Trealaw is said to have taken its name from one of the local landowner's, David Williams, bardic name of Alaw. Alaw itself derives from the Welsh word for either lily or melody or tune. The ownership and tenancies of Trealaw on the 1847 tithe maps clearly show the beginnings of coal exploration in the area. Although the executors of the Anne Sanderson Estate own the farms, such as Brithweunydd Isaf and Brithweunydd Uchaf, the tenant for these properties is listed as Walter Coffin the earliest pioneer of major coal mining in the lower Rhondda. In fact Coffin's leasing of land at Trealaw dates as far back as 1811, however he did not open his first level in this part of the valley until 1839, after his operations at Dinas were proved to be successful. The mining properties at Trealaw were subsequently sold to Daniel Thomas, who opened up the Brithweunydd Level to the steam coal measures in 1862. The colliery was eventually closed in 1879.

The expanding population of the Rhondda in the second half of the 1800's led the local district council to realise that existing cemetery provision was inadequate. As such a parcel of land was purchased on the mountainside at Trealaw, known as Llethr-Du, upon which was constructed a municipal cemetery and chapel. The first burial at the cemetery, also called Llethr-Ddu, was in 1881 and the chapel was completed in 1883.

Left: Cemetery Church Trealaw

An important part of Trealaw's history occurred in the 1920's with the founding of the ‘educational settlement' known as Maes-Yr-Haf. The driving forces behind the founding of this institution were Emma and William Noble and it was to play a vital role during the depression years in the Rhondda. As well as programmes of classes and lectures, it also provided a centre for material relief to try to alleviate some of the worst sufferings of residents of Trealaw and the Rhondda during those difficult times. It was here that the first ‘Unemployed Men's Clubs' were formed where those that were unemployed would gather to educate themselves and attempt to find alternate means of making a living. These clubs quickly spread throughout Britain and even to America during the Depression years

Trealaw also boasted the impressive building known as ‘Judge's Hall'. Known originally as, ‘The Judge Williams Memorial Hall', the building was officially opened in July 1909 by Princess Louise and The Duke of Argyll. The building was a gift to the residents of the area by Lt. Colonel Sir Rhys Williams and boasted a 1,500 capacity concert hall, as well as a library and billiard room.

Left: The Bridge Trealaw

Britain in 1926 was undergoing an industrial crisis, which led to the calling of a General Strike in the May of the year in support of the miners. Although the strike was called off after nine days thousands of miners continued to strike in opposition to pay reductions. The Society of Friends (Quakers) annual meeting at Manchester that year held a debate on the situation and decided to send representatives to colliery districts. These representatives were to gather first hand information on the plight of these districts and ascertain the emergency needs of their people.One of the members of the Society present at the meeting was a young woman named Emma Noble who decided to travel to the Rhondda.
She arrived in Tonypandy in June 1926 and took lodgings at a miner's home in Tonypandy deciding to stay three weeks to assess the situation in the area. She quickly made friends with local miner's wives and discussed the problems of living in a predominantly ‘one occupation' area where virtually the entire population was out of work. After one week in the area she became convinced of the residents severe need for ‘material help and for loving sympathy'. Emma and the other volunteers who came to the Rhondda worked on the guiding principle that ‘self help is the best help'. One of the most immediate needs that Emma identified was for clothing for the women, children and young people. As such ‘Women's Sewing Clubs' were formed. These groups repaired, unpicked and remade vast quantities of clothing sent from the Society of Friends HQ in London and from sympathisers from throughout Britain. These groups in turn led to the unemployed miners becoming involved in ‘boot-repairing clubs', which in many cases were attached to local schools. Leather and tools were supplied through the Society of Friends and the local Board of Guardians, and unemployed miners spent long hours repairing children's boots and shoes, in total some 82,000 pairs were repaired in this manner.

Between its formation in 1927 and 1939 more than 475 grant earning classes and courses of lectures were held at Maes-Yr-Haf, together with thousands of single lectures, for example in 1937-38 amongst many others the centre held courses in University tutorials, University preparatory courses, and University extension courses. These courses were run with the help of volunteers as well as the support of the University of Wales, the Workers Educational Association, the YMCA, the National Council of Music in Wales and the National Council of Social Service, and were undertaken at Maes-Yr-Haf as well as a number of subsidiary centres. Additionally innumerable informal groups and discussion circles as well as drama societies and choirs were formed at Maes-Yr-Haf and its outposts together with dressmaking classes, handicrafts, and Physical Training classes.

The Society of Friends believed that the unemployed of the Valley benefited from a change of environment and a break away from the everyday ‘ poverty and spiritual depression' suffered by them at that time. Thus the idea of providing each member of the Club with a weeks summer holiday a year, at the seaside, was born. The Society thus secured the use of a disused malthouse at Wick near Cowbridge in the Vale of Glamorgan. The necessary alterations to the building were carried out by the unemployed men themselves and during its time as a holiday centre thousands of families benefited from their break at the seaside.
In the 1940's the Rhondda Valley had the highest percentage of severely disabled persons in all of Great Britain, and in 1941 the Tomlinson Report made a number of recommendations regarding the rehabilitation and employment of severely disabled persons. Maes-yr -Haf with its experience of adult education and work related training initiated an experiment to help disabled men in the locality. It re-opened its workshops, previously closed for the war, and equipped them with facilities for rug-making and domestic furniture making. These activities were undertaken under expert supervision and instruction and the goods produced found a ready market in the locality. At first five men were employed in this scheme, this expanding to thirty men by 1948.
After the War the needs of the community served by the Maes-Yr-Haf changed, unemployment fell and the mining industry underwent a revival. No longer needed were the Unemployed Clubs and ‘make do and mend' classes. Thus Maes-Yr-Haf reverted more to its originally planned role as a social, cultural and educational centre whilst still continuing to serve those too old for employment and its work with the disabled. Emma and William Noble retired from their stewardship of Maes-Yr-Haf in 1945.