Treharne, Edward Llewellyn

Edward Treharne and his brother David, who also played for Pontypridd, were born and raised in Merthyr, but lived most of their early lives in Pentre House, near Treorchy. 

Treharne was the first Pontypridd player to gain a cap for his country. He had played for Cowbridge Grammar School, before playing for his local club of Pontypridd. Edward made his international debut on the then Mr Richardson's Field in Blackheath. 

The date was February 19th, 1881. England were the opponents, they won - scoring 6 tries, 7 goals, and 1 dropped goal, to no score from Wales (apparently in those days there were no points awarded for goals and tries). 

Strangely, Treharne only went to the game as a spectator, and was pulled out of the crowd when it was discovered that the Welsh team were short of a few players. The match had been re-arranged with the Rugby Union only offering the WRU one date, which was accepted, but the regular Welsh players had already been selected for their clubs in cup games and were not released.

The result staggered the Welsh Rugby team, and within weeks the Welsh Rugby Union was formed. 

The Valleys may have been deficient of many things, but there was plenty of space for sports of all kinds.

And so it was that within the confines of hardships, some created, whilst others accomplished their aims, and one of those was Edward Llewellyn Treharne, he made his mark in the history of rugby, and lit a beacon for those to follow in his footsteps.

Edward died on Thursday, December 29th 1904. He was forty-two years of age.

Further biographical information from Gareth Harris:

David Treharne (senior) was born and raised in Llangwynwyd, near Maesteg, but little could he know that some of his children would play an historic part in the birth of the Welsh Rugby Union and the early history of the Pontypridd Rugby Football Club. In his early twenties he married his childhood sweetheart from the same village and became a land agent in Merthyr. These were the boom days in the coal industry and he soon became a wealthy man. 

In 1857 their first child, Albert, was born, and he was closely followed by David (Junior) in 1860 and Edward in 1862. Mr. Treharne then purchased land in the Rhondda valley, where he built a home for his family at Pentre, near Treorchy, which he aptly called ‘Pentre House.’ Three further children were born, all girls, and three residential servants were employed to help around the home. Pentre House was demolished in the early 1960s.

When old enough the three boys were sent to the residential Cowbridge Grammar School to receive a good education. It was here that they learned to play ‘football,’ the new game that was sweeping through the public schools of England and Wales, and soon David and Edward were representing the school team. On leaving school, Albert worked with his father, while Edward went to St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, London, to train as a doctor. David, meanwhile, secured a position as a junior clerk at the county courthouse in Pontypridd, where he worked with James and Edward Spickett, who had formed a courthouse team that became known as the first Pontypridd team. It is possible as well, that the Treharne’s and Spickett’s already knew each other, for James and William had probably played against them when attending Monkton House School, Cardiff.  David Treharne was made Pontypridd team captain for season 1879-80, and when Edward returned from London, he too was invited to play for the courthouse team. 

The South Wales Football Club was formed in 1877, and took the best players from the Welsh clubs to play against the already well established English clubs such as the Oxford and Cambridge Universities, and the Treharne's and Spickett's were sometimes included. By March 1880 the South Wales football club was now the South Wales Union, and a meeting was called to form a Welsh Union, but little progress was made. Richard Mullock, Secretary of the union, grew ever impatient, so went ahead himself and arranged with the English Union to play a match at Blackheath in early 1881. No one from Pontypridd was selected, but due to a frozen pitch the match was postponed.  The English Union could only offer Mullock one other date, which coincided with the South Wales Challenge cup semi-finals. Despite this he pressed ahead and selected a different team. On the day, two Welsh players, including John Edward Brooks, of Pontypridd, failed to appear for the game (he had not been told!), and two spectators with Welsh connections were put in to play.  One was Edward Treharne, there as a spectator, who although a threequarter, played in the forwards.  Mullock’s team suffered a heavy defeat, but the game spurred the Welsh clubs into action and shortly afterwards the Welsh Union was formed. One of its first actions was to make that game at Blackheath the first official Welsh international match. So there you have it, Pontypridd's first international player was a doctor who played out of position! 

The Treharne’s playing careers do not seem to have lasted very long, their professional careers taking up more and more of their time, though Edward did gain a second cap against England at Swansea in 1882, this time in his proper position, and later played the occasional game for Cardiff. Edward later took up a practice at Cadoxton, near Barry, South Glamorgan,where he became president of the Cadoxton junior conservative club, before becoming a Justice of the Peace, Glamorgan County Councillor, and leader of the Barry district council. He seems never to have mentioned that he had played for Wales, and appears to be a very modest and popular man in the district. Like his father, he became a  wealthy man, and built a large house, which with his father's wit, named it ‘Cadoxton House.’ He owned land, and once donated land to the council for road widening on Cadoxton Common. Unfortunately, he in return asked the council to put up new gates for his new home as a return gesture, which caused a bit of an argument around the town.

Edward died on Thursday, December 29th 1904. He had been fourty-two years of age the previous March.  Early on the morning of his death, about 2 o'clock, he was called out to see a patient at Colebrook, and returned home about 2.30. He returned to bed and got up about 8 a.m.  He shaved in his dressing room and returned to his bedroom while his maid got his bath ready. He was sitting on his bed reading his letters when he suddenly gasped for breath and fell back. Mrs. Treharne got up at once and called the eldest son, who procured some brandy, but Edward failed to swallow any. Hot water bottles were applied to his feet, but he showed no signs of life. Doctor’s O'Neil and Budge were sent for, and the former pronounced "life extinct". 

Mrs. Treharne was told at the inquest that her husband had consulted a doctor a year or so ago, who had told him that there was something the matter with his heart. Since then he had been in good spirits and appeared to be in good health. Dr. Stephen's of Cardiff, gave evidence that he had known Dr. Treharne for many years. About eighteen months ago he was consulted by the deceased, and had found that there was an enlargement of the heart, and a tendency towards fatty degeneration. He had advised the deceased to be as careful as possible, and had told Mr. Treharne to be as careful as possible, and not to over exert himself. The state of the heart was such as to lead to sudden death. He had examined the body and was satisfied that death was due to natural causes, namely heart decease. In summing up the coroner expressed sympathy with the Treharne family. Dr. Treharne was an old and personal friend of his, and he was of such a robust and hearty disposition that he thought that he would be the last person who he thought would have met his end in such a sudden and tragic manner. The coroner unanimously passed a verdict of death by natural causes. 

The day after the death of Edward Treharne, before the ordinary business was proceeded with at the Barry police court, Mr. J. C. Megit expressed deep sympathy for the Treharne family. Mr. Jones-Lloyd, solicitor, said that he had had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Treharne in many capacities, as a friend, and at the court as a magistrate, and always found the Doctor to be genial, kind and just. At the weekly meeting of the Cardiff board of guardians the following Saturday, Mr. Thomas said that he had known the doctor for many years as a genial and sympathetic man, who had endeared himself to the poor of the district.

The funeral took place at the Merthyr Dyfan cemetery, Barry, on January 2nd 1905, and was attended by an immense concourse of gentlemen. The cortege was nearly a mile long in length, and included a large contingent of the county constabulary from the Barry and Penarth districts, together with a numerous section of the members of the Barry lodge of freemasons, of which the deceased was a member and past master. The principal mourners were Mr. David Treharne (father), Mr. Edward Treharne (son), Mr. Albert Treharne (brother) and Mr. David Treharne (brother). 

The number of floral wreaths numbered about fifty, many of them being of an extremely handsome description. The funeral was one of the largest and most representative ever seen in the Barry district, the town’s people and general public uniting to pay their last tributes of respect and affectionate regard to the memory of a gentleman who was greatly loved in the community, Dr. Treharne being undoubtedly one of the most popular men in the district. The scene at the graveside was an effecting one, and for fully half an hour the large assemblage filed around the open grave to obtain a last glance at the coffin of one who was respected and loved by all, rich and poor alike. As one by one the freemasons passed the same affectionate tribute over the grave of their departed brother, each dropped on the lid of the coffin a sprig of acacia, as the particular token of love and of sorrow prescribed by the craft for the use on such occasions. 

And so passed Pontypridd’s first international player. I am happy to shed some light on this little known gentleman who deserves his place in the history books of Welsh rugby.

Edward's brother David, died on December 15th 1924, at the age of 64. The ‘Glamorgan Free Press’ of the following week gave this report: 

Mr. David Treharne was a man of wonderful physique and commanding personality, and before his death he had the distinction of being the oldest practicing solicitor in the Rhondda valley. He was a staunch conservative and an ardent churchman. He had lived all his life in Pentre. He qualified as a solicitor in 1884, after having served articles with the late Walter Morgan in Pontypridd. Since that time he had been practicing with his younger brother, Mr. Gwilym Treharne, in Treorchy. During the First World War he was military representative for the Rhondda district, and attained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Previously he had been associated with the old volunteer movement from its inception in the Rhondda valley.  In 1920 he married Miss Janet Evans of Eaglesbush, Neath. In his younger days Mr. Treharne was an enthusiastic rugby footballer and sprinter. He is survived by his widow, a brother, Mr. Albert Treharne, who succeeded his father (who died age 92 in 1913) as agent for several important and extensive estates, and by a sister, Mrs. (Dr) D. J. Thomas, Porthcawl, and late of Ponymoel. The funeral took place at Treorchy cemetery.  

David and Edward Treharne, along with James and William Spickett, had been early pioneers of 'football' in Pontypridd, and had started a long line of brothers that would represent the club over the years.

These middle class youngsters had been looking for leisure activities when away from the county courthouse, little realizing that they had begun a club that through many trials and tribulations would last until the year 2,010 and  beyond.

Margaret Louise Treharne, Edward’s wife, died November 1952, aged 78.  

His youngest son, Leslie Llewellyn Treharne, is buried in his father’s grave. He died of wounds in France, September 24th  1915.