John Man (1718 - 1783)
died in Cardiff, Wales, under the name Thomas ROBERTS, and was buried on 10
April at St. John the Baptist, Cardiff (left). When and why he left his family and
took an assumed name is not known. Some family researchers suspected that
he ran up large debts as a speculative builder [see the
Chancery Proceeding of 23rd November 1758] and was afraid of being
imprisoned for debt. It is also noted that his wife
Mary was a very difficult woman (according to accounts in
The Cumberland Letters). In
1787 his son John Man of Reading went to
Cardiff to look for him. His son found that he had arrived four years too
late. From son John's letter to his brother
James it appears that he was a
much-respected builder in Cardiff. Scratched out on this letter is a
mention of a 'cursed letter' (apparently written by the third brother
Henry) to the father, that son John says
'broke his [the father's] heart'. The whole tenor of the letter seems to
hint at another underlying cause for the action of the elder John Man. This
letter can be read
HERE.
It is not known when John went to Wales, but since he did not appear in Hurst to
claim the property left by his mother Ann in 1767 it would seem that he had left
by then. Therefore, he was in Wales for over 16 years. Obviously,
his family knew he was in Wales and the assumed name he was using, but for some
reason there apparently were no earlier attempts to locate him. For more
details, see also John Man of Reading's letter to his cousin George Cumberland
which can be read
HERE.
With the advent of the Internet, a search was made for more information on
Cardiff and the following was found:
Cardiff Record: Being Materials for a History of the County Borough from the
Earliest Times, Edited by John Hobson Matthews. Transcribed by Pat Sewell.
The Cardiff Record is a six-volume set of extracts, notes of numerous
historical records of Cardiff and environs by John Hobson Matthews. Together the
volumes offer a fascinating history of the area from the twelfth to the
nineteenth century.
Volume III (published 1901), Chapter VI, Glamorgan Country Records (name index),
Quarter Sessions Order Books (1730 - 1770), page 242:
Thomas ROBERTS; 1770; builder, to be paid 50 pounds
sterling.
Ed Man was able to get in touch with Pat Sewell by
e-mail and she was kind enough to examine this material at the Glamorgan County
Record Office at Cardiff and found this detail to the above entry -
"Thomas Roberts, the builder of Landaff bridge, is to
be paid 50 pounds sterling towards the expenses thereof. Agreement that he
is to repair Cardiff bridge, raising the broken pier as high as it was formerly,
and dam out the water so as to get a sufficient foundation, and afterwards to
underpin the foundation of the said pier together with the foundation of the two
arches supported by the said pier, with Lyon stones and good lime mortar, and
all to be filled solid to compleat the same in a good workmanlike manner, for
220 pounds sterling."
Ed then asked Pat if there were any extant records about the bridge and she
replied: "Yes, Ed, there is still a bridge there. I have looked through my book
of Llandaff Past & Present published in 1978. In it is a picture of the Bridge
with the following paragraph" -
| LLANDAFF BRIDGE spans the River Taff at the far end of
Bridge Road. At one time this was the most important bridge across the lower
reaches of the Taff and sometimes had to be used instead of Cardiff Bridge
when that became flooded or was unsafe to cross. The existing bridge was
originally built as a three-arched stone structure in the mid-eighteenth
century. At the end of the nineteenth century, the narrow roadway and stone
parapets were replaced by a flat metal deck resting on the old stone piers
and arches. The bridge is now insufficient to carry all of today's traffic
and is likely to be replaced within the next few years by a single-span
concrete structure. |
Chapter X, Parochial Records (name index), Vestry Book of St John's, Cardiff,
Vol. II,
page 476:
Thomas ROBERTS; 1777; builder.
[Pat reported that the above entry states that he was given the job of
rebuilding the wall on the North Side of the Church.]
Chapter XI, Ecclesiastical Memorial Inscriptions (name index), St John's Church,
Cardiff, Extract No. 63, page 523:
Thomas ROBERTS; 1783; builder; died 1783, aged
70.
Cardiff Records, VOLUME V (published 1905), Chapter XII St Mary's Church
Wardens,
1781
ROBERTS Thomas; WILLIAMS Thomas.
1782 ROBERTS Thomas; DAVID Rees.
[Ed's note: I believe this name has been transposed]
(SOURCE NOT IDENTIFIED)
Thomas ROBERTS 1782 presented for blocks of free-stones laid in the
street.
The book Llandaff Past & Present, contains three pictures of the bridge,
shown below, as it stood at the end of the nineteenth century. The bridge was in
use, with modifications, for over two hundred years before being replaced with a
modern steel bridge in the late twentieth century. (Pat Sewell was kind enough
to send these photos by JPEG files to Ed by e-mail (see pictures at the end of
this page). The following map was drawn in 1886 and shows this old bridge.
|
|
| A late
nineteenth century view of Llandaff Bridge, looking south. The bridge was
built in 1770 by
Thomas Roberts. Viewed from
what is now Hailey Park, the Cathedral spire can be seen at the extreme
left, and above the bridge the chimneys of Baynton House are just
discernable. The open field to the right was later developed as 'Highfields'. |
|
|
| Llandaff Bridge
from the Llandaff side, late nineteenth century. Development in Llandaff
Yard (Llandaff North) initially sprang up along the line of the
Glamorganshire Canal, but as can be seen, substantial further building took
place during the latter part of the nineteenth century. |
|
|
Llandaff Bridge
from up-stream, late nineteenth century. The River Taff above Llandaff weir
has long been a popular stretch of water for rowing. Llandaff weir, in
addition to its primary purpose of feeding water to Llandaff's mills, also
provided the longest reach of navigable non-tidal water on the Taff. Over
the years this stretch has attracted various boating clubs who have
established their headquarters on the western bank, both above and below the
bridge.
|
The pictures below were taken on 7 June 1999 on the occasion of Steve and Ann Man taking Ed and Phyllis Man on their first
visit to England to visit Col. Andrew Man at Narbeth, Wales.
|
View from the north bank of the River Taff
showing the remaining stone supports on the south bank.
|
|
The modern
replacement of the bridge is shown in the background. |
