Welsh settlement in Argentina
Encyclopedia
Y Wladfa refers to the Welsh
settlement in Argentina
, which began in 1865 and occurred mainly along the coast of Chubut Province
in the far southern region of Patagonia
. In the 19th and early 20th century the Argentine government encouraged the immigration of Europeans to populate the country outside the Buenos Aires
region; between 1856 and 1875 no fewer than 34 settlements of immigrants of various nationalities were established between Santa Fe
and Entre Ríos
. In addition to the main colony in Chubut, a smaller colony was set up in Santa Fe by 44 Welsh people
who left Chubut, and another group settled at Coronel Suárez
in southern Buenos Aires Province
. In the early 21st century, around 50,000 Patagonians are of Welsh descent. The Welsh-Argentine community is centred around Gaiman
, Trelew
and Trevelin
. From Chubut's own estimate, the number of Welsh speakers
is about 1,500, while other estimates put the number at 5,000.
, a Welsh nationalist
non-conformist preacher based in Bala
who had called for a new "little Wales beyond Wales". He spent some years in the United States, where he observed that Welsh immigrants assimilated very quickly compared with other peoples and often lost much of their Welsh identity. He proposed setting up a Welsh-speaking
colony away from the influence of English
. He recruited settlers and provided financing. Australia
, New Zealand
and even Palestine
were considered, but Patagonia was chosen for its isolation and the Argentines' apparently generous offer of 100 square miles (260 km²) of land along the Chubut River
in exchange for settling the still-unconquered land of Patagonia for Argentina.
Towards the end of 1862 Captain Love Jones-Parry and Lewis Jones
(after whom Trelew was named) left for Patagonia to decide whether it was a suitable area for Welsh emigrants. They first visited Buenos Aires
where they held discussions with the Interior Minister Guillermo Rawson
then, having come to an agreement, headed south. They reached Patagonia in a small ship named the Candelaria, and were driven by a storm into a bay which they named "Porth Madryn" after Jones-Parry's estate in Wales. The town which grew near the spot where they landed is now named Puerto Madryn
. On their return to Wales they declared the area to be very suitable for colonisation.
The permanent European settlement of the Chubut Valley and surrounding areas began on July 27, 1865 when 153 Welsh
settlers arrived aboard the converted tea-clipper Mimosa
. The Mimosa had cost £2,500 to hire for the voyage and convert to passenger use, and the fare from Liverpool
to Patagonia was £12 for adults and £6 for children, although anyone willing to travel was taken on the journey regardless of ability to pay. The Mimosa settlers, including tailor
s, cobblers, carpenter
s, brick
makers, and miner
s, comprised 56 married adults, 33 single or widowed men, 12 single women (usually sisters or servants of married emigrants), and 52 children. There were few farmer
s, which was rather unfortunate particularly when they discovered that the attractions of the area had been oversold and they had landed in an arid semi-desert
with little food. They had been told that the area was like lowland Wales. At the coast there was little drinking water
and the group embarked on a walk across the parched plain with a single wheelbarrow to carry their belongings. Some died and a baby was born on the march, called Mary Humphries. John Williams was the only colonist with any form of rudimentary medical
skill.
Once they reached the valley of the Chubut River, their first settlement was a small fortress on the site which later became the town of Rawson
, now the capital of Chubut province. The first houses here were washed away by a flash flood in 1865, and new houses were constructed. The floods also washed away crops of potatoes and maize. The rainfall in the area was much less than the colonists had been led to expect, leading to crop failures.
system based on the Chubut River (in Welsh, Afon Camwy, "winding river"), irrigating an area three or four miles (five or six km) to each side of the 50 mile (80 km) long stretch of river and creating Argentina's most fertile wheatlands. Initially the settlers were largely self-governing, with all men and women of 18 years of age or over having the right to vote. By 1885 wheat production had reached 6,000 tons, with wheat produced by the colony winning the gold medal at international expositions at Paris
and Chicago
.
The mouth of the River Chubut was difficult to navigate, being shallow and with shifting sandbanks, and it was decided that a railway was required to connect the Lower Chubut valley to Puerto Madryn
(originally Porth Madryn) on the Golfo Nuevo
on the southern side of Península Valdés. Lewis Jones was the driving force, and in 1884 the Argentine Congress authorised the construction of the Ferrocarril Central del Chubut by Lewis Jones y Cia. Raising funds for the project locally proved difficult, so Lewis Jones went to the United Kingdom to seek funds, where he enlisted the assistance of Asahel P. Bell, an engineer. Work on the railway began in 1886, helped by the arrival of another 465 Welsh settlers on the steamer Vesta. The town which grew at the railhead was named Trelew (Town of Lew) in honour of Lewis Jones. The town grew rapidly and in 1888 became the headquarters of the "Compañía Mercantil del Chubut" (Chubut Trading Company).
and Trevelin
were founded.
This area became the subject of a dispute between Argentina and Chile. Initially the border was defined by a line connecting the highest peaks in the area, but it later became clear that this line was not the same as the line separating the watersheds, with some of the rivers in the area flowing westwards. Argentina and Chile agreed that the United Kingdom should act as arbitrator, and the views of the Welsh settlers were canvassed. In 1902, despite an offer of a league of land per family from Chile, they voted to remain in Argentina.
and insisted on males of military age drilling on Sundays. This ran counter to the Sabbatarian principles of the settlers and caused much ill-feeling, though the matter was eventually resolved by the intervention of the Argentine president Julio Argentino Roca
. These factors together with a lack of unclaimed farmable land caused 234 people to leave for Liverpool aboard the Orissa on 14 May 1902, with 208 of them subsequently travelling to Canada
, arriving at Saltcoats, Saskatchewan
in late June, although some of these families later returned to Chubut. Some other settlers moved to the Rio Negro area of Argentina. Many of those who left Chubut were late arrivals who had failed to obtain land of their own, and they were replaced by more immigrants from Wales. By the end of the 19th century there were some 4,000 people of Welsh descent living in Chubut. The last substantial immigration from Wales took place shortly before World War I
, which put a halt to further immigration. Approximately 1,000 Welsh immigrants arrived in Patagonia between 1886 and 1911; on the basis of this and other statistics, Glyn Williams has estimated that perhaps no more than 2,300 Welsh people ever migrated directly to Patagonia.
and other southern European countries, the Welsh gradually became a minority. As well as the irrigation system, the creation of a Co-operative Society (Compañía Mercantil de Chubut) was crucial. The Society traded on the settlers' behalf in Buenos Aires
and acted as a bank with 14 branches. The strong chapel-based society was also important, with an emphasis on mutual help and support, social activities and insurance schemes. However, the Co-operative Society collapsed in the Great Depression
of the 1930s and many lost their savings. The construction of a dam on the Rio Chubut 120 km west of Trelew, inaugurated on 19 April 1963, removed the risk of flooding in the Lower Chubut Valley.
The Welsh have left their mark on the landscape, with windmills and chapels across the province, including the distinctive wood and corrugated zinc Capel Salem and Trelew's Salon San David, an attempt to reproduce St David's Cathedral
, Pembrokeshire
. Many settlements along the valley bear Welsh names.
Over the years use of the Welsh language
has declined, and there was comparatively little contact between Wales and Chubut for many years after 1914. Things began to change when a large number of Welsh people visited Patagonia in 1965 for celebrations to mark the 100th anniversary of the colony. Since then there has been a great increase in the number of visitors from Wales. Teachers are sent to assist in keeping the language alive, and there is some social cachet in knowing the language—even among people who are not of Welsh ancestry. There are still important cultural activities, including chapel, poetry and Welsh teas served in teahouses alongside the river in Gaiman and Dolavon
. In 2006, the links between the Chubut Valley and Wales were again underscored, this time in a sporting context. The first of a two-Test tour
to Argentina
by the Wales national rugby union team
was played in Puerto Madryn, a 27–25 win for Argentina. Another example of the Argentina-Wales connection is that Welsh Centre in London has been for many years one of the main venues for dancing Argentine Tango
.
Principal settlements in the area are Puerto Madryn
, Trevelin
("Milltown"), Rawson
, Trelew, Dolavon
and Gaiman
.
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
settlement in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, which began in 1865 and occurred mainly along the coast of Chubut Province
Chubut Province
Chubut a province in the southern part of Argentina situated between the 42nd parallel south and the 46th parallel south , the Andes range separating Argentina from Chile, and the Atlantic ocean...
in the far southern region of Patagonia
Patagonia
Patagonia is a region located in Argentina and Chile, integrating the southernmost section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean and from the east of the cordillera to the valleys it follows south through Colorado River towards Carmen de Patagones in the Atlantic Ocean...
. In the 19th and early 20th century the Argentine government encouraged the immigration of Europeans to populate the country outside the Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
region; between 1856 and 1875 no fewer than 34 settlements of immigrants of various nationalities were established between Santa Fe
Santa Fe Province
The Invincible Province of Santa Fe, in Spanish Provincia Invencible de Santa Fe , is a province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco , Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and Santiago del Estero...
and Entre Ríos
Entre Ríos Province
Entre Ríos is a northeastern province of Argentina, located in the Mesopotamia region. It borders the provinces of Buenos Aires , Corrientes and Santa Fe , and Uruguay in the east....
. In addition to the main colony in Chubut, a smaller colony was set up in Santa Fe by 44 Welsh people
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
who left Chubut, and another group settled at Coronel Suárez
Coronel Suárez
Coronel Suárez is a town in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is also the capital of Coronel Suárez Partido.The partido was created in 1882 by the government of Buenos Aires Province in Argentina who divided the territory of Tres Arroyos into the partidos of Tres Arroyos, Coronel Pringles and...
in southern Buenos Aires Province
Buenos Aires Province
The Province of Buenos Aires is the largest and most populous province of Argentina. It takes the name from the city of Buenos Aires, which used to be the provincial capital until it was federalized in 1880...
. In the early 21st century, around 50,000 Patagonians are of Welsh descent. The Welsh-Argentine community is centred around Gaiman
Gaiman, Chubut
Gaiman is a town in the Chubut Province of Patagonia in Argentina. It has a population of about 6,000 as per the . It is located close to the River Chubut, about 15 km west of Trelew....
, Trelew
Trelew
-References:La Pasión según Trelew, Espejo de la Argentina, 1997, Editorial Planeta Argentina S.A.I.C.; Third Edition: April 2000, Buenos Aires, ISBN 950-742-859-3-External links:* * * *...
and Trevelin
Trevelín
Trevelin is a town in the Patagonian Argentine province of Chubut. It is located in the department of Futaleufú, south of Esquel, and had about 6,400 inhabitants at the time of the ....
. From Chubut's own estimate, the number of Welsh speakers
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
is about 1,500, while other estimates put the number at 5,000.
First settlers 1865
The idea of a Welsh colony in South America was put forward by Professor Michael D. JonesMichael D. Jones
Michael Daniel Jones was a Welsh Congregationalist minister and principal of a theological college, but is best remembered as a founder of the Welsh settlement in Patagonia known as Y Wladfa and as one of the fathers of modern Welsh nationalism.Jones was born in Llanuwchllyn, Merioneth in 1822...
, a Welsh nationalist
Welsh nationalism
Welsh nationalism emphasises the distinctiveness of Welsh language, culture, and history, and calls for more self-determination for Wales, which may include more Devolved powers for the Welsh Assembly or full independence from the United Kingdom.-Conquest:...
non-conformist preacher based in Bala
Bala, Gwynedd
Bala is a market town and community in Gwynedd, Wales, and formerly an urban district of the historic county of Merionethshire. It lies at the north end of Bala Lake , 17 miles north-east of Dolgellau, with a population of 1,980...
who had called for a new "little Wales beyond Wales". He spent some years in the United States, where he observed that Welsh immigrants assimilated very quickly compared with other peoples and often lost much of their Welsh identity. He proposed setting up a Welsh-speaking
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
colony away from the influence of English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
. He recruited settlers and provided financing. Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and even Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
were considered, but Patagonia was chosen for its isolation and the Argentines' apparently generous offer of 100 square miles (260 km²) of land along the Chubut River
Chubut River
The Chubut River is located in the Patagonia region of southern Argentina. Its name comes from the Tehuelche word chupat, which means "transparent". The Argentine Chubut Province, through which the river flows, is named after it...
in exchange for settling the still-unconquered land of Patagonia for Argentina.
Towards the end of 1862 Captain Love Jones-Parry and Lewis Jones
Lewis Jones (Patagonia)
Lewis Jones was one of the founders of the Welsh settlement in Patagonia. The city of Trelew was named after him....
(after whom Trelew was named) left for Patagonia to decide whether it was a suitable area for Welsh emigrants. They first visited Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
where they held discussions with the Interior Minister Guillermo Rawson
Guillermo Rawson
Dr. Guillermo Rawson was a medical doctor and politician in nineteenth-century Argentina. As Interior Minister in 1862 he met Captain Love Jones-Parry and Lewis Jones who were on their way to Patagonia to investigate whether it was suitable for the creation of a Welsh settlement there...
then, having come to an agreement, headed south. They reached Patagonia in a small ship named the Candelaria, and were driven by a storm into a bay which they named "Porth Madryn" after Jones-Parry's estate in Wales. The town which grew near the spot where they landed is now named Puerto Madryn
Puerto Madryn
Puerto Madryn is a city in the province of Chubut in the Argentine Patagonia. It is the head town of the Viedma Department, and has about 57,571 inhabitants according to the last census in 2001....
. On their return to Wales they declared the area to be very suitable for colonisation.
The permanent European settlement of the Chubut Valley and surrounding areas began on July 27, 1865 when 153 Welsh
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
settlers arrived aboard the converted tea-clipper Mimosa
Mimosa (ship)
The Mimosa was a clipper ship best known for carrying the first Welsh emigrants to South America in 1865.-Voyage to Patagonia:By the time Mimosa made the voyage she was already past her prime, having been built in 1853 at Hall's shipyard in Aberdeen. She had not been designed to carry passengers,...
. The Mimosa had cost £2,500 to hire for the voyage and convert to passenger use, and the fare from Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
to Patagonia was £12 for adults and £6 for children, although anyone willing to travel was taken on the journey regardless of ability to pay. The Mimosa settlers, including tailor
Tailor
A tailor is a person who makes, repairs, or alters clothing professionally, especially suits and men's clothing.Although the term dates to the thirteenth century, tailor took on its modern sense in the late eighteenth century, and now refers to makers of men's and women's suits, coats, trousers,...
s, cobblers, carpenter
Carpenter
A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....
s, brick
Brick
A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...
makers, and miner
Miner
A miner is a person whose work or business is to extract ore or minerals from the earth. Mining is one of the most dangerous trades in the world. In some countries miners lack social guarantees and in case of injury may be left to cope without assistance....
s, comprised 56 married adults, 33 single or widowed men, 12 single women (usually sisters or servants of married emigrants), and 52 children. There were few farmer
Farmer
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...
s, which was rather unfortunate particularly when they discovered that the attractions of the area had been oversold and they had landed in an arid semi-desert
Desert
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...
with little food. They had been told that the area was like lowland Wales. At the coast there was little drinking water
Drinking water
Drinking water or potable water is water pure enough to be consumed or used with low risk of immediate or long term harm. In most developed countries, the water supplied to households, commerce and industry is all of drinking water standard, even though only a very small proportion is actually...
and the group embarked on a walk across the parched plain with a single wheelbarrow to carry their belongings. Some died and a baby was born on the march, called Mary Humphries. John Williams was the only colonist with any form of rudimentary medical
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
skill.
Once they reached the valley of the Chubut River, their first settlement was a small fortress on the site which later became the town of Rawson
Rawson, Chubut
Rawson is the capital of the Argentine province of Chubut, in Patagonia. It has about 26,000 inhabitants, and it is the head town of the Rawson Department, which has 122,000 inhabitants...
, now the capital of Chubut province. The first houses here were washed away by a flash flood in 1865, and new houses were constructed. The floods also washed away crops of potatoes and maize. The rainfall in the area was much less than the colonists had been led to expect, leading to crop failures.
Consolidation 1866–1888
The settlers first made contact with the local Tehuelche people almost a year after their arrival. After some difficult early years of suspicion and a small amount of violence, the Tehuelche people established cordial relationships with the Welsh and helped the settlement survive the early food shortages. The settlers, led by Aaron Jenkins (whose wife Rachel was the first to bring up the idea of systematic use of irrigation canals), soon established Argentina's first irrigationIrrigation
Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...
system based on the Chubut River (in Welsh, Afon Camwy, "winding river"), irrigating an area three or four miles (five or six km) to each side of the 50 mile (80 km) long stretch of river and creating Argentina's most fertile wheatlands. Initially the settlers were largely self-governing, with all men and women of 18 years of age or over having the right to vote. By 1885 wheat production had reached 6,000 tons, with wheat produced by the colony winning the gold medal at international expositions at Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
.
The mouth of the River Chubut was difficult to navigate, being shallow and with shifting sandbanks, and it was decided that a railway was required to connect the Lower Chubut valley to Puerto Madryn
Puerto Madryn
Puerto Madryn is a city in the province of Chubut in the Argentine Patagonia. It is the head town of the Viedma Department, and has about 57,571 inhabitants according to the last census in 2001....
(originally Porth Madryn) on the Golfo Nuevo
Golfo Nuevo
Golfo Nuevo is a body of water formed by the Península Valdés and Punta Ninfas in the province of Chubut in the Argentine Patagonia. It is located 650 miles southwest of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Puerto Madryn is its major seaport. From May to December, the Southern right whales migrate to Golfo...
on the southern side of Península Valdés. Lewis Jones was the driving force, and in 1884 the Argentine Congress authorised the construction of the Ferrocarril Central del Chubut by Lewis Jones y Cia. Raising funds for the project locally proved difficult, so Lewis Jones went to the United Kingdom to seek funds, where he enlisted the assistance of Asahel P. Bell, an engineer. Work on the railway began in 1886, helped by the arrival of another 465 Welsh settlers on the steamer Vesta. The town which grew at the railhead was named Trelew (Town of Lew) in honour of Lewis Jones. The town grew rapidly and in 1888 became the headquarters of the "Compañía Mercantil del Chubut" (Chubut Trading Company).
Expansion towards the Andes 1885–1902
By the mid 1880s most of the good agricultural land in the Lower Chubut valley had been claimed, and the colonists mounted a number of expeditions to explore other parts of Patagonia to seek more cultivable land. In 1885 the Welsh asked the governor of Chubut, Luis Jorge Fontana for permission to arrange an expedition to explore the Andean part of Chubut. Fontana decided to accompany the expedition in person. By the end of November 1885 they had reached a fertile area which the Welsh named "Cwm Hyfryd" (Pleasant Valley). This became the site of another Welsh settlement, named in Spanish "Colonia 16 de Octubre". As the population grew here, the towns of EsquelEsquel
According to the , the Esquel district had about 28,000 inhabitants, with one of the highest rates of growth in the province, mainly as result of the immigration of people from Buenos Aires, but also from other provinces. It has wide cement streets with sidewalks, and is clean and well maintained...
and Trevelin
Trevelín
Trevelin is a town in the Patagonian Argentine province of Chubut. It is located in the department of Futaleufú, south of Esquel, and had about 6,400 inhabitants at the time of the ....
were founded.
This area became the subject of a dispute between Argentina and Chile. Initially the border was defined by a line connecting the highest peaks in the area, but it later became clear that this line was not the same as the line separating the watersheds, with some of the rivers in the area flowing westwards. Argentina and Chile agreed that the United Kingdom should act as arbitrator, and the views of the Welsh settlers were canvassed. In 1902, despite an offer of a league of land per family from Chile, they voted to remain in Argentina.
Setbacks in the Lower Chubut Valley 1899–1915
Serious damage was caused by floods in the 1890s and 1900s, which devastated Rawson and to a lesser extent Gaiman, though Trelew was not affected. There was also disagreement between the settlers and the Argentine government, which introduced conscriptionConscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
and insisted on males of military age drilling on Sundays. This ran counter to the Sabbatarian principles of the settlers and caused much ill-feeling, though the matter was eventually resolved by the intervention of the Argentine president Julio Argentino Roca
Julio Argentino Roca
Alejo Julio Argentino Roca Paz was an army general who served as President of Argentina from 12 October 1880 to 12 October 1886 and again from 12 October 1898 to 12 October 1904.-Upbringing and early career:...
. These factors together with a lack of unclaimed farmable land caused 234 people to leave for Liverpool aboard the Orissa on 14 May 1902, with 208 of them subsequently travelling to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, arriving at Saltcoats, Saskatchewan
Saltcoats, Saskatchewan
Saltcoats is a small town in East Central Saskatchewan near the Manitoba border in Canada. The town's population is around 500. The town was built in the late 19th century, and its economy was driven by the railway...
in late June, although some of these families later returned to Chubut. Some other settlers moved to the Rio Negro area of Argentina. Many of those who left Chubut were late arrivals who had failed to obtain land of their own, and they were replaced by more immigrants from Wales. By the end of the 19th century there were some 4,000 people of Welsh descent living in Chubut. The last substantial immigration from Wales took place shortly before World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, which put a halt to further immigration. Approximately 1,000 Welsh immigrants arrived in Patagonia between 1886 and 1911; on the basis of this and other statistics, Glyn Williams has estimated that perhaps no more than 2,300 Welsh people ever migrated directly to Patagonia.
Later development
In time the colony proved remarkably successful, although as immigration to the area after 1914 was mainly from ItalyItaly
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and other southern European countries, the Welsh gradually became a minority. As well as the irrigation system, the creation of a Co-operative Society (Compañía Mercantil de Chubut) was crucial. The Society traded on the settlers' behalf in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
and acted as a bank with 14 branches. The strong chapel-based society was also important, with an emphasis on mutual help and support, social activities and insurance schemes. However, the Co-operative Society collapsed in the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
of the 1930s and many lost their savings. The construction of a dam on the Rio Chubut 120 km west of Trelew, inaugurated on 19 April 1963, removed the risk of flooding in the Lower Chubut Valley.
The Welsh have left their mark on the landscape, with windmills and chapels across the province, including the distinctive wood and corrugated zinc Capel Salem and Trelew's Salon San David, an attempt to reproduce St David's Cathedral
St David's Cathedral
St David's Cathedral is situated in St David's in the county of Pembrokeshire, on the most westerly point of Wales.-Early history:The monastic community was founded by Saint David, Abbot of Menevia, who died in AD589...
, Pembrokeshire
Pembrokeshire
Pembrokeshire is a county in the south west of Wales. It borders Carmarthenshire to the east and Ceredigion to the north east. The county town is Haverfordwest where Pembrokeshire County Council is headquartered....
. Many settlements along the valley bear Welsh names.
Over the years use of the Welsh language
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
has declined, and there was comparatively little contact between Wales and Chubut for many years after 1914. Things began to change when a large number of Welsh people visited Patagonia in 1965 for celebrations to mark the 100th anniversary of the colony. Since then there has been a great increase in the number of visitors from Wales. Teachers are sent to assist in keeping the language alive, and there is some social cachet in knowing the language—even among people who are not of Welsh ancestry. There are still important cultural activities, including chapel, poetry and Welsh teas served in teahouses alongside the river in Gaiman and Dolavon
Dolavon
Dolavon is a small town in the Patagonian province of Chubut, Argentina. It has a population of 2,929 according to the . It is located close to the Chubut River, about 19 km to the west of Gaiman. The name comes from Welsh dôl and afon . Welsh immigrants began to settle in the area after their...
. In 2006, the links between the Chubut Valley and Wales were again underscored, this time in a sporting context. The first of a two-Test tour
2006 mid-year rugby test series
During June of 2006, several rugby union test sides played fixtures that were mainly contested in southern nations. It acted as end of year tours of the Northern Hemisphere nations, and pre season matches for the Tri Nations Series and Pacific 5 Nations....
to Argentina
Argentina national rugby union team
The Argentina national rugby team, nicknamed Los Pumas, represents Argentina in international rugby union matches. The team, which plays in sky blue and white jerseys, is organised by the Argentine Rugby Union .Argentina played its first international rugby match in 1910 against a touring British...
by the Wales national rugby union team
Wales national rugby union team
The Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...
was played in Puerto Madryn, a 27–25 win for Argentina. Another example of the Argentina-Wales connection is that Welsh Centre in London has been for many years one of the main venues for dancing Argentine Tango
Argentine Tango
Argentine tango is a musical genre of simple quadruple metre and binary musical form, and the social dance that accompanies it. Its lyrics and music are marked by nostalgia, expressed through melodic instruments including the bandoneon. Originated at the ending of the 19th century in the suburbs of...
.
Principal settlements in the area are Puerto Madryn
Puerto Madryn
Puerto Madryn is a city in the province of Chubut in the Argentine Patagonia. It is the head town of the Viedma Department, and has about 57,571 inhabitants according to the last census in 2001....
, Trevelin
Trevelín
Trevelin is a town in the Patagonian Argentine province of Chubut. It is located in the department of Futaleufú, south of Esquel, and had about 6,400 inhabitants at the time of the ....
("Milltown"), Rawson
Rawson, Chubut
Rawson is the capital of the Argentine province of Chubut, in Patagonia. It has about 26,000 inhabitants, and it is the head town of the Rawson Department, which has 122,000 inhabitants...
, Trelew, Dolavon
Dolavon
Dolavon is a small town in the Patagonian province of Chubut, Argentina. It has a population of 2,929 according to the . It is located close to the Chubut River, about 19 km to the west of Gaiman. The name comes from Welsh dôl and afon . Welsh immigrants began to settle in the area after their...
and Gaiman
Gaiman, Chubut
Gaiman is a town in the Chubut Province of Patagonia in Argentina. It has a population of about 6,000 as per the . It is located close to the River Chubut, about 15 km west of Trelew....
.
Welsh language names for Argentine places
| Spanish Spanish language Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the... |
Welsh Welsh language Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa... |
English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria... |
|---|---|---|
| Argentina Argentina Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires... |
Yr Ariannin | Argentina |
| La Angostura | Lle Cul | Narrow Place |
| Arroyo Pescado | Nant y Pysgod | Fish Stream |
| Colonia 16 de Octubre | Cwm Hyfryd/Bro Hydref | Beautiful Valley/October Valley |
| Fuerte Aventura | Caer Antur | Fort Adventure |
| Paso de Indios Paso de Indios Paso de Indios is a town in Chubut Province, Argentina. It is the head town of the Paso de Indios Department.... |
Rhyd yr Indiaid | Indians' Ford |
| Las Plumas Las Plumas Las Plumas is a village in Chubut Province, Argentina. It is the head town of the Mártires Department. It was established in 1921.... |
Dôl y Plu | Meadow of the Feathers |
| Puerto Madryn Puerto Madryn Puerto Madryn is a city in the province of Chubut in the Argentine Patagonia. It is the head town of the Viedma Department, and has about 57,571 inhabitants according to the last census in 2001.... |
Porth Madryn | Port Madryn |
| Rawson Rawson, Chubut Rawson is the capital of the Argentine province of Chubut, in Patagonia. It has about 26,000 inhabitants, and it is the head town of the Rawson Department, which has 122,000 inhabitants... |
Trerawson | Rawson |
| Río Chubut Chubut River The Chubut River is located in the Patagonia region of southern Argentina. Its name comes from the Tehuelche word chupat, which means "transparent". The Argentine Chubut Province, through which the river flows, is named after it... (from Tehuelche 'Chupat', meaning 'shining, glinting') |
Afon Camwy | Swirling River |
| Río Corrintos | Aber Gyrants | Turning Estuary |
| Valle de los Mártires | Dyffryn y Merthyron | Valley of the Martyrs |
| Valle Frío | Dyffryn Oer | Cold Valley |
| Trelew Trelew -References:La Pasión según Trelew, Espejo de la Argentina, 1997, Editorial Planeta Argentina S.A.I.C.; Third Edition: April 2000, Buenos Aires, ISBN 950-742-859-3-External links:* * * *... |
Tre Lew(is) | Lew(is) Town |
| Dolavon Dolavon Dolavon is a small town in the Patagonian province of Chubut, Argentina. It has a population of 2,929 according to the . It is located close to the Chubut River, about 19 km to the west of Gaiman. The name comes from Welsh dôl and afon . Welsh immigrants began to settle in the area after their... |
Dol Afon | River Meadow |
| Trevelin Trevelín Trevelin is a town in the Patagonian Argentine province of Chubut. It is located in the department of Futaleufú, south of Esquel, and had about 6,400 inhabitants at the time of the .... |
Tre Felin | Mill Town |
See also
- Anglo-Argentine
- Irish Argentine
- Eluned MorganEluned Morgan (author)Eluned Morgan , was a Welsh-language author from Patagonia.Born aboard the ship Myfanwy en route from Britain to Patagonia in South America, she was the daughter of Lewis Jones who gave his name to the city of Trelew, in Argentina...
- Welsh settlement in the Americas
- Welsh TractWelsh TractThe Welsh Tract, also called the Welsh Barony, was a portion of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania settled largely by Welsh-speaking Quakers. It covers 40,000 acres to the west of Philadelphia...
- A Swiftly Tilting PlanetA Swiftly Tilting PlanetA Swiftly Tilting Planet is a 1978 science fiction novel by Madeleine L'Engle, part of the Time Quartet. In it, Charles Wallace Murry, an advanced and perceptive child in A Wrinkle in Time and A Wind in the Door, has grown into adolescence...
- Patagonia (film)Patagonia (film)Patagonia is a 2010 drama film about different Welsh and Argentine people connected to "Y Wladfa," the Welsh settlement in Patagonia, Argentina. The film stars several well-known Welsh actors including Matthew Rhys, Nia Roberts, and the singer Duffy. Directed by Welsh director Marc Evans, it...
External links
- Glaniad – A website that tells the story of the Welsh Settlements in Patagonia
- Y Wladfa — The Welsh in Patagonia on h2g2H2g2h2g2 is a British-based collaborative online encyclopedia project engaged in the construction of, in its own words, "an unconventional guide to life, the universe, and everything", in the spirit of the fictional publication The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy from the science fiction comedy series...
- BBC Wales History on the Welsh migration to Patagonia
- Andes Celtig A trilingual website with information, maps and photographs of the Welsh settlements in Patagonia
- Teithiau Tango A bilingual website with indepth history of the Welsh Patagonia region.