Yr Wladfa - Little Wales Beyond Wales

Wales may not be the most famous of countries, or the most recognised, but we do have a lot of importance. First, we still study and socially speak a Celtic language. Welsh isn't as popular as it was back in the 1800's but that was down to the English emigrants who moved into the land and began to take over completely - they still mostly rule to this day. Our traditions still thrive with the words of great bardds like Waldo Williams ringing in our ears and Eisteddfods still commencing around the country.

But back in 1865, there was a lot of pressure being put on Europe to emmegrate to other countries and take our Western culture with us. This is what resulted in the emmergration of 153 Welsh people to South America.

The colony now known as Y(r) Wladfa started on 27th of July, 1865 when 153 Welsh settlers climbed aboard a converted tea-clipper called the Mimosa and journeyed towards South America. The boat itself cost around £2,500 to hire for the journey. The fare for adults was £12 for children cost £6. This was a lot of money way back in the day.

The group of colonists consisted of an array of different people from different trades, and no, they weren't all farmers. They included tailors, cobblers, carpenters, brickmakers and miners (slate mining was the biggest trade in Wales during the 18/1900's) and comprimised of around 56 married adults, 33 single or widowed men, 12 single women who were probably sisters or servants and 52 children. Not many were farmers, but those who were happened to be greatly disappointed by the land they had discovered.

You see, these strong-willed people were lead to believe that this almost-desert land was fruitful and better than the lowlands of Wales in the spring. What they got was a dried up land covered in sand, barely and drinking water and hardly any food to eat.

So, what did they do? They walked across the destert with a single wheelbarrow to carry all their belongings. With only one colonist having any form of a medical background, John Williams, many died. But, in March, there was a baby born named Mary Humphries.

Once they reached the valley of the Chubut River, the first Welsh settlement in South America was born. It started with a small fortress but is now the capital of the Chubut province, Rawson. The resilience of these people was tested when the first of the houses were washed away by a flash flood in 1865, but they were able to build them back up. It was when the floods washed away potato and maize crops that their patience was tested. After that, though, the rainfall was much less than anticipated and this lead to even more crop faliures.

But it wasn't until the year 1866 that the Welsh made contact with the local Tehuelche people, and after a few years of suspicions and a small amount of violence, the two people managed to come together and help each other. The Welsh and the local people still stayed governed and the settlers led by Aaron Jenkins, and each individual over the age of 18 was given the right to vote.

Finally, by 1885, both of the colonies had sufficient crops to be able to survive due to the idea of Aaron Jenkins' wife, Rachel. (Yes! A woman was the one who came in to save the day, in the end).

Argentina's first irrigation system based on the existing Afon Camwy (Chubut River or "winding river") which created the most fertile wheatlands in all of Argentina. Production reached 6000 tons and the produce won them the gold modal at the international expositions at Paris and Chicago.

It was Lewis Jones, a Welsh Colonist, who managed to drive the idea of a railway to connect the Lower Chubut Valley to Porth Madryn (Puerto Madryn) on the Golfo Nuevo which was authorised in 1884 by the Argentine Congress. The town at the railhead still known to this day as Trelew (Lew's Town) grew rapidly and in 1888 became the headquarters of the Campania Mercantil del Chubut (Chubut Trading Company).

To this day there are still marks of the first Welsh settlement with over 25% of the population of Patagonia still speaking Welsh as a first language and many more speaking it as a second. There are still windmills and chapels in the area, too, with Capel Salem and Trelew's salon San David still standing (and attempt to recreate St David's Cathedral, Pembrokeshire). And there are still many places with Welsh names around the area.

So, there is still hope yet for the Little Wales Beyond Wales. Welsh is a language that had been dwindling on the edge of extinction for many years, but it seems to be coming back. The language is still giving people a social status in Patagonia (even for people without a Welsh acestory) and even back here in Wales. If you speak Welsh, you earn yourself a little credit with other people.

I hope this article interested you, there will be another article to follow this one up after my adventure to Yr Wladfa commences next October. I hope each and every one of you spare a single though to those brave 153 people who didn't just run back and hide in Wales, they grasped an opportunity with both hands and never let go.