Ystradgynlais
Crime and punishment
  Leaving service at the Ironworks  
 

A case from 1824 records what happened when someone found his job just too hard. Although this is before Queen Victoria came to the throne, cases like this happened later, and it tells us how different times were in the early 19th century.
Today if someone hates their job it is fairly easy to leave and look for another. In the early 19th century if you left your job when you had agreed to service with an employer you could find yourself tracked down by your employer and brought to court.

  
 
  The record above shows what happened when George Jones had had enough of the harsh conditions at the Ynyscedwyn Ironworks.
(To find out more about the works go to the pages on the Story of Iron)

He was tracked down and sentenced to two months hard labour at the House of Correction in Brecon.
The hard labour would probably have been breaking rocks with a sledgehammer.		  
 

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