The pioneer of the coal trade was Thomas Wayne, the son of Mathew Wayne, ironmaster and coalmaster of Merthyr. Wayne persuaded his father and elder brother that an attempt should be made to reach the famous four-foot seam of steam coal. The sinking of the Abernant-y-Groes Colliery (later known as Cwmbach Colliery) began in June 1837, and by December of that year they had sunk the shaft 60 feet. The people involved with the venture immediately formed the Wayne’s Merthyr-Aberdare Steam Coal Company and by the end of December coal from the colliery was being exhibited in London.