Welsh Miners in Russia

The speaker for the evening was John Steel, and his subject was “Welsh Miners in Russia”.
John had been trying to trace his grandfather for several years, with little success, and finally put an advert on line, asking if anyone could tell him about his Steel family from South Wales.
He had no reply for two or three years, and had almost given up hope of ever tracing his grandfather, when one day he had a reply to his advert.
Albert Steel contacted him and said he thought he might be a cousin to John, and provided information to enable John to find the birth certificate of his great grandfather.
It appeared that John’s grandmother had been an unmarried mother, who left her son with her parents, and then left the scene.
Further research into the Steel family revealed that they had been among a group of Welsh iron and steel workers, who had been recruited by John Hughes
(a British engineer and surveyor) to go to Russia to set up an Iron and Steel Works in 1874.
The men folk went out first to try and establish the business, and their wives and families followed about a year later.
The township which they established was called “Hughesovka” in the province of Ekaterinoslav, South Russia.
Little of this story would have been known, had not the daughter of one of the first group of pioneers written down her memories of those years.
We were read extracts “From the Memoirs of Leah Steel and her experiences in Old Russia 1874 – 1917” in which Leah told how they were given the protection of a company of Cossack Soldiers, to protect them from the bands of outlaws, brigands and robbers who roamed the unpopulated area of virgin territory where the new steelworks were situated.
She also told how quite a large British Colony developed over the years, with a School and Church, with full time teachers and minister, also a Social Club for concerts and other entertainment.
However, when the Communists finally took over in Russia in 1917, Leah, her husband and children, along with many other British families, decided to leave Russia for good, and return to their native land.
After a gruelling journey from Russia through Finland, Sweden and Norway to Bergen, they finally boarded a ship for Scotland. The ship, the “Vulture”, was camouflaged from top to bottom, and they were escorted out into the North Sea by two British destroyers, sweeping the mines ahead to give them safe passage to Aberdeen where their approach was guided by two airplanes overhead.
From Aberdeen they travelled by train to St Pancras Station, and were just going to get refreshments when they were rushed down the Sub-way by police as there were 30 German planes overhead, bombing London. That was 7th July 1917, or Black Saturday, as it was to be called. Finally they got a train to Bedford, where they and many more of the returning families settled.
A fascinating story, which might never have been told if Leah Steel had not written it all down in 1940.
John Steel very kindly allowed us to make a copy of all Leah Steel’s notes, so the members of the Fenland Family History Society will be able to read the whole story at their leisure.
It may be possible to print instalments of the story in the Ag Lab Journal during the year if John Steel agrees to the idea.
[Judy Green]

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