Treaman Colliery

Overview

A pit at Aberaman, near Aberdare, opened about 1853 by David Williams, the coal owner and poet known as Alaw Goch, and known as Williams' Pit. Powell Duffryn bought it after his death; it employed about 290 men in the 1890s, was declared unremunerative after the 1910 strike and was merged into Aberaman Colliery in 1911.

History

Treaman Colliery, also called Williams' Pit, lay between the Abergwawr and Aberaman pits at Aberaman, south of Aberdare. It was probably opened in 1853 by David Williams, the coal owner known by his bardic name Alaw Goch, who also held Ynyscynon, Deep Dyffryn and Navigation. Its position made it worth buying for the Powell Duffryn Steam Coal Company, and the sale was completed after Williams's death: NMRS dates it to 1866, the Cynon Valley History Society to 1867-68, when Treaman and Ynyscynon went to Powell Duffryn together for £8,750. From 1880 the company's general manager at Aberdare, E. M. Hann, had charge of it with Aberaman, Cwmneol, Fforchaman and Abergwawr.

In November 1882 a dispute over the price for cutting the two-feet seam was settled through the miners' agent with a wage increase, the men going on to day-wage work. In September 1893 the company decided to restart the pit, to great rejoicing in the district. Output was 51,577 tons in 1889 and 67,841 in 1894, and in 1896 it employed 261 men underground and 32 at the surface under Benjamin Lewis. Its deaths were single and mostly falls: a collier's boy of 14, George Hudd, in 1891; Thomas Henebury, a hitcher, crushed by the cage crossing the pit bottom in 1895-96; and in August 1902 Samuel Whitcombe, 59, who had lost an eye, crushed by a stone in the Main Dip after the fireman had passed the place as safe.

Employment fell from 289 in 1907 to about 180 by 1910. After the six-week Aberdare valley strike of 1910 the men went back only to be told that Treaman was unremunerative and would close. It was merged into Aberaman Colliery in 1911, and the pit was dismantled in 1921.

Geology

Steam coal; the two-feet seam was being worked in 1882.

Workings

A shaft with a Main Dip district by 1902; merged underground into Aberaman Colliery in 1911.

Closure

Declared unremunerative after the 1910 Aberdare valley strike and merged into Aberaman Colliery in 1911; dismantled in 1921.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Aberaman Colliery — Treaman was merged into Aberaman Colliery in 1911; both Powell Duffryn pits from 1866-68.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• It was sold to the Powell Duffryn Steam Coal Company in 1866. (disputed) ²
• Treaman and Ynyscynon were sold to Powell Duffryn in 1867-68 for £8,750. (disputed) ¹

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• Treaman was probably opened in 1853 by David Williams. ^1,2
• It was sold to the Powell Duffryn Steam Coal Company in 1866. (disputed) ²
• Treaman and Ynyscynon were sold to Powell Duffryn in 1867-68 for £8,750. (disputed) ¹
• In September 1893 the company decided to restart Treaman Colliery. ³
• In 1896 it employed 261 men underground and 32 at the surface. ²
• Declared unremunerative after the 1910 strike, it was merged into Aberaman Colliery in 1911. ²
• Samuel Whitcombe was killed by a fall in the Main Dip in August 1902. ⁴

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Aberdare history 8: the Powell Duffryn Steam Coal Company — Cynon Valley History Society
2. (secondary) NMRS: Treaman Colliery — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (primary) South Wales Daily News, 6 September 1893: Treaman Colliery to be restarted — Welsh Newspapers Online (National Library of Wales)
4. (primary) The Aberdare Leader, 23 August 1902: Fatal accident at Treaman Colliery — Welsh Newspapers Online (National Library of Wales)
5. (primary) South Wales Daily News, 13 March 1899: Colliery fatality at Treaman — Welsh Newspapers Online (National Library of Wales)
6. (primary) South Wales Daily News, 9 November 1882: Treaman Colliery, Aberdare — Welsh Newspapers Online (National Library of Wales)
7. (secondary) 1887 — Welsh Coal Mines
8. (secondary) Welsh Coal Mines: fatalities, 1891 — Welsh Coal Mines
9. (secondary) Welsh coal mining fatalities, 1901 — Welsh Coal Mines
10. (secondary) Welsh mining fatalities, 1895 — Welsh Coal Mines
11. (secondary) Welsh mining fatalities, 1897 — Welsh Coal Mines
12. (secondary) Welsh mining fatalities, 1904 — Welsh Coal Mines

Record created: 11 October 2026 · Last researched: 11 October 2026