[WELSH COMMUNITY ON THE GOLDFIELDS] Letters written in the Welsh language by a gold miner in Sebastopol, outside Ballarat. 1865/1868.

Two unpublished letters written in the Welsh language by a gold miner from the tight-knit Welsh community in Sebastopol, just outside Ballarat on the Victorian goldfields. They are both private letters addressed to his wife and children back home in Wales.

Welsh gold miners had settled in this area as early as 1851, initially living in tents along the Yarrowee Creek. In 1864 the Sebastopol Welsh community established its own church, the Carmel Welsh Presbyterian Church. Designed by architect Henry Richards Caselli, and built by Clark & Co., this heritage-listed bluestone building has remained active as a place of worship up to the present day. A memorial stained-glass window in the church is dedicated ‘In memory of the Welsh miners who from the darkness of the mines brought the light of Christ to Carmel’.

In 1865, the Sebastopol Cambrian Society was founded. This was a Welsh cultural organisation with social and charitable objectives. Under its auspices, a Welsh eisteddfod was held on St David’s Day.

The writer of our letters, Thomas D. Morgan, was almost certainly a member of both the Carmel Church and the Cambrian Society in Sebastopol. It is possible he was the same Thomas Morgan who is mentioned as a competitor in a Welsh eisteddfod held in Ballarat, in an article in The Ballarat Star, 29 December 1868:

‘WELSH EISTEDDFOD. We now proceed to supply the events as to this celebration, announced in Monday’s issue. First Day. The Harp. Williams, the Blind Harpist. Opening address by Dr Thomas, Melbourne. The Harp. Addresses by the following Bards:— “Cymro o wlad Forgan,” Benjamin Davies, and William Morgan, Sebastopol. Singing with the Harp— Mr William Thomas, Sebastopol. The Harp. Criticism of three stanzas to the Lighthouse, “Golendy.” Four competitors; not worthy of the prize. Letter of apology from Mr Evans, Wangaratta. Singing with the Harp—Mr Thomas Morgan, Ballarat….’

A Thomas D. Morgan is also recorded as one of the shareholders of the Nelson and Wellington Gold Mining Company, Ballarat, in the 1860s.

We believe both letters are addressed by Thomas Morgan to his wife and children back home in Wales.

LETTER 1. [Thomas D. Morgan] to [Elizabeth Morgan?]. 3 1/2 pp, octavo, written in ink on a single sheet, 200 x 250 mm, folded to form a bifolium; headed ‘Sebastopol Hill / Near Ballarat / October 24 / 186[5?]’. The letter is unsigned but is written in the same hand as Letter 2.; it is almost certainly addressed to the same person as Letter 2. (i.e. Elizabeth Morgan); small section of loss at upper right corner (with loss of one line of text); otherwise the letter is well preserved. The handwriting is untidy and full of spelling and grammatical mistakes. The last section of the letter is in English: ‘I wish if I ad time to spec to you, but the Maill is inclosing. I hope that thise fewe lines will find you all in good helth as thay leaves me at present. Take me kind love your self and Daborah & Thomas. Joseph and is Mises Desieres their kind love to you all. meny of times he had the Newspeper sefe Butt it is in Ballarat hi is residing and not in Sabastopol.’

The gist of some of the Welsh is that the writer is thankful for letters received and all is fine with him, ‘but I’m not happy to hear you say so much about me giving permission for you to raise warrants for me to come’.

LETTER 2. Thomas D. Morgan to Elizabeth Morgan. 4 pp., octavo, written in ink on a single sheet, 180 x 225 mm, folded to form a bifolium; headed ‘Sebastopol Hill / Near Ballarat / Vic[t]oria / October 16th / [18]68’. The letter is complete and in good condition. As in Letter 1., the last section of the letter is in English: ‘Dear David & Debrha & Thomas, I hope that you all are dwin wall and gating on progresive in your s[c]hooling. I remains your affectonat Father Thos D. Morgan. Give my best respectes to all inquaaring fraines.’

The gist of the Welsh is that the writer has not received a letter for three months; perhaps correspondence has been sent to Ballarat instead of Sebastopol but he has been ‘kept in the dark’; a substantial part of the letter appears to be devoted to reporting on the progress of friends on the goldfields.