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The Liberal & Labour Club Abertillery – New Building.
Presentation Night and and Liquidation of the old Debt 1909.
On Wednesday 7th of April 1909, the members of the Liberal Club, Abertillery held a supper and social evening at the club to commemorate the liquidation of the debt on the club and to unveil a portrait of one of the most popular members, Mr R. J. Ayres which had been subscribed for by a large number of his many friends and admirers.
The meal was provided for a large number by Messrs Watkins of Oak Street and the following officers attended – Mr G. G. Gunter (President); Alderman S. N. Jones J.P.; Mr W. B. Harrison J.P.; Mr R. J. Ayres; Mr E. C. Grylls; Mr W. D. Lewis Evans M.A.; M F. Athay; Mr J. Boots; Mr Griffiths Jones; Mr H. Jones (Secretary) and many others.
Mr W. B. Harrison, one of the founders of the club briefly reviewed the history of the club, Mr Jones gave a summary of the club’s finances and Mr W. D. Lewis Evans toasted the teams unbeaten record in the Western Valley’s Billiard League. The clubs first team had won all its games in that competition and Mr J. Cable had won all his individual games in the league. Mr G. Gough was the club’s champion this year and was awarded the R. J. Ayres Billiard Cup.
Mr G. G. Gunter called upon Mr S. N. Jones to unveil the portrait of Mr R. J. Ayres, who was represented on horseback. The portraits artist was Mr Cuthbert. In the evening a programme of songs and recitations were rendered by the following – Messrs Monty Price; T. Thomas (who sang a song composed for the occasion by Mr W. D. Lewis Evans); D. Edward Jones; A. Williams; F. Athay; G. Selby and F. Evans: The accompanists were Mr W. Lewis on the piano and Mr Cuthbert on the violin.
New Club Proposal.
In June 1910 the committee decided to have the Liberal & Labour Club reconstructed, the new building (as seen in the featured image above) was built over the old premises.
New Liberal Club Planning.
Since its opening in 1902 the Liberal & Labour Club under the secretaryship of Mr T. Embrey had gained popularity though changes in the political outlook in the district that side of activities gradually diminished so that around 1905 the club revolved more around the social side rather the political aspect. From about 1906 the club, under the new secretary Mr H. Jones stayed popular and became very prosperous, there was a need for a much-improved premises.
In 1910 the club purchased from Mr D. Gulliford the whole block on the corner of Tillery Street and the Foundry Bridge area, they completely rebuilt the Liberal and Labour Club over its old premises, reserved land adjacent to it and re-sold the other block at a profit. During the rebuilding of the club, they played their billiard tournaments in the cellar. The planning of the new building was prepared by Mr Rait Smith of Mr W. H. Hiley, architect of Abertillery and the contractor was Mr Richard Tudor.
The Contractor and Architect.
The contractor was Mr Richard Tudor of Abertillery. The architect was Mr Rait Smith of Abertillery.
The Official Opening of the New Liberal & Labour Club.
The new premises were officially opened on Thursday 30th of November 1911.
A Description of the New Building.
The South Wales Gazette described the new building as having an imposing appearance and considerably improved the the approach to town from over the Foundry Bridge. There were bay windows on the front of the first floor with a balcony. The basement consists of the basement of the old club, and as mentioned was used as a billiard room by the members during the rebuilding of the club. The was a storage room measuring 28′ feet 6″ inches by 18′ feet, with a separate entrance from a side road, a private yard being shut off from the road by large double doors. On the ground floor was a vestibule from which double doors lead to the main room which was 35′ feet in length and 28′ feet in width with a height of 12′ foot 6″ inches. The main room was furnished by Mr G. Jones and Son of Abertillery.
There were two full sized billiard tables in this room and also tables for other games. At one end of the main room there was a private office allocated to the secretary while at the other side were a cloak-room and bathroom for the use of the members and lavatory accommodation, the floors and walls of which were laid and lined with glazed tiles. A separate passage and staircase from the vestibule lead to a large lecture hall on the first floor which measured 38′ feet by 28′ feet, the hall was capable of accommodating 150 people and could be divided by a sliding partition to provide accommodation for smaller meetings. From the first floor access could be obtained to the re-enforced flat roof, which is the only one of its kind in the district. There were ample ventilation and lighting and the building was well heated by the most modern fire places. The sanitary arrangements were carried out by Mr W. G. Marsh.
The Supper and Gathering.
Between 70 and 80 members sat down to a meal supplied by Mr J. Emlyn Phillips. Afterwards the members retired to the billiard room where the President, Mr A. Frowen presided at the social, Mr Tom Jones sang a song with the verses contained references to the Liberal Club and the lives of the members. Messrs W. Price and A. Harrison followed with a duet with Messrs C. S. Reed B.Sc., and W. Williams rendered solos. Mr F. Athay proposed a toast to the club and reminisced about the days at the old club and Mr H. Jones the secretary gave a financial account. At this point, Mr R. J. Ayres, on behalf of the members of the club, presented a gold English lever watch and chain to Mr Jones the secretary and stated they were indebted to his work at the club and that they hoped he would long continue to be in charge of the clubs affairs. The watch, which had been supplied by Mr Tom Evans a jeweller of Church Street, Abertillery bore the following inscription – “Mr H. Jones. secretary of the Abertillery Liberal Club, from the members as a token of goodwill and appreciation”. After more toasts, Messrs L. J. Langford and G. Selby contributed songs. The awarding of the various billiard competition trophies and prizes to the successful winners followed.
During the evening prizes for billiards competitions which had been previously played in the Winter League run-up to the opening ceremony were awarded by Mr J. T. Boots to the following – Billiard competition 1st Mr W. Williams; 2nd Mr Jack Cable; Billiard Handicap 1st Mr A. H. Dolman; Junior Billiard Team League medals for 1910-1911 season Mr W. Nicholas (Captain); Mr M. W. Price; Mr A. W. Smith; Mr M. Jones; Mr W. Williams; Mr G. Ruffell; Mr J. James; Mr A. Dando; Mr F. Drake and Mr R. J. Ayers: Thanks was given to all who participated and to the accompanist Mr Dan Jones.
The Women’s Associations.
The new Liberal Club had an assembly room on the upper floor, it was a men only private club but after 1911 there were a lot of women’s associations holding meetings in its assembly rooms.
The Christadelphian Society.
On Sunday 19th of November 1911, the Christadelphian Society moved from their then present meeting rooms at Chapel Street to the Liberal Assembly Rooms and held their first meeting that night.
Mr Richard Tudor.
The new club was built by the contractor Mr Richard Tudor (as seen pictured left).
Mr Richard Tudor 1864-1931 was from Haverfordwest. He came to Abertillery in 1891 as foreman builder to the Gaen Brothers Building Contractors, Mr Tudor was living in Alma Street, Abertillery.
Mr Tudor’s first wife was Mary Tudor nee Lewis from Maesteg who passed away in 1909, they had a son Mr Herbert Tudor, Herbert was sadly killed in the Great War 1914-1918. Mr Tudor’s second wife was Miss Lizzie Gilligan, the head mistress at the Queen Street Schools. At the time of his death Mr Tudor had become a J.P. and was living in Enfield House, Oak Street, Abertillery.
Mr William Rait Smith – Architect.
Mr William Rait Smith 1876-1958, was born in Shanghai, China and classed as a British subject through parentage. He was active in Abertillery in the early 1900’s and as mentioned Mr Rait Smith was the architect who designed the new Liberal Club. His wife was Mrs Ethel Rose Rait Smith nee Sarjeant, they were married in 1901 and they had two children, Donald William Rait Smith and Brian Rait Smith. While living in Abertillery the family resided at 86 Gladstone Street. At the time of Mr William Rait Smith’s death he was living at Hurstleigh Park Road, Redhill, Surrey.
Annual General Meeting 1912.
On Thursday 11th of January 1912, the members of the Liberal Club held the first annual general meeting at their new premises. Mr A. Hyde (Vice President) presided and Mr H. Jones (Secretary) presented the statement of accounts. The officers were elected as follows – Mr L. D. Lewis (President); Mr G. Jones (Vice President) and Mr Griffiths (Treasurer): The committee members were elected as follows – Messrs A. H. Dolman; J. T. Boots; F. Evans; R. Tudor; J. Cuthbert; W. D. Lewis Evans M.A.; T. Thomas; G. G. Gunter; J. Cable and W. H. Hiley: