In the 1890s, South Wales was one of the three main publishing centres for Masonic periodicals in Britain.
Masonic journals enjoyed much popularity during the nineteenth-century, when some twenty publications of this type were produced and many were sold via public outlets. However, most of these journals were short-lived - and many of them lasted for a few months only,
Principally they were published in London and the South-east of England. Nonetheless, several emanated from Liverpool and one, eventually covering much of western Britain, was published here in South Wales, in Cardiff. Known as The Craftsman it was founded as a monthly, in January 1894, and it lasted for 102 issues, spanning a period of nine years - longer than most such magazines.
The proprietor and editor was Frederick James Harries, whose parents were the proprietors of the Carmarthen Arms at 4 Lower High Street, Merthyr Tydfil. Frederick Harries was born at Uzmaston, a farming village near Haverfordwest, where he was christened at the village church on 3 Sept 1865. When he was six years of age, his parents moved to Merthyr Tydfil and Frederick was educated at Merthyr Tydfil Grammar School.
His career in journalism began before his 16th birthday, when he was working as a Reporter on The Merthyr Express, a weekly newspaper which was to be his employer until 1890, when he moved to work at the Western Mail and to live in Cardiff.
This move might have had something to do with a need for a larger income, because on 28 August 1890, at the age of 25, he had been married, at Cyfarthfa Parish Church, to Mary Lloyd.
Her father was Herbert Lloyd of Nantygwenith, Merthyr Tydfil, who was a prominent local Grocer. Census documents reveal that Mary (unlike her husband) spoke both English and Welsh. Frederick and Mary moved in that year to live at 283 Cowbridge Rd, Cardiff, and this remained their home for over 20 years.
It was during this phase of his life that Harries became a Freemason. Having applied for membership of Loyal Cambrian Lodge No 110 at Merthyr Tydfil, his application did not come to the top of the list until 1892 - by which time, of course, he had moved away and was living in Cardiff.
Nonetheless, it was at Merthyr Tydfil that he was Initiated on 4 February 1892. Harries quickly developed a deep enthusiasm for Freemasonry. Indeed, the rate at which he gathered Masonic knowledge and experience must have been formidable because less than two years after his Initiation he founded The Craftsman which quickly developed into one of the finest Masonic periodicals in Britain.
He ran the magazine from his home, as a sideline to his main employment at The Western Mail. An octavo-sized publication, The Craftsman adopted a two-column format and generally contained 20 pages of news and comment. It sold for three pence per copy or, as the Editor commented in 1895, less than the price of a small bottle of wine.
Copies could be purchased from many of the Tylers of Lodges within its circulation area, as well as commercial premises, such as H E Webb, Stationers, 35 Castle Street, Cardiff; The Cardiff Stationery Company, in Dowlais Arcade, Cardiff Docks; Messrs Daniel Owen & Company Limited, St Mary Street, Cardiff and Mr W H Key, Taff Street, Pontypridd. It was also sold via Royal Mail for an annual subscription of 3s.6d (post free).
Initially, among some local Freemasons there was suspicion and resistance to the new publication and they accused it of betraying Masonic privacy.
These fears were soon allayed, however, and were replaced by a very warm local adoption. One happy sign of that change of attitude was apparent when the Editor was hailed by Masons at Rhymney with the singing of “For he is a Jolly Good Fellow” at the end of 1894.
Similarly in 1897, Harries was rewarded for his dedication to Freemasonry by being appointed as a Provincial Grand Steward by Lord Llangattock, the Provincial Grand Master of South Wales, Eastern Division– just five years after his Initiation.
Further evidence of the acceptance and admiration of The Craftsman came when it was announced in February 1898 that the magazine enjoyed the patronage of the Provincial Grand Masters of Monmouthshire, North Wales, South Wales (Eastern and Western Divisions) and their Deputies. One of its most vocal champions was W Bro Marmaduke Tennant, Deputy PGM of South Wales, Eastern Division, who made repeated calls for brethren to support the publication.
Sales soon went well. The 1895 October edition sold out and the publisher reported that regrettably he was unable to supply late buyers. In February 1897 a large increase in subscribers was recorded. The correspondence columns of the magazine show that it had readers far and wide, including some in Bournemouth, Wimborne, Whitby, London and Ireland, South Africa and Palestine.
The strap line, which appeared beneath the title The Craftsman, originally stated that it was “A monthly journal and review devoted to the interests of Freemasonry in Wales and the Border Counties” but within six months this strapline had been dropped (presumably because it was too limiting).
In January 1898, a shortened version of the strapline returned, stating more simply that the magazine was “A monthly journal and review devoted to the interests of Freemasonry”.
Gradually, it extended its coverage beyond the initial area of Wales and The Marches and began to feature articles on a regular basis about lodge meetings and other Masonic events in Lancashire, Cheshire and south-west England.
The quality of its journalism was widely praised. The December 1895 issue, for example, recorded that “notices of the last number of The Craftsman appeared last month in The Evening Express, Cardiff, The South Wales Star and the South Wales Times and Star of Gwent, Newport, Barry Dock News, Cadoxton, Pontypool Free Press and other South Wales newspapers”.
Staple material included reports of Masonic lodge meetings, consecrations, ladies’ nights, diary dates, summer outings, profiles and obituaries, reviews of the past year, Masonic poems and short stories, historical items, book reviews, comments and appointments.
For the Editor of the magazine, there appears to have been no shortage of editorial material. Notices frequently appeared within the magazine stating that - due to lack of space - promised articles had been held over until the next issue.
Typically, each issue consisted of eight pages of local and regional information (covering a wide range of Masonic Orders), plus eight pages of Masonic news and comment of a wider geographical nature and four pages of advertising.
Local writers who contributed material to The Craftsman included James Radley of Cardiff, Henry Porcher of Pontypridd, Henry Batten of Cardiff, D S Varzopollo of Cardiff, Revd A B Grimaldi and Rabbi L. Weiss.
Notable supporters included several distinguished members of Quatuor Coronati Lodge No 2076, the premier lodge of masonic research, such as William James Hughan of Torquay, Frederick J W Crowe of Weston-super-Mare and George William Speth of Ramsgate, all of whom acknowledged the quality and standing of the publication and frequently supplied items to the magazine.
One of the most intriguing correspondents was Mrs Lloyd Harris, the wife of the editor, who in 1898 participated in a cruise to the Holy Land and Egypt, organised for Freemasons and their ladies, which extended over several months. As “Special Correspondent” to The Craftsman, she wrote a series of articles about this journey which were published in six successive issues of the magazine and subsequently as a book, A Cruise to The Holy Land and Egypt, or The Story of a Modern Pilgrimage (which is still in print today).
Revenue from advertising seems to have grown steadily over the years. In its first two years, the average number of pages of advertising per issue was one and half pages. In the following two years it averaged two and a half pages but then, rose to just over three. From 1898 onwards, the number of pages of advertising per issue rose still higher to six and sometimes seven pages.
Reflecting the same pattern, the number of companies who paid for advertisements on those pages rose from three per issue to a peak of 42 at the end of 1900. Most of these advertisers were local and regional suppliers but a few were from places as far away as London, Liverpool and Rio de Janeiro. Mainly they advertised regalia, jewellery, books, stationery, tailoring, hotels, house decoration, schools, private tutors, pianofortes, photographic studios, medicines and potions, undertakers, industrial goods and maritime services.
The first copies of this magazine were printed by Messrs Daniel Owen & Co of Cardiff and that company may well have continued to be the printer of The Craftsman until early in 1899, when it was announced that: “The journal is now being set up and printed in its own offices. We hope those who have given us such warm support in the past will lay us under still greater obligations by sending us Orders for Masonic or General Printing which will be executed in first class style equal to that of any printing house in South Wales”.
In 1899, five years after establishing The Craftsman, Frederick Harries moved to work in Pontypridd, at the Glamorgan Times, where he established himself as both Editor and Proprietor for the next 30 years. The Glamorgan Times was an eight-page, weekly broadsheet, Conservative newspaper. It sold for one penny per copy and circulated in Pontypridd, Rhondda, Merthyr Tydfil, Aberdare and the Rhymney Valley. Harries’ move to Pontypridd however precipitated the closure of The Craftsman owing to the weight of his new responsibilities.
In the final issue, published in December 1901, Harries wrote: “Some of the brethren may ask why I let a successful journal go? Well, as we explained last week, we have now more irons in the fire than we can possibly attend to and our responsibilities have outgrown our strength, with the result that we must get rid of some of them. The detailed work in connection with The Craftsman has been very much greater than probably any of our readers are aware and while some time ago we looked upon it partly as a pastime we find that it's continuance would now interfere materially with the more serious business of our life.”
Certainly, his commitment to the Glamorgan Times proved successful. It was renamed The Glamorgan County Times in 1904, and this newspaper kept him occupied for a further 25 years. He also went on to become the author of more than a dozen books.
After the First World War, with increased prosperity, Harries moved to 10 Plymouth Rd, Penarth and there he became a member of Windsor Lodge No 1754.
When he was 75 years of age, he sold the Glamorgan County Times but retained an interest in it as a Director. Subsequently, in 1934, at the age of 79, he took up a fresh appointment as Editor, Manager and part proprietor of the Barry & District News but died on 2 Dec 1934 leaving in his will an estate of £3,922.
In some ways this has been the simple story about how a Merthyr boy, who learnt to write, made a good living as a result. It has described how he started his working life on a local weekly newspaper, moved to Cardiff to work for the leading daily newspaper in the region, set up a magazine which he described as “a pastime”, become the proprietor of a weekly newspaper in the Rhondda, wrote many books and settled in comfort at Penarth.
However, it was probably that important “pastime” magazine, so full of advertisements and with so many subscribers, which enabled him to build up the money and become a publisher and editor in Pontypridd.
For brethren interested in Masonic history, that pastime magazine has proved to be of great benefit, because it was of a high quality, and has left behind an insight into how such a publication was established and an unmatched store of valuable Masonic information and photographs covering western Britain at the end of the Victorian Age.