Records of DOWDING family (General)

by Roger Griffiths , Thursday, February 11, 2010, 12:37 (5209 days ago) @ slowhands

I came across Crawshay's during researches into my family history in FoD. I don't think Dowding's were relatives but the farmers associated with the estate farm as suggested previously.

Founder of Crawshay fortunes was Richard, 1739-1810, originally from Yorkshire. He dealt in iron in London and then was a director or partner at the Cyfarthfa Ironworks at Merthyr Tydfil, eventually taking it over. It cast cannon for the army and or the navy during the American War of Independence.

There's plenty on the Crawshay family in Wikipaedia, also see William I and William II Crawshay. I think they came to FoD in 1830's or 1840's and to Oaklands Park. They had the capital to invest in deep mining, coal and iron. Winding engines etc. The family grave is in Awre churchyard, deteriorated and overgrown with grass and weeds. They may have been around until the 1920's.

They were not popular employers with miners. I remember reading an ex-miner saying that no one shed any tears when they left the FoD.

Hope this whets the appetite, despite this being sketchy in the extreme, there's lots of information out there on the Net. It's not to do with my family so not really interested.

Roger