Wales glossary

Way of determining miners’ wages according to the price of coal.

Founded in 1698 by Thomas Bray, a Church of England minister, to publish Christian literature and promote Christian education.

Derived from the names of two continental theologians who held Unitarian views (see also Unitarianism).

(1899–1920). Also know as the ‘Second Boer War.’ Arose to resolve issues of sovereignty between Britain and Afrikaners, and resulted in the absorption of the two Boer (Afrikaner) republics of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal Republic into the British Empire.

‘The Fed’, established in 1898 to represent the interests of coal miners in south Wales.

Fought from 1936 to 1939 between right-wing generals under Franco and the left-wing popular front government. About 2,000 Britons fought for the International Brigade against Franco. The biggest contingent in terms of national population came from the ranks of unemployed south Wales miners, though north Wales was represented too.

(c.1552–1629) The great map-maker of the early seventeenth century.

1930s’ coal miners’ union in the English Midlands which broke away from the official old-established coalfield union.

The prop used to support the roof when working a seam of coal.

Founded in 1946 in the grounds of St. Fagans Castle, a 16th-century manor house in Glamorgan, it was originally called the ‘Welsh Folk Museum’ and was set up to provide reconstructed examples of Welsh vernacular architecture. Most buildings are domestic, but the museum now includes a working-men’s institute, a mill, several workshops, a nonconformist chapel and a medieval parish church.