Was Merthyr a Vision of Hell

1
Was Merthyr a Vision of Hell?
READ AND DECIDE?
2
The Facts ?

• Before the industrial revolution merthyr was a
  quiet place then the big company owners found out
  that there was a lot of coal and a lot of money
  to be made in merthyr, so they started to build
  factories and dig up the coal to power the huge
  machines in there steel factories using
  under-paid workers!

3
The Population Increase
This chart shows the population increase in
Merthyr from 1801-1851.
4
The Bad!

• A list of the bad points of merthyr
• Pickpockets in abundance
• Muggings
• Low wages
• No health care for the poor
• No refuge collectors
• Poor sanitation
• Child labour
• Slag heaps in back yards
• Poor personal hygiene
• Contaminated water supply

5
Explanations for the bad!!

• Pickpockets in abundance meant that your hard
  wages you just earned can be lost
• Muggings be can be kill or badly beaten up and
  there is no medical care so there is a very slim
  chance of survival
• Low wages meant that you were always in debt
  because you did not get your first wage packet
  for a month so you were in debt from day 1
• No health care for the poor so if you got ill you
  would have no one to cure you
• No refuge collectors to refuse collectors meant
  that your rubbish would just lay there in the
  street and rot
• Child labour was good for the owners because they
  worked hard and they did not have to pay them
  much
• Slag heaps in back yards people were catching
  diseases from there own back garden
• Poor personal hygiene people had know idea that
  not washing can make them ill so people did not
  worry about that
• Contaminated water supply people did not know
  that dirty water could give them diseases

6
And The Good

• A list of the good points of merthyr
• Higher pay than farm workers
• Plenty of ale houses
• Shows (fist fights etc.)
• Fairs
• Lots of excitement
• Skittles
• Sundays off

7
Was Life the Same for Everyone in Merthyr?
Life in Merthyr was good depending on who you
were. If you were a owner of a steelworks or a
coal mine you would be very well off and live in
a large house, have health care, servants and
lots of slaves to do all the work for you and
your family. On the other hand, if you were a
steel worker or a coal miner you would live in a
tiny house that you shared with may be two or
three families. Living in one room where you ate,
slept, and kept yourself clean so this meant that
there was very cramped conditions, no personal
space and nothing of yours would be private!
8
How Hygienic Would It Be?

• The streets would be full of rubbish and
  excrement, dead animals and there was no one to
  clean it up so it just stayed there out side
  there front doors. People had no idea that you
  could catch dieses from being dirty! People would
  not be clean, not cleaning their teeth or washing
  very often because it uses up precious water. The
  water pumps were only open for a short time and
  water was rationed, they did not have enough pots
  and pans to hold all of the water in so could not
  store it!

9
Explanations for the good!

• Higher pay than farm workers this is why people
  moved from the country to Merthyr
• Plenty of ale houses some where people could
  after work
• Shows (fist fights etc.) more excitement than
  villages
• Fairs come often so the families can go out
  together
• Lots of excitement never get board
• Skittles game to play with friends
• Sundays off day of relaxation but in the farms so
  had to work all week

10
Have you decided?

• Well all in all I think the bad points out way
  the good by a long way I would of not liked to
  live in Merthyr Tydfil!