Charles Wilkins, the postmaster of Merthyr Tydfil, wrote the first History

of Merthyr Tydfil in 1867, this marks the first attempt to give an account

of the development of Merthyr Tydfil from scattered agricultural settlements

to a major industrial town. This new edition published in 1908 contains an

extra 187 pages, and, although it follows basically the same pattern, it is

such a larger improved book that it could be regarded as being a first

edition itself. The 1908 version shows how much Wilkins has matured as a

historian, but without changing the essential character of of book. He

writes history imaginatively. He can evoke the past in vivid scenes and he

describes characters who he would have actually met. Wilkins draws on the

reminiscences of older inhabitants, has carried out his own archaeological

field work, and he uses parish records, newspapers, journals, literary and

documentary sources. Charles Wilkins was a serious researcher and writer

with true vision. He took great pride in the industrial development of

Merthyr Tydfil. This book was Wilkins's life-work.