sentences:  He at first worked for the Bute coal mining pits in southern Wales, but between 1870 and 1880 he acquired his own pits in Rhondda, which became known as Lewis Merthyr Consolidated Collieries Limited.He was also the founder of the Monmouthshire and South Wales Coal Association as a response the growing strength of the trade unions.Lewis commenced his career in public life in 1866, when he was elected to the Aberdare Local Board of Health.