This talk examines the status of Swansea as a Welsh urban centre in the early nineteenth century and the attempts made by some of the town’s elite, to advance Swansea’s claims to be a kind of unofficial ‘capital’ of Wales. We will explore what these claims to Welsh urban supremacy were based on, and how other towns responded to the growing urban ambitions of Swansea in these years.

Biography

Louise Miskell is professor of History at Swansea University where she teaches and researches aspects of modern British history. She has published extensively on the history of towns and industries in Wales including (on Swansea) ‘Intelligent Town’: an urban history of Swansea, c.1780-1855 (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2006); and (with Professor Chris Evans) Swansea Copper: A Global History (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2020).