Thomas Smith.

Thomas Smith.

Thomas Smith (1825-1904) was the son of Alexander Smith and his wife Jane. They lived in Nolton in West Wales. Alexander was a collier.

 If you visit Nolton  beach today you wouldn't believe  the fact that this little cove was once a port exporting coal from the nearby coal  pits dating from 1439 around Nolton and Newgale. Quite large sailing vessels beached here to load cargoes of coal  for distribution around St Brides Bay and even further afield. The cargoes were brought down to the shore by carts and wagons drawn by teams of horses and, during the late 19th and early 20th century, by traction engines towing pairs of eight-ton trailers the six miles from Haverfordwest Quay for export by sea.

The coal from Haverfordwest was the local anthracite shipped up by lighters from Hook colliery. Trefrane Cliff colliery, half a mile north near Newgale, was the biggest pit in the vicinity, and its ruined buildings and tall brick stack are prominent features beside the National Park Coastal Footpath to this day. This mine was worked from 1850 to 1905 with a 300-foot deep shaft slanting under the sea, and a steep tramway up which the coal was winched to the top of the cliff near the coast road.

Mining ended in the area before World War One because of the hazards of working under the sea, where the weight of water at high tide often broke through into the sloping shafts. It is amazing to think that there is a reserve estimated at 230 million tons of coal still unworked under St Brides Bay.

In 1841, Thomas was fifteen years old, living with his mother, father and six other brothers and sisters.

He married Mary Davies on the twenty eighth of June, 1845.

By 1851, with his first wife Mary he now had two children, John and Elizabeth. In the census, he is listed as an agricultural labourer. He was now 25 years old.

Mary died on the fifteenth of December, 1863. She was 35. She had six children. Sarah, Elizabeth, Ann, Edwin, Alexander and William. William was my great grandfather; father of my grandmother Ann Davies nee Smith.

Mary died in child birth.

Mary Smith

beloved wife of Thomas Smith of Penllwyn in the parish of  Hawhaden 

who died on 15th of December 1863 aged 35 years old.

On the twentieth of September 1864, Thomas was involved in a road accident. The news report describes him as a game-keeper. Strangely, towards the end of my mother's life I became aware of the fact that she appeared to know a lot about game keepers. Strange as she was brought up in the Rhondda Valley where there was no game or game keepers.

He married Jane Roberts on August 21st 1866. The newspaper reports him as being a gamekeeper.

The 1871 census shows Thomas as being a farmer of 30 acres of land. He is now 44 years old. His son Edwin appears to be still living with him. He has had three children with his second wife Jane. Interestingly, they call one of their daughters Mary. By now, my great grandfather William was 15. He had left home to become a servant.

In 1881, Thomas is 56. With his second wife Jane (age 45) they have six children from Thomas' second marriage. The youngest, Esther is just a few months old.He is listed as a farmer.

By 1891, Thomas and Jane are living at a place called Rainbolts Hill. There is a farmhouse on the site at present. I wonder whether this was Thomas and Jane's home.

1911 census shows them still at Rainbolts Hill.

Thomas died in 1904. His grave lies near to the grave of his first wife, Mary. He was 79 years old.

He had ten children. John, Elizabeth, Edwin, William, Mary, another John, Martha, Thomas, Jane, Hester.

Jane continued to farm at Rainbolts Hill. The 1911 census shows her listed as a farmer. She is living with two of her daughters, Jane and Hester and a servant.

I've found this newspaper clipping about Jane and a run in with the law. Another family road incident. 

August 24th 1910.

At the time, she would have been 73 years old.

 Unlike many of my family from the time, she appears to have been able to read and write. Here is her signature on the 1911 census.

Jane died in March 1922. She was 85.

I've found one newspaper item relating to Hester Smith. If this is our Hester Smith then it appears that she ran away with the gypsies. She was my second great aunt.

Index

Smith / Dennis connections.

Curious Relationships.

I've recently become aware of a really strange piece of family history. This 
relates to my grandmother Ann Davies nee Smith. She was the one that lived in 
the tiny hamlet of Blaenllechau, high in the Rhondda Valley. This story 
happened at the start of the twentieth century, around the year 1900. 
It is quite complicated to understand so I'll try to build up a time line to explain.

It concerns my grandmother Ann and her two sisters, Elizabeth and Mary.
It also concerns two young colliers called Gomer and William Dennis.

Around this time, Gomer and William were living in rented rooms with 
their father John. They lived in Taff Street, Ferndale.

The Smith sisters lived in Duffryn Street, Ferndale; about half a mile away.

April 1900

Elizabeth Smith marries Gomer Dennis. They move to a house in Brown Street, Ferndale. 

Elizabeth was 19 at the time. Gomer was 27.

July 1900

Ann Smith marries William Dennis.

26th February 1901

William Dennis dies of scarlet fever.

August 1901

Elizabeth gives birth to a baby boy but I've a feeling that she dies in childbirth. 
The baby is named William John. He dies soon after.

Sometime after August 1901

Gomer Dennis marries the third Smith sister, Mary. 
I actually can't find a record of their marriage. 

In the 1911 census they are listed as married, living in Abercrave near 
Ystradgynlais. 
I can remember my mother telling me of trips to Abercrave to visit her and 
and uncle. 
They had four children. One was called Reggie....and I did once meet him.

Index

Harry Davies

Harry Davies was my grandfather; my mother's father. 

George Henry Davies was born in October 1884 in Crickhowell, Breconshire, his father, Henry, was 39 and his mother, Mary, was 39. He married Annie Smith in 1905. They had seven children in 15 years. He had three brothers and two sisters.

Harry died in 1958. I would have been four years old at the time. I've searched my memory but sadly I can't remember him at all. However, I have managed to gather together some interesting facts.

L to R. Cousin Sandra, My uncle Charles Heighes, mother May, brother Barrie, grandmother Ann, grandfather Harry, cousin Chris.

A few years ago, my cousin Chris showed me a small item that he owned that Harry had made. It was a small brass matchbox case detailing his First World War service.

Note:- the date 29/9/18 was the day that Bulgaria surrendered.

For many years I thought of this artefact as a simple matchbox case. However, you should realise that during the First World War, servicemen were not issued with dog tags. Many soldiers created items such as this so that their bodies could be identified.

It was seeing this one item that made me want to know more about my grandfather. There were so many clues on this simple matchbox case but for many years, I couldn't make any progress at all. 

I then discovered my grandmother's death certificate. On it, her husband's name was listed as George Henry Davies. I'd been looking for a Harold. Once I realised this, I discovered Harry's World War 1 records.

Harry signed up for service at Brecon Barracks on the ninth of December 1915. Note, that at the time he stated that he was single. Rather strange as at the time he'd been married for about twelve years.

 This made no sense. Listing himself as single meant that he'd be on reduced pay. The only reason why he listed himself as single could possibly be down to his enthusiasm for going to war. Apparently at the time the South Wales Borderers would be sending two drafts of soldiers to the front in France. The first draft was made up of soldiers who were single. Married men would go in the later draft.

There are other documents showing that he was in the army in September 1914, so one of the first to enlist.

 Harry was sent to France on 25th September 1915. He might have seen action at the Battle of Loos, on September 25th 1915. This was the first time that the British Army used poison gas. This turned out to be a bit of a disaster for the British when the gas drifted back over British lines.
Harry didn't stay long in France. On the 31st of October 1915 he was transferred to Salonika on Greece.

Some pictures.
Rhondda Valley camp at Salonika.
Artillery Ammunition Limber
18 pounder field gun
Gardening
South Wales Borderers
South Wales Borderers Pack Mule Transport



Most people these days don't even realise that there was any fighting going on in Greece. This must have been quite a strange existence for Harry. He was part of a multi-national defence force made up of French, Italian, Russian, and Serbian forces. The Serbian army had almost been wiped out by the Bulgarians and had suffered and starved on a long retreat to Greece. The Greek government were trying to stay neutral but had to put up with this multi-national force that was trying to stop the Bulgarians advancing. From what I've discovered, not much actual fighting took place over the years that harry spent there. Apparently many soldiers spent (wasted) their time racing tortoises. I've also read that horse shows were organised there. Maybe Harry was involved somehow. However, disease amongst the men was rife, with many, including Harry catching malaria.

Harry's medical record.

A letter from Private Ieuan Hughes. Probably on the same ship as Harry.

Harry's medical record shows that he spent some time at Karaissi hospital. 

Here is a picture of the nursing staff.

Recently I've come across some film from the Salonika campaign. Who knows; Harry might be in there somewhere. Two of the movies feature images of the British Army at Salonika. One shows the town of Salonika. I love this one. It gives me the impression that Salonika was quite a modern, forward-thinking town. Occasionally you get glimpses of some quite big department stores. The fourth film tells the story of The Great Fire of Salonika. This happened in 1917. Harry was definitely there at the time.

Eventually he was evacuated to Alexandria on the 14th of September 1917. He sailed on the ship
S.S. Manitou, arriving in Alexandria on the nineteenth of September.

Harry was home on leave in March 1918. This snippet comes from the Aberdare Leader, 2nd of March 1918.

His service records show that he re-joined active service in August 1918. His matchbox case suggests that he went to France on the third of September 1918.

It was quite hard for the soldiers of Salonica upon their return home. The other soldiers who had served in France thought that the Salonica men had quite a cushy number. After all, the Salonika front only saw one serious battle in three years. They Western Front men even had a name for the Salonika men....The Gardeners of Salonica. However, the dangers of Salonica were of a different nature with so many servicemen falling ill to malaria, typhoid, scarlet fever etc.  A large percentage of the Salonika servicemen fell ill in this way.

Harry spent the rest of his life as a colliery farrier. The family lived in Aberdare for a while but then moved to New Street in Ferndale. In 1913 my great grandfather William Smith was killed in a colliery accident. Maybe they went back to live with my great grandmother Martha? Eventually they would move to Blaenllechau. Harry and his wife Ann had seven children, six girls and a boy.

People have told me that he never forgot Salonika. Maybe I should go there one day to find whether he left anything behind.

People have told me that he was quite a gruff character, but he had a soft side. I'm told that he had a real soft spot for my brother Barrie. My aunty Doreen told me that he once returned home for work and sat down for his dinner, as he always did. When my grandmother placed his food in front of him, he pushed it away and burst into tears. That was the day when his favourite pit pony had died.

He was a keen gardener. Apparently his garden was a living picture. He'd only grow flowers though.  This skill appeared to have been passed down to my uncle Burt who was also a keen gardener. (Roses). Maybe it is a skill that has been passed down to me. In my latter years I've become interested in gardening although I wouldn't call myself successful.

 I'm told that he tried breeding terriers once, but this wasn't much of a success. 

16 Club Row, Blaenllechau

If you'd like to learn more about the Salonica campaign, read The Gardeners of Salonica by Alan Palmer.

As far as I know, this is the only song written about Salonica. It's an Irish folk song.....or is it a protest song.

Salonika by the folk band Lankum.

Oh my husband's in Salonika.

I wonder if he's dead?

I wonder if he knows he has a kid with a foxy head?

So write away.

So write away.

So write away Salonika, write away me soldier boy.

George Henry "Harry" Davies.

1884-1958.

Sergeant, South Wales Borderers and Royal Field Artillery.

Colliery Farrier.

Husband, Father and Grandfather.

A couple of years ago, my daughter Elinor gave me a lifebelt. It had been left over from one of her circus performances. I decided to paint it and decorate it. It now hangs in my garden, near my pond, just in case.

Index

Links
Keeston, Camrose.
William Dennis
The Smith Family
Bill Edwards
May Edwards
The Edwards Family
The Edwards Name
Thomas Smith
Smith / Dennis connections

Keeston, Camrose.

Looking down my mother's line of the family tree, I discovered a branch of the family with the surname Deveraux.  The only picture that I have of a Deveraux is this one.

Martha Smith nee Deveraux.

She was born on Christmas Day 1853.

Her father was named Thomas Deveraux. He couldn't read or write. He signed Martha's birth certificate with a mark.

Martha's mother was also called Martha. Her maiden name had been Davied.

They lived in a tiny hamlet called Keeston, which is near the village of Camrose, near Haverfordwest.

Thomas Deveraux was a farm labourer.

There were actually a few  ladies called Martha Deveraux. My great grandmother, shown in the picture. Her mother was also Martha Deveraux. She died of cholera in1866. She was 53 at the time so was probably born in 1813.

Notice from the 1881 census report that Thomas Devereux was living with the Smiths. He was my great-great grandfather. There was also a niece living with them , also called Martha Devereux.

At the time, Keeston held a fair twice a year, in the Spring and in the Autumn. These were probably Hiring Fairs.

I've only managed to find one newspaper item relating to Keeston.

So, there were a few ladies called Martha Deveraux.

One was born around 1815. She married Thomas Deveraux, a farm labourer.

She died in 1866 of cholera. Strangely, around the same time there was much celebration in the area as a railway line had pushed through the area.

Thomas and Martha had a number of children. One of them was named Martha and would be my great grandmother. In the 1911 census she is living in New Street, Ferndale with her husband William and also a sister, Eliza. I'm not sure when she died although there is a death listed in 1927.

I'm not sure what became of Martha Deveraux the niece although I did find a newspaper report that told of a Martha Devereux that was named as a receptionist for a spiritualist medium.

Another Martha Devereux was born in the area in 1816.

I've also found evidence of the death of a one year old child called Martha Devereux (1824)

Thomas Devereux lived until 1890. I can't be sure of this, but I think after 1881 he moved to Pontypridd. A Thomas Devereaux is listed as working in the Penrhiw Colliery. At one time, a Thomas Devereux appeared in court accused of helping to organise a strike. These were the days before organised unions. The newspaper refers to the action as a holiday.

If this is my great great grandfather then he was still working at the age of 74.

The only other newspaper article that I have relating to a Thomas Deveraux records an appearance in court.

He was fined one shilling and three pence. He would have been 36 at the time. I wonder what he did?

Update.

I now have Thomas Deveraux's death certificate. He died on the Fourth of November 1890.

At the time, he was living in Lake Street, Ferndale. I think I remember this as being the posh part of Ferndale. One of my doctors lived there. His son was also called Thomas Deveraux and he was with his father when he died. The son's name was also Thomas Deveraux. Again, he signed his name with a mark. Thomas Deveraux junior lived in Beech Street, again, one of the nicer parts of Ferndale.

From the Land Tax sheets I learned that Rees Devereux was farming at Kethingston in 1786....presumably Keeston .....where Stephen Devereux was farming in 1830.

In 1786 Gabriel Devereux and James Devereux farmed in Camrose as well, but I have not endeavoured to track inbetweentimes until we learn more from you.

More on Thomas Devereux.

Strange when you think about it. My great grandmother's father-in-law was sent to prison for poaching. Her husband, William Smith's father was a game keeper.

Stephen Devereux

Stephen Devereux was Thomas' father, so that would make him my great great great grandfather. So far I've discovered that his wife was called Emma. I have also discovered this newspaper advert.

I suppose this might give me a clue as to why I'm not a landowner in Pembrokeshire.

Index

William Dennis

William Dennis

William Dennis was the man that should have been my grandfather. 

This was a story that was never talked about amongst my family. It was my Auntie Doreen that told me this story shortly before she died. Apparently, William married my grandmother, Ann Smith in July of 1900, just a few months after his cycling fine. A few months after that, I was told that he was killed in a mining accident.

It is a really creepy thought, but if he hadn't died, then it is likely that myself, my brother, my cousins, my mother and my aunts and uncles would never have been born.

I've managed to find his obituary, but so far I have been unable to find any mention of his death in newspaper archives.

We record the death of a young friend William Dennis to the place above who died 26th February at the early age of 26 years old.The son of John and Hannah Dennis, Gadlys Street,Aberdare.

His mother died when he was just a small child.Soon after this, his father moved to Ferndale to live there and he spent the greater part of his life living comfortably in the house of his aunt,Elizabeth Williams of Taff Street.

He was buried the following Saturday at Aberdare public landfill site . The service was carried out by the Reverend D Silent Evans, Aberdare. He left a young widow of six months to mourn him who participated in the ceremony.

Let the widows comforter and father of the fatherless look after her in her misery and longing.

Here is a copy of their wedding certificate.

Here you can see the Smith family's census entry in the 1901 census. It was this clue of my grandmother being named as Ann Dennis that led me to believe that she had indeed had a previous marriage.

After William's death, she discovered that she was pregnant. She had a little boy and named him William John Dennis. I'd love to learn what became of him.

My grandmother, Ann Davies, as I remember her.

W56 Consecrated Maerdy Cemetery.

Blaenllechau.

A Mystery Solved

One day, during my teenage years, I was out with my parents driving around South Wales. My mother saw a road sign for Ystradgynlais. She became really animated and asked, "We must go there. I'd like to see my Uncle Reg (or did she say cousin?) She had no idea where he lived but she appeared determined to find him. We were actually stopping the car and asking total strangers whether they knew where Reg lived. Eventually, we actually found him. I remember him being quite a tall man, with grey hair. We had quite a welcome, with the best china brought out for us. Problem was, I never fully understood who Reg was. Looking through our family tree, nobody in the Davies or Smith line has a Reg,

Then, a few days ago, from the depths of my memory I remembered my mother asking those people on the road in Ystradgynlais. She wasn't asking about Reg. She asked after Reg Dennis.

Look back at the Scorching Cyclists newspaper clipping. There was another Dennis mentioned. Gomer Dennis. To my mind, this was probably William Dennis' brother.

Looking at the 1911 census report, I found an entry for Gomer Dennis who at the time, was living in Ystradgynlais. Also listed, was his eight year old son, Reggie. Mystery solved.

It makes me think that there must have been contact between the Davies and the Dennis family for years after William Dennis' death. I'm pretty sure that I can remember my mother saying that they used to visit Reg.

I managed to find one other newspaper story relating to Gomer Dennis.

William Dennis is buried with his father in Plot E52 at Aberdare cemetery.

I have tried to visit the grave. We made a visit on a Sunday. Sadly, the cemetery is huge and none of the plots appear to be numbered. I've been advised that it is best to visit on a weekday, timing your visit to coincide with the grave-diggers morning tea break. Apparently a packet of biscuits makes them more helpful.

Recently, thanks to Facebook, I've managed to contact Kevin Dennis. He is Gomer Dennis' great grandson. He runs a transport firm in Ystradgynlais.

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