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Description: | Bronze standing figure of bearded Lord Merthyr on a tall granite square pedestal with cornice. Left leg slightly forward. He is holding an unrolled parchment in left hand and dividers in right hand. Hands are loosely clasped across chest. Behind the statue a cloak is draped over a small pillar and there is a book and a miner's lamp at his feet on the left-hand side. Bronze heraldic plaque to front. Additional Information: Sir William Thomas Lewis (1837-1914) was born in Merthyr Tydfil. His father was the chief engineer at the Plymouth Works where William Thomas was apprenticed on leaving school. At the age of 18, the Marquis of Bute appointed him Assistant Engineer for the Bute Estate mineral undertakings in the Merthyr District and in a short time he became Chief Engineer. Later he opened pits of his own in the Rhondda Valley and became a recognised authority on the coal trade. In 1864 he married Anne, daughter of William Rees, colliery owner of Aberdare. She was also the grand-daughter, through her mother, of Robert and Lucy Thomas of Waunywyllt. William Thomas Lewis was knighted in 1885, made a freeman of Merthyr Tydfil in 1908 and was raised to the peerage in 1911. He made many gifts to Merthyr Tydfil and was one of the founders of Merthyr General Hospital. | Subjects: | Statue | Source: | Vads | Creator: | Sculptor: Brock, Thomas | Identifier: | http://www.vads.ac.uk/large.php?uid=6742... | Go to resource |
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