t is literally true that South Wales as a great industrial centre depends for its very existence on the shipping industry, whilst Cardiff owes its position as the metropolis of Wales and its status as a City to its pre-eminence as a Welsh port. If Cardiff’s greatness be due to the mineral wealth of Glamorgan, and particularly to the far famed Rhondda Valley, it is equally true that the development of the Welsh Coalfield and its numerous industries woidd never have taken place without the enterprise of the shipping community. The development of modern Cardiff really commenced when the old Glamorgan Canal was extended to the sea in 1798, but its period of rapid growth dates from the time when John, the second Marquis of Bute, risked everything and spent nearly £400,000, which he had great difficulty in raising, in constructing the present West Bute Dock, opened in 1889. At that time capital was not easy to obtain, and no one then dreamed of Cardiff’s ultimate maritime greatness. The Marquis of Bute was a poor man measured by modern standards. His chief wealth lay in extensive undeveloped lands. There is no doubt that he took very great risks when he mortgaged his estates, practically to the last penny, in order to build the smallest of Cardiff’s docks, and provided sea outlet for the coal and iron trades, which have changed South Wales from a land chiefly devoted to sheep farming, with a scattered population of a few thousand people, to a state of prosperity, and a million busy people within the confines of its coalfield.
It is perhaps difficult for a stranger nowadays [1920] to imagine that within the time of persons still living, Cardiff was a small township with only ten thousand inhabitants. ...
The port is known the globe over. In addition to being the chief source of the renowned Welsh coal, upon which the British Navy and Mercantile Marine have depended, it is the principal ship repairing centre in the world, and is probably first in the ownership of cargo carrying vessels of the “ tramp” class. In using the word “ tramp,” one must not be regarded as in any way discounting the value of the vessels owned at the port. Steamers are classed as “ tramps ” not because of any lack of efficiency in construction or sea-going qualities, [157]
Bibliography
Cardiff records; being materials for a history of the county borough from the earliest times by Cardiff, Wales. Records Committee.. Matthews, John Hobson, ed. 1898. Internet Archive online version of a copy in the Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center. Web. 15 November 2018.
Last modified 31 March 2022