Owen Harris

Owen Harris (1837 – January 1905), was a Liberal politician and municipal leader in Aberdare, South Wales. 2Early life Harris was born in Llanddeusant, Carmarthenshire, but as a young man migrated to Ystalyfera in the Swansea Valley and later to Aberdare, where he opened a grocer's business in Harriet Street, Trecynon. At this time, Trecynon was a growing industrial community, and Harris was one of a number of enterprising tradesmen from rural Wales who established businesses in Harriet Street. By 1870 he was sufficiently well-established to be contributing 5/- to a testimonial for the minister at Heolyfelin Chapel (see below). In later years he established branches of his business at Mill Street and Llwydcoed, the former being managed by his son, Morgan J. Harris. 2Public life Harris was a prominent member of the Liberal Party in Aberdare but was regarded as Progressive in politics. In effect this meant that he supported closer links with the labour movement. His earliest known involvement was in 1879 when he was part of a deputation of tradesmen and working men who attended a meeting at Swansea to request Richard Fothergill, one of the two sitting members to offer himself once again as a candidate for the Merthyr Boroughs. Fothergill eventually declined the invitation. Leaders of the Baptist denomination in the Aberdare Valley, most notably Thomas Price, had been instrumental in securing Fothergill's election for Merthyr Boroughs, alongside Henry Richard in 186