Archibald Hood

Archibald Hood
Statue of Hood at Llwynypia
Born	Archibald Hood 1823 Kilmarnock, Scotland
Died	1902 Cardiff, Wales
Occupation	coalowner and industrialist
Years active	1856–1902
Children	James Hood

Archibald Hood (1823–1902) was a Scottish engineer and coalowner who became an important figure in the industrial growth of the Rhondda Valley. The son of a colliery official, Hood would make his name as a coalowner of collieries first in Scotland and later in Llwynypia in South Wales.

Hood was born in June 1823 in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire. His father was a colliery foreman. His mother had died, so Hood's father brought him up alone, and he received little education – aged thirteen he was employed at his father's colliery. At the age of 17, after his father was promoted to colliery manager, Hood was able to take classes and qualified as a mining engineer.

In 1856 Hood began expanding his business; leasing Whitehill Colliery at Rosewell (then owned by Archibald Primrose, 4th Earl of Rosebery). His successes in expanding and improving the Rosewell colliery allowed Hood to expand his operations, and he soon managed several pits in the area (including Carrington and Polton, to which he extended the railway lines). Hood not only improved the mines in his ownership, he also made provision to improve the living conditions for his workers. He built houses for his workers and their families, and ensured that each house had a garden to provide a small holding. Hood set up home in Rosewell, living at Rosedale house with his family.

In 1860, Hood joined the Ely Valley Coal Company in Tonyrefail in the Rhondda in Wales, an area which was undergoing a massive industrial coal boom. He bought Gilfach House in Gilfach Goch, from where he would live during his initial years in the Rhondda. In 1862 he changed the name of the Ely Valley Coal Company to the Glamorgan Coal Company and took ownership of it. In March 1863, after acquiring mineral rights from the local land owners, he sank a pit in Llwynypia. In 1864 the pit reached the No.2 seam and 1865 the No.3 seam was reached. His colliery at Llwynypia was known for the high level of Scottish workers who followed Hood to the area and for the quality of the coke from the site. To protect his interests in the Welsh coalfields he moved permanently to Wales in 1867, residing with his family at 'Sherwood' on Newport Road in Cardiff, though he kept ownership of Rosedale in Rosewell.