Swansea (Welsh Abertawe), a seaport of Glamorganshire, South Wales, on the banks and at the mouth of the river Tawe, 45 miles WNW. of Cardiff and 216 W. of London. A municipal, parliamentary, and also (since 1888) county borough, it owes its rapid progress after 1850 to the manufacture of tin-plate here and in the neighbourhood, and to its harbour and docks (of over sixty acres). Owing to the abundance of fuel from the coal-pits in the district, there is a large manufacture of iron, zinc, lead, copper, tin, &c. The tin-plate prepared in and near Swansea is estimated at about two-thirds of the total produce of Great Britain. Much copper is made, mostly from foreign ore. In 1897 the total number of steam and sailing ships cleared from the port was 5756, with a tonnage of 1,552,609. In 1890 the total exports were valued at £4,953,635, while in 1897 the total value was £3,394,384, the difference being chiefly due to the reduction—mainly owing to the McKinley tariff in the United States—in the export of iron manufactures (including tin-plate), 203,638 tons in 1890, 174,766 tons in 1897; cotton manufactures, 1,936,400 yards in 1890, 64,700 yards in 1897; copper and its manufactures, 278,028 cwt. in 1890, 150,000 cwt. in 1897. The other principal exports are coals and fuel and chemical manufactures. In 1897 the total imports were valued at £2,835,245, including corn, copper ore, iron ore, petroleum, sugar, potatoes, onions (26,790 bushels), and wood. Pop. of municipal borough (1851) 31,461; (1881) 65,597; (1891) 90,349. Since 1885 Swansea returns two members to parliament, one for the district division (Aberavon, Kenfig, Loughor, and Neath). The charter dates from the days of John and Henry III. The castle, of which a tower still remains, was founded in 1099 by the Earl of Warwick, but in the reign of Edward IV. passed by marriage from the Herberts to the Somerset family, and is still the property of the Dukes of Beaufort. The Royal Institute of South Wales contains a library, art gallery, and museum with an Egyptian collection. Swansea has also a Free Library and Institute of Science and Art. The grammar-school dates from 1682.
See works by L. W. Dillwyn (1848), G. G. Francis (1849-67), P. Rogers (1878), L. C. Martin (1879), and F. Grant (1881), and the articles COPPER and TIN.
END OF VOL. IX.
