The Ocean Coal Company

David Davies (1818 to 1890), the founder of the Ocean Coal Company had carried out many non-mining activities successfully before cashing in on the coal boom in the south Wales valleys. Along with his partners, Thomas Webb, Morgan Joseph John Osborne Riches, Abraham Howell and Ezra Roberts, Davies obtained the mineral rights for the Treorchy area from Crawshay Bailey for 2,000 acres and, after fifteen months and at a cost of £38,000 on the ninth of April 1866 they hit the coal at Maindy Colliery at a depth of 230 yards. This was followed by the sinking of Park Colliery.

In 1867 a company called David Davies and Company was formed and sinkings continued with the Dare Colliery in April 1870, they then expanded into the Ogmore Valley with the sinking of Western Colliery in 1873 Eastern Colliery was sunk in 1877, followed by expansion into the Garw Valley with the sinking of Garw Colliery.

Profits between the years 1865 and 1875 were £493,000 and in 1887 the Ocean Coal Company Limited was formed and capital increased from £240,000 to £800,000 in 8,000 shares of each. Davies and his son Edward held nearly half of the shares. They continued to expand outside of their origins in the Rhondda Fawr Valley by sinking Lady Windsor Colliery in 1895 and acquiring Deep Navigation Colliery in 1893. The Avon Colliery was purchased in 1912, with by 1920 annual output standing at almost 2,250,000 tons of coal, by this time the company controlled the mineral rights to 15,000 acres and had an estimated reserve of 500,000,000 tons of coal. Taff Merthyr Colliery was jointly sunk with Powell Duffryn m 1926, and in the same year that Ocean gained controlling interest in United National Collieries and all the shares of Burnyeat, Brown and Company Limited.

The company was in the forefront of the battles of the 1930s to break the power of the South Wales Miners Federation, it was at Taff Merthyr Colliery that the South Wales Industrial Union had their stronghold, and at Nine Mile Point Colliery that this type of unionism was defeated.

In 1935 the Board of Directors consisted of chairman, Lord Davies. Directors, Sir H. Webb, W.P. Thomas, E. Emrys Jones, A. E. Yarrow, T. Evans, A.J. Cruickshank. Secretary, M.A. Anderson. Output stood at 2,750,000 tons of coal and manpower was 7,921 with the following pits in operation: Avon, Dare, Eastern, Deep Navigation, Garw, Lady Windsor, Maindy, Ton, Park, Western. United National Collieries produced 1,750,000 tons of coal with 3,277 men employed at the following pits: Bute, Gorllwyn, National, Risca. Burnyeat, Brown and Company produced 1,000,000 tons of coal and employed 2,701 men at Abergorky, Tylacoch and Nine Mile Point collieries.

The International Colliery was purchased in 1937 and in 1938 the Ocean Company alone controlled 14 pits producing 3,406,000 tons of coal, 9% of South Wales’ output. By 1945 this had increased to 18 pits employing 11,540 men and producing 3,784,000 tons of coal, 10% of South Wales’ output.

Along with the nation’s other colliery companies the Ocean Coal Company handed over the control of their collieries to the National Coal Board in 1947.

As for David Davies, he was also the main instrument in the building of Barry Docks and Railway, became Liberal MP for Cardigan Borough between 1874 and 1885 and died in 1890. His grandson, also David Davies continued to run the company and became Lord Davies of Llandinium.

Information supplied by Ray Lawrence and used here with his permission.