A heritage group is on the hunt for unaccounted funds raised for the 1913 Universal Colliery disaster, which could total as much as £12 million in today’s value.
The Aber Valley Heritage Group has discovered that around £114,000 of a relief fund set up for the families of the 440 victims of the Universal Colliery explosion in Senghenydd in 1913 was left unspent.
The unspent funds – which according to the Bank of England’s inflation calculator equates to around £12m in today’s money – formed a portion of £127,000 raised, as documented in a contract drawn up by the relief fund’s trustees in 1914.
Now, the Aber Valley Heritage Group is trying to trace the money, after discovering the indenture at the Richard Burton Archives in Swansea.
Their secretary, Gill Jones, told BBC Radio Wales: “I went first of all to the British Banking Association, and then I wrote to the three banks that were involved with the actual fund, which was the National Provisional Bank – which is now Natwest, London Provisional Bank – which is now RBS, and of course Lloyds Bank. I wrote the archivists in each of those to see whether they could help us.
“The final result was that because we didn’t have an account number, they couldn’t trace the account. And since then we have found out that it wasn’t a private account, it was a business account and therefore we’re just not allowed to trace it.”
The group was established by volunteers to preserve and promote the history of Senghenydd and the surrounding area, and helped to unveil the National Mining Memorial in the village in 2013 on the centenary of the Universal Colliery disaster.
Jack Humphreys, chairman of Aber Valley Heritage Group, added that tracing the unspent relief funds was not only of interest to the group, but could also prove a necessity for securing their future.
He said: “Obviously we would like some of the money to help us maintain the facilities that we’ve provided here in the valley. There was some money left over from the creation of the garden in Senghenydd, but that money is slowing running out for us, and we need to maintain the garden, we need to keep the museum here going, and there is a cost involved.
“Our funds are running out. We’re at the stage where, in a few years times, we don’t know where we’re going to be. We don’t know if we’ll be able to keep this museum going, we don’t know whether there’ll be people around to look after the garden, we can’t afford at the moment to employ people, it’s all done by volunteers.
“There is a need for it. It’s not only for us, it’s for the mining community the Aber Valley once was proud of and is still proud of. If anyone can help us trace whatever is left, whether we’re entitled to it, that would be very useful.”
Caerphilly MP, Wayne David, said he had written to UK Government Treasury, adding: “We hope to get to the bottom of this.”
Lets hope they get to the bottom of this and find where the funds went – I never went down the pit ( I was lucky to get an apprenticeship as a fitter ) but my dad was a miner and listening to his stories I can imagine life was really hard working underground in such dangerous conditions.
Many perished in the disaster at Universal colliery – even if they find the missing funds it will be too late for them – but hopefully the future generations of their families can benefit.
Now a pensioner I am glad I never had to go down the pit – tragically so many miners ,like my dad, died from the coal dust related injuries and never reached retirement.