Volume One - Into the Victorian Age - The Taff Vale Railway (TVR) . . .

The shareholders are now receiving 10 per cent of their original stock, and reserves have been and are being built up which are assuring maintenance of these splendid results."

	The Dowlais Iron Company started in 1759 at Dowlais near Methyr and was managed by Sir John Guest from 1767. By 1851 John Josiah Guest, his grandson, owned the company, which by that time was one of the largest steel and iron producers in the world. The company eventually evolved to become Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds i.e. GKN.

The 1853 TVR Rule Book [006] [081] specified 2,210 rules with the stipulation that “every employee is expected to remember and apply where necessary.” The fine was five shillings (25p) for each breach. A selection of rules includes:-

Rule 12 : Every person is to come on duty daily, clean in his person and clothes, shaved, and his shoes blackened. Rule 26 : It is urgently requested that every person . . . on Sundays and Holy Days, when he is not required on duty, that he will attend a place of worship; as it will be the means of promotion when vacancies occur. Rule 40 : Not any instance of intoxication, singing, whistling or levity, while on duty, will be overlooked . . . . Rule 50 : Smoking by any Passenger upon any part of the Company’s premises, or in any Carriage or Rain, is strictly forbidden, whether such person is travelling, or otherwise.