James Livingston, a leading figure in the public life of Swansea and a prominent personality in Swansea Cricket and Football Club, played once for Glamorganshire – on 22 July 1870 against Monmouthshire at Usk. Batting at number ten, he scored 1 and 4, but could not prevent the home side winning by an innings inside a day.
Born in Pembrokeshire to a family of Scottish descent, he was educated in Paris and moved to Swansea around 1855. He duly remained there for the rest of his life and became one of the town’s leading shipbrokers, as well as a coal merchant, acting as an agent for Nantmelin Colliery in Merthyr for the exportation of steam coal. He duly played a pivotal role in many aspects of life in the copperolis during the second half of the 19th century and, in addition to being a member of the Town Council, he also acted in 1876/77 as Mayor of Swansea. A devout Wesleyan, he had helped to create Swansea YMCA in 1867 besides becoming a member of the Swansea Cricket Club committee.
It was wearing these two hats – as an enthusiastic cricketer and a local politician – that he worked with his great friend JTD Llewelyn in securing a permanent home for the cricketers, and later rugby players. He first became involved with local landowner Robert Eaton in securing the use of Bryn-y-Mor Field on higher ground, a mile or so inland, as well as making contact in 1868 with former Surrey cricketer Charles Lawrence who was overseeing the arrangements for a tour of the UK by a team of Aboriginal cricketers.
With the town continuing to expand in both economic and geographic terms, it came as no surprise that during 1873 Robert Eaton agreed to a proposal for house-building on his property. The formal announcement of the proposals were made in The Cambrian newspaper on 21 March but through James’ influence, discussions had already started with other landowners, largely because of the poor drainage at Bryn-y-Mor. The Swansea club had already formed a Field Committee with James and JTD having made contact during 1872 with Colonel Llewellyn Morgan who leased from Swansea Corporation a strip of land and sand dunes in the St. Helen’s area, adjacent to the Oystermouth Road.
The scheme which James and his great pal had hatched involved the creation of freely-drained land – suitable for the playing of cricket and rugby – through the reclamation of the sandbanks. The negotiations with Colonel Morgan went well, and by the end of 1872, an agreement had been reached for the creation of a new sports field – at a cost of £2,000 – with a level and freely-drained surface. From the Spring of 1873, work began on levelling, turfing and rolling the former sandbanks as well as creating a series of purpose-made wickets with the first games taking place at the St. Helen’s Recreation Field in 1875.
In addition to enjoying cricket, James was also a keen golfer, athlete and cyclist, besides being an enthusiastic supporter of rugby. It was in this guise in 1881 that he became a Founding Vice-President of the Welsh Rugby Union.
LIVINGSTON, James
Born: East Wood, Boulston, Pembrokeshire 1832.
Died: Swansea, 9 January 1912.