and a home-made sight, they set base-lines and triangulated from them to measure the distances required. Thanks to their painstaking work, the escapees knew that their tunnels would have to be at least 280ft long to reach the trees which would give them the cover that was essential if they were to get away. Seventy-six prisoners escaped but in the days that followed all but three of them were recaptured. Evans was last seen alive on March 31st but was then caught and summarily executed by the Gestapo. (T.D. Breverton,
The Welsh Almanac
, Glyndwr Publications, 2002 /
www.usmilitariaforum.com
)

1946:
The Cardiff Waxworks at 90 St Mary Street that had been such a feature of the pre-war city was sold off by its owners and ended up at ‘Coney Island', Porthcawl. (Stewart Williams,
Cardiff Yesterday
)

1788:
The newly-constructed lighthouse on Flat Holm came into operation to make the shipping channel up the Bristol Channel to Cardiff and Bristol safer. The lighthouse, operated by Trinity House, replaced an older one constructed because of the frequent shipwrecks in the area. (John Richards,
Cardiff: A Maritime History
, The History Press, 2005)

1872:
‘On Thursday night a fire broke out on the barque ‘Giulietta'. The vessel was on a voyage from Swansea to Trieste with 260 tons of coal and was lying in Penarth Roads, windbound. About nine o'clock, a fire was discovered aft and expanding rapidly. Every exertion was made by the officers and crew of the ship but without much success. The flames continued to increase until they ultimately enveloped nearly the whole of the after part of the barque. The fire was seen by Captain Evans of the Coastguard Service and he and his men pulled off to the burning vessel in their boat. All their efforts were ineffectual in extinguishing the fire and it was resolved, as there was no chance of saving the vessel, to scuttle her. A steam tug took her in tow. She slipped her cable and she was taken onto the east mud out of the navigation channel, where she speedily sank, her top-mast and yards being visible at high water.' (E. Alwyn Benjamin,
Penarth 1841-71, A Glimpse of the Past
, D. Brown & Sons, 1980)

1971:
All work at the Esso works in Ferry Road, Grangetown, had to be suspended when an oil tank went up in flames. A ‘water-curtain' was put up to protect the oil storage tanks nearest to the bitumen plant. Once supplies arrived, the tank that was on fire was engulfed with carbon dioxide to snuff out the flames. (M.J. Mace,
A Brief History of Cardiff Fire Brigade
, 1977)

1984:
By this date work had stopped in every coal mine in South Wales although only in ten of the twenty-eight pits had miners actually voted in favour of joining the national Coal Strike called by NUM leader, Arthur Scargill (
see
March 6th). (T.D. Breverton,
The Welsh Almanac
, Glyndwr Publications, 2002)

2005:
The death of former Prime Minister Jim Callaghan, just eleven days after the death of his wife Audrey. He had first been elected as a Cardiff MP in 1945. Callaghan was unique in holding during his career all the great offices of State – Foreign Secretary, Home Secretary, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Prime Minister. (
Dictionary of National Biography
, OUP)

1911:
At the Olympic Picture Theatre, Queen Street, the programme for the week included
The Dixie Mother
, described as ‘a grand Vitagraph production embodying a variety of emotions which requires the most careful and skilful handling on the part of the author and actors to express. These emotions are Mother Love, the Wife Love and the Love of Home and Country'. Also on the bill were ‘Popular Illustrated Songs rendered by Harry Coombs (baritone) and Alfred Lee (tenor)' and ‘Statue Dog – a series of clever poses by a remarkably clever dog'. (Stewart Williams,
Cardiff Yesterday
)

1944:
Nine people were killed and thirty-three injured by ‘friendly fire' while working at the Royal Ordnance Factory, Llanishen, which made parts for tanks. The building was hit by an army gun crew at Gabalfa which was actually aiming at a lone German reconnaissance plane. (Stewart Williams,
Cardiff Yesterday
)