is it true they speak Welsh in parts of Patagonia - what's that all about?

Answer 1

Yes dear they do - but it is no stranger than speaking Spanish in Peru now is it?

Answer 2

It is true.

They emigrated to Argentina in order to maintain their language and culture. The first settlers sailed there in 1865. They chose Patagonia (specifically around the Chubut River) because it was largely uninhabited, other than for Amerindians.

A Welsh colony was established, with its own autonomy, self-government and schools, and entirely within Argentine territory. Migration continued from Wales to Patagonia until 1914.

In the early part of the 20th century, when the Buenos Aires government took an interest in encouraging European immigration and expanding its control to the south, it brought an end to Welsh governmental and educational autonomy in Patagonia. A flood of newcomers from Spain and other European countries, made the Welsh a minority in the colony that they had founded. As a consequence some 150 Welsh Patagonians actually migrated to Australia between 1910 and 1916. Despite that, the language has survived, but only just. However its popularity is now on the increase, with young people with no Celtic heritage learning to speak Welsh.

There are plenty of websites about the Welsh in Patagonia. Here are just a few.

And don't even get me started on the Cornish in Mexico or the Scottish in Venezuela!

Answer 3

It's true, why do you think they play rugby in Argentina. The reasons for the emigration of the Welsh to Chubut are well documented in a number of books, the two most important being:

The Desert and the Dream - A Study of Welsh Colonisation in Chubut 1865-1915 by Glyn Williams, 1975. Published by University of Wales Press, Cardiff
Y Wladfa (The Welsh Colony) by R Bryn Williams 1962 Cardiff
Welsh nationalists were behind the emigration movement to Chubut, wanting to escape the persecution of the English and to preserve their language, culture and religion. The Industrial Revolution and an increase in population in rural Wales placed stress es on the economic life of the Welsh peasant. The motivation behind the continuing migration of the Welsh to Chubut was to because of rising unemployment, and a desire to enjoy a better quality of life and economic stability. Michael Daniel Jones (1822-1898, of Bala), a Welsh conformist, was the 'father' of the Chubut colony. He had spent 3 years in Ohio which had been settled by the Welsh, but thought that the Welsh had become too assimilated into the culture, thus losing their own. He wanted to found a completely autonomous community for the Welsh, and to do this he realised he would have to put up physical and psychological barriers to assimilation. At this time the Argentine Government were calling for expressions of interests for European settlers to its southern 'unconquered' areas - Patagonia. He was thus instrumental in assisting the emigration of the Welsh to Chubut.
The first shipload of emigrants sailed from Liverpool for Patagonia aboard the Mimosa. As reported in the book "In Search of the Red Dragon", they sang the following song:

We have found a better land
In the far south
It is Patagonia
We will live there in peace
Without fear of treachery or war
And a Welshman on the throne
Praise be to God

Settlements
On 15 September 1865 the first town in the Chubut colony was named Rawson, after the Argentine minister who negotiated the emigration of the Welsh. Two families settled in Gaiman in 1874, with a minister. Other families joined, most of whom had been members of the Ministers' congregation in Wales, so that by 1875, the town of Gaiman was established 21 miles west of Rawson.

Trelew was established in 1871 and Dolavon in 1880. In 1884, Chubut was declared a province of Argentina. From about 1885 onwards, the Welsh started settling south and west of Rawson to the foothills of the Andes mountain. They undertook a number of explorations to the western part of Argentina, to the foothills of the Andes. It was through these explorations that the Andes were settled, so that in 1894 the new settlement in Cwm Hyfrd numbered 100 people.

Answer 4

Yes it is true. A whole load of Welsh Speakers went out there many years ago and founded a "colony" as they spoke Welsh and were left in considerable isolation they continued to speak Welsh and did not change to Spanish or English.

Answer 5

Yes, but whereas fifty years ago there were three Welsh language newspapers and many Welsh speakers, because there has been so much intermarriage, you now have to go to some effort to meet natural Welsh speakers. In the 19th. century many Welsh people, unhappy with conditions at home, left for new pastures overseas. Most of these headed for America but just a few sailed for the even more exotic destination of Patagonia in South America.

Why Patagonia? Michael D. Jones was a nonconformist minister whose mother had been evicted by a great Welsh landowner, Sir Watkin Williams Wynn. In those days landlords had no compunction in evicting farming tenants who did not support their political views or ambitions and were notorious for their rigid interpretation of the game laws. Catching a rabbit for the pot on one of the great estates could be a very risky activity. Like many other religious leaders of his day Jones looked to emigration as a solution for the problems of his flock. He had come to realise that in the second generation Welsh emigrants to America tended to lose their language and some of their national characteristics, so decided to locate his flock in Patagonia which was thought to be fertile and known to be sparsely populated. He sent out two people to report and based on their findings made an arrangement with the Argentine government to reserve land in a place called Chubut Valley.

On the 24th May 1865 the ship Mimosa, of 450 tons, left Liverpool for South America carrying 163 (or according to some accounts 153) men women and children. The cost for a ticket was 48 British pounds and this price included food, although passengers had to bring their own mess utensils and bedding. The ship arrived at Golfo Nuevo on 28th July 1865 and the party landed to begin their lives as agriculturalists in a new land. Strangely enough, there was only one farmer in the group and this might explain some of the problems they were to face. Drought and occasional flooding made their work difficult and there were times when the enterprise seemed doomed. Despite this a second ship brought more emigrants from Wales and both the Argentine and the British governments aided the colony. It survives to the present day.

I had the pleasure of speaking Welsh in Trelew, in the Chubut province, this being a town where there are bilingual schools and an Eisteddfod is held every year. There is so much enthusiasm for learning Welsh that a professor of Welsh has been seconded there from Cardiff University. Many of the young people who have decided to learn the language are only partly of Welsh origin (perhaps one grandparent) and are having to learn from scratch, as Welsh is not spoken in their home. But they are really keen to practise!

So, an accurate picture is that you couldn't get too far by relying on Welsh as your language of communication in Patagonia, but where it is spoken, it is spoken with great enthusiasm and dedication!

By the way, I cherish memories of a statue on the sea front in Puerto Madryn showing a Welsh woman representing the early Welsh settlers in the province, who had a hard time of it when they first arrived in the nineteenth century. This woman has her back to the sea, showing her resolution to stay put where she is and not to attempt to turn back.

Answer 6

Perfectly true. Part of the population are descended from Welsh settlers who came to work the coal mines.

Answer 7

yes this is true as the Welsh people were one of the first that came and worked in the mines there...

Answer 8

yes is true but our native language is Spanish. In Argentina we speak a lot of different languagues cause we all have parents who come from other parts of the world like Spain, Italy etc.

Answer 9

The place is called trelew, i think and they even have a welsh eisteddfod like we do hear in wales and most of our traditions too such as dawnsio gwerin (welsh dancing).

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Answer 10

Yes; like Italians, Germans, and--come to that-- the Spanish, a large number of them emigrated. They all settled in the same place because they heard from those who had gone there and foregathered with those like them. They have quite good choirs there, of course.