cylchgrawn hanes teuluoedd dyfed

Cyfrol 10 Rhif 7 Rhagfyr 2010

dyfed family history journal

Volume 10 Number 7December 2010

cymdeithas hanes teuluoedd

family history societywww.dyfedfh

s.org

.uk

RegisteRed ChaRity No. 513347

President Llywydd

Chairman Cadeirydd

Cardigan Aberteifi

Carmarthen Caerfyrddin

Haverfordwest Hwlffordd

Llanelli

Upper Towy Valley Cwm Tywi Uchaf

London Representative

General Secretary Ysgrifennydd

Membership Secretary Ysgrifennydd Aelodau

Treasurer Trysorydd

Editor Golygydd

Web Master Meistr Gwe

Minute Secretary Ysgrifennydd Cofnodion

The Right Reverend J. Wyn Evans, BA, BD, FSA, FR Hist. S. The Bishop of St. Davids.

Mrs. Ann Owen* (949) Delfan, High Street, Llandysul, Ceredigion. SA44 4DG

Branch chairmen

Mrs. Jane Kerr* (233) Y Bwthyn, High Street, Llandysul, Ceredigion, SA44 4DNMrs. Betty Davies* (1554) Rhydybont, Bronwydd, Carmarthen, Carms. SA33 6HXMrs. Rosalie Lilwall* (123) (Vice Chairman) 94 Main Street, Pembroke, Pembs. SA71 4HNMs. Joyce Reohorn* (4170) 40 Gors Road, Burry Port, Carms. SA16 0ELMr. Henry Ferguson-Thomas* (3157) Erw Lon, Llanwrda, Carms. SA19 8HDMrs. Anna Brueton* (1806) 38 Greenwood Road, London. E8 1ABMr. Huw James* (4577) 104 Haven Park Crescent, Haverfordwest, Pembs.SA61 1DSMr. John Hughes* (1946) White Lodge, Deanshill Close, Stafford, Staffs. ST16 1BWMr. Rodri Dafis* (2284) Llainprenafalau, Llandudoch, Aberteifi, Ceredigion. SA43 4LHMr. Glyn Macken* (3481) 181 Stubbington Lane, Fareham, Hants. PO14 2NFMr. Tommy Evans* (3303) Taliesin, Broyan Road, Penybryn, Cardigan, Pembs. SA43 3NLMrs. Janice Hughes* (4750) 6, Clos-yr-Ysgol, Stepaside, Narberth, Pembs. SA67 8NZ

Cymdeithas Hanes Teuluoedd Dyfed

Family History Society

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Projects Co-ordinator Trefnydd Cywaith

Publications Officer Swyddog Cyhoeddiadau

1881 Census Researcher

Dyfed Probate Index ResearcherPublicity Officer

External Examiners

Mr. Dafydd Evans* (4753) Plas y Panpllyn, Llandybie, Ammanford, Carms. SA18 3JUMrs. Betty Davies* (1554) Rhydybont, Bronwydd, Carmarthen, Carms. SA33 6HX

Ex-offico MEMbErs of thE coMMittEE

The County Archivist Carmarthenshire Archive Service, Parc Myrddin,Waun Dew, Carmarthen. SA31 1JPThe County Archivist Ceredigion County Records Office, Swyddfa’r Sir, Marine Terrace, Aberystwyth. SY23 3DEThe County Archivist Pembrokeshire Records office, The Castle, Haverfordwest. SA61 2EFThe Representative of the NLW National Library of Wales, Penglais, Aberystwyth. SY23 3BU

NoN-coMMittEE officErs

Mrs. Katherine Hocking (2867) 2 Boxgrove road, Guildford, Surrey, GU1 2LXMrs. Beti M Griffiths Ger-y-felin, New Mill Road, Cardigan. SA43 1QTPost vacant Mr. & Mrs. D W Davies Fron Fawr, Boncath, Cardigan

Please quote your membership number in any correspondence. If a reply is necessary please enclose a SAE in the UK or an IRC overseas.

* Trustees

In accordance with the Charity Commission’s regulations all of the elected Officers are the Trustees of the Society.

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Editorial

Making Connections!This is the eighth issue of the journal that I have edited and I

have only just appreciated that the journal is about making connec-tions! I didn’t work this out for myself; Des Harries told me in his article Reconnecting; An Australian Experience (see page 24).

This recognition led me to realise that we do not make it easy for you, the readers, to connect with the author of an article to which you have a connection. This calls for a change.

Instead of adding to each article a name and membership number, presenting you with the challenge of obtaining contact details, in this issue, and in future issues, each article has full contact details. I will of course do this only if the author agrees, but I sus-pect that all our contributors hope that some one will connect with them. So now there’s no excuse.

To illustrate my point Janice, who sent the photograph inside the back cover, tells me that she is a cousin of Ray, who sent the photograph in the last issue. Ray, who has another photograph on the centre pages of this issue confirms this, and Des (above) tells me that they are both his cousins, as is Rosemary who gave us the details of Salem Chapel!

In addition to making connections with authors, don’t forget your editor. Letters and articles are always welcome.

I have had a very good response from overseas members to my request for stories of families who left Dyfed for far away places. This issue contains two articles and there are more waiting in the wings. The “country of origin” is self evident now that we have added addresses.

Glyn MackenEditor

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Cont

ents

Volume 10 Number 7December 2010

The Society does not accept any responsibility for the views and opinions expressed by individual authors.All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without without permission from the Editor and full acknowledgement to the author.

2 Making Connections!4 David Elved Treharne Lewis5 Annual General Meeting6 The Dyfed Family History Centre7 Letters8 The Society Constitution10 Ty-Wesley and Salem Chapel12 Mountain Congregational Chapel Llanteg16 Milford Haven and Massachusetts - The Bunker Hill Connection24 Reconnecting - An Australian Experience26 The Naval Family Mends of Haverfordwest28 The Williams Family of Pembroke, Australia and New Zealand.32 The Block Test Guessing Competition34 The “Block Test” Guessing Competition at Fishguard.37 Glyn y Mel, Fishguard38 The Life and Times of William Charles - Skinner of Haverfordwest44 Around the Branches49 Spell Checker!50 Unwanted Certificates & Other Material51 Help Needed58 Members’ Research Interests59 Names and Addresses61 Obituary62 Notices63 Branch Meetings64 Contacts

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David Elved Treharne Lewis

It is with the utmost regret we have to record the passing of David Elved Treharne Lewis who died on Sunday 17th October 2010 aged 84. A founder member of the

Society, he and his wife Margaret’s family membership number was 0003. (0001 was reserved for the Honorary President, and 0002 was an honorary membership granted to the Dyfed County Archivist.)

More than 80 individuals who were interested in family history attended the in-augural meeting of DFHS on the 3rd April 1982; Elved, as he became known to the members, was unanimously elected the first General Secretary of the Society.

A few of the original members were experienced genealogists, but a large percent-age was interested novices. When they appointed Elved to his post, the Society struck gold. An experienced administrator, he was largely responsible for putting in place the structure that we all now take for granted. One only has to read the first issues of the Society’s Journal to realise what a superb job he made of the task.

His working life was spent with the South Wales Electricity Board in Swansea, but on retirement the family moved to Llanllawddog, where he was able to combine his other great interest, ornithology, with family history. Senior members recall the warm welcome and delicious eats they received whenever they called on Elved and Margaret. They both channelled their energies into furthering the activities of the Society and they were instrumental in making a success of the Society’s first branch at Carmarthen.

Elved and Margaret were the major contributors and the prime movers in initiat-ing and completing one of the Society’s first projects – The Merlin Index – an index of baptisms, marriages, burials, and vaccination records for Carmarthenshire parishes. The indexes also include some chapel registers, strays and banns. These have been of immense benefit to our members over the years, and will continue to be valuable for future family history researchers. They were also responsible for, and took an active role in, some of the earliest MI recording projects, which again are of immense benefit to current members.

As a token of appreciation, the Society bestowed on Elved and Margaret Honorary Life Membership, the only way that a Registered Charity can acknowledge the service provided by an individual.

As a Society we wish to convey our sympathy to Margaret, Susan, David, Sharon and their families. Their loss is our loss.

A collection in memory of Elved has been organised in favour of Ty- Cymorth, Glangwili. Any member who wishes may forward a contribution to: Mr. Rhodri Dafis, Llainprenafalau, Llandudoch, Aberteifi, Ceredigion, SA43 3LH

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Dyfed Family History SocietyAnnual General Meeting

Saturday 5th March 2011St. Peter’s Hall, Carmarthen.

The Guest Speaker will be

Mr. Tom LloydHistoric Houses of West Wales, and their Families

Tom Lloyd is a recognised expert on Welsh architecture with particular reference to country houses, and architects and

craftsmen who were born in Wales.He was Chairman of the Historic Buildings Council for

Wales from 1992 to 2004. He is author of The Lost Houses of Wales, and co-author of the Pembrokeshire edition, and the Carmarthenshire & Ceredigion

edition of the Pevsner Architectural Guides.

Programme

10.00 - The Annual General Meeting11.15 - Mr. Tom Lloyd

Society Research Material will be available from 10.00 to 15.00, supported by advice from knowledgable

members of our branches

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thE DyfED faMily history cENtrEThe Centre, located in Carmarthen, is open from 10am to

3pm every Wednesday and the last Saturday of each month. Many documents are available to help you with your research, and Internet access is being arranged. A member of the Society is always present to guide and advise you.

Coordinators: Mrs. Jane Kerr. Telephone 01559 363201 Mrs. Ann Owen. Telephone 01559 363545

E-mail: centre@dyfedfhs.org.uk

Towyside, Old Station Road, Carmarthen, SA31 1NL

Volunteer members at the Centre are not able to undertake research on behalf of members, or offer advice by telephone or E-mail.

Dyfed FamilyHistory Centre

the Centre will be closed on 22, 25 & 29 December, and 5 January. It will be open on 12 January.

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i was oNE of thE lucky oNEs

I would like to thank those members who wrote to me after reading my arti-cle in the last issue. Even if you do not wish to have your childhood memories published it is well worth document-ing them for your own descendants. One of my distant ancestors kept dia-ries throughout his life and transcribed them into a journal when he retired. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to copy it and this proved invaluable when I started researching my own fam-ily history; not just for identifying rela-tives but in understanding the attitudes and lives of ordinary people.

This is an extract from the journal:One of my earliest recollections was

as a child riding in the back of a cart to Rhosymedre to fetch coal and later return-ing with it to Tainymynydd to burn lime, as did all the farmers of the Glyn, for use as fertiliser. My mother kept a school for infants in the Community and it was with her that I first learned to read and write on a slate. I spent a short time of school-ing with Edward Edwards at Tyn y Fron along with Margaret Wynne, Jane Morris, and Sam the Shop. My desk was an old panelled door, uneven to write upon.

salEM chapEl

I read each journal with varying de-grees of thoroughness, but the article on Salem Chapel, Pencaer somehow caught my attention. I’m so glad it did, because among the graves listed was one which mentioned the Rev. Abel Green of Aberayron.

LettersLater I went to Plas Pentre, an old

carpenter Edward Morris was the teacher; there was very little learning there! When I was in Edward Morris’ school in 1811 a large comet appeared in the sky; I never saw its like before or after. This was about Oct-Nov;

between the comet and Napoleon Bonepart people were nervous in those superstitious days!

John Hughes (1946)

White Lodge, Deanshill Close,Stafford, ST16 1BW

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It so happens that Abel Green was my great great grandfather! I already have some information about this in-teresting character, but the grave relates to his daughter Mary Lewis (nee Green) who was a younger sister of my great grandmother Ann Harris (nee Green). I was aware of Mary’s existence, but had no record of her precise dates of birth and death, her spouse - nor, of course, her final resting place.

It was remarkably satisfying to be able (sorry - no pun intended!) to place another piece in the jigsaw that is fam-ily history. I am indebted to Bryan and Carla Stevens, to Rosemary Bevan - and of course to you.

Keep up the good work.

Gordon Bridge (3576)

6 Miterdale, York, YO24 2SX

The Society Constitution

The constitution describes the purposes of the Society and how its money and other property can be used. It also contains the powers to change the

constitution and to wind up the Society. It sets out the administrative provisions, including membership, the appointment of Society Trustees, Members’ and Trus-tees’ meetings and the powers available to the Trustees in running the Society.

For the past year the Management Committee (The Trustees) has been review-ing our Constitution and have agreed several changes to improve clarity and reflect the requirements of the Charities Commission. Other changes have been made to incorporate custom and practice introduced since the Society was founded in 1982. None of these changes affect our objects or the way in which we pursue them. Indeed for our members it will be business as usual.

This updated Constitution will be presented for approval by the Members at the AGM on Saturday 5th March 2011.

The new Constitution can be read on our website.Paper copies can be obtained from the General Secretary to whom any com-

ments should be made.

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Brawdy BooksPlas-y-Wregin, Dinas Cross, Newport, Pembrokeshire. SA42 0YH

Telephone: 00 44 1348 811450 E-mail: plaswregin@aol.com

The Francis Jones Dyfed Collection New softback edition of

Historic Pembrokeshire Homes and their Families Extended Edition - £29.95 + p & p

N.B. There has been a remarkable take up of our August reprint and very few copies remain. This book is only available on a first come, first served basis.

Postage per book: UK £4; EU £7; Worldwide £10 (seamail)

Historic Carmarthenshire Homes and their Families Softback companion to the above - £27.99 + p & p

Less than 30 copies left of this print run.Postage per book: UK free; EU £5; Worldwide £7 (seamail)

Preferential Christmas Offers for Dyfed FHS Members(Offers close on the 4th January 2011)

The Francis Jones Treasury of Historic CarmarthenshireA fascinating compendium of articles on families, their homes and

Carmarthenshire history and events through the ages.Hardback volume - £25 (reduced from £32.99) + p & p

Postage per book: UK £4; EU £7; Worldwide £10 (seamail)

Historic Cardiganshire Homes and their FamiliesSoftback - £21 (reduced from £25) + p & p

This is the third volume in the Dyfed Trilogy and completes the county links between the families, their homes and their genealogies.

Postage per book: UK free; EU £5; Worldwide £7 (seamail)

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Ty-Wesley and Salem Chapel(Additional information following the article on Salem Chapel in

the August issue)

In the early days of Methodism a certificate was required for Congregations to meet for religious worship. On the 1st of October, 1812, David Wil-

liams, farmer of Velindre and the father of Jane, the wife of John James Esq of Trenewydd, applied to the Clerk of the Peace for the registration of his home at Velindre and Trehowel and also a small building opposite the farm at Trenewydd. They called this building Ty-Wesley after John Wesley who started the Methodist movement in England. These two families followed the strict teaching of John Wesley.

In the next twenty years so many people attended this small Chapel that John James Esq. of Trenewydd decided to build a larger Chapel on his land, plus a cot-tage, stable and a small graveyard. They called this chapel Salem.

The cost was £200 and all this paid for by Mr John James. Years later it became a branch of Rhos-y-caerau Chapel.

Mr John James’ son, William James Esq. of Trenewydd was a Deacon and a faithful member of Rhos-y-careau. In his will he left Salem Chapel to the Inde-pendent Denominations for “one thousand less one years”.

Sadly, Salem Chapel was closed in the 1950s and demolished a few years later.

In 1960 I recorded the inscriptions of all the headstones at Salem.

Inside the Chapel was this plaque.

Mr. Gerwyn Williams (855)

Whitland

In Memory of the late William James of Trenewydd Who Departed this life on

the 2nd Day of February 1845 Aged 85 Years

And of Dorothy his wife Who Departed this life

December 15th 1844 age 72 years Who were buried at

Rhos-y-caerau Mark 13th 35th 30th

John 5th 28th

Editor’s note: Transcriptions of the MI’s from Salem Chapel are now held by the Haverfordwest Branch, which also holds the MIs from Rehoboth chapel yard, Mathry, which was mentioned in the article in August, and MIs for Treteio, Treffynnon and Croesgoch chapels.

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Rhydlewis House is an excellent Guest House, which is well positioned for access to the National Library of Wales

and Dyfed Record Offices.

Run by Judith Russill, Rhydlewis House provides comfort, style and good food .

A self-catering cottage is also available

www.rhydlewis-house.co.uk email: judithrussill@aol.com

Judith Russill Rhydlewis House Rhydlewis Ceredigion SA44 5PE

Telephone: 01239 851748

This photograph shows the remains of Ty-Wesley in the grounds of Trenewydd. Ty-Wesley must qualify as the smallest chapel ever built in Dyfed.

The photograph was kindly provided by Bryan & Carla Stevens, the owners of Salem Cottage. - Editor.

Ty-Wesley October 2010

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Mountain Congregational Chapel Llanteg

I was inspired to write this article after reading of the history of Salem Chapel in the August 2010 Journal. Llanteg is a small village just inside the Pembrokehsire border on the main

route into the south of the county. In 1825 a local mission was held in the loft of a house near Lanteague Cross and a small number worshipped there. A former chapel, a short distance from the present building (and roughly opposite the en-trance to Crofty Nursery), was built by the parishioners for a school. It seated forty people and members paid a yearly rent.

A Mr Ben Price (in his early 20th century newspaper articles in the Narberth Weekly News) estimated its size as being approximately 20-24ft long, 12-14ft wide and 8-10ft high at the eaves. Mr Price recalled that it had a slated roof and a chimney at the eastern end which made it resemble “a cow with one horn”. It only had an earthen floor and no ceiling apart from the rafters and slates, and also had no plaster on the walls.

An enclosure of 4-5ft at the western end was formed by a partition with a door. This was the “Big Seat” within which the pulpit and the communion table were placed - this area had a boarded floor.

A day school was started here but according to Ben Price only lasted a short while before failing.

In 1854 a Congregational Church was formed and the first communion was held. In the course of time the old chapel became dilapidated and a new and larger building became necessary, being completed in 1889.

The vestry, a much needed building, was built later and was paid for by Mrs Davies (widow of the late Rev. W. Davies, Oak-lands). They were pillars of the church in Lanteague and all five of the family are buried in the graveyard.

Messrs W. Phillips and Tom Phillips, Long Lane, William Callan, Goitre, and David Williams, Trenewydd were also staunch supporters of the cause.

The centenary anniversary services in 1925 were occasions marking the instal-lation of the new organ of solid black oak and there were a large number of wor-shippers in attendance. Tea was provided in the vestry and at 5.30pm an open-air meeting was held at the ruins of the old chapel.

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The people returning from the old ruins were unable to enter the new chapel for the evening service as it was found already to be full, so it was decided to have the meeting out of doors.

The present chapel, which had seating for 150, was erected in 1889 on a plot of land given free by Sir Owen Scourfield. The 50th Anniversary Services held in 1939 were a very well attended, successful affair.

Unfortunately this chapel has also now closed, the final service being held in December 1999. It was originally planned for the chapel to be converted into a dwelling, but local campaigning to protect the graves resulted in planning being given for the vestry to be converted instead, on the proviso that the chapel build-ing be demolished to low wall height, with the stones being used for a dividing wall between the graveyard and the new dwelling.

All the graves have been photographed and recorded, and an archaeological survey was done by Cambria Archaeology as a condition of planning.

The graveyard is now main-tained by Amroth Commu-nity Council, who do a very good job. Inside the footprint of the old chapel has now been converted into a Memo-rial Garden by the Local His-tory Society, with a grant from PLANED1 and fundraising among local families. The area has paths laid out in the form of a religious cross, with slate chippings laid and planters, plants and a seat.

1. PLANED - Pembrokeshire Local Action Network for Enterprise and Development

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The United Reformed Church provided funds when the chapel remains and graveyard were handed over to the Community Council and these were used to erect an information board detailing the chapel’s history.

In keeping with Dyfed Family History Journal’s sentiments that ‘knowledge has no value until you share it’, I have compiled a blog on the chapel’s history to go with Llanteg History Society’s blog, and ones done on our closed village church and village school.

Llanteg History Society has been in existence for eleven years, and during that time have published their research in eleven books and booklets. Their current publication - Llanteg: Looking Back - was recently launched.

I would welcome contact from anyone who has any connections with Llanteg or the parish of Crunwere.

Ruth Roberts (4790)Secretary of Llanteg History Society Sandy Grove, Llanteg, Narberth, Pembrokeshire, SA67 8QG Email: ruthroberts123@gmail.com Telephone: 01834 831298

Pembroke Collectors’ CentreOld Postcards of Pembrokeshire ca Goss & WW 1 Crested China

also Dinky, Corgi & Matchbox Toys and Model Railways

20, Meyrick Street, Doc Penfro, PembrokeshireMr. Roger Davies, Telephone 07774 111831

Llanteg WebsitesThe chapel’s history: www.mountainchapelllanteg.blogspot.comThe Llanteg History Society: www.llanteghistorysociety.blogspot.comThe closed village church: www.crunwerechurch.blogspot.com The village school: www.crunwereschool.blogspot.com

Mountain Congregational Chapel Llanteg

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Milford Haven and Massachusetts - The Bunker Hill Connection

I recently began researching my family history, and as my starting point I chose a man whom I believed to be a distant relative. I remember his portrait hanging

on the wall of my uncle’s hall, and I had always been fascinated by this man dressed in a smart blue uniform because my cousins used to refer to him as “General Bunker”; as a young boy I had visions of him leading the charge at the battle of Bunker Hill.

What I soon discovered however was that the man in the oil painting was not a military man but a South Sea whaling master, born in America, and listed among the Quaker whaling families who had settled near Milford Haven in Pembrokeshire in the late 1790’s. His name was Uriah Bunker and he was my 3x great grandfa-ther. Amongst the facts that emerged had been an amazing story about the loss of his whaling ship off the cost of California in 1820, and his subsequent hazard-ous year-long journey home with his crew, but frustratingly I had been unable to discover anything about Uriah’s early life, or much else in the years after he arrived in Milford Haven as a master mariner. And sadly, he didn’t appear to have any connection with that famous 18th century battle.

The story of my research thus far was published in the Journal last August. I had wondered if anyone else had come across Uriah Bunker as I really wanted to know more, and our editor suggested that my article might well elicit more information; I was cautiously optimistic, but I am delighted to say that he was quite right. Thanks to suggestions from some of our members which led me to the Nantucket Historical Association, and also to correspondence with officers of the Bunker Family Association in America, many new facts have emerged about his early life, and most of the mysteries have been solved. Through my American contacts I have now discovered that Uriah was a direct descendant of Timothy Bunker and Elizabeth Hawkins, a couple who had lived in Tingrith, a small village in Bedfordshire, at the beginning of the 17th century.

Relatives of Timothy and Elizabeth were among the first pilgrims to seek a new life in America, arriving in Massachusetts in1625 and settling near Charlestown.

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And I’ve discovered that my boyhood fantasy of a family connection to the hill that was later to be the scene of that now infamous pitched battle early in the American War of Independence has proved to be a remarkable coincidence; these family pioneers farmed on land near Charlestown that included a pasture which is recorded as containing “a summit of two connected ridges of elevated ground” which was known as Bunker Hill. Uriah must surely have been aware of this when he so-named his house in Pembrokeshire.

I have now been able to follow Uriah’s family line from the village of Tingrith to the time when he left Nantucket, and have learned a lot about the lives of my ancestors. Timothy and Elizabeth had a son named George, who was Uriah’s 3x great grandfather. George too emigrated to America and he and his wife Elizabeth left Bedfordshire to settle in Ipswich, Massachusetts in 1649 with their two chil-dren, Elizabeth and William; he was a first cousin of the George Bunker who owned the land which included Bunker Hill. On first entering the colony George would not have been “free”, and whilst he would not have been forced to work for another individual, his movements would have been care-fully observed. In 1652 however George had been able to purchase 800 acres of farmland a few miles west in Topsfield, and in 1655 he took the Oath of a Freeman at the Salem Quarterly Court, vowing to “defend the Commonwealth and not to conspire to overthrow the government”.

Tragically he was to die only three years later, drowned while “driving his team through a river, presumably swollen by recent rains”. The team of horses, and George’s 10 year old son William, who was with him at the time, narrowly es-caped. George’s widow Elizabeth remarried within 2 months, not an uncommon thing to do at the time, and she and her new husband, Richard Swain, moved with the children to Nantucket Island the following year. Elizabeth died in childbirth a year later and was said to have been buried under the door-stone to protect her resting place from Indian raiders. She was the first recorded death on Nantucket Island. Interestingly, although he had never lived there, Elizabeth’s first husband George is credited with founding the Nantucket branch of the Bunker family.

Salem courthouse

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At that time there were only a few immigrant families on the island, among them the Macys, the Folgers, the Swains, and the Coffins, all four surnames be-ing listed with the Quaker families who subsequently emigrated to Milford in the 1790’s. In 1669, after having inherited his father George’s estate, young William married Mary Macy.

He obtained his own lot at the end of the island and raised sheep, and in 1688 he was appointed keeper at the jail. His life was not without incident, as the fol-lowing story demonstrates. It was recorded by Nathaniel Barney, a nineteenth century resident of the island, and is part of the resources of the Nantucket His-torical Association.

England and France were at war with each other at the time and it seems that although a French ship had been sighted a short distance from the shore in the af-ternoon, no-one appears to have taken much notice of it. In the evening William’s wife Mary had heated up their large oven and “rye and Indian bread, pumpkin pies and other culinary niceties” had been baked and left to cool when the family retired for the night. The light of the fire must have served as a beacon to the marauding Frenchmen from the ship and they apparently “lifted the door from its hinges, and walked in”. As Barney observes, “Nothing could be more welcome to the wretches than the contents of that oven spread in confusion about them, and nothing loth they purloined the whole batch. Nor did they stop here; they took beds and bedding, clothing and everything which their rapacity demanded”. The Frenchmen then took George away with them so that he could pilot their vessel into the Vineyard Sound; for-tunately, and probably quite unexpectedly, he was allowed to return a few days later. Mary is described in Barney’s ac-count as “a woman of indomitable persever-ance…even though she was heard to say that the loss of her twenty pair of sheets was never wholly repaired”. On his death in 1712, William was the first Bunker male to live, work and die in Nantucket. The indomi-table Mary survived until 1729.

The family line to Uriah continues through William’s son George, and clearly demonstrates that by this time the island had become a major whaling centre with the Bunkers and many other families turning from the land to the sea, some be-coming merchants, others mariners. When George died, he left “part of the vessel and wharfs and warehouse and fish boat and stage house and wharf craft” to Uriah’s grandfather Daniel.

Nantucket

Milford Haven and Massachusetts - The Bunker Hill Connection

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Daniel left his estate, “⅓ part of sloop, ⅓ part of 2 whaleboats and ⅔ share in new wharf” to his son, Sylvanus, Uriah’s father. His son Uriah, my 3x great grand-father, was born in Nantucket in 1776, the year after the Battle of Bunker Hill. America had just declared its independence but the war did not end formally until the signing of the treaty in 1783.

Several whaling families in Nantucket lived in India Street, a name which gives some idea of the huge distances that mariners travelled eastward-bound on their whaling expeditions; it wasn’t until the 1790’s that they finally managed to round Cape Horn and enter the Pa-cific Ocean. A few of the old houses in India Street have been saved, including No 41, which in 1760, according to the Nantucket Independent, was originally the home of Syl-vanus Bunker and which remained in the family for over a century. The commu-nities living on the eastern seaboard at that time endured great hardships. Three of Uriah’s brothers were lost at sea, one said to have been eaten by a whale. His mother died when he was only five years old, and he was just fifteen when he joined the whaling ship Asia, as a cabin boy.

To my amazement I have found mention of Uriah by name in “The cruise of the Nantucket ships Asia, Captain Elijah Coffin and his crew, and Alliance, Captain Bar-tlett Coffin and his crew: to the Indian Ocean and the coast of New Holland in search of whales and seals during the years of Our Lord 1791 - 1794”, a huge volume by the Australian author Rod Dickson. Dickson, now retired after nearly fifty years in the Australian Merchant and Royal Navies, has researched the history of whal-ing off the south coast of Western Australia during the 19th century. His book includes much information about the duration of the ships’ voyages, catch details, crew lists and transcripts of extracts from the ships’ original log books. Reading through these log books I can now appreciate that whilst there were certainly prof-its to be made from whaling and the sale of oil, the sailors frequently risked life and limb. From all these details, I have been able to follow the long and arduous journey of the Alliance and the Asia to the other side of the world and back.

41 India Street Nantucket

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It was late in September 1791 when the whalers left Nantucket. Their Cap-tains, Bartlett and Elijah, were cousins; together they sailed south and across the Atlantic via the Canaries and Cape Verde, crossing the Equator on the 10th of November and reaching the Cape of Good Hope on the 20th of January 1792. After stopping to repair Alliance’s rotten mainmast in Soldanah Bay on the south western coast of South Africa, they then both headed into the southern Indian Ocean.

Their next port of call was the St Paul Islands, which lie in the south-ernmost Indian Ocean, approxi-mately half way between South Af-rica and Australia, nearly 2000 miles from any continent, one of the most isolated places in the world. The ship’s captains were looking for el-ephant seals, but they found gangs already sealing for the Chinese market. Hoping for better success whaling, they decided to move on across the Indian Ocean to Shark Bay off the coast of New Holland (Australia). The ships also needed to take on wood and water but they found a barren and desolate land, and had little success with either endeavour.

According to the Asia’s log-keeper it was on the second day of their short stay that “the cabin boy, while helping to furl the mizzen topsail, missed his hand-hold and fell from the top, breaking his arm badly, and cracking his skull. He was 16 years of age and his name was Uriah Bunker, the son of Sylvanus Bunker of Nantucket”. For several days he was recorded in the log as “senseless”, but luckily he survived the fall. The ships stayed another three days, catching fish and birds before sailing on towards Java. They finally came to anchor at Princes Island on June 10th. Here they took on fresh water and provisions, and rested. They had been away for 8 months.

Java was the farthest east that the ships were to reach. After a few days they turned back, heading southwest through the Indian Ocean to the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, a group of coral islands halfway between Australia and Sri Lanka. Neither of the ships anchored here, but boats went ashore to collect coconuts. When they finally reached Mauritius the captains were advised that St Mary’s Island off the north-east coast of Madagascar, was a good area for hunting humpback whales, but once there they were fired upon from the shore, and warned off by natives in large war canoes. They were lucky to escape. More frustration awaited them on their return to Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius.

Milford Haven and Massachusetts - The Bunker Hill Connection

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It was 6th October 1792, and when they went ashore they found a smallpox epidemic raging - 129 islanders had already died in one day. By the mid 18th cen-tury smallpox was a major infectious disease everywhere in the world except Aus-tralia, and almost half of the two ships’ crews would have been at risk, not having already had the disease, so a doctor was summoned aboard to vaccinate them.

Despite suffering reactions to the inoculations, day to day life on board ship seems to have continued as normal with those well enough nursing the sick and going ashore to unload oil, stock up on food and clothes, and generally preparing both ships for departure. Apart from one crew member apparently going missing ashore, there appear to have been no deaths among either ships’ crews, but 25 days passed before the Asia and Alliance were able to leave.

Sailing south, they headed towards the Desolation (Kerguelen) Islands, having been told that seals were plentiful in this area. The islands had only been discovered 20 years earlier and Captain Bartlett Coffin was using a copy of the chart made by Captain Cook during his last voyage. They arrived at their destination, Christmas Harbour. on 17th December 1792. The seas around these islands, whilst remain-ing ice-free all year round, are generally extremely rough, but according to their log books, although both ships were pounded by heavy rain and gales, they stayed in the area killing seals for blubber, fur seals for their skins, and leopard seals for their meat. Halfway through their stay however, on 9th February 1793, Captain Bartlett Coffin, the master of the Alliance, died from a serious illness; he was bur-ied on shore at Port Washington. The first mate and log keeper, Andrew Pinkham took over command. After a total of three months both ships sailed back to Mauritius, arriving in Port Louis in early April 1793. There, they sold most of their oil and bought sug-ar and coffee to sell once they got home. They then headed for Del-agoa Bay (now known as Maputo) on the coast of Mozambique, ready to resume whaling. The captains joined forces with 12 other ships, mostly from Nantucket, and immediately began lancing whales. It was by now the end of June 1793; their long voyage was nearly complete, and when the time came to pack up and head for home, the Captains decided to part company; Alli-ance set sail directly for Nantucket without stopping off on the way, and it finally arrived in its home port on 15th January 1794.

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The Asia, with cabin boy Uriah Bunker aboard, arrived back at the end of Feb-ruary after visiting the Caribbean islands. In his 1953 book “The Sea Hunters: the New England whalemen during, two centuries 1635-1835”, Edouard A Stackpole writes that the Alliance had apparently had “a poor voyage”; certainly they had lost their captain. The whalers had been away for two and a half years, and Uriah was still only 18 years old.

It was towards the end of the 1790s when Uriah sailed with a group of Quaker families to Milford Haven in South Wales, to join those who had settled there from Nova Scotia in 1792 (although some of his family had joined the faith when the Quakers had settled in Nantucket, Uriah however, was not in fact a Quaker as I had thought). Uriah was by then captain of the Maitland - it was not unusual for young boys who had spent most of their childhood at sea to become masters at an early age. He built a house which he named Bunker Hill, near Steynton on the outskirts of Milford Haven and married Mary Allen in 1805. Mary was the daughter of William Allen and Elizabeth Sinnett; her brother Thomas was a whaling master, which is probably how the two met. Their daughter Matilda was born in 1806.

Even though in 1802 Admiral Nelson had given a resounding speech at a banquet held in his honour in Milford praising the town’s status as a seaport and had commented most favourably on the number of whalers sent to the south-ern oceans, the whaling industry there had declined by 1810. Uriah, with other masters, transferred to the port of London and became captain of the Venus. In June 1811, his ship was heading from the South Seas for the whaling area off the Indonesian Island of Timor, when they rescued some of the crew of the Fox, a Nantucket vessel which had been wrecked off the coast of the St Paul Islands, those remote, rocky volcanic islands in the southern Indian Ocean that Uriah had first called at in the Asia in 1792. The Fox’s senior crew had earlier been taken off the island by another ship but there had been no room for eight of the crew and they had been marooned miles from anywhere for 9 months.

It was nearly ten years later that Uriah, by then master of the whaling ship Hussar, was wrecked off the coast of California and undertook that hazardous year-long journey home with his crew, and it seems likely that he retired from the sea soon after. He is recorded as a passenger in an immigrant ship, the Charlotte, in a single cabin from Bristol to New York in 1830, and I would imagine he was visiting his elderly sisters and other family members who still lived in Nantucket. That same year he is recorded in Pigot’s Directory as being “a Gentleman of Bunker Hill”.

Milford Haven and Massachusetts - The Bunker Hill Connection

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Having been a master mariner of whaling ships for over 20 years, he was prob-ably a wealthy man - whaling captains usually received up to an eighth of the profit made on the sale of their oil.

It would certainly be nice to know even more, but I do appreciate how fortu-nate I have been to learn so much already. I am deeply indebted to so many people for their help, and for the access to the extensive original archive material that really has brought Uriah alive for me. Although Captain Bunker didn’t lead the charge at that battle for American independence, the man in my uncle’s portrait does con-nect Bunker Hill, a district near Milford Haven, to the “summit of two connected ridges of elevated ground” called Bunker Hill in Massachusetts. I wonder whether the people living in either location realise the link created by my 3x great grandfa-ther, Uriah Bunker?

John Bowen (4566)11 Bradford Road, Winsley, Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire, BA15 2HN, U.K. Email: Johnandjoanbowen@aol.com

www.cenquest.co.uk

oriEltoN 1856 cDPembroke, Milford Haven and Haverfordwest properties

auctioned in London in July 1856. Maps and details of farms, houses & cottages, pubs & shops and mills

& mines. Names of tenants and their successors.

Also available 1340-1884 St. DaviDS MeMorial inScriptionS (cD)

1670 peMbrokeShire hearthS (cD)1871 peMbrokeShire cenSuS iMageS (DvD)

(Complete census including the borders of Carmarthenshire and Cardiganshire)

1665-1907 baptiSt hiStorical SketcheS (cD)For details log on to www.cenquest.co.uk

or write to 24, St Brides View, Roch, Haverfordwest, Pembs, SA62 6AZ

24

Reconnecting - An Australian Experience

My grandfather emigrated to Australia nearly 150 years ago. He was 23 years

of age at the time, and as a younger son of an old Pembrokeshire family I think he had good reason to maintain his links with them. This he did for the next 50 years. Effectively for his whole life in Australia he observed from afar, through the letters and newspaper cut-tings sent to him, the progress of his Welsh kinsfolk.

Today we would classify many emigrants of his time as economic migrants. While this applied to him, in my grandfather’s case it was probably more to do with the adventure then perceived, and widely publicised, of opportu-nity in a new land. In this case the new land was Queensland then recently separated from New South Wales to become an independ-ent colony of Great Britain,(as the U.K. was affectionately called).

Edward Decimus Harries was accompanied to Australia by a close friend with similar aspirations. Unlike my grandfather, who was the tenth child and sixth son in his family, his friend was the only son of a Judge. Both were well qualified, the latter in Law. These advantages were effectively sacrificed in the quest for an Aus-tralian adventure.

They arrived in the Central Queensland settlement of Rockhampton after a three month sailing ship voyage, purchased horses and supplies, and headed west - for several hundred miles. They were of course, children of the heroic era.

Such forays into Aboriginal land were only then commencing, with consider-able resistance. They survived their initial incursion, in fact, as two young men in an isolated situation they developed a good rapport with the Aboriginal people on whose land they settled, despite an appalling lack of understanding of this very different culture.

However, after some ten years my grandfather’s friend was killed in an alterca-tion. On another occasion my grandfather also suffered a spear wound.

Edward Decimus Harries in London before he left for Australia

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At the age of 37 he got married. His wife was the eldest daughter of a Rock-hampton publican, a former mariner from Somerset named Robert Nurcombe and Annie Brown who had been born at Inniskillin in Northern Ireland. One might say that my grandfather then settled down. The married couple first lived in Central Queensland and then in the gold mining centre in the north named Croydon. They produced thirteen children of which four males died young. My father, Frederick William David Harries, was the youngest of the nine survivors.

All of these children were named for members of their parents’ families, but predominantly for members on my grandfather’s side. Both parents died prior to my father’s thirteenth birthday, and, with the death of Edward Decimus Harries, the communication with the family in Wales was broken.

However, at the age of 18 my father joined the Australian Imperial Force. He saw service in France during the First World War and managed to visit the remnants of his family in Wales. But soon this connection was also lost. Not many years after WWI, the fam-ily estate in Pembrokeshire was sold off. This branch of the family had left for South Africa. I have subsequently found that my grandfather’s eldest brother had emigrated to Canada and other cousins to New Zealand.

The Australian members of my generation lived all their lives largely oblivious to all this. The disconnec-tion with Wales was virtually com-plete. We knew where the family came from and that was about all.

In 1996, at the age of 60, I discovered the existence of the Dyfed Family History Society and joined. The resulting increase in the connectivity of the Australian and Pembrokeshire branches of my family has been spectacular.

……and that is what DFHS is all about, isn’t it - making connections.

Des Harries (2157)107 McCarthy Road, Maleny, Queensland, 4552, Australia Email: greengate@pacific.net.au

Frederick William David Harries in France during WW1 (with a French lady)

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The Naval Family Mends of Haverfordwest

The Mends family of Haverfordwest was almost a naval dynasty. The family probably originated in Spain as Mendez and immigrated to Pem brokeshire

in the 15th Century. A David Mends was the first Esquire of Templeton in 1486 and a James Mends took part in the defence of Pem broke Castle during the Civil War. When the Castle fell he was hanged from one of his own trees.

William Bowen Mends was born in Pembrokeshire on 27 January 1781, one of a large family of whom fourteen joined either the Navy or Army, most of them being killed in the French Wars. British Prime Minister Lord Palmerston (d. 1865) spoke of the family as a race of warriors. William entered the Navy in 1794, fifteen years after his brother Robert. Both had three sons all of whom became naval officers and constituted a galaxy of Mends in the Navy Lists of the 19th Century.

Admiral William Bowen Mends served for 62 years on the active list. He was involved in a notable cutting-out expedition in Vigo Bay in 1800 for which he gained early promotion and the congratulations of his commander-in-chief. The next year he was in Nelson’s costly and unsuccessful attack on Boulogne. He was 35 years a post captain before receiving his flag in 1849. He died a full admiral at Devonport in 1863 aged 83.

Admiral Sir William Mends as a lieutenant in 1842

This article first appeared in The Journal of the Pembrokeshire Historical Society No.9

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His elder brother, Commodore Sir Robert Mends, entered the Service in 1779 and was in Rodney’s action of January 1780 which had included his country men Gower and Foley. He lost his right arm at the siege of Yorktown. His career was prematurely ended on 4 September 1823 when he died of cholera whilst com-manding HMS Owen Glendower on anti-slavery duties off West Africa. His eldest son, Midshipman Robert Butler Mends, serving in the same ship, died of disease on 5 December that same year.

William Bowen’s eldest son, Admiral Sir William Robert Mends, was born in 1812 and was educated at Haverfordwest Grammar School which he loathed.

He was sent off to a naval preparatory school at Devonport taking passage round in the frigate HMS Nereus which had been launched at Pembroke Dock-yard in July 1821. His long and distinguished career included being wrecked on Cape Frio in Brazil in 1830 in the Pembroke built frigate HMS Thetis which was carrying a fortune in gold bullion and his command of another Pembroke-built frigate, HMS Arethusa, in the Russian War. He died at Portsmouth on 26 June 1897, the day of the Diamond Jubilee Review of the Fleet.

Lawrie PhillipsEditor, The Royal Navy Day by Day 2 Drakes Drive, Northwood, HA6 2SL

Admiral Sir William Robert Mends as a full admiral and GCB

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The Williams Family of Pembroke, Australia and New Zealand.

Just a short story about my great grandparents, William Henry Williams and his wife Elizabeth Anne Price. According to information given on their first child’s birth certificate, they were married 17th March 1858. To date we have not found a record of their marriage, but it appears two children passed away (maybe twins) before leaving Wales to come to Australia. They were originally from Pembroke where my great grandfather was a monumental mason, and my great grandmother was a seamstress.

We do not know why they left Wales to emigrate, perhaps they were look-ing for a new way of life in the colonies. After much research we found the ship Arabian, on which they sailed to Aus-tralia. The Arabian was not actually a passenger ship, but a cargo ship that occasionally carried a few passengers.

They left from Liverpool, on Janu-ary 23rd 1863; Captain Edward Tid-mark was at the helm. The voyage took 120 days and 200 passengers were carried, arriving in Melbourne on 23rd May 1863.

They very soon settled in North Melbourne, with William starting up his own monumental business right in the heart of Melbourne. From all accounts the busi-ness was very successful. We have a photo copy of the shackle1 he displayed.

Very soon after they arrived, the family started to arrive too, all 14 of them. One son died as an infant, One daughter died at 13 of typhoid, another son died at 21 of some dreadful disease. There were five girls Annie, Clara Rebecca, Frances Elizabeth, Emma Maria, and Edith Maude. The boys were Alfred, George Henry, William Charles, Fredrick, Arthur Thornton, Charles, James Miller, Ernest Al-bert, (my grandfather), and Edgar Harry.

Of the surviving male descendants we have been able to trace all but Alfred. The last information we found about him was giving evidence at an inquest in 1926. It did not state whether he was married or not. All of the sons were monumental masons, although there does not appear to be any left in the trade. Fredrick, Arthur Thornton, Charles, and Edgar Harry had no family.

1. SHACKLE - a sign or a hanging advertisment outside a business

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My grandfather, Ernest Albert, went to New Zealand around 1907, arriving in Dunedin then moving to Invercargill where he met my grandmother, Olive Varey Hogg. They married in Dunedin on the 12th May 1909. They moved back to Invercargill then north to Oamaru where they settled and Ernest had a very

successful monumental business. My grandparents had ten children, four

girls and six boys. My grandfather died at the age of 60, of a cerebral haemorrhage, in 1946. Dad took over the business and it was only a couple of years ago that the business closed its doors. No one in the family wanted to carry it on.

I think their venture to make a new life, was a success. But growing up in New Zealand we had no idea about all our rela-tives living in Australia. We have met six now and as most of the descendants are around Victoria, it has been a very inter-esting journey.

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Most of my grandfather’s sisters married well, and although we have been in contact, have not met them yet.

Four of William Charles William’s sons went to serve Australia in the First & Second World Wars; all returned to Australia, two quite highly decorated.

It has been an interesting journey find out about my family after all these years. Thanks also go to Ted Hackett, Bill Griffiths and Rosemary Bevan who have as-sisted me.

Heather Clark-Grimmond (3456)10 Rosnay Court, Banora Point, New South Wales, 2486, AUSTRALIA Email: grimmo@onthenet.com.au

The marriage of Edith Maude Williams to Thomas Kennedy in 1907, Elizabeth is on the left; my grandfather is in the middle; Edith the

Bride; Emma Maria next to her (I’m not sure of the rest!)

The Williams Family of Pembroke, Australia and New Zealand.

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Byron Evans & Co Chartered Surveyors

12, Castle High Haverfordwest Pembrokeshire

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32

The Block Test Guessing CompetitionFishguard 1893

Editor’s Note: I was intrigued by this photograph. “Guessing Competition” suggests a light hearted activity, which is at odds with a photograph of a group of serious looking, mainly older men. Their style of dress and heavy footware suggests that they are farmers.

To solve this problem I posed a question on dyfed-request@rootsweb.com, a veritable goldmine of information.Very quickly Myra Heywood and the Fishguard Local History Class were on the case and discovered a newspaper article describing this

event, which was not at all what I expected! The article provided by Myra Heywood is on the following pages.

33

I discovered this old photograph in Ardwyn, the Fishguard home of my

aunt, Gwyneth Mary Jones, after she moved into a nursing home.

It’s a curious gathering but my knowledge of its background is very limited. All I remember my aunt tell-ing me was that the photograph was taken outside the Town Hall and that Peter Lewis, her grandfather, is seated in the front row between the man with the sign (or box) and the man seated on the chair. I don’t remember her saying anything about the occasion that was being recorded.

My research shows that Mr. John Worthington seems to have been a lo-cal businessman. He was appointed to a committee to organise the erection of the Pembrokeshire South African War Memorial and there was also a refer-ence to him in connection with some Railway dealings.

I have drawn a complete blank on ‘Block Test’.

Ray Knowles (4272)86 Honeysuckle Close, Calne, Wiltshire, SN11 9US Email: ray_knowles@hotmail.com

Editor’s Note: I was intrigued by this photograph. “Guessing Competition” suggests a light hearted activity, which is at odds with a photograph of a group of serious looking, mainly older men. Their style of dress and heavy footware suggests that they are farmers.

To solve this problem I posed a question on dyfed-request@rootsweb.com, a veritable goldmine of information.Very quickly Myra Heywood and the Fishguard Local History Class were on the case and discovered a newspaper article describing this

event, which was not at all what I expected! The article provided by Myra Heywood is on the following pages.

34

The Pembroke Guardian Saturday April 29th 1893

The “Block Test” Guessing Competition at Fishguard.

Striking Proof of the Advantages of the Weigh-bridge.There was a large gathering of farmers at Fishguard on Tuesday last in response

to Mr. John Worthington’s invitation to take part in his weight-guessing competi-tion. The meeting was a most representative one, and there were present some of the best-known cattle feeders of the northern side of the county, and also farmers from more remote portions of the district. When the farmers began to assemble in groups in and around the Market House, it soon became evident that they were taking a deep interest in the question, and it was then easy to forecast a lively competition. At a little after 11.30 the heifer, which had been fed specially by Mr. Worthington1 for the competition, was led up from Glyn-y-Mel1, and she at once became the centre of attraction in the Slaughter House Yard. A few dozen tapes were soon in requisition, and if the dimensions of the animal were not carefully noted it was not the heifer’s fault. She stood all the prodding, pinching, feeling, and measuring as immovable as a graven image, and chewed her cud in blissful ignorance of the important proceedings to follow. She was a sleek, well fed little beast, a good type of the Black Breed, and standing on short legs, and being well built in her forequarters, whilst still heavy across her pin bones, it was generally believed that she would prove a deceptive animal of which to guess the weight. Mr. Herbert Worthington (whom we are glad to find has safely returned from his travels to South America,) directed the proceedings.

Calling the farmers together, he briefly explained the object of the meeting, and sketched the programme. A ticket was given to each person who wished to guess the animals weight, which, after the weight had been calculated and written on the card, would be deposited in the Ballot Box which had been entrusted to the custody of a responsible person. As it afterwards proved, 67 farmers recorded their opinions, and it took upwards of two hours for this number of persons to go through the work. There was no hurrying or driving, and each guesser had every opportunity afforded him to form as accurate a calculation as possible. It was a well managed competition, and the great difference in the guessed weights disposes of any supposition that the competitors may have helped each other in coming to a decision. The heifer had been weighed on the public weigh-bridge on the way up from Glyn-y-Mel, and the live-weight was known only to Mr. Herbert Worthington.

1. Glyn-y-Mel, the home of Mr. Worthington is described on page 37.

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Whilst the farmers were calculating the dead-weight a few dozen persons had a Sweepstakes on the live-weight. This gave an idea of what might be expected in the dead-weight calculations.

The live-weight declared by Mr. Herbert Worthington (which was not de-clared until the dead-weight competitors had balloted) was 11cwt. 1qr. 10lbs. One person guessed the weight to be 13cwt.; another guessed it to 13cwt. 1qr. 7lb.; whilst a man at the other extreme guessed it to be 6cwt. 1qr. 6lb. The winners of the sweepstakes were as under:-

Mr. W.L. Williams, Cefnydre 11cwt 1qr. 7lbMr. J.C. Bowen, Penrhiw 11 1 14Mr. J. Perkins, Trevayog 11 1 3Mr. J.P. Walthew, Tresissilt 11 1 18The greater number of the guesses were under the weight by about 1cwt.,

which was confirmatory of experiments in other places which go to prove that farmers generally underestimate the weight of stock.

After the guesses had all been placed in the ballot box, Mr. Edwards, photog-rapher, Fishguard, took some excellent photographs of the heifer and also a large group of the farmers who had taken part in the competition. This group was ar-ranged in front of the Market House.

An analysis of the foregoing guesses shows that the 59 persons who guessed below the actual dead weight were on an average 2qrs 3lbs below this weight. The average weight of them all is 6cwt 1qr 2lbs. This at 6d per lb would mean an average loss of £1 9s 6d. This analysis confirms the results of former competitions showing that farmers usually underestimate their cattle to the extent of about 30s per head. It should be noted that out of 67 persons only 8 slightly overestimated the weight, and upon referring to the names of the eight, we have no hesitation in stating that amongst this number are a few gentlemen who would not be invited by farmers generally to give their judgement as to weight. Taking the whole of the competition we find that the average of the weights guessed was 6cwts. 2qrs 6lbs or 1qrs 20lbs below the mark. The highest guessed weight was 7cwt 3qrs 14lbs, which at 6d per lb would be £22 6s. The lowest guessed weight was 5cwt 2qrs 1lb which at 6d per lb would £15 15s, or less than the highest estimated value by £6 11s. So it may be taken that the estimated value set upon the animal by 67 persons varied to the extent of £6 11s.

36

The actual value of the animal at 6d per lb, would be £19 11s 6d, so that the farmer who gave the lowest estimate would sell the animal for £3 16s 6d under its value. These facts, elicited in a strictly fair competition, cannot but awaken farm-ers to the serious loss they sustain in selling their stock by guess weight, and to the desirability of their adopting the new method introduced by Mr. M’Jannet and brought under the notice of local farmers by Mr. John Worthington.

In 1892 there were in Pembrokeshire about 61,000 head of store cattle. As-suming that these were sold at an average loss of 30s per head, and this is the aver-age loss proved by these competitions, it would mean a dead loss to the county of £91,500. This refers to cattle only, and sheep and pigs are not included, and as we have 135,000 sheep and 24,000 pigs, and as possibly the loss in these would be at the same ratio, we tremble at the thought of calculating the entire loss sustained through selling by guess-weight.

At the close of the proceedings on Tuesday, the rev. T. Johns, of Manorowen, moved a vote of thanks to Mr. Worthington for bringing about so important and interesting a competition, and stated it as his opinion that the test would be the means of doing much good. This being seconded was carried with acclamation. Mr. Worthington replied and said that at one time it was his intention to invite all the farmers down to Glyn-y-Mel to dinner, but he found he could not find room for so large a number of guests, and was very sorry he had to abandon the intention.

Mr. Worthington is to be congratulated upon the success of the competition, and deserves the thanks of the farmers of Pembrokeshire for bringing under their notice in such a clear light the advantages of the weigh-bridge. Mr. Worthington went to great personal trouble, and to considerable expense, to bring the competi-tion to a successful issue, and we were gratified to find by the good attendance of farmers at the competition that his efforts to benefit the agricultural industry are so well appreciated.

Guardian extract supplied by:Myra Heywood (2549) Email: myra@heatherkop.fsworld.co.uk

The “Block Test” Guessing Competition at Fishguard.

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Glyn y Mel, Fishguard

An impressive residence of three storeys and a basement storey, on low ground overlooking Afon Gwaun near its estuary at Cwm Fenton (Lower Fish-

guard).About 1796 -97, Richard Fenton the eminent barrister and antiquary, started

clearing away the cliffs below Carn-y-Gath, where he made a large alcove for his intended mansion. It was completed by 1799, and the building has survived virtu-ally unchanged to our day. Fenton also created a delightful environment of lawns, gardens, trees, bushes and flowers that attracted admiration; there he spent the last 20 years of his life. Historians will remember him for his Tour through Pembroke-shire, 1811. He was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, and wrote poetry.

Fenton was a friend of Goldsmith and of antiquaries like Colt Hoare. He supported shipbuilding at the estuary. One of the family Myfanwy Fenton was a poet of merit, while others like Ferrar Fenton, a noted antiquary. The house was sold in 1866 to satisfy the creditors of John Fenton deceased. The Action in Chancery records give the defendants as the Rev. Samuel Fenton, clerk, and Catherine Elizabeth his wife, John Fenton and John Fenton Taylor.

Afterwards it became the home of John Worthington, a well-known philanthropist, who further developed the attractive grounds. The last of the old squires there was Miss Beatrice Chambers, J.P. active in local life. After her death the property has changed ownership several times.Re-printed from Historic Pembrokeshire Homes and their Families by Major Francis Jones (curtesy of Brawdy Books)

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The Life and Times of William Charles - Skinner of Haverfordwest

I’m not sure when my 5th great grandfather William Charles was born. Judging from the age of his wife I’d guess about 1745, but I know for sure that he was

buried at Haverfordwest in 1784. He earned his living working as a merchant dealing in hides and animal skins - a skinner. He was a literate man and after read-ing this article you might think, like me, that he was ambitious, upwardly mobile and probably an old chauvinist.

William had strong connections to both Haverfordwest and Bristol. In the 1700’s there was a lot of sea trade between all of the ports in the Bristol Channel; Bristol itself was the second largest city in England and during William’s lifetime Haverfordwest was the main port of Pembrokeshire. The merchants and dealers of Haverfordwest purchased animal hides at the Pembrokeshire cattle fairs, processed the hides in their tanning yards and then transported them in boats to Bristol or other western ports.

William has been a tiresome ancestor to track down - it has taken me well over two years and more than one stroke of good fortune. Describing how I located him would be enough material for an article of its own, but suffice to say that without the Internet1 it would have been almost impossible for me to discover the roots of my family in Pembrokeshire.

1. See DFHS Journal Vol 10 No 5

39

And without the Internet it would not be possible for three families living at the other side of the world to say that William Charles is their ancestor too.

The earliest definite trace I have of William is dated 7th August 1766, where an entry in the St Martin’s Haverfordwest Parish Register records his marriage to Mary Bateman. “by me, William Tasker, curate”

Mary was a member of the branch of the Bateman family living at Lambston, near Haverfordwest. Her family can be traced back to the early 1600’s living at properties called ‘Waseland’, ‘Honyhooke’ and ‘Neethooke’, which lie just north of the lane between Lambston and Nolton Cross. Thomas Bateman (clerk), a member of the same family, was one of the executors of William’s will (1784).

I found myself wondering what would have kept William and Mary’s minds occupied as the Pembrokeshire wind and rain howled like a banshee and rattled the shutters of their house, so here are a few guesses.

I’d take a bet that during 1766 they ate partridge for dinner rather frequently. Here’s why: ”A gentleman writes from Pembrokeshire that they have lately de-stroyed upwards of 1,500 hawks and kites in that County, which they find to be one of the most effectual measures they could have taken for the preservation of game, the partridge in particular having multiplied exceedingly”. (Virginia Ga-zette 16 May 1766).

A year later, (1767) William would have no doubt been grumbling at length to Mary having received notice of the new grants or charters that were made to the Skinners and the Tailors of Haverfordwest “on their paying so much per an-num”.

During late 1772 and early 1773 events took place in Haverfordwest that must have supplied William and Mary with gossip and jokes for months. This was the well documented in-cident when in August 1772 the Bishop took a decision that ena-bled the Churchwardens to “pro-hibit any person from buying or selling in the St Mary’s Church-yard”. After a notice was posted, the butchers had to set up their meat for sale in the two streets to the north of the churchyard.

St. Mary’s Church Haverfordwest

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They were pretty upset about it and complained that the street was too narrow, preventing them putting up their sheds to protect their meat in bad weather and preventing customers from viewing their wares without being in danger of being run over by horses.

They also complained that “The wall of the Churchyard is ... about 7 or 8 feet higher than the street, and there are graves frequently near the wall, and other disagree-able things laid near it, so that the wall is generally moist down to the street. Many persons have great objections against any meat that hangs against or near that wall.”

Some of the gentlemen of the town felt that the decision to move the market had been “to ye great injury of the Town”, so they encouraged the Butchers to put their stands back in the churchyard “which they did, and there are almost as many Butchers there now as before the disturbance.”

William and Mary had been married for less than eight years when she died. She was buried at St Ismael’s church, Lambston on April 30th 1774

It wasn’t only local trade within the Bristol Channel that was carried in ships along the Pembrokeshire coast or through the port of Haverfordwest. An article in the Virginia Gazette in 1775 reported the loss of the ’Martin’ (300 tons), bound from London to Virginia. She struck a ridge of rocks near Linoy Point in Fresh-water Bay “the destruction which appeared the following morning on the shore for near a mile long is beyond all description”

From the same source in 1776 came a report that “There is such a want of seamen that the ‘Resolution’ sloop of war, Capt. Hawker, which is sailed from the Downs for Haverfordwest to take under convoy some transports bound to America, has no more than four sailors on board besides the officers. They depend on getting men at Haverfordwest”.

On 11th June 1778, about four years after Mary died William remarried at St Mary Redcliff Church, Bristol. His second wife was Sarah Roper of Bristol (born 1745). Given Sarah’s family background and what is known of Mary Bateman’s family, it does seem as though the upwardly mobile William favoured selecting his wife from amongst the daughters of quite wealthy families!

Sarah Roper’s father, Thomas Roper, was a second generation Bristol ship-wright. After his death in 1780 he bequeathed both of his leasehold properties in Bristol and most of his possessions to his eldest daughter, Mary. His other daughter “Sarah Charles, wife of William Charles of Haverfordwest, skinner” was bequeathed one of the leasehold properties upon the death of her sister Mary, some unspecified household possessions and her father’s clock.

The Life and Times of William Charles, Skinner of Haverfordwest

41

We have a saying in our family, “Charles’ luck”, which is a quirky sort of luck and never too much of it. It would be nice to think it was originally coined by our ancestor William who, having married into a reasonably wealthy family for a second time, must have anticipated receiving rather more than a clock in return for his efforts.

On the 5th September 1780, William was admitted to the Bristol Burgess list as a result of his marrying Sarah Roper and his name also appears in the Bristol Poll Book of 1781.

William had three children. He and Sarah Roper produced a son, Thomas, who was born in February 1780. Their daughter Elizabeth was born in Haver-fordwest in March 1781. Elizabeth and Thomas were baptised together at Bristol St Mary Redcliff church on 10th February 1782. In his will William mentions a third child, Mary, but her baptism record has not been located and it is possible that she was a daughter of his first marriage.

William died at Haverfordwest in 1784, the same year that US Congress rati-fied the Treaty of Paris to end the American War of Independence. It seems he was aware of his imminent death because he signed and sealed his will on 10th September 1784, only about five weeks before he was laid to rest. In his will Wil-liam bequeathed his leasehold properties in Bristol and all of his possessions to his wife Sarah (the properties had passed to William via Sarah Roper on the death of Sarah’s sister Mary).

However, there was a caveat to his wife’s inheritance: “but if she should happen to marry that then I give unto her the said Sarah Charles the sum of one shilling only “. One shilling is the equivalent of about £5 today. The will went on to say that If Sarah did remarry then the properties would pass to William’s children as long as they themselves did not marry before reaching the age of 21.

In his will, William made a specific request that he be buried at Lambston church, presumably to lie with his first wife, Mary. Despite that request, he was buried in the churchyard at St Mary’s, Haverfordwest on 14th October 1784. I do wonder if William’s 39 year old widow Sarah reacted badly to the financial straightjacket he had left her in and went against his burial wish because of it.

There are five people mentioned in William’s will of 1784. Here is what I know about them. The first is John Crowther Reynish, gentleman of Camrose (friend). John Crowther Reynish owed William Charles money and in his will William directed that the monies owing should be passed to Sarah Charles in the form of a bond (or similar) and used to renew the leases on William’s properties in St Mary Redcliff, Bristol.

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(Note - Reynish House is located at Wolfsdale, near Haverfordwest. John Crowther Reynish’s own will was witnessed by Timothy Charles of Camrose)

Thomas Bateman, clerk, of St Martin’s Haverfordwest (friend). Thomas Bate-man was one of the executors of William Charles’ will. It is possible that this particular Thomas Bateman was clerk at Picton Castle

Thomas Charles, labourer, of St Ishmaels (friend). Thomas Charles was one of the executors of William’s will - almost certainly the Thomas Charles who married Anne Evans at St Ishmael’s parish in 1765.

William Lewis and John Jones (Schoolmaster) (witnesses). Another William Charles, a butcher of Dew Street, married a Sarah Lewis in Haverfordwest in 1796. It is possible that William Lewis (the witness) was her father. John Jones, schoolmaster, remains a complete mystery.

Shortly after William’s death his widow left Haverfordwest and moved to the St Michaels parish in Bristol. To resolve her financial predicament, Sarah decided that a shilling in the hand was worth a lease in the bush and exactly one year and one day after William signed his will she married David Jenkins, a baker (11th September 1785). The couple had a son of their own, William - half brother to Thomas, Elizabeth and Mary Charles - who was born in December 1789.

After collecting all these facts about William Charles the skinner I found myself asking a really big question: who were his ancestors? As far as I know the earliest record found of the Charles surname in Pembrokeshire is Meredith Charles, clerk of Mathry, who appears just before 1600. The surname Charle (from the French Charlemagne) was also found in Pembrokeshire – John Charle of Treleddyd (St Davids parish) was born in about 1649 and buried, aged 80, in 1729

This is what Ted Hackett had to say when I contacted him: “The various Charles families in Pembrokeshire pose a problem for the genealogist, as little evidence ex-ists about their origins. Although records suggest they are inter-related, there are many gaps, making relationships difficult to prove”. Having received Ted’s advice, I did consider giving up trying to trace William’s forebears.

But I can’t give it up yet because there is a story in our family, first brought to my attention by a recently discovered relative in New Zealand (yes, a distant cousin ....). The story also explains my several references to the Virginia Gazette in this article.

It seems that our Charles ancestors were amongst the earliest settlers in Vir-ginia USA and that they (or at least some of them) returned to Pembrokeshire in the 1700’s.

The Life and Times of William Charles, Skinner of Haverfordwest

43

The story is supported by documents that were seen by my cousin’s sister when she was a child, which related to the Charles family and landholdings in Virginia. It really is “Charles’ luck” that those documents were accidentally destroyed many years ago.

I’ve been fishing on the Internet and found numerous references to Charles families living in Virginia in the 1600’s and 1700’s. I also located four land patents issued to someone with the surname Charles: the best documented individual is one Thomas Charles of Henrico County. He was born in 1656 (whereabouts un-known) and died in 1694. He was granted two land patents in Virginia (1687 and 1690). Here is an extract of part of the 1687 patent – “Accordingly gives and grant unto Mt Robt Woodson snr, Mr John Woodson, son, Wm Lewis and Thomas Charles a tract of land containing four hundred and seventy acres lying and being in the county of Henrico... And is due by the transportation of ten persons”

There is only one other individual with the surname Charles issued with land patents. They were to a Philip Charles (of James City County) in 1656 and 1658.

And now I am completely stuck. So, please - if there is anyone out there in Dyfed FHS land who also has an interest in the Charles families, or anyone who has any advice about tracing early emigrants from Pembrokeshire to the USA, particularly Virginia, I’d love to hear from you.

Finally, let’s tie up the loose ends of the story of William Charles the skinner. His son Thomas, born in 1780 went on to become a patten maker in Bristol. Thomas the patten maker married and in 1805 produced a son, another Thomas, who became a farrier, married and in 1830 became a freeman of Bristol. Some-time between 1834 and 1838 Thomas the farrier decided to move himself and his family from Bristol to Shoreditch in London. All three of Thomas the farrier’s sons (Thomas, John and William) eventually became dock labourers, living in ut-ter poverty in the Limehouse area. The three sons had a large number of children, most of whom weren’t educated enough to be able to sign their own name on marriage registers.

All of which just goes to prove (as if any proof were needed) that for most or-dinary folk the streets of London have never, ever, been paved with gold.

David Charles (4659)45 Sheppard Road, Exeter, Devon, EX4 5DD email: dave.charles85@googlemail.com

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Llanelli

Around the Branches

Upper Towy ValleyWe had speakers on many varied topics over the second half

of our winter programme including Richard Keen who had fantastic slides on the changing landscapes of South Wales.

The following month we had Richard Rees from Llanwrda who gave an astonishing account, of how the Council in London had plans drawn up to drown large parts of Mid and West Wales to provide a water supply for the city of London. They were even going to move the Central Wales Railway line in order to have the resevoirs built. Fortunately the plans had to be abandoned and nothing more came of the idea.

In April we had Mr Terry Norman who gave us the history of Llandeilo Fawr Workhouse, with the awful conditions that the people had to endure. The work-house was eventually demolished in the 1970’s.

Members had an enjoyable trip to Hay-On-Wye in May, and to St. Fagans and Cardiff in August. In July members gathered at Bethlehem Chapel to do the an-nual Monumental Inscriptions recording.Davina Price (2773)

In June the Branch held a workshop/planning meeting in prepa-ration for representing the society at the Llanelli Festival which

was held on August 21st 2010 at the Selwyn Samuel Centre. The festival was very well attended with over seventy exhibitors, and

generated a great deal of positive feedback. In addition, preparations were made to enable a move to new premises at Paddock Street which we took up in July, and which promise to be a much more suitable venue.

In July we held our first meeting at the new premises and were pleased to wel-come back Roger Price as our guest speaker. He spoke about the history of Welsh names in England. The group were entertained with a very detailed account of the derivation of Welsh names and by the history which led to it. Roger has previ-ously addressed the group with a lecture on the history of Welsh names in Ireland.

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Roger is a keen family historian, Local Councilor and Deputy Mayor; he is always highly supportive of our branch activities.

In August there is generally a trip of some kind but this year the group decided to hold a meeting to discuss plans for the Open Day at the Drill Hall, Llanelli. It was heartening to find so many members attend and express their willingness to help in a variety of ways. The Open Day was held on 18th September and was well attended. It was opened by the Mayor; the Deputy Mayor and the local press also attended. We were invited to follow up with an interview at the offices of The Llanelli Star and a centerfold article appeared in the local paper which placed the Society in a very favourable light. As a result there have been many phone calls from people expressing interest in joining the Society with a view to embarking on family research

In September our guest speaker was Lyn John of the Llanelli Heritage Society who gave a fascinating PowerPoint presentation on Alexander Raby, a famous local industrialist who is often credited with being the founder of the town as an industrial centre. Raby turned Llanelli from a small fishing village of fifty six houses and a church, into a major industrial town famous for coal and iron. The talk was supported by examples of Raby’s kindness and humanity, and included new and old film footage and interviews with local historians. The is part one of a three part documentary and we eagerly await the following episodes, part two being booked for November and the final part for January.Joyce Reohorn (4170)

CardiganDuring our summer break in July and August, Betty Gtiffiths,

Sue James and Jasmine Edwards met at Capel Iwan cemetery on a few sunny afternoons to transcribe Monumental Inscriptions. There were over 700 graves but the work is now completed and typed up. Some members have been busy over the summer index-

ing copies of the MI’s that the branch holds. A research meeting was held on the 6th September. Several members

brought along their laptops and were able to help those new and not so new with their research, members also showed each other their favourite websites. Betty again was on hand to help with her pre 1858 Probate/Wills on fiche.

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Haverfordwest

The committee met on Monday afternoon to set up the programme for 2011. Secretary Sue James is to contact speakers to arrange convenient dates.

It was a well attended meeting in October when our guest speaker was Beryl Evans, Family History Co-ordinator for the National Library of Wales. Beryl gave us a tour of the NLW website showing us how to use the catalogues and collections, enquiry service (which is open to the public by phone or email) and most importantly to us as researchers the Archival Databases on the Family His-tory pages, which comprise of the probate wills on line, crime and punishment, marriage bonds 1616-1837 and ISYS web pages. Several members stated they had used the Probate and Crime and Punishment pages. A visit to the Library is planned for later in the year to be organised by Jane Kerr.

Names were taken for our Christmas Dinner to be held at the Highbury Hotel on the 6th December.

In November Dr Robert Anthony will speak about Medieval Development of Welsh Towns.

Branch meetings for 2011 are as follows:-January 13th: Annual General Meeting & Research

(please note change of date) February: Research March: t.b.a.

Jasmine Edwards (4573)

Our members were busy in August; apart from individual re-search and transcriptions, we made our annual pilgrimage to

the NLW for our research day. This is very much a joint visit, be-cause, apart from our own research, we help each other and particu-

larly newer members, who have not visited the library before.We attended three exhibition days at the beginning of September. The first was

a week long exhibition at Haverfordwest St Mary’s church; our presence there was purely to support the church, the local Civic Society and other local organisations, who all displayed fascinating information on the town in the last 500 years.

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The second exhibition was a one day event on 11th September at Haverford-west Library, again to celebrate the town’s 500 year history; thank you to the usual volunteers from the Branch for helping members of the public with their research on that day. However, on the same day our Branch was represented at a National Trust event in the Stackpole Centre, which was more locally aimed at the old Cawdor Estate. It included guided walks along the famous lakes, displays in the centre by wildlife organisations, the local WI, Stackpole Elidor Church, the local Primary School and our Dyfed FHS research facilities. Before ending my report of events that our Branch have attended, congratulations must go to Llanelli Branch for hosting our own Dyfed FHS Open Day this year; it was well organised, with a wide variety of stands and a very friendly atmosphere. When at-tending these Open Days outside Pembrokeshire, whether our own Dyfed Open Day, or others, it is fascinating to discover how many ancestors, of people coming to our stand, originated in Pembrokeshire.

Our first Winter meeting was back in Prendergast Church Hall in Septem-ber, when we displayed all our transcriptions and indexes of censuses and parish records for members and visitors to research their own families. Because members of our branch have, for several years, enjoyed representing the Society at Open Days in other parts of South Wales and border counties of England, we have built up an extensive library of records on the three counties of Dyfed, some on CD, some on microfiche and some in hard copy. Naturally, we specialise in Pembro-keshire records.

I cannot speak highly enough of our October speaker, who was Edward Per-kins (a well respected agricultural valuer in Haverfordwest). Thanks to a col-lection of antiquarian maps that had been accumulated by his mother over the years, Edward followed her enthusiasm and has since collected many more rare and beautifully engraved maps. It appears that mapping started many centuries ago; going back to Roman times, it is recorded that Agrippa was instructed by Augustus Caesar to produce a map of the Roman world. Edward took us through the development of maps through the centuries and highlighted some of the more famous ones, such as the Mappa Mundi (kept in Hereford Cathedral) and the Gough Map of 1360 (in Oxford’s Bodlean Library). So many names of eminent map makers in the Middle Ages were referred to and examples of their work shown on the screen. It is likely that most people are familiar with the colourful county maps of Christopher Saxton (1542-1610), showing the four emblems, ie: the Royal Arms, the Arms of Thomas Seckford his patron, the mathematical dividers and the scale.

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The September meeting was treated to a very entertaining talk by Liz Pitman, author of Pigsties and Paradise: Lady Diarists and

the Tour of Wales 1795-18601. The talk took us around Wales in the company of seven women, including Frances Crewe, a mistress of

the playwright Sheridan, Mary Anne Hibbert, who repeatedly fell for the wrong man, Mary Martineau, ever cheerful despite setbacks, and Elizabeth Bower, trav-elling on her honeymoon, with illustrations provided by the delightful watercol-ours of Frederica Rouse Boughton. The diarists wrote of their experiences with immediacy, honesty and enthusiasm, giving us vivid accounts of their delight in the landscape and curiosity at the customs of the country people. ‘Seariously (sic) this mountain beats everything I ever saw since I was a Child in Italy’ was Frances Crewe’s response to seeing Cader Idris.

London

Of particular mention was the 1797 map of the Fishguard Invasion, which was produced primarily for Lord Cawdor; only twelve of the maps exist. The ex-amples and explanations continued until we came to the Ordnance Survey maps that began in about 1820; incidentally their nationwide production was under the direction of General Thomas Colby, whose family home was Rhosygilwen, between Boncath and Cardigan. Tithe maps were referred to, which we know as an excellent source of information on our ancestors. These were a separate survey to the Ordnance Survey maps that we know today. Edward Perkins was a truly excellent speaker. I only wish that the extent and scope of his talk could be repro-duced in this report.

We now look forward to our November talk by David James, the chairman of West Wales Maritime Society, who has extensive knowledge about the little ship yards that existed in the 18th and 19th century on the banks of the Cleddau and elsewhere in Pembrokeshire.

We shall follow this with our annual dinner in December, which will be held at Plas Hyfryd Hotel, Narberth. If any member would like to join us, who does not normally attend our meetings, then please contact Huw James or myself (contact details elsewhere in the journal). Rosalie Lilwall (123)

1. Published by Gwasg Carreg Gwalch.

49

Their fortitude (for the most part) in scaling mountains in dire weather, in clothing which seems to us to be quite unsuitable, is wholly admirable. There was much complaint at the trials of travelling on inadequate roads, and staying at hotels and coaching inns as yet unaccustomed to tourists; ‘a beastly Inn, more Beastly Woman, and most Beastly Breakfast!’ at Pontneddfechan is typical. Some hardships however were not to be endured lightly; Lady Wilson, finding no wine at her Fishguard hotel, sent her maid and coachman to forage for some; after try-ing the doctor and the parson they succeeded at ‘a poor Gentleman’s house’.

Few of the women diarists who toured Wales in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries in search of the sublime and picturesque published their diaries, which have tended to lie neglected in archives; in contrast, more than a hundred men’s diaries were published, some of which have been reprinted in re-cent times. Liz Pitman has rescued these women from oblivion and brought them and their experiences of Wales to life for us.

On the 13th November Richard Suggett of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, Commisiwn Brenhinol Henebion Cymru, spoke about Witchcraft in Wales.

The 2011 AGM will be held on 15th January. Meetings are also planned for 14th May, 17th September and 12th November, the subjects to be arranged.Anna Brueton (1806)

Spell Checker!

Searching the 1851 census on the Ancestry web-site, when looking for a John Evans born circa 1822 in Pembrokeshire, the list of possibles had birthplaces

as follows – Handsilio, Castle Morton, Llandifaliv, Castellgwys, Saintwingeh, Virlsheyer and Sambston.

No prizes for recognising these place-names but readers might like to test their knowledge of Pembrokeshire.

Nikki Bosworth (Miss)Pembrokeshire Record Office, The Castle Haverfordwest

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Death:Mary Richards; 12 June 1853; Haverfordwest 11a 449; (at Hook, Rudbaxton, age 26 yrs, w/o John Richards, Husbandman, of consumption, David Berry in attendance)Mary Richards; 24 Nov 1854; Haverfordwest 11a 466; (at Bulford, Steynton aged 29 yrs, Servant, decline over 13 months, Mary Nicholas in attendance)Mary Richards; 19 Feb 1855; Haverfordwest 11a 553; (at Wernlydan, Little Newcas-tle, age 48 yrs, almswoman and d/o William Richards, Husbandman, of influenza, John Richards in attendance)Mary Richards; 9 Apr 1855; Haverfordwest 11a 437; (at Bolton Hill, Steynton, age 87 yrs, widow of Benjamin Richards, Agricultural labourer, of natural decay of nature, John Richards in attendance)Mary Richards; 19 Jun 1856; Haverfordwest 11a 449; (at Llain Delyn, Letterston, age 1 yr, d/o John Richards, Shopkeeper, of scarlatina, Henry Jenkins in attendance)Mary Richards; 27 Oct 1856; Haverfordwest 11a 380; (at Lanfirran, Llanwnda, 10 yrs, d/o William Richards, Husbandman, of typhoid fever, William George in attendance)Mary Ann Richards; 13 Mar 1859; Haverfordwest 11a 534; (at Robert St, Milford, Steynton, age 16 mths, d/o William Richards, Labourer, of unknown causes, William Richards in attendance)Mary Richards; 29 Sep 1859; Haverfordwest 11a 407; (at Robert St, Milford, Steyn-ton, 40 yrs, Domestic Servant, of consumption, William Richards in attendance)Mary Richards; 14 Nov 1860; Haverfordwest 11a 404; (at West Dairy Lane, Wiston, 2 yrs 2mths, d/o John Richards, Labourer, accidentally burnt to death, inquest held on 16 Nov 1860-information received from William Vaughan James, Deputy Coroner)

Birth:Phillip William Richards; born 19 July 1887; 39 Grenfell Town Llansamlet Lower, father William Richards (Copperman), mother Mary Richards formerly Williams,

Lynne Simpson (4757)4 Pieman Crescent, Kaleen, Canberra, 2617 Australia.

Unwanted Certificates & Other MaterialTo acquire the certificates listed below, explain your claim to the owner.

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ann scott of LLangwm

I have discovered an ancestor born in Llangwm, Pembrokeshire named Ann Scott born around 1795. She married a Somerset man, John Rendell, in West-minster, London in 1816 and they were living in London at census times (1841-81). She went back to Llangwm to have at least two of her children - Elizabeth in 1825 and George in 1831 - so I am assuming that Llangwm is the home of her parents, or maybe just her mother.

I have failed to find parish records going back far enough to see at my nearest LDS centre, and would be very grateful for any clues as to where to look next, or from anyone who has some other information.

Mrs. Hilary Harris (4775) 35 Morton Road, Laughton, Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, DN21 3PS. Email: hilaryjharris@msn.com

John giBBy

I am trying to establish the parentage of John Gibby born about 1825, in the parish of Fishguard, Pembs. I find him on the 1851 census in the parish of Jordanston, along with his wife Ann, who was born in Llanwnda, and their first child, Levy, who is 2 months old.

I have their marriage certificate of 15th October 1850 in the parish church Llanwnda. John is a labourer and resided in Cilkiffaeth, Llanychaer parish at that time, and Ann (nee Lewis) resided at Carnellen, Llanwnda parish. John Gibby’s father is a Levi Gibby a labourer.

My search for Levi Gibby found one on the 1841 census age 58, born in Pembs about 1783, living in Llanychaer Parish along with an Anne Gibby (21 years) and five other children. It is possible she is his daughter and he might be a widower. I cannot find an 1851 census to follow this one forward.

Next I found a Levi Gibby on the 1851 census born about 1795 in Hendrig-castle, Pembs, living, with his wife Mary, in the parish of Camrose with a daugh-ter Sarah. I cannot find the 1841 census for this family.

If anyone has been researching the Gibby family perhaps they could help clar-ify this, or help me to move forward in this search.

Diane Sheen (4669) 18 Quintin Gurney House, Keswick Hall, Norwich, NR4 6RP Email: dallluch@hotmail.com

Help Needed

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gwiLym danieL owen

My goal is to ascertain the maiden name of Gwilym Owen’s wife Margaret, and to determine the date and place of their marriage.

Gwilym Daniel Owen was born on 8 September 1880 at Heoldwr, Llanedy Parish (near Pontardulais), Carmarthenshire, Wales. His father was Daniel Owen, who was initially a farmer and then a printer and stationer and later on a com-mercial traveler and bookseller. His mother was Hannah Rees Owen.

In the Census of 1881 Gwilym is listed as being 7 months old and living with his parents and older brother, George Edgar Owen, at Heoldwr in Llanedy Par-ish.

In the Census of 1891 he is listed as being 10 years old and living with his (step) grandfather and older brother George Edgar Owen at Caeycoryn Farm in Llanedy Parish. Gwilym went there to live sometime after the death of his mother in 1883.

In the Census of 1901 he is listed as being 20 years old and single, living as a boarder with the family of James Powell at 24 Muriel Terrace, Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil. He is employed as a railway engine stoker.

At some point in time, probably between 1901 and 1913, Gwilym married a lady named Margaret. I do not know her last name, and I do not know the date or place of the wedding. It could have taken place in Glamorganshire or elsewhere in Wales or in England or even in Argentina. (I did find a Marriage Certificate for a man named Gwilym Owen and Margaret Ann Thomas, who were wed on 15 July 1902 at Bethania Chapel in Aberdare, Merthyr Tydfil District; however, the man’s age and information about his father are inconsistent with known history. Thus, I concluded this was not the marriage I was looking for.)

Gwilym’s brother George Edgar Owen married Mary Jane Jones in Vaynor Church, just north of Merthyr, on 10 April 1901. Gwilym was not listed as a witness. George Edgar and Mary Jane then moved to Pontypridd.

On 13 September 1910 Gwilym immigrated to Argentina. He was listed on the travel documents as being single, although this does not necessarily mean he was unmarried – just that he was traveling alone. In Argentina he became a rail-way engine inspector.

Gwilym and Margaret’s first son, Stanley F. Owen, was born in 1913. Their second son, Glyn Daniel Owen, was born in 1915. I do not know the exact date or place of either birth.

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Travel documents, although fragmentary, indicate that Gwilym and Marga-ret lived in Argentina for many years, including the nineteen-teens, 1920’s and 1930’s. They made several return visits to Wales during this time, and on each occasion they stayed at 3 Pembroke Place, Penydarren, Merthyr Tydfil. This may have been the home of a relative, but I do not know whether this is the case. In the Census of 1911 this address is occupied by a 69-year old widow named Mar-garet Price and her two adult sons. This name means nothing to me.

At some point in time, probably in the late 1930’s or 1940’s, Gwilym and Margaret returned permanently to Wales and resided at 127 Bwlch Road, Fairwa-ter, Cardiff. Margaret died on 4 December 1949, and Gwilym died on 7 March 1959.

Robin Sommers (3455) 4300 Custis Road, Richmond, Virginia, 23225-1010, U.S.A. Email: rsommers1@comcast.net

thomas nichoLas, PemBroke

I am trying to trace the parents of Thomas Nicholas who may have been born in Union House in the parish of St. Mary, Pembroke in 1855/56. His mother’s name was Elizabeth Nicholas. He had a sister, also Elzabeth, also born in Union House in 1860/61. The family appear on both the 1861 and 1871 censu returns. Thomas is down as a scholar, aged 15.

Thomas married Emma Kirby Williams (born in the Stroud area of Glouces-ter) at the Bridgend Glamorgan Registry Office in August, 1878. They called their first child William Gershon Nicholas.

The name Gershon or Gershom may be linked with a chapel in the Pembroke or Pembroke Dock area, or with a benefactor with a christian name or surname of Gershon or Gershom.

I have tried many avenues of enquiry but they have all been “dead ends”.Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Mrs. Betty Nicholas (3018) 24, Austin Avenue, Laleston, Bridgend, CF32 0LG

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Jones and roBerts of feLinfoeL?

This is an old photograph of my Welsh ancestors from Felinfoel. I know that there are Jones members on it and possibly also my nearer Roberts relatives.

I would love to identify more of these relatives and any help to do so would be most welcome.

Elwyn Schreuder (2582) CNA Looslaan 30, 3054 BR Rotterdam, Netherlands. Email: e.schreuder7@chello.nl

Batman/Bateman famiLy

I am searching for a missing link! Through the help of several other researchers, I have a tree of the Batman/Bateman family who lived in the Llanrhian/Llanre-ithan/Mathry area. This tree stretches from the early to mid-fifteenth century with Jenkin Batman shown in Dwnn’s visitation as an ancestor. Jenkin apparently came from Johnston in Rhos. His great grandson, Phillip, is shown in Dwnn’s visitation at Honeyborough.

The Batmans remained at Honeyborough for several generations when, pre-sumably because of the inheritance provisions for the sons, the focus of the family shifted to Trenewydd in Llanllawer and Mynydd Melin where Batemans lived for about six generations.

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Eventually Trenewydd was sold by Price Bateman probably because of lack of a male heir.

The line at Mynydd Melin is fairly clear for 3 generations and then there is a gap until we find John Bateman in Llanreithan. The will of Eynon Bateman who died in 1696 is a very “mouse-eaten” document and most of the holes correspond to names. Eynon does cite his wife as Ursula George. It appears he may have had a son, David who was possibly born about 1660. Between 1660 and 1725, when John Bateman appears, Bateman records for this line look pretty scarce.

I would really appreciate any information about Batemans during this time-frame.

Lynne Simpson (4757) 14 Pieman Crescent, Kaleen, Canberra, 2617, Australia. Email: lsimpson@netspeed.com.au

danieL Lewis, LLandysuL

I am trying to find early details of my 3xg grandfather Daniel Lewis and his wife Charlotte. I have a birth date (from census returns) of 1807. He and Char-lotte appear consistently in the census records from 1841 to 1881, at Derlwyn, Llandysul.

They had the following children: Eleanor, Maria, Anne, David, Sarah, Jenkin and Mary. Except for Eleanor all the children were born after 1837 yet I have not been able to trace a birth certificate for any of them, similarly in parish records.

Neither do I have a surname for Charlotte his wife, nor do I know if they married.

Is there anybody who can help me trace Daniel’s parents, his possible mar-riage and the maiden name of Charlotte. I would also be interested in soliciting opinions on why none of the children were registered. Was it because the anarchic Welsh did not pay too much attention to regulations from London?

Daniel and Charlotte are both buried in Capel Dewi .

David Lewis (4739) 1 Snuff Street, Devizes, SN10 1DU. Email: h-f_lewis@tiscali.co.uk

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henry monkton herBert

I am trying to prove I have Welsh ancestry but I have a “Herbert Brick Wall”! More than 60 years ago, when I was a young teenager, my aunt Maisie said, “If

you can contact Lord Herbert I shall give you all the information I have on our Herbert family.” Through the kindness of HRH the Princess Marina then Duch-ess of Kent, I did find Lord Herbert with whom I enjoyed corresponding. How-ever the promised information did not come to me until my aunt passed away.

In the meantime family stories came to light indicating that we were related to the Earl of Pembroke and the Herberts of Castleisland and Cherbury, none of which I have found any evidence to support. One family chart even had my 3xg grandfather as Lord Herbert.

Eventually I found the supposed Lord Herbert was Henry Moncton Herbert, the Moncton being spelt that way on a marriage bond listing in Dublin. This gentleman proved to be the father of my 2xg grandfather Henry Arthur Herbert. When I told Lord Herbert of this Irish connection he informed me his Herbert family came from Wales. Subsequent research has shown that the Irish connection is actually through the Barlow family. Henry Moncton Herbert had married Jane Barlow whose family had been in Ireland at least two generations prior.

Nothing more is known of the couple until in 1808 their first child Henry Arthur Herbert is born in Glasgow Scotland. Jane and Henry have five children the youngest being born in Ireland circa 1821. No knowledge of their birthplace has been found for the middle three children.

The youngest daughter Jane Emily Herbert in her book ‘The Bride of Imael’ informs us her mother was a widow so Henry Moncton Herbert died between c.1821and 1847.

What has this then to do with Wales? Recently the burial place of Jane Her-bert has been found in Mt. Jerome Cemetery in Dublin. On the headstone and in her obituary it is stated she is the widow of Henry Monkton Herbert Esq. Note the change in spelling. I had been working on the assumption that Henry’s mother may have been a Monckton and he named for her. Now I discover there is a Monkton in Wales and think maybe he could be named for his birthplace or ancestral town. Even more recently it has been found that the second wife of the youngest son Rev. Thomas William Herbert, Christiana Charlotte Miller, is listed as of Pembroke on her death notice.

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Harking back to the Barlows, family tradition has it that they were of Law-renny, Slebetch before settling in Ireland. Surely it is more than co-incidence that these three families claim Pembroke ancestry.

Henry Monkton Herbert is not buried in Mt. Jerome; those with whom I have been researching more recently have looked for his burial in vain. As he is listed as an army officer on the marriage certificate of his youngest son and as HM in occupation on that of his youngest daughter, I suppose he could be buried any where Britain has been engaged in war. I have had a professional researcher look for evidence of Henry M Herbert in the army but none has been found.

My long held desire is to discover to which branch of the Herbert family Henry Monkton Herbert belongs. Please help. I would be so very grateful; look-ing for him was my first interest in family history and although I have been suc-cessful in many lines, both my own and my husband’s, Henry is still leading me a merry dance.

Lefayre Palmer (4684) Palmhurst, 4 The Knoll, Miranda, New South Wales, 2228, Australia. Email: lefayrep@optusnet.com.au

JosePh wiLLiams, st dogmaeLs

My 2xg grandfather Joseph Williams was born on the 20th of April 1813 and baptised on the 26th September 1813. His parents are shown as John and Mary Williams, Tyr yr Jon, St Dogmaels.

In 1838 Joseph married Elizabeth Lodwig, daughter of William Llewellyn and Elizabeth Lodwig of Moyelgrove.

Joseph was a mariner and is only on one household census, 1871 in the We-bly Arms. In 1841 Elizabeth was in Pwllcregin Cottage, in 1851 Penrhiw, 1861 Glandwr Fach, and in 1871 and 1881 Webly Arms.

Joseph died in Cardigan in 1907 aged 94. Elizabeth died in Abbey Cottage, St. Dogmaels in 1887 aged 70.

I would welcome any information about Joseph Williams and his parents.

Mrs. Anne Taylor (4809) 1 Cefn Nant, Three Cocks, Brecon, Powys, LD3 0SN Email: anne.m.taylor@btinternet.co

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Key Surname Forenames/Occupation Location Event Period4757 BATEMAN John (farmer) Llanreithan, PEM, WLS living 1725-17924321 DAVIES David Llandyfriog, CGN, WLS living 1746-18224321 DAVIES Ruth Penbryn, CGN, WLS born 1753-4804 FRANKLIN Anne Llangynllo, CGN, WLS born 1788-4804 FRANKLIN Elinor Llangynllo, CGN, WLS died 1825-18504804 FRANKLIN John William Llangynllo, CGN, WLS born 1760-4804 FRANKLIN John William Llangynllo, CGN, WLS married 1785-4804 FRANKLIN John William Llangynllo, CGN, WLS died 1825-18404804 FRANKLIN Margaret Llangynllo, CGN, WLS born 1790-4804 FRANKLIN William Llangynllo, CGN, WLS born 1786-

4695 GRIMES GRYMES Elizabeth (nee JOHN) Llangwm, PEM, WLS living 1795-1871

4695 GRIMES GRYMES James (waterman) Llangwm, PEM, WLS living 1794-1874

4695 HERBERT Ann (nee GRIMES) Llangwm, PEM, WLS living 1826-18654695 HERBERT George (lab.) Llangwm, PEM, WLS married 1826-4695 HERBERT George (mariner) Llangwm, PEM, WLS living 1830-18774695 HERBERT George Benjamin Llangwm, PEM, WLS born 1860-4695 HERBERT Jane (nee GRIMES) Llangwm, PEM, WLS living c1834-8924695 HERBERT Thomas (seaman) Llangwm, PEM, WLS living 1857-19094695 HERBERT William (seaman) Llangwm, PEM, WLS living 1858-19454321 JONES Evan Blaenporth, CGN, WLS living 1807-18794321 LEWIS Ellis Penbryn, CGN, WLS living 1786-18574321 LEWIS Martha Nevern, PEM, WLS born 1812-

4321 LLOYD Daniel Tainycoed, Llanddewi Brefi, CGN, WLS living 1752-1800

4321 MORRIS Martha Llandyfriog, CGN, WLS born 1751-4321 OWENS Hannah Henllan, CGN, WLS born 1795-

4321 REES Ann Blaenbedw, Llandysiliogogo, CGN, WLS born 1788-

4321 REES Simon Clyncoch, Llangrannog, CGN, WLS living 1756-1849

4757 RICHARDS David (farmer) Llanrhian, PEM, WLS born c1730-4321 THOMAS Evan Penbryn, CGN, WLS born 1754-4321 THOMAS Rees Llangunllo, CGN, WLS living 1791-18704757 THOMAS Stephen Solva?, PEM, WLS born c1760-4757 WILLIAMS Thomas (merchant) Haverfordwest, PEM, WLS living 1754-1829

Members’ Research InterestsThe name and address of the members whose numbers appears in the first column can be found in Names and Addresses, which is the following section.

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Names and AddressesNew members, change of address and members whose research interests are

listed in the preceding section. 232 Mr David W. REES llysycoed@btinternet.com Llys-y-Coed, Heol Pantygored, Pentyrch, Cardiff, CF15 9NE, U.K.332 Mr Graham D. PRATTEN graham@prattens.com 3 Epworth Court, Kings Street, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB1 1LR, U.K.1025 Mrs Angela E. BENGER hamishthedog@dsl.pipex.com Fairdown, Palestine, Andover, Hampshire, SP11 7ES, U.K.1338 Mrs Grace I. SEAL gseal@sky.com 21 Stevenson Court, Rogerstone, Newport, Gwent, NP10 0BJ, U.K.4236 Mr Nicholas J. PAGE strayorganist@googlemail.com 7 Bransdale Crescent, Osbaldwick, York, Yorkshire, YO10 3PB, U.K.4289 Ms Marcia J RICHARDS minnmarsh@bigfoot.com 117 Apple Nook Court, Mankato, Minnesota, 56001, U.S.A.4321 Mr Martin THOMAS jennyandmartint@yahoo.co.uk 24 Glenwood, Llanedeyrn, Cardiff, CF23 6UR, U.K.4663 Mrs. Coral JENNINGS loracj@westnet.com.au 52 ayward Road, Wandanian, New South Wales, 2540, Australia4695 Mrs. Genevieve A. STOCKS-WILSON stocksgen2@googlemail.com 18 Barley Close, Hardwicke, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, GL2 4TE, U.K.4757 Mrs. Lynne C. SIMPSON lsimpson@netspeed.com.au 14 Pieman Crescent, Kaleen, Canberra, 2617, Australia4804 Mrs. Brenda M. LITTLEWOOD brenda.littlewood@virgin.net 11 Pampas Close, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, CV37 0TN, U.K.4808 Mr. Graham B. THOMAS snoweythomas@gmail.com 43 Packham Street, Shepparton, Victoria, 3630, Australia4809 Mrs. Anne M. TAYLOR anne.m.taylor@btinternet.com 1 Cefn Nant, Three Cocks, Brecon, Powys, LD3 0SN, U.K.4810 Mr. David HENRY-PIERRE dhpierre@gmail.com 9769 South Westbury Way, Highlands Ranch, Colorado, 80129, U.S.A.4812 Mr. David H. DAVIES davedavies.sbr@gmail.com 151 Boulder View Lane, Boulder, Colorado, 80304, U.S.A.4813 Mr. H. J. PROBERT proberthaydn@yahoo.com 95n Waltham Avenue, Braunstone, Leicester, Leicestershire, LE3 1FD, U.K.4814 Mr. A. T. B. GOWER brian-gower@live.co.uk 1 St.Bride’s Close, Oakfield Street, Pontarddulais, Swansea, SA4 8LE, U.K.4815 Ms. Sian HOWELL sian.j@btinternet.com 30 Clos Y Gelli, Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, SA14 9BB, U.K.4816 Ms. Gayle LAMBERT gayle@qa.com.au PO Box 70, Jimboomba, Queensland, 4280, Australia4817 Mr. John J MAYNARD jjmaynard@usa.net 121 Tremont Street, Apt. 212, Brigton, Massachusetts, 02135-2451, U.S.A.4818 Mrs. Nyria ATKINSON 54 Lewis Road, Istead Rise, Gravesend, Kent, DA13 9JG, U.K.4819 Mrs. C. A. PERIAM ceri.periam@gmail.com 230 Caerleon Road, Newport, Gwent, NP19 7GR, U.K.4820 Mrs. Sarah J. LEE sarahlee123@btinternet.com South View Cottage, Polesden Lane, Ripley, Surrey, GU23 6DX, U.K.

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4821 Mrs. S. GOUGH keithandsandragough@yahoo.co.uk 38 Ty’n y Parc, Abertridwr, Caerphilly, Glamorgan, CF83 4ED, U.K.4822 Ms. Marian J. SPENCER smarian576@aol.com 29761 128th Ave. SW, Vashon, Washington, 98070, U.S.A.4823 Mrs. Annette M. HOLDSTOCK ray@gem-set.com Rearsby, 6 St. Peter’s Road, Broadstairs, Kent, CT10 2AQ, U.K.4824 Mr. David JENKINS jenkins@woxon.freeserve.co.uk Yew Tree Cottage, Hailey, Witney, Oxfordshire, OX29 9UB, U.K.4825 Mr. D. F. G. EVANS goronwy.porth@tiscali.co.uk 3 Porth Street, Newcastle Emlyn, Carmarthenshire, SA38 9HH, U.K.4826 Miss. Judith PUGH Unit 7, 17-19 Ray Road, Epping, New South Wales, 2121, Australia4827 Mrs. Arioelwen CARLING carlinga@rogers.com 6 Marchand Drive, Penetanguishene, Ontario, L9M 2J3, Canada4828 Ms. Christine A. ROBERTS croberts4@aol.com 964 Old Dolington Road, Newtown, Pennsylvania, 18940, U.S.A.4829 Mr. David H. BARTON davidhbarton@btopenworld.com 5 Rockley Avenue, Radcliffe on Trent, Nottinghamshire, NG12 1AR, U.K.4831 Mr. Geoffrey A. CLARKE geoff@clarkehouse.info 124 Lady Davidson Court, Forestville, New South Wales, 2087, Australia4832 Dr. Mark R. EVANS mark.evans@zen.co.uk Wick House, Drews Pond Lane, Potterne, Wiltshire, SN10 5PT, U.K.4833 Mr. A. HUGHES alan.hughs1@ntlworld.com 14 Crossway, Havant, Hampshire, PO9 1NG, U.K.4834 Mrs. Y. THOMAS yvonneathomas@hotmail.com 26 Riverside Drive, Chippenham, Wiltshire, SN15 3XS, U.K.4835 Mr. Roy MARGRAVE-JONES roymargrave@?.co.uk Fayre Oaks, Cefnllys Lane, Llandrindod Wells, Powys, LD1 5LE, U.K.4836 Mr. Paul M. MORRIS paulmorris1108@yahoo.co.uk 14 Milton Close, Royston, Hertfordshire, SG8 5DP, U.K.4837 Mr. C. A. RAW colinraw@vfemail.net 18 Elm Court, Love Lane, Woodford Green, Essex, IG8 8BJ, U.K.4838 Mr. James R. BETTERIDGE jabett@teletu.it Via Bellavista 10, Campiglia Marittima - Ll, 57021, Italy4839 Ms. Reta R. LANCASTER reta_lancaster@att.net 9276 Tamarack Drive, Indianapolis, Indiana, 46260, U.S.A.4840 Mr. D. R. J. JONES ray.jones987@tiscali.co.uk 27 Blaenwern, Newcastle Emlyn, Carmarthenshire, SA38 9BE, U.K.4841 Mr. G. J. WILLIAMS gary.williams@hotmail.co.uk 18 Parc Lane, Groesfaen, Pontyclun, Glamorgan, CF72 8PB, U.K.4842 Mr. D. F. MORGAN cockleshell@btopenworld.com 11 Leigh Hill Close, Leigh on Sea, Essex, SS9 2DJ, U.K.4843 Mr. J. R. PHILLIPS ray@phillips.cc PO Box 6724, Nydri, Lefkas Island, TK 31084, Greece4844 Mrs. Adeena G. THOMAS deenathomas@tiscali.co.uk 3 Edith Close, Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset, TA8 2NR, U.K.4845 Mr. D. GRIFFITHS dorian@griffiths413.freeserve.co.uk 4 Heol y felin, Penllergaer, Swansea, SA4 9AP, U.K.4846 Mr. M. R. TILLEY cymraes35@hotmail.com 698 Beechley Drive, Cardiff, CF5 3ST, U.K.

61

ObituaryMrs. Dorothy Fletcher (1264)

The sudden death has occurred of Dorothy Fletcher, the wife of Eric Fletcher, Family Members who lived at Tyla Teg, Pantmawr, Cardiff.

Her funeral took place in St Brides Church, near Little Haven, where she was buried alongside her mother, who was originally a member of the Lloyd family of that parish. They have been members of Dyfed FHS for many years. Dorothy & Eric came to Pembrokeshire several times a year and when doing so they attended many monthly meetings of the Haverfordwest Branch, in-cluding our annual Christmas Dinner and several Open Days. Dorothy avidly researched her parents’ family, and Eric has contributed articles to past jour-nals. Eric promises to continue his visits to Pembrokeshire in the future.

Rosalie Lilwall (123)

4847 Mr. Keith O. PROSSER kolmprosser@bigpond.com 19 Towradgi Street, Narraweena, New South Wales, 2099, Australia4848 Mr. Owen R. DAVIES owenr.davies@btinternet.com 12 Neath Road, Resolven, Neath, Glamorgan, SA11 4AA, U.K.4850 Mr. B. C. STRONG strongchris97@yahoo.com 158 Whitby Road, Ruislip, Middlesex, HA4 9DR, U.K.4851 Mr. A. HOWELLS a.howells2@ntlworld.com 27 Hartford Road, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, PE29 3RE, U.K.4852 Mrs. Mary L. DALEY mdaleyswan@aol.com 337 Gower Road, Killay, Swansea, Glamorgan, SA2 7AE, U.K.4854 Mr. Nigel CLEMENT nigelclement@btinternet.com 1 Old School House, Horeb Road, Five Roads, Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, SA15 5YY, U.K.4855 Mr. Robert FULLER robfuller2@aol.com 13 Lancaster Terrace, The Walk, Merthyr Tydfil, Mid Glamorgan, CF47 8SL, U.K.4856 Mr. A. H. JONES alhjones@live.co.uk 2 Tonypistyll Road, Pentwynmawr, Newbridge, Caerphilly, NP11 4HJ, U.K.4857 Ms. Helen C. SINCLAIR helen@sculptureculture.co.uk Rhossili Farmhouse, Rhossili, Swansea, SA3 1PL, U.K.4858 Mrs. Eileen PHILLIPS Frondeg, Station Road, Kilgetty, Pembrokeshire, SA68 0XS, U.K.

62

Notices

thE DEaDliNE for iNclusioN iN thE april issuE of thE jourNal is 15th fEbruary

to aDvErtisE iN thE jourNal coNtact thE EDitor

full pagE £25half pagE £13.00

QuartEr pagE £7.00

to joiN thE DyfED faMily history sociEty visit www.dyfedfhs.org.uk

or coNtact thE MEMbErship sEcrEtary

iNDiviDual, ovErsEas or iNstitutioNal MEMbErship: £12

faMily MEMbErship: £15

63

Cardigan AberteifiThe first Monday in each month at 7.30pm

The Guildhall, Cardigan Contact Mrs. Jane Kerr (233) Tel. 01559 363201

Carmarthen Caerfyrddyn

The last Wednesday in each month at 7.00pm Bethania Chapel, Priory Street, Carmarthen

Contact Mrs. Betty Davies (1554) Tel. 01267 236724

Haverfordwest HwlfforddThe second Monday in each month at 7.30pm

Prendergast Church Hall, Haverfordwest Contact Mr. Huw James (4577) Tel. 01437 764984

LlanelliThe third Monday in each month at 7.15pm

The Community Hall, Paddock Street, LlanelliContact Mrs. Joyce Reohorn (4170) Tel. 01554 833281

London LlundainOn four Saturdays each year at 2.00pm with other Welsh FHS The Family History Centre, 64-68 Exhibition Road, Kensington

Contact Mrs. Anna Brueton (1806) Tel. 0207 9230302

Upper Towy Valley Cwm Tywi UchafThe fourth Wednesday in each month at 7.15pm

The Dolaubran Complex, Brecon Road (next to Somerfield), Llandovery Contact Mrs. Davina Price (2773) Tel. 01550 721101

Branch MeetingsEach branch organises regular meetings to which all members are invited. Meetings usually take place at the times and venues below, but check with the named contact.

64

ContactsMatters relating to the committee.

General Secretary: Mr. Huw James.

104 Haven Park Crescent, Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire. SA61 1DSsecretary@dyfedfhs.org.uk

Matters relating to membership, research interests & ancestral marriages.

Membership Secretary: Mr. John Hughes.White Lodge, Deanshill Close, Stafford, Staffordshire. ST16 1BW

membership@dyfedfhs.org.uk

Articles, photographs, letters, help needed, advertising & anything relating to the journal.

Editor: Mr. Glyn Macken.181, Stubbington Lane, Fareham, Hampshire. PO14 2NF

editor@dyfedfhs.org.uk

Matters relating to the website.Webmaster: Mr. Tommy Evans.

Taliesin, Broyan Road, Penybryn, Cardigan, Pembs. SA43 3NLwebmaster@dyfedfhs.org.uk

www.dyfedfhs.org.uk

Contact the Membership Secretary for contact detail of other members.

Enquiries relating to the payment of subscriptionsTreasurer: Mr. Rhodri Davis.

Llainprenafalau, Llandudoch, Aberteifi, Ceredigion. SA43 3LHtrysorydd@dyfedfhs.org.uk

This photograph bears the caption: ‘G. W. R. Motor Accident on Solva Hill, Dec 13th 1916’

Continuing on the theme of ‘crashes on hills’ and keeping it in the family (so to speak) as Ray Knowles (4272), who contributed the photograph in the last issue, is a cousin and so the relatives in the Fishguard photo are mine too!Jane Pascoe (4630) Penrhiw, Solva, Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, SA62 6XJ email: richardpascoe747@btinternet.com

From My Album

Now & Then

Printed in Wales at Gomer Press, Llandysul, Ceredigion. SA44 4JL

ISSN 0263 - 7901

John Street, Whitland 1909 (curtesy of the Pembroke Collectors’ Centre)

2009