The Victorian ancestors of our U3A Member

The Victorian ancestors of our U3A Member, Norma
Baird-Murray’s family, were from 1897 onwards, the
owners of the Metropole Hotel, LLandrindod Wells.
Originally built and opened in 1871 as Coleman’s Hotel,
it was sold in the 1880s and renamed as The Bridge
Hotel after the Arlais Brook which runs at the back of the
hotel.
In 1897 it was sold again, this time to Mrs Elizabeth
Miles, the Great Grandmother of David Baird-Murray,
late husband of our U3A member Mrs Norma BairdMurray.
This photo shows Coleman’s
Hotel, Llandrindod Wells,
about 1880.
In 1859, Edwin Coleman, of
Howey Shop and Post Office,
bought a building site and
erected a semi-detached
three-storey building on it. The
section on the left he called
Templefield House and from
1871 he let this out to a series
of tenants.
The part of the building on the right, situated next to Temple Bazaar, he called
Coleman’s Hotel. He obtained a licence and opened the hotel in 1872
Over the next few years, the hotel built up a good reputation as a family and
commercial hotel accommodating about 40 guests. Food and vegetables were
provided from the garden behind the hotel and from the family shop in Howey.
The Bridge Hotel
A few years later the hotel
was sold to John Wilding for
£2,200. Already the owner of
the Builder’s Arms,
Crossgates, and tenant of
the Severn Arms, Penybont,
John Wilding could see the
potential of Ye Wells now
that Llandrindod was
growing rapidly as a popular
Spa Town.
He bought it for his seven children, four of whom moved into the new hotel, now
renamed the Bridge Hotel but with constant movement between the Bridge and
the Severn Arms on horseback, by trap, and by train.
Under the Wildings the hotel flourished and a number of extensions were made,
including the brick porch and the slate roofed verandah along the front of the
hotel.
Stables were added along with a tennis court, a second coach house, a billiard
room and a laundry. It built up reputation for comfort and good food.
Guests outside the Bridge Hotel
in 1892
Mrs Elizabeth Miles
In 1897 The Bridge Hotel was sold to
Mrs Elizabeth Miles of the New Inn
Hotel, Pontypridd for the sum of
£7850.
Elizabeth Miles was a remarkable
woman, described in her obituary
notice as ‘a business woman of
great ability and enterprise’.
Born in 1847, she was the
daughter of Mr and Mrs Francis
Spencer, innkeepers in Treforest,
Glamorganshire. She married Mr
William Miles at the age of 20
and they had two sons, Francis,
born 1868 and William born
1869. She was widowed at the
age of 24.
In 1886 she took over the New Inn from her parents in Pontypridd, having
previously been the tenant of the Bridgend Inn, Pentre. The coming of the
railway in 1841 had turned Pontypridd from a village to an important industrial
centre, the collecting point for the coal from Merthyr on its way to Cardiff and
Barry, iron and chemical works and several stone quarries. The town grew into a
busy shopping and business centre with a rapidly increasing population.
Mrs Miles also owned and leased other hotels in Cardiff, Swansea and
Caerphilly, including the Angel in Cardiff.
In 1897, when Mrs
Elizabeth Miles bought the
Bridge Hotel, Llandrindod
Wells was growing rapidly
and visitors were
increasing yearly. Hotels in
the town had increased
enormously, both in
number and size.
In 1898 Mrs Miles began a programme of enlargement and development of her
accommodation that lasted for the next 26 years, increasing the maximum
number of guests from about 40 to 200. She achieved her ambition of owning the
largest hotel in Wales at the time.
The motor car was beginning to
become an increasingly popular form
of transport. In the same year that
Mrs Miles bought the Bridge Hotel, the
RAC was formed in 1897.
Visitors began to travel to the hotel by
car as well as by train.
Elizabeth Miles appointed resident managers to run the hotel from 1897 to 1954.
The name was changed to the Metropole in 1911 after she had bought a large
quantity of linen, cutlery, crockery and carpets in a hotel sale in Norfolk. On her
return she found that all the goods were marked with the monogram ‘M’. A
month later The Bridge was renamed The Metropole!
Elizabeth Miles’ son, William, married Gwendoline Williams
of Cowbridge in 1900. They had 3 children - Spencer,
Elizabeth and Mary.
Mrs Elizabeth Miles (seated)
with granddaughters Elizabeth
(Betty) on the left, Mary on
the right and grandson,
Spencer in the row behind.
The children’s mother,
Gwendoline, is next to
Spencer on the left with
Elizabeth Miles’ sons, Francis
on the right and William at the
back.
Elizabeth (Betty) later married Mr Douglas Baird-Murray
and became the mother of two sons, David and Miles.
In 1954 David Baird-Murray, took charge of the hotel with
his wife Norma.
Today The Metropole Hotel is run by Justin and Sarah, son
and daughter of David and Norma Baird-Murray.