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362:, which starts in 1800 and tells the story of 16-year-old Hywel Mortymer, who comes from rural Mid-Wales to work in the coal mines and ironworks of the industrial South Wales valleys, owned by early ironmasters and coalowners. It ends with the birth of his son Iestyn, with which the next book commences. Cordell continued the Mortymer Saga into the 1990s with yet another trilogy, starting with
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The
Mortymer Saga is the story of the Mortymer family, commencing in 1826, and tells of the trials of several generations of the family, set against the background of the coal mining and iron industries. In 1985, at the suggestion of a fellow South Wales author, Chris Barber, Cordell wrote a prelude
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342:(1969)—form the first part of the "Mortymer Saga", and are part of a series of Cordell novels that portray the turbulent history of early industrial Wales. Faithful to historical fact, he presents events like the birth of
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with his wife Rosina and daughter, Georgina. It was from here that his obvious love for Wales began to grow; in later life he referred in his writings to his mother being from the
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in 1900, and later the
Rhondda Valley coal mining industry, as seen through the eyes of Toby Davis. This second trilogy concluded in 1983 with
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in 1914 to an
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and
Abergavenny was renamed after him. It has now become a private house and is not open to the public.
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In 1972, Cordell began what is referred to by his readers as his second Welsh trilogy. This began with
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634:"Walking in the footsteps of one of Wales' great (if under-appreciated) writers"
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between 1838 and 1861 through the eyes of the character of
Taliesin Roberts.
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Buckingham, Mike. Frame, Richard. (1999) Valiant for Truth.
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near
Wrexham. He collapsed and died while walking near the
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At the time of his death, Cordell lived on
Railway Road in
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which deals with both copper mining on the island of
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655:. Brecon Beacons National Park. Archived from
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66:Learn how and when to remove this message
475:The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales
29:This article includes a list of general
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528:. Frame, Richard. Cardiff: GPC Books.
594:"Alexander Cordell - a view of Wales"
473:Davies, John; Jenkins, Nigel (2008).
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740:20th-century British Army personnel
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632:Hitt, Carolyn (17 October 2014).
261:Cordell left Wales for spells in
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572:Stephens, Meic (11 July 1997).
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324:Some of his most famous works—
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366:(1992), then followed with
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358:to the original trilogy,
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715:Royal Artillery officers
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179:Elsie May (nee Donovan)
102:George Alexander Graber
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242:to civilian life as a
238:, he retired from the
380:The Race of the Tiger
377:In 1963 he published
192:9 July 1997) was the
130:9 July 1997 (aged 82)
226:Cordell was born in
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300:near Abergavenny.
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424:Anglesey
350:and the
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152:Novels
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118:Ceylon
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673:ISBN
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530:ISBN
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