According to the South Wales Argus on 15 July, Gwent Heritage Forum gained funding of around £600 to erect steel plaques for two almost forgotten heroes of the age of the industrial revolution.
Rhys Davies is alleged to have had a huge impact on the industrial development of the USA. His plaque has been raised on the Cambrian pub in The Circle, Tredegar. Mr Davies left South Wales in 1833 and helped build the Tredegar Ironworks in Richmond, Virginia. His ironworks helped change American history by producing weapons used in the civil war. His company was the first to employ black workers in senior roles.
Unfortunately I could not find much information on Rhys Davies. He is not mentioned in the Wikipedia description of Tredegar Ironworks, Richmond, Virginia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tredegar_Iron_Works
Daniel Gooch developed a pioneering trans-atlantic telegraph cable. The Railway Tavern at the bottom of Sirhowy Hill displays his plaque.
According to Wikipedia:
"Gooch was born in Bedlington, Northumberland the son of John Gooch, an ironfounder, and his wife Anna Longridge. In 1831 his family moved to Tredegar ironworks, Monmouthshire, south Wales, where his father had accepted a managerial post, and it was there that Daniel would begin training under Thomas Ellis senior, who together with Ironmaster Sam Homfray and Richard Trevithick pioneered steam railway locomotion. Gooch in his diaries writes: "I look back upon the time spent at Tredegar as by far the most important years of my life... large works of this kind are by far the best school for a young engineer." He trained in engineering with a variety of companies, including a period with Robert Stephenson and Company, but was aged 21 when recruited by Isambard Kingdom Brunel for the Great Western Railway, under the title "Superintendent of Locomotive Engines", taking office on 18 August 1837."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Gooch
Rhys Davies is alleged to have had a huge impact on the industrial development of the USA. His plaque has been raised on the Cambrian pub in The Circle, Tredegar. Mr Davies left South Wales in 1833 and helped build the Tredegar Ironworks in Richmond, Virginia. His ironworks helped change American history by producing weapons used in the civil war. His company was the first to employ black workers in senior roles.
Unfortunately I could not find much information on Rhys Davies. He is not mentioned in the Wikipedia description of Tredegar Ironworks, Richmond, Virginia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tredegar_Iron_Works
Daniel Gooch developed a pioneering trans-atlantic telegraph cable. The Railway Tavern at the bottom of Sirhowy Hill displays his plaque.
According to Wikipedia:
"Gooch was born in Bedlington, Northumberland the son of John Gooch, an ironfounder, and his wife Anna Longridge. In 1831 his family moved to Tredegar ironworks, Monmouthshire, south Wales, where his father had accepted a managerial post, and it was there that Daniel would begin training under Thomas Ellis senior, who together with Ironmaster Sam Homfray and Richard Trevithick pioneered steam railway locomotion. Gooch in his diaries writes: "I look back upon the time spent at Tredegar as by far the most important years of my life... large works of this kind are by far the best school for a young engineer." He trained in engineering with a variety of companies, including a period with Robert Stephenson and Company, but was aged 21 when recruited by Isambard Kingdom Brunel for the Great Western Railway, under the title "Superintendent of Locomotive Engines", taking office on 18 August 1837."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Gooch
