Archibald Hood was a Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 engineer

Engineer

An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...

 and coalowner who became an important figure in the industrial growth of the Rhondda Valley

Rhondda

Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley , is a former coal mining valley in Wales, formerly a local government district, consisting of 16 communities built around the River Rhondda. The valley is made up of two valleys, the larger Rhondda Fawr valley and the smaller Rhondda Fach valley...

. Born in Kilmarnock

Kilmarnock

Kilmarnock is a large burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland, with a population of 44,734. It is the second largest town in Ayrshire. The River Irvine runs through its eastern section, and the Kilmarnock Water passes through it, giving rise to the name 'Bank Street'...

 and brought up by his widower father, Hood received a limited education and was working in the local mine by the time he was a teenager.

The son of a Scottish colliery official, Hood would make his name as a coalowner of collieries first in Scotland and later in Gilfach Goch

Gilfach Goch

Gilfach Goch is a small former coal mining village in Rhondda Cynon Taff, south Wales, near the larger community of Tonyrefail in the Ogmore Valley....

 and Llwynypia

Llwynypia

Llwynypia , is a village in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, near Tonypandy in the Rhondda Fawr Valley. Before 1850 a lightly populated rural farming area, Llwynypia experienced a population boom between 1860 and 1920 with the sinking of several coal mines after the discovery of large coal deposits...

 in South Wales

South Wales

South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...

. His colliery at Llwynypia was known for the high level of Scottish workers who followed Hood to the area and the quality of the coke from the site. In 1900 government analyst stated that the coke was the best in the world. Hood was also a promoter of the Barry Railway Company

Barry Railway Company

The Barry Railway Company was a coal pit owner developed and owned railway company, formed to provide an alternate route for the sea export of coal mined in the South Wales valleys to the existing monopoly of the Taff Vale Railway and Cardiff Docks...

.

External links

• The Rhondda.co.uk Archibald Hood profile