ddio pobl plwyf llanllwni people from the...

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People from the Parish

Pobl Plwyf LlanllwniPeople from the Parish

Geni Bedyddio

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Burials

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Pobl Plwyf Llanllwni

Teulu WauniforCeir cofnod llys am Waunifor mor gynnar â 1605 ond erbyn 1760 roedd Waunifor wedi dod yn gartref i’r Boweniaid ac yn Thomas Bowen (1727-1805) a’i ddisgynyddion, y mae ein diddordeb pennaf ni yn yr ysgrif hon. Ef a gododd gapel Methodistaidd Calfinaidd cyntaf y cylch ar dir Blaenborthin yn 1760. Aeth ati i godi’r capel wedi gwrando ar yr arweinydd Methodistaidd, Daniel Rowland, Llangeitho, yn pregethu yng nghapel Twr-gwyn, Rhydlewis.

Bwriad gwreiddiol Thomas Bowen oedd codi’r capel ar ddarn o dir a oedd yn eiddo i’r eglwys wladol, ond roedd y ficer lleol yn wrthwynebus. Yn y pendraw codwyd y capel ar dir a oedd yn eiddo i stad Waunifor. Cafodd y capel ei ailadeiladu yn 1854 a’i adnewyddu yn 1887. Cafodd hefyd ei ddefnyddio fel ysgoldy. Yn 1965 nodir bod gwasanaeth yn cael ei gynnal yn y capel bob prynhawn Sul gan y Parch D T Davies, Llandysul, er budd deg o aelodau.

Priododd Sinah, chwaer Thomas Bowen, â David Jones, mab Aberceiliog ac ‘angel Llan-gan’ (q.v.). Bu farw Sinah yn 1792 yn 60 oed.

Roedd Thomas Bowen yn Uchel Sirif yn 1778. Bu farw ei wraig, Jennet, ym mis Tachwedd 1829. Yn ewyllys Thomas Bowen a brofwyd yn 1805, nodir:

I direct that the meeting house or chapel and yard thereunto adjoining called Waunifor Chapel formerly built by me on the tenement of Blaenborthin be made use of forever hereafter as a house of prayer and public worship and that all preachers belonging to and members of the Welsh Association of Methodists shall have full liberty to preach therin and that they and all other persons shall have free ingress, egress and regress to and from the same without any molestation or interruption from my son Daniel Bowen, or any other person and that the said meeting house shall be kept in good, thorough and sufficient repair by my wife during the term of her natural life.

Addysgwyd Daniel Bowen (1777-1848), mab Thomas Bowen, gan David Davis, Castell Hywel ac yn ddiweddarach yn Rhydychen. Wedi derbyn ei MA, aeth i’r offeiriadaeth a chael gofal Eglwys-wen yn Sir Benfro. Yna cafodd fywoliaeth Llanllwni a Llanfihangel Rhos-y-corn yn ychwanegol.

Gan fod Eglwys Llanllwni gerllaw Waunifor, trigai Daniel Bowen ym mhlas Waunifor a chyflogai guradiaid i ofalu am Eglwys-wen a Llanfihangel-Rhos-y-corn.

Yn ôl cofnodion degwm Llandysul 1841, roedd Waunifor yn 186 erw. Ond roedd Daniel Bowen yn berchen, yn ogystal, ar Blaenborthin, Gallt-y-gog, Brynsegur, Bryn Martin, Castell Martin, Cors-y-frân, Cefn Gwallter, Rhyd Caradog, Dan Capel, Fron-gou, Ffynonau, Fronfelen, Glanrhydypysgod, Maes-y-pwll a Phontllwni. Cyfanswm ei ystad oedd 1,052 erw.

Yn ei ewyllys gadawodd Daniel Bowen £400 yr un i blwyfi Llanllwni, Llanwenog, Llandysul ac Eglwys-wen er mwyn addysgu’r tlodion. Gadawodd swm i’r Beibl Gymdeithas a gwaddoli ysgoloriaeth flynyddol yng Ngholeg Dewi Sant, Llanbedr Pont Steffan.

Gadawyd yr ystad i John Lloyd, nai Daniel Bowen. Yn ei dro, cyflwynodd John yr ystad i’w frawd, y Parch Charles Lloyd, rheithor Betws Bledrws a Chellan. Bu farw’r Parch Charles Lloyd yn 1867 ac fe’i olynwyd gan ei fab hynaf, Charles arall. Bu farw Miss Frances Elizabeth Lloyd (g1852), Pontllwni (merch i’r Parch Charles Lloyd) ar 24 Mai 1935 yn 83 oed.

Cafodd Charles (g.1850) ei addysgu ym Marlborough a Choleg Oriel, Rhydychen (B.A. 1873, M.A. 1879). Roedd yn Uchel Sirif yn 1882 ac roedd ystad Waunifor bellach yn 1,951 erw.

A court record mentions Waunifor in1605. By 1760 Waunifor was home to the Bowen family. These notes will concentrate on Thomas Bowen (1727-1805) and his descendants. It was he who built the first Calvinistic Methodist chapel in the district on Blaenborthin land in 1760. Thomas Bowen built the chapel after hearing Daniel Rowland, the charismatic Methodist leader, preaching in Twr-gwyn chapel, Rhydlewis. Bowen’s original intention was to build the chapel on land which was owned by the church but the local vicar disagreed. Eventually the chapel was built in 1854 on land which belonged to the Waunifor estate; it was rebuilt in 1887. The building was also used as a school-room. In 1965 it was noted that a service was held in the chapel every Sunday afternoon by the Revd. D T Davies Llandysul for the benefit of ten members.

Thomas Bowen’s sister, Sinah, married David Jones, of Aberceiliog, Llanllwni, who was known as ‘the angel of Llangan’ (q.v.). Sinah died in 1792 aged 60.

Thomas Bowen was High Sheriff in 1778. His wife, Jennet died in November 1829. Thomas Bowen’s will, proved in 1805, notes:

“I direct that the meeting house or chapel and yard thereunto adjoining called Waunifor Chapel formerly built by me on the tenement of Blaenborthin be made use of forever hereafter as a house of prayer and public worship and that all preachers belonging to and members of the Welsh Association of

Llun priodas Alister Lloyd a Mary Wedding group

Waunifor

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Methodists shall have full liberty to preach therin and that they and all other persons shall have free ingress, egress and regress to and from the same without any molestation or interruption from my son Daniel Bowen, or any other person and that the said meeting house shall be kept in good, thorough and sufficient repair by my wife during the term of her natural life”.

Daniel Bowen (1777–1848) son of Thomas Bowen, was educated by David Davis at Castell Hywel and later in Oxford. After gaining his MA, he entered the ministry and was given the living of Eglwys-wen in Pembrokeshire. He was also given the livings of Llanllwni and Llanfihangel Rhos-y-corn. As Llanllwni church was not far from Waunifor, Daniel Bowen lived in Waunifor mansion and employed curates to look after Eglwys-wen and Llanfihangel Rhos-y-corn.

According to Llandysul Tithe records (1841), Waunifor extended to 186 acres. But Daniel Bowen also owned Blaenborthin, Gallt-y-gog, Brynsegur, Bryn Martin, Castell Martin, Cors-y-frân, Cefn Gwallter, Rhyd Caradog, Dan Capel, Fron-gou, Ffynonau, Fronfelen, Glanrhydypysgod, Maes-y-pwll and Pontllwni. In all his estate extendeded 1,052 acres.

In his will Daniel Bowen left £400 each to the parishes of Llanllwni, Llanwenog, Llandysul and Eglwys-wen to pay for the education of paupers. He left a sum to the Bible Society, and endowed an annual scholarship in St David’s College, Lampeter.

The estate was inherited by John Lloyd, Daniel Bowen’s nephew. John, in turn, bequeathed the estate to his brother, the Revd Charles Lloyd, rector of Betws Bledrws and Cellan. The Revd. Charles Lloyd died in 1867 and was followed by his son, also Charles. The Revd. Charles Lloyd’s daughter Miss Frances Elizabeth Lloyd (b.1852), Pontllwni died on 24 May 1935 aged 83.

Charles Lloyd (b. 1850) was educated at Marlborough and Oriel College, Oxford. (B.A. 1873, M.A. 1879). He was High Sheriff in 1882 and by now the Waunifor estate extended to 1,951 acres.

Charles Lloyd died in Putney on 14 January 1923 and was buried in Llanllwni church. His wife was Margaret Macfie Campbell (1849–1950).They had five sons and two daughters: Charles, Alister, Ivor, Duncan and Gwion, Frances Caroline (b. 1881) and Margaret Gladys (b.1882).

Charles Edward Bowen Lloyd died aged three months on 15 May 1877 and is commemorated in Llanllwni church.

Alister Campbell Bowen Lloyd (1878–1974), see below.

Ivor Allan Bowen Lloyd , born 26 April 1884, died aged 25 on 29 October 1909. He is also

commemorated in Llanllwni church.

Lieutenant Duncan Ian Bowen Lloyd (1886–1915), Ghurkah Rifles, died in Gallipoli. He is commemorated in Llanllwni church.

The youngest son of Charles and Margaret, Captain Gwion Llewellyn Bowen Lloyd (1888–1915), BA (Oxon), 5th

Cofeb teulu Waunifor yn Eglwys Llanwenog

The family memorial in Eglwys Llanwenog

Gwion Ll B Lloyd

Duncan Ian Bowen Lloyd

Cofnod o’r gwasanaeth coffa i’r ddau frawd

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Bu farw Charles Lloyd yn 73 oed yn Putney ar 14 Ionawr 1923 a’i gladdu yn Eglwys Llanllwni. Ei wraig oedd Margaret Macfie Campbell (1849-1950). Roedd ganddynt bum mab a dwy ferch: Charles, Alister, Ivor, Duncan a Gwion, Frances Caroline(g.1881) a Margaret Gladys (g.1882).

Coffeir eu mab cyntaf Charles Edward Bowen Lloyd a fu farw’n dri mis oed ar 15 Mai 1877 ar gofeb yn Eglwys Llanllwni.

Alister Campbell Bowen Lloyd (1878–1974), gweler isod.

Ac yntau’n 25 oed bu farw Ivor Allan Bowen Lloyd, brawd arall (g 26 Ebrill 1884), ar 29 Hydref 1909. Ceir cofeb iddo yn Eglwys Llanllwni.

Bu farw pedwerydd mab Charles a Margaret, Lieut Duncan Ian Bowen Lloyd (1886-1915), Ghurkah Rifles, yn Gallipoli. Ceir cofeb iddo yn Eglwys Llanllwni.

Bu farw mab ifancaf Charles a Margaret, Capt Gwion Llewellyn Bowen Lloyd BA (Oxon) (1888-1915) 5th Dorset Regiment, yn Gallipoli hefyd. Ceir cofeb iddo yn Eglwys Llanllwni. Ni nodwyd ei fedd ond fe’i coffeir ar Gofeb Helles, Gallipoli, ynghyd â’i frawd Duncan.

Cynhaliwyd gwasanaeth coffa i’r ddau frawd Duncan a Gwion yn Eglwys Llanllwni 1 Medi 1915.

Etifeddwyd yr ystad gan Alister Campell Bowen Lloyd a aned yn 1878. Yn 1913 priododd â Mary Pitcairn Stack (m.1959). Bu Alister yn brifathro Hill Crest School, Swanage, Dorset. Ysgol breifat i blant rhwng 6 a 14 oed oedd hon. Credai Alister ei bod yn bosibl bod Waunifor yn cael ei chrybwyll gan y bardd William Wordsworth yn ei gerdd ‘Simon Lee’:“In the sweet shire of Cardigan, Not far from pleasant Ivor-Hall, An old man dwells, a little man, Tis said he once was tall. Full five and thirty years he lived. A running huntsman merry; And still the centre of his cheek Is red as a ripe cherry”.

Mewn ysgrif o hunan-fywgraffiad mae Alister Lloyd yn disgrifio ei fywyd cynnar yn Waunifor, ei gyfnod yn Ysgol Ramadeg y Frenhines Elizabeth yng Nghaerfyrddin (1888) a Marlborough (1892) ac yn Rhydychen.

Bu farw Alister Lloyd yn Rhagfyr 1974 a’i gladdu yn eglwys y plwyf, Swanage.

Mab Alister a Mary oedd Alister Charles Bowen Lloyd (1917-44). Ei lys enw yn ystod ei ddyddiau ysgol oedd Alphabetical Lloyd. Roedd yn gapten yn y Royal Artillery. Bu farw ger Caen, Calvados 11 Mehefin 1944. Mae wedi ei gladdu ym Mynwent Ryfel Banneville-la-Campagne. Ceir cofeb iddo yn Eglwys Llanllwni a ffenestr liw er cof amdano yn Swanage.

Wedi’r ail ryfel byd gwerthwyd ffermydd ystad Waunifor a chrebachodd yr ystad i 5 cyfer. Rhoddwyd cyfle i bob un o’r tenantiaid brynu eu ffermydd a’u bythynod a digwyddodd hynny ym Mehefin 1948. Dyma restr o’r ffermydd a’r bythynod a brynwyd gan y tenantiaid: Blaenborthyn, Brynmartin, Cors-y-frân, Dolwallter, Rhyd Caradog, Waunifor Home Farm, Brynhedydd, Maes-y-pwll, Llwynmartin, Glan-rhyd Holding and Smithy, Penrhiwfelen, Panteg Shop and Fields, Gwarffynnon, Glanrhyd Shop, Rhiwfelen No 1, Gwargraig, Dan-y-capel.

Gwerthwyd y plas yn 1952 ac wedyn yn 1972 ac eto yn 1978. Yn 1999 prynwyd yr eiddo gan y Template Foundation.

Gwybodaeth bellach/ Further information:

• Baker-Jones, Leslie (1999) Princlings, Priviledge and Power...The Tivyside Gentry in their Community (Gomer, Llandysul).• Carmarthen Journal 25 June 1923.• Davies, W J (1896) Hanes Plwyf Llandysul (J D Lewis, Llandysul)• Lloyd Hughes, D G (1966) Tir yr Abad: Hanes New Inn a Gwyddgrug yn Shir Gâr.• Pilkington, Martin (2002) A Brief History of Waunifor, Waunifor Productions.• Walford, Edward (1880) County Families of the United Kingdom (Chatto)

Teulu Waunifor WauniforDorset Regiment, died in Gallipoli. He is commemorated in Llanllwni church and on the Helles Memorial, Gallipoli, together with his brother Duncan. His grave is unknown.

A memorial service for the two soldier brothers was held in Llanllwni church on 1 September 1915.

The estate passed to Alister Campell Bowen Lloyd. In 1913 he married Mary Pitcairn Stack (d.1959). Alister was headmaster of Hill Crest School in Swanage, Dorset, a private school for children aged between 6 and 14. Alister believed that it was possible that Waunifor was mentioned by Wordsworth in his poem Simon Lee.

In an autobiographical essay Alister Lloyd describes his early life at Waunifor, his time as a pupil in the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Carmarthen (1888), at Marlborough in 1892 and in Oxford.

Alister Lloyd died in December 1974 and is buried in the parish church, Swanage.

Alister Charles Bowen Lloyd (1917–44) was the son of Alister and Mary. He was nicknamed Alphabetical Lloyd. He was a captain in the Royal Artillery and died near Caen, Calvados 11 June 1944 He is buried in the military cemetery of Banneville-la-Cam-pagne. There is a memorial tablet to him in Llanllwni Church and a stained glass window in his memory in Swanage.

After the second World War the farms of the Waunifor estate were sold and the estate shrank to 5 acres. Tenants were given the opportunity to buy their farms and cottages in June 1948. The following were bought by their tenants: Blaenborthyn, Brynmartin, Cors-y-fran, Dolwallter, Rhydcaradog, Waunifor Home Farm. Brynhedydd, Maes-y-pwll, Llwynmartin, Glanrhyd Holding and Smithy, Penrhiwfelen, Panteg shop and fields, Gwarffynnon, Glan-rhyd shop, Rhiwfelen No. 1, Gwargraig, Danycapel.

The mansion was sold in 1952 and again in 1972 and 1978. In 1999 it was bought by the Template Foundation.

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Charles Lloyd a theulu Waunifor

The Waunifor family

Alister Lloyd describes his early life at Waunifor

My father was educated at Marlborough and Oriel College Oxford. When he was seventeen his father died, and he lived with his mother, two sisters and younger brother at Waunifor... When he came down from Oxford my father took over the estate and farmed the home farm. He was a keen sportsman who hunted with the Teifiside foxhounds, and Mr Pryse’s Harriers, shot and fished with his cousin David Lloyd of Gilfachwen, started a cricket club at Llandyssul. I remember what a devastating bowler David Lloyd was, with his round-arm action about level with his shoulders, on those far from perfect village pitches. One of the most necessary positions was longstop; a place held with distinction for years by a round faced little butcher.

Waunifor was an old house...which had been enlarged from time to time. The front door looked north-west but the windows of the Dining Room and Drawing Room had a good view to the south-west over the valley of the Teifi to the sloping hills of Carmarthenshire...about as inconvenient a house as you could imagine. Built at various times in various sections, but solid and comfortable in the days before coal was £1 a ton and when you could have as much wood as you wanted for the picking up...

A veranda ran around the north-west and south-west sides of the house with creepers running up over the walls. In front of the Dining Room and Drawing Room windows was a level lawn, in which we had at one time two tennis courts, a double and a single - the latter of which was afterwards given over to my cricket pitch...it was in these surroundings that I and my sisters and brothers were born...

Our nearest church Llanllwni, was three-quarters of a mile away and in another county...Two railway stations, Maesycrugiau and New Quay, each about a mile or so from us. They were originally an old line presumptuously called the “Manchester and Milford”, a name supported by the fact they linked the Cambrian or later LNW at Aberystwyth, and the GWR at Carmarthen. So you could go from Manchester to Aberystwyth and with luck caught a train on to Carmarthen whence you could get on to London or Milford Haven. Before being taken over by the GWR, this small line trundled along its forty or fifty miles at an easy pace stopping at many small stations, waiting contentedly for any passenger that might be seen coming along in the distance (once my father driving to Carmarthen lifted up his whip to greet a passenger train and found the train waiting for him at the station half a mile on). On another occasion the train arrived at Maesycrugiau Station to find the stationmaster regardless of trains playing a salmon in full view of the station much to the delight of the passengers who trooped on to the platform to watch the sport.

Of our neighbours my grandmother and aunts lived within three-quarters of a mile away, the Pryses of Bwlchbychan about eight miles, the Davies Evans Highmead slightly further and my Lloyd cousin at Gilfachwen about five miles away. The Maesycrugiau Manor family, the Mansells, were a rum lot and we saw very little of them but later on we saw a good deal of the Morgans of Blaenblodau...

These were our nearest neighbours, but when we were old enough to go up to Lampeter for tennis, there were others from that part of the county as well as the professors from Lampeter College.

When you realise that there were no motorcars in those days you will realise that we were not brought up in a whirl of society...Then it took the best part of an hour to do the ten miles to Lampeter now (1970’s) one can get down from Swanage 220 miles over hilly roads comfortably in eight hours, lunching on the way...

My parents’ first child died as an infant and so I have always been the eldest of the family...Our nanny was quite young but had us well in hand and we loved her. I well remember breakfast in the nursery where you had to eat a large plate of porridge with real fresh milk and plenty of brown sugar and possibly a home egg afterwards. On wet days we played in the nursery with bricks, toy soldiers etc but chiefly with cartridges which we collected with great care and soon had a large army of many colours, as my father shot a great deal. These were made up in armies according to their colour and shot down by toy trigger guns or canons. Out of doors we made up our own games, the most exiting and lasting one was ‘Robinson Crusoe’. As the eldest I naturally was Robinson: my eldest sister Frances was Friday and the younger sister Margaret became the Spaniard. When my younger brother Ivor was old enough to join us he was cast as Friday’s father - I do not think Duncan and Gwion, the younger members of the family, ever joined in. The game came to an end when I went to school in 1888. For many years, however, it kept us occupied. With a large rhododendron bush as Robinson’s cave, with old tins and pans as furniture and bows and arrows and toy guns as weapons...Then one afternoon when my mother was reading to us there was a patter of hooves up the long back passage and my father opened the door and led in Mona, a little Welsh pony, our delight for many years. On Mona, usually accompanied by Sam our coachman, I hunted occasionally with the foxhounds but more often with Mr Pryse’s Harriers...By this time I was sometimes allowed to follow my father when he took a walk with his gun...After my nanny left to be married the younger members were well kept in order by the able Jane Mills, but after a time we elder ones were promoted to a governess. First Miss Baker, not a favourite, then Miss Townsend with her big hats and a great love of giving us long notes in English History. I am afraid that it was my insubordination to her that led to my being sent to Queen Elizabeth Grammar School at Carmarthen in 1888. For the first term I was a weekly boarder and used to ride Mona down to the station on Monday mornings and return on Saturday to find Sam waiting for me with Mona.

We were a mixed lot at the Grammar School...The Head master, Mr Lloyd Williams, was a strict disciplinarian with a temper; his brother who taught Greek was even more quick tempered. Mr Hensley was a new Master and Mr Wakefield rather unexciting... At one time we were very proud of having a Welsh International, Percy Lloyd, who came for a term or two to read for some exam and in

Hen Waunifor

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RETURNING from the hayfields, with his hayfork over his shoulder, came an elderly man with a long white beard, and with sharp, twinkling eyes.

Greeting him, I asked: “Chwi yw Mr. Tim Hughes?” It was he.

I had long looked for him in the scattered clean cottages of Llanllwni, in the Teify Valley, on that warm July evening, when all Cardiganshire seemed to be hard at work in the fields.

He was known to all, for was he not the master craftsman, famed for over 50 years among all those who had links with the old woolen mills and factories in South Wales ?

In the last century he was often seen tramping across the mountains with 6olbs. of tools on his back to repair an old mill or to build a new one. A little later, when the young millwright apprentice had become the respected master-craftsman, he was regarded with awe and amazement and often with amusement, as he rushed along on his penny-farthing bicycle, one of the first to be introduced in the district.

TIM HUGHES (1862-1951)

Waunifor

Gareth Jones (1905-1935) who wrote this portrait of Timothy Hughes was regarded as one of the most talented journalists of his generation. He wrote for The Western Mail, The Times, The Manchester Guardian, Berliner Tageblatt and the New York Times. Gareth Jones secured the journalistic scoop of his career when he flew with Hitler in his private plane during his election campaign. He was murdered in 1935 while travelling in Inner Mongolia.

MILLWRIGHT

Capel Waunifor

front of whom I was priviledged once to play as scrum half for the Boarders v Dayboys...Our Boarding house was an ordinary house in a street with a small back yard in which various games of marbles were the chief recreation. We had about a quarter of a mile walk up to the school, which had a smallish cricket ground in front of it on which I played my first match. I remember my father, who had come over for a meeting, joining in with the seniors in a game of Rugger, falling down in the mud, and having to be cleaned up before going to his train for home. There were occasional outings, on one of which I got down to Llanelli to see my cousin Charles Nichol, playing for Wales against Ireland where Wales just won. On another outing I tasted beer for the first time, sour and strong, at a small pub and I hated it...

I was confirmed at school by Bishop Basil Jones and walked out the next day to ask the Bishop to request a half holiday for the school, which we obtained much to the delight of those who had egged us on to make our request.

In 1891 my father took me up to Marlborough, his old school, to try for a scholarship which I failed to secure. But in January 1892 I entered the college...My country clothes made

me blush at times, though Marlborough College was not a dressy school...

My vacs were usually spent with my family: at Christmas at Waunifor where we gathered round the long dining room table for our turkey and plum pudding etc - great Christmas dinner; where all the tenants gathered on rent day for a sumptuous feed of roast beef or pork and plum pudding and afterwards sang songs and John Saer played his fiddle...Most days were spent in the open air, in winter with a gun along the river banks looking for duck, teal etc or ferreting for rabbits. At Easter with rod and line we fished for salmon and trout. I remember well when my brother Duncan who was serving with the 5th Ghurkhas brought two friends down to Waunifor and we all fished.

Much of my summer vac was spent at Borthwick Hall in Midlothian where my aunt had married Mr D J Macfie...My uncle and aunt were keen croquet players, but a tennis ground attracted most of the younger guests...By now I was a fairly accomplished shot and joined in the shoots on Borthwick Hall moor, as well as shooting rabbits around the place...My uncle was a very strict teetotaler. There was no smoking allowed in the house and after the maids went to bed my father and other men used to creep down to the kitchen to enjoy their evening pipe. Later on my aunt got us the concession that we might smoke in the evening in the billiard room upstairs...

As I intended to go in for teaching I went up to Oxford for a long vac course and a winter term...I finally got my Diploma but as I had only read my last set book on the train up to Oxford I was relieved to find I had passed.

Diolch i Martin Pilkington am dynnu fy sylw at yr ysgrif hon gan Alister Lloyd (1878-1974).Thanks are due to Martin Pilkington for bringing this essay by Alister Lloyd (1878-1974) to my attention.

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me the craft. Let me see—that must have been in 1879. At that time I helped to re-build the Rhydyfro Mill.. “One of our walks used to be to Pandy, Pontardulais, where I usually went every two years to do the re-lining of the mill and to see Mr. W. J. Jones, who is still living. Mrs. W. J. Jones, by the way, is a cousin to Daniel Rhydderch, Abergorlech.”

There must be few men who know Wales as well as Mr. Tim Hughes. He used to

cover on foot or on his penny-farthing seven different counties, and his craft carried him as far north as Talybont, Cardiganshire, as far south as Pontardulais, as far east as Llanover, Monmouthshire, and as far west as Glandwronest, Pembrokeshire. Within this district there is hardly a woolen mill which he has not built, re-built, or repaired.

“I built a mill, Gwentffrwd Factory, for Lady Llanover in Llanover in 1894, and a mill in Llanfihangel-Rhydithon in 1896. I remember clearly in Llanfihangel how the carpenter and I went out to the wood to choose our timber.”

The break in the life of Wales caused by the War was well illustrated by Mr. Tim Hughes’s account of the Login Pandy, near Whitland, a story which has the elements of pathos. “This factory and fulling mill,” said Mr. Hughes, “were working until the War. Then the boys went away to the front, leaving the mill. Four years passed, and when the sons returned the roof had fallen in, and the mill has been idle ever since.”

When I asked him how many mills there were in Wales he gave me a wealth of information “ There is a ‘fuller’ working all the time in Llanwenog, and the shirt I am now wearing comes from that town; it was spun in Maes-y-felin factory. In Penbontygafael,

But now the days of the millwright are over, the craft is dying out, the woolen mills are silent. No longer does the millwright tramp across the mountains with his tools, and as for the penny-farthing bicycle, it is rusted and dusty in the shed.

“What a contrast it would be,” says Mr. Tim Hughes in Welsh, as we walk along the Llan-dyssul-Lampeter road towards his cottage, “if I went on my old bike now to Pendine and stood with it side by side by the Mollisons’ aeroplane.”

That remark of my fine old companion was symbolic. Just as the rapid aeroplane has taken the place of the penny-farthing bicycle, so the vast machines of the modern factory have ousted the woolen mills of Cardiganshire, and so the twentieth century is rapidly thrusting the old crafts into the limbo of forgotten things.

But when Mr. Tim Hughes talks of the old craft the nineteenth century lives again, and with his vivid gift of portrayal and with his enthusiasm for his calling he imparts a glamour to the scenes of old Wales.

“I am a millwright,” he says with pride as we chat in his cottage, “and I learned my craft from my uncle, Enoch Morgan Jones, who built the mills in Abergorlech and Brecon. But he died about forty years ago, at the age of 67, and I have the craft after him.”

“What kind of man was your uncle?” I asked, and the millwright’s face lit up.

“He was a great humorist, ‘neilltuol o ddoniol,’” he replied. “He loved laughing and he loved making others laugh, too. He was short in stature and a great character. I remember vividly the first time I set out with him, with my tools on my back, to Llandilo and then on to Rhydyfro. I was only nineteen at the time and he was teaching

Pembrokeshire, the fuller and tucking mill, which I built 35 years ago, are still working. There was a tucking mill in Llan-fairclydogau, but it was substituted by a fulling mill.” In Cwmpengraig, Henllan, he tells me, there were two tucking mills working together in charge of Mr. David Davies. There were mills in Llanddewibrefi, Llanrhystyd, and Talybont, and in the two latter Mr. Tim Hughes once worked.

Felin Cwmpandy, Aberayron, was noted for its “coch scarlet” cloth, and King Edward VII, when Prince of Wales, wore sporting suits from Felin Cwmpandy and also from Brecon. In Cwmcafan, Talsarn, and in Glandwronest, Pembrokeshire, there were also fulling mills.

Mr. Tim Hughes then brought out a fine piece of thick grey cloth. “This was made in Brecon,” he explained as he felt it with the fingers of an expert. “But Brecon is no longer working. One by one the mills of the past have closed down, and the day of the millwright is over.”

Although he may tend no more mills Mr. Tim Hughes will remain the type of great craftsman which was the pride of Wales, the craftsman who laid stress also on spiritual and mental qualities, for Mr. Tim Hughes’s children have distinguished themselves in the academic life of Wales.

When I bade farewell to Mr. Tim Hughes, who waved to us from the cottage door, I felt I was leaving behind some of the best traditions of old Wales.

Western Mail July 18th, 1933.

Gwybodaeth bellach/ Further information:

Thomas Colin, (2009) Dreaming a City: From Wales to the Ukraine, Y Lolfa.www.garethjones.orgWestern Mail 9 April 2011 pp.21-23.Western Mail 10 November 2008 p.14.Western Mail 22 February 2013 p.21.

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Thomas Noah Cole (1891-1964)Gw^ r busnes a pheiriannydd

Ganed Thomas Noah Cole yn Pen-dderi Maesycrugiau yn 1891 ac fe’i bedyddiwyd gan y Parch Joshua Davies yn Eglwys Llanllwni yn Ebrill 1892. Ei dad oedd Noah Cole (g.1860 yn Sgeti, Abertawe), peiriannydd morwrol; enw ei fam oedd Harriet Edith (g.1865 yn Abertawe). Bu’r teulu’n byw am gyfnod yn Brynhyfryd, Llanybydder. Symudodd y teulu i Gaerdydd ac roedd Thomas yn gefnogwr brwd i dîm pêl-droed Caerdydd. Yn 1911 roedd y teulu’n byw yn Llangeinor, Sir Forgannwg. Swydd gyntaf Thomas oedd gwerthu bananas o gefn cert ond cafodd ei hyfforddi’n beiriannydd trydan. Prin yw’r wybodaeth am ei fywyd cynnar ond yn 1916 roedd yn is-gapten yn yr East Surrey Regiment a bu’n gwasanaethu yn Ffrainc. Wedi’r rhyfel dychwelodd i Gymru a phriodi â Rebecca Taylor, merch i deulu cyfoethog o Gaerdydd.

Yn y 1920au cynnar symudodd Cole i Lundain. Roedd wedi sylweddoli y byddai marchnad sylweddol i setiau radio yn dilyn arbrofion llwyddiannus Marconi - marchnad i setiau radio a marchnad i fatris trydan. Cyn diwedd 1923 roedd y BBC wedi trefnu trosglwyddyddion radio ar hyd a lled y wlad ac roedd galw gan gannoedd o filoedd o wrandawyr brwd am ddarnau i’w galluogi i adeiladu eu setiau radio eu hunain. Sefydlodd gwmni o’r enw Lissen â’i phrif swyddfa yn Goldhawk Road, Shepherd’s Bush.Yn1923 sefydlodd Lissen Limited a’r ffatri yn Worple Road, Isleworth, yn cynhyrchu darnau i setiau radio i’w gwerthu gan y cwmni. Roedd y cwmni’n llwyddiannus dros ben ac erbyn canol y 1920au roedd yn cyflogi ryw 2,800 o bobl yn cynhyrchu darnau yn ogystal â setiau radio.

Yn 1928 prynwyd Lissen Limited oddi wrth y perchen a’r Rheolwr Gyfarwyddwr T N Cole am £1 miliwn gan gwmni Ever Ready - cyfwerth â £50 miliwn yn arian heddiw. Bu Ever Ready yn cynhyrchu darnau a setiau radio dan enw Lissen tan ddechrau’r ail ryfel byd.

Pan brynwyd y cwmni gan Ever Ready, rhan o’r cytundeb oedd y byddai Cole yn aros yn Rheolwr Gyfarwyddwr, ond na fyddai’n ymwneud ag unrhyw fenter a fyddai’n cystadlu’n uniongyrchol â Lissen Limited am gyfnod o ddeng mlynedd. Yn 1935 aeth Cole i’r llys i apelio yn erbyn y cytundeb a wnaed ag Ever Ready a chyflogi Sir Stafford

Cripps a dau dwrnai arall o fri i ymladd yr achos. Daethpwyd i gytundeb ddiwrnod cyn y gwrandawiad yn y llys. Yn y cyfamser roedd Cole wedi prynu Brundept, cwmni cynhyrchu setiau radio, a sefydlu yn ogystal, Vidor, cwmni cynhyrchu batris radio a batris lampau yn Erith, swydd Caint. Yn ystod blwyddyn gyntaf bodolaeth y cwmni newydd gwerthwyd dros bymtheng miliwn o fatris.

Tarddodd yr enw Vidor o briflythrennau enwau ei ddwy ferch, Valerie a Denise, a’i wraig Rebecca. Yn ystod y blynyddoedd nesaf aeth y cwmni ati i gynhyrchu setiau radio, setiau teledu, peiriannau chwarae recordiau yn ogystal â batris sych.

Yn ystod yr ail ryfel roedd y cwmni’n cynhyrchu systemau cyfathrebu a ffyrnau.

Yn Ebrill 1941 dinistriwyd y ffatri yn Erith gan gyrch awyr a symudwyd y gwaith cynhyrchu i Dundee. Agorwyd ffatrioedd eraill, yn ogystal, yn South Shields ac yn Brechin.

Yn 1954 sefydlodd Vidor-Burndept labordy newydd i ddatblygu offer niwcleonig.

Erbyn y 1960au roedd gan Vidor-Burndept gwsmeriaid ym mhob rhan o’r byd; cynhyrchai’r cwmni gelloedd bychan ar gyfer watsys i’r US Time Corporation a batris arbennig i wasanaethau brys Gorllewin yr Almaen. Gwnaed cytundeb sylweddol i gynhyrchu batris yn India a chytundeb pellach gyda ITT i sefydlu cadwyn o ffatrioedd ar draws y byd.

Yn 1962 ac yntau bellach yn 71 oed gwerthodd Cole, Vidor-Burndebt i Royston Industries. Daeth y brand yn eiddo i Crompton Parkinson tua 1968 a’i werthu yn 1989 i gwmni Ray-O-Vac. Nid yw’r brand yn weithredol bellach.Bu farw Thomas Noah Cole yn Surrey yn 1964.

Mae haneswyr gwyddor technoleg batris yn cymharu cyfraniad Thomas Noah Cole yn y maes hwn ag eiddo Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931) - ill dau wedi sylweddoli sut y gellid cymhwyso gwyddoniaeth er mwyn creu cyfoeth aruthrol.

Gwybodaeth bellach/ Further reading

• Desmond, Kevin (2012/2013).‘Battery Hero: Thomas Cole the Vidor man’ Batteries International Issue 86, 123-26. http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/wiki/ Vidor• http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/wiki/ Burndept• http://www.bexley.gov.uk/index. aspx?articleid=10720• http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/index. php?title=Lissen&printable=yes • http://www.flickr.com/photos/ deptford_draylons/5001155577/ • http://www.radiomuseum.org/ dsp_hersteller_detail. cfm?Company_id=6294 • http://www.vintageradioworld. co.uk/lissen.htm • http://paperspast.natlib.govt. nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d= EP19380721.2.153 • http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/ issues/33975/pages/5795/page.pdf

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Thomas Noah Cole (1891 – 1964)

Businessman and engineer

Thomas Noah Cole was born at Pen-dderi, Maesycrugiau, in 1891 and was baptised by the Rev. Joshua Davies in Llanllwni Church in April 1892. His father Noah Cole (b. 1860, Sketty, Swansea) was a marine engineer, his mother was Harriet Edith (b. 1865 in Swansea) The family were in Brynhyfryd, Llanybydder for a short period. They moved to Cardiff and in 1911 the family lived in Llangeinor, Glamorganshire. Noah was a keen supporter of Cardiff City Football Club and his first job was selling bananas from the back of a cart. He trained as an electrical engineer. Information about his early life is sparse but we know that in 1916 he was a lieutenant in the East Surrey Regiment and served in France. After the First World War he returned to Wales and married Rebecca Taylor the daughter of a wealthy Cardiff family.

Early in the 1920’s Cole moved to London. He had realised that there would be a flourishing market for radio sets following Marconi’s successful experiments – a market for radio sets as well as for electric batteries. Before the end of 1923 the BBC had built a system of radio transmitters across the country and hundreds of thousands of enthusiastic listeners demanded parts to enable them to build their own radio. Cole founded a company called Lissen with its main office in Goldhawk Road, Shepherd’s Bush. In 1923 Lissen Limited opened a factory in Worple Road, Isleworth producing parts for radio sets. The company was very successful and by the mid 1920’s employed some 2,800 people producing not only radio parts but also radios.

In 1928 Lissen Limited was bought from the owner and managing director T N Cole for £1

million by the Ever Ready Company – a sum equivalent to £50 million today. Ever Ready produced parts and sets under the Lissen name up to the beginning of the second world war.

When Ever Ready bought the company, part of the agreement stated that Cole would remain as Managing Director but that he would not, for a period of ten years, be involved in any venture which would compete directly with Lissen Limited. In 1935 Cole went to court to appeal against the agreement made with Ever Ready and instructed Sir Stafford Cripps and two other notable barristers to contest the case. An agreement was reached out of court a day before the case was due to be heard. In the meantime Cole had bought Brundept, a company which produced radio sets and he also founded Vidor, a company which manufactured radio batteries and lamp batteries in Erith in Kent.

The name Vidor derives from the names of his two daughters, Valerie and Denise and that of his wife Rebecca. In the years which followed the company produced radios, televisions, record players as well as dry batteries. During the second world war the company produced communications systems and ovens.

In April 1941 the factory in Erith was destroyed in an air raid and production was moved to Dundee. Other factories were opened in South Shields and Brechin.In 1954 Vidor-Burndept opened a laboratory to develop nucleonic apparatus.

By the 1960s Vidor-Burndept had customers all over the world. The company made tiny cells for watches for the US Time Corporation and special batteries for the emergency services in Western Germany. There was a substantial contract to produce batteries in India and a further contract with ITT to establish a chain of factories across the world. In 1962 when he was 72 years old, Cole sold Vidor–Burndept to Royston Industries. The brand was acquired by Crompton Parkinson about 1968 and sold in 1989 to Ray-o–Vac. The brand does not function any more. Thomas Noah Cole died in Surrey in 1964.

Historians of dry battery technology compare the contribution made by Thomas Noah Cole to that of Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931) – entrepreneurs who managed science to create immense wealth.

Pendderi heddiw Pendderi today

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Teulu Saunders, PerthyberllanDaeth y teulu hwn i Perthyberllan ym mlynyddoedd cynnar y 18fed ganrif a buont yn byw yno am yn agos i ddwy ganrif. Prynwyd Perthyberllan gan Rees Saunders oddi wrth [r o’r enw Erasmus Lewis, swyddog pwysig a chyfoethog gyda’r llywodraeth yn Llundain. Hannai Erasmus Lewis o Abercothi ac roedd yntau, yn ei dro, wedi prynu Perthyberllan oddi wrth deulu John Morgan, Upland, Llandyfaelog, a oedd yn Uchel Sirif yn 1704. Am rai misoedd yn unig y bu Perthyberllan ym meddiant Erasmus Lewis cyn iddo werthu’r eiddo i Rees Saunders. Roedd Rees Saunders yn fab i David Alexander o Lanllwni. Ceir enw David Alexander yn 1705 wrth adroddiad wardeiniaid Eglwys Llanllwni.

Bu farw David Alexander yn 1708 a’i gladdu yn Llanllwni. Mae copi o’i ewyllys (1709) wedi ei diogelu yn Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru. Ond Saunders oedd cyfenw ei weddw, Mary, pan gladdwyd hi yn Llanllwni ar 3 Chwefror 1740. Mae copi o ewyllys Mary Saunders hithau wedi ei diogelu yn y Llyfrgell Genedlaethol. Ni allai

Mary, fe ymddengys, dorri ei henw ei hun ar yr ewyllys ac fe’i gelwir yn Mary Sanders ar y ddogfen honno; trigai yn Henfaes, Llanllwni. Ar ewyllys David Alexander, mae ei gyfenw wedi ei gamrannu ar draws dwy linell; yr hyn a geir yw: David Alex Sander. Gallai hyn egluro sut y mabwysiadwyd y cyfenw Sanders ac wedyn Saunders gan wraig a disgynyddion David Alexander. Roedd gan David Alexander bedwar brawd sef William, John, Morgan a Howell Alexander.

Mae t] trillawr Perthyberllan yn perthyn i’r 18fed ganrif a cheir rhes o dair ffenestr i bob llawr. Ar garreg yn wal un o’r tai allan mae’r dyddiad 1737 ynghyd â phrif lythrennau enw Rees Saunders a’i wraig Mary. Gallai’r garreg fod yn cofnodi naill ai priodas Rees a Mary yn y flwyddyn honno, neu’r dyddiad y cymerwyd meddiant o’r lle ar ôl ei brynu yn 1735. Mae’n ddigon posibl mai ail wraig Rees Saunders oedd Mary oherwydd mae’n ymddangos bod Thomas Saunders, un o’i blant, wedi’i

eni tua 1729. Roedd Thomas Saunders, Perthyberllan, yn warden Eglwys Llanllwni 1808-09. Trigai chwaer Rees, Gwenllian, yn y Bryn, Llanllwni. Brawd arall i Gwenllian oedd Evan Saunders ac un o’i blant ef sef Rice Evan Saunders a etifeddodd y Bryn pan fu Gwenllian farw yn 86 oed yn 1779. Priodwyd Rice Saunders a Lettice Bowen yn Llanllwni ar 11 Ionawr 1788.

Rhaid bod busnes a masnachu ym mêr esgyrn Rees Saunders, Perthyberllan. Yn 1741 roedd ganddo gysylltiad â gwaith haearn Cwmdwyfran. Y flwyddyn honno sicrhaodd brydles ar fferm Betws, Abergwili – o bosibl er mwyn sicrhau digon o olosg i’r gwaith haearn. Golosg yn bennaf a losgid yng Nghwmdwyfran a phrynid tanwydd ar gyfer y ffwrneisi o ystadau Saunders yn Llanllwni a Llanfihangel-ar-arth. Deuai golosg i ddiwallu’r diwydiant yng Nghwmdwyfran o Lanymddyfri a Chaeo, yn ogystal. Yn 1744 daeth cysylltiad Rees Saunders â’r gwaith yng Nghwmdwyfran i ben. Ond mae’n debyg mai marchnata anifeiliaid a benthyca arian i’r porthmyn oedd prif ffrwd ei fusnes a sylfaen ei gyfoeth.

The Saunders family came to Perthyberllan early in the 18th century and lived there for almost two centuries. Perthyberllan was bought by Rees Saunders from Erasmus Lewis , a wealthy and influential official in government service in London. Erasmus Lewis was originally from Abercothi and he, in turn, had bought Perthyberllan from the family of John Morgan, Upland, Llandyfaelog, who was High Sheriff in 1704. Erasmus Lewis owned Perthyberllan for only a few months before the property was purchased by Rees Saunders. Rees Saunders was the son of David Alexander of Llanllwni. David Alexander’s name occurs in the Llanllwni churchwardens’ report in 1705.

David Alexander died in 1708 and was buried in Llanllwni. A copy of his will is preserved in the National Library of Wales. But Saunders was the surname of his wife Mary when she was buried in Llanllwni on February 3, 1740. A copy of Mary Saunders’ will is also preserved in the National Library of Wales. It appears that Mary could not sign

the document herself and she is called Mary Sanders; she lived at Henfaes, Llanllwni. On David Alexander’s will, his name has been split between two lines; what appears is: David Alex Sander.

This could explain how the surname Sanders and then Saunders was adopted by the wife and descendants of David Alexander. David Alexander had four brothers namely William, John, Morgan and Howell Alexander.

The three storey house at Perthyberllan, with a row of three windows on each storey belongs to the 18th century. The date 1737and the initials of Rees Saunders and his wife Mary can still be seen on a stone in the wall of one of the outhouses . This stone could either commemorate the marriage of Rees and Mary that year or the date when they took ownership of the property after buying it in 1735. It is possible that Mary was Rees Saunders’ second wife because

Perthyberllan

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Gallodd Rees Saunders fanteisio hefyd ar ddatblygiad newydd ym myd amaeth yn ystod ail hanner y ddeunawfed ganrif, sef y cynnydd yn y defnydd o galch ar gyfer gwrteithio a bu wrthi’n gwella heolydd ardal New Inn i hwyluso cludo calch i’r ardal hon.

Mae’n ymddangos fod gan Rees Saunders gysylltiadau busnes yn Llundain oherwydd yn y fan honno y cafodd yr arian i brynu Perthyberllan. Ac roedd yn [r uchelgeisiol iawn. Yn 1755 ychwanegodd Blodeuen a Castell, New Inn, at ei eiddo ac o bosibl tyddyn Llain-gam.

Roedd gan Rees Saunders naw o blant yn fyw pan ysgrifennwyd ei ewyllys, ond dim ond dau o’i blant yn unig, sef Stephen a Benjamin, y ddau ysgutor, a enwir ynddi. Bu farw Rees yn Llanybydder yn 1762/63.

Pan ymwelodd Richard Fenton (1747-1821), y bardd a’r awdur, â New Inn yn 1804 arhosodd yn:

a new house lately opened belonging to a Mr Saunders… who was a taylor in York Buildings (London), and has retired to a very neat house surrounded

by young plantations and a highly cultivated farm. In the village where the Inn is which consists of only three or four houses there is a country shop on a very large scale.

Mae’n debyg mai at Thomas Saunders (1729-1816), mab Rees Saunders, y mae Fenton yn cyfeirio. Dyma’r Thomas Saunders a oedd yn berchen ar y Travellers Rest, y dafarn newydd a roddodd enw ar bentref New Inn. Roedd gan Thomas, fusnes teiliwr sylweddol iawn yn Llundain ac roedd yntau’n [r cefnog iawn, iawn. Yn Llundain roedd mewn sefyllfa dda i gynrychioli diddordebau busnes ei dad yn ogystal. Priododd mab Thomas Saunders, sef George, â Mary (1797-1882), merch Thomas Rees, Siop New Inn yn Llanfihangel-ar-arth ar 20 Tachwedd 1817. Dyma uno dau deulu pwysig a dylanwadol yn yr ardal.

Yn 1788 trowyd y ffordd drwy New Inn yn ffordd dyrpeg ac

yr oedd Thomas Saunders, Perthyberllan, yn un o’r ymddiriedolwyr (ynghyd â

Thomas Bowen, Maesycrugiau a John Rees, New Inn). Codwyd tri tholldy er mwyn casglu’r tollau – yn Peniel,

it appears that Thomas Saunders, one of his children was born about 1729. Thomas Saunders was churchwarden 1808-09. Rees’s sister, Gwenllian, lived in Bryn, Llanllwni. Evan Saunders was another brother to Rees and Gwenllian and one of his children Rice Evan Saunders inherited Bryn when Gwenllian died aged 86 in 1779. Rice Saunders and Lettice Bowen were married in Llanllwni church on 11 January 1788.

Business and trading must have been part of Rees Saunders Perthyberllan’s make-up. In 1741 he was associated with the iron works at Cwmdwyfran. In that year he obtained a lease on Betws farm, Abergwili,– possibly in order to ensure that there was adequate charcoal for the iron works. Charcoal was the main fuel burned at Cwmdwyfran and fuel was bought for the furnaces from the Saunders estates in Llanllwni and Llanfihan-gel-ar-arth. Charcoal was also brought from Llandovery and Caeo to feed the furnaces at Cwmdwyfran. Rees’ connection with the works in Cwmdwyfran came to an end in 1744. And it appears that cattle dealing and lending money to drovers became his main business and the foundation of his wealth. He also took advantage of an important

development in agricultural practice during the second half of the 18th century, namely, the use of lime to improve the condition of the soil. He also improved the roads around New Inn in order to facilitate the transporting of lime to this part of the country.

It appears that Rees Saunders had business connections in London: it was there that he had secured resources to purchase Perthyberllan. He was also a very ambitious man. In 1755 he added Blodeuen and Castell, New Inn to his estate and possibly also Llain-gam.

Rees Saunders had nine surviving children when he wrote his will, but only two of his children, Stephen and Benjamin, the two executors, are named in the document. Rees died in Llanybydder in 1762/3.

When Richard Fenton, (1747-1821) the poet and author, visited New Inn in 1804 he stayed in:

a new house lately opened belonging to a Mr Saunders......... who was a taylor in York Buildings (London), and has retired to a very

neat house surrounded by young plantations and a highly cultivated farm. In the village where the Inn is which consists of only three or four houses there is a country shop on a very large scale.

Fenton is probably referring to Thomas Saunders (1729–1816) , the son of Rees Saunders and owner of the Travellers Rest, the new inn, which gave its name to the village of New Inn. Thomas had a flourishing tailor’s business in London and he was a very, very wealthy man. In London he had been in a good position to represent his father Rees’s business interests.

In 1788 the road through New Inn became a turnpike road and Thomas Saunders, Perthyberllan was one of the trustees (with Thomas Bowen, Maesycrugiau and John Rees, New Inn). Three tollgates were built to collect the tolls – at Peniel, New Inn and Cwm-ann. In 1806 it was decided to move the gate from New Inn to Pen-Top Llanllwni and the new tollgate was built at Gwarallt–fach.

When Thomas died in 1816 his estate included Perthyberllan, Pant Mawr and

Cofeb Perthyberllan yn Eglwys Llanllwni

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yn New Inn ac yn Cwm-ann. Yn 1806 penderfynwyd symud y gât o New Inn i Ben-top, Llanllwni ac yno y codwyd tolldy newydd Gwarallt-fach. Pan fu farw Thomas Saunders yn 1816, roedd ei eiddo yn cynnwys Perthyberllan, Pant-mawr a Travellers Rest

Roedd George Saunders (1786-1875) wedi’i eni yn Llundain a’i fedyddio (6 Ionawr 1786) yn St. Martins-in-the-Fields, Westminster. Felly hefyd plant eraill Thomas Saunders. Bedyddiwyd Frances, 3 Mai 1772 yn St Martins-in-the-Fields. Bu farw’n ddibriod yn 1854 a’i chladdu yn Llanllwni. Bedyddiwyd Margaret, 25 Mawrth 1778 yn St Martins-in–the-Fields. Bedyddiwyd David Hughes, 20 Mawrth 1783 yn St Martins-in-the-Fields; aeth i’r offeiriadaeth. Nid oes gwybodaeth am blentyn arall, sef Anne. Roedd George Saunders, Perthyberllan yn warden Eglwys Llanllwni 1828-29 a noda’r hynafiaethydd George Eyre Evans (1857-1939) i George Saunders wasanaethu’r plwyf yn ffyddlon am dros 44 o flynyddoedd.

Travellers Rest. George Saunders, the son of Thomas Saunders married Mary, (1797-1882), the daughter of Thomas Rees of New Inn shop. This marriage on 20 November 1817 brought together two important and influential families in the area.

George Saunders (1786-1875) was born in London and baptised in St. Martins–in–the-fields, Westminster on 6 January 1786. Thomas Saunders’ other children were also baptised in St. Martins–in–the-fields: Frances was baptised there on 3 May 1772. Margaret on 25 March 1778, David Hughes on 20 March 1783; he became a priest. There is no information about another child called Anne. George Saunders,

Perthyberllan was warden of Llanllwni church in 1828-29 and the historian and antiquarian George Eyre Evans notes that George Saunders served the parish faithfully for more than 44 years.At the beginning of the 19th century George Saunders founded a private school in Perthyberllan . The schoolmaster was a Mr Charles of New Inn. Local children were invited to study in the school as company for Thomas, George Saunders’ only child. And it was George Saunders who instigated the building of a bridge over the river Glwydeth between Llanllwni and New Inn in 1822.

Thomas Rhys Saunders (1822-1904), was the son of George and Mary (1797-1882). He was one of the elders of Salem, New Inn and a faithful servant to the chapel. On 1 January 1851 he presented a minute-book to the chapel to record the history of the cause there.

Thomas Rhys Saunders became a preacher with the Calvinistic Methodists after leaving Perthyberllan for Llanelli in 1873 when he was 51 years of age. He died in Llwynhendy, Llanelli and left a widow, Emma; there were no children from the marriage.

Perthyberllan

(Gyda chaniatâd Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru)

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Ddechrau’r bedwaredd ganrif ar bymtheg, sefydlodd George Saunders ysgol breifat yn Perthyberllan. Yr ysgolfeistr oedd Mr Charles, New Inn. Gwahoddwyd plant lleol i astudio yn yr ysgol hon yn gwmni i Thomas, unig fab George Saunders. George Saunders hefyd a barodd, yn 1822, godi’r bont dros afon Glwydeth rhwng Llanllwni a New Inn.

Aeth Thomas Rhys Saunders (1822-1904), mab George a Mary, i bregethu gyda’r Methodistiaid Calfinaidd wedi iddo ymadael â Pherthyberllan am Lanelli yn 1873 ac yntau’n 51 oed. Fe’i nodir ymhlith blaenoriaid Salem, New Inn a bu’n was ffyddlon i Salem. Ar 1 Ionawr 1851 cyflwynodd goflyfr i’r capel er mwyn cofnodi hanes yr achos yn New Inn. Bu farw yn 1904 yn Llwynhendy, Llanelli. Gadawodd weddw, Emma; nid oedd plant o’r briodas. Ond cydnabu Thomas Rhys Saunders fod ganddo fab, David White Saunders, a aned yn 1851, plentyn siawns Ann White, morwyn yn Perthyberllan. Daeth yr argyfwng personol mawr hwn ym mywyd Thomas Rhys Saunders yn gyhoeddus yn Awst 1874 pan orfodwyd

Gwybodaeth bellach/Further information:

• Carmarthen Antiquarian Society and Field Club Transactions.• Dubé, Steve (2000) This Small Corner: A History of Pencader and District (Cyngor Sir Caerfyrddin).• Evans, Michael C S (1975). ‘Cwmdwyfran Forge 1699-1839’, Carmarthen Antiquary.• Hughes D G Lloyd (1966) Tir yr Abad: Hanes New Inn a Gwyddgrug yn Shir Gâr.• Jones, Francis (2006) Historic Carmarthenshire Homes and their Families (Brawdy Books).

ef ym Mrawdlys Caerloyw i dalu iawndal i Ann White a’i gyhuddo o dorri addewid i’w phriodi. Cyflwynwyd tystiolaeth i’r llys ei fod wedi torri sawl addewid i dalu am fagu’r plentyn a bu rhaid i’r fam sicrhau gorchymyn llys i’w orfodi i dalu deuswllt yr wythnos tan y byddai’r bachgen yn 13 oed. Addawodd Saunders ar sawl achlysur, hyd yn oed ar ôl i’r bachgen dyfu, y byddai’n priodi ag Ann White, ond mynnai ohirio hynny tra byddai ei dad, George Saunders, byw.

Mewn llys agored y sicrhawyd y gorchymyn i dalu at fagu’r plentyn a phan ddaeth George Saunders i wybod am yr helynt, diarddelwyd Thomas Rhys Saunders o’i etifeddiaeth. Gadawodd Perthyberllan a symud i ardal Llanelli. Dilewyd ei enw fel pregethwr o restr y cwrdd misol. Ond ym mis Mawrth 1875 adferwyd ef i gorlan y pregethwyr ar gais eglwys Nazareth, Llwynhendy. Bu rhaid iddo aros tan 1889, sut bynnag, i’w ordeinio’n weinidog ac erbyn hynny roedd yn 67 oed.

Chwaer Thomas Rhys Saunders, Elizabeth Saunders (1820-1891), oedd yr olaf o’r

But Thomas Rhys Saunders admitted that he had fathered a son, David White Saunders who was born in 1851, the illegitimate child of Ann White, a maid at Perthyberllan. This great personal crisis in the life of Thomas Rhys Saunders became public in August 1874 when he was forced, at Gloucester Assizes, to pay compensation to Ann White who had accused him of breach of promise. Evidence was presented in court that he had broken several promises to pay for the child’s keep and the mother had to obtain a court order compelling Thomas Rhys Saunders to pay two shillings a week until the boy reached 13 years of age. Saunders had promised on several occasions to marry Ann White even after the boy had grown up, but he insisted on delaying the marriage while his father George Saunders was alive.

The order to pay for the child’s keep was made in open court and when George Saunders heard of the case, Thomas Rhys Saunders lost his inheritance. His name was removed from the list of preachers in the Monthly Assembly . However in March 1875 he was welcomed back into the fold of preachers at the request of Nazareth Chapel, Llwynhendy. He was not ordained a minister until 1889 and by then he was 67.

The last member of the family to live in Perthyberllan was Elizabeth Saunders (1820–1891) the sister of Thomas Rhys Saunders. She died a spinster. Elizabeth’s sister Margaretta had died in 1818 when she was three weeks old.

In 1893 the estate which comprised the house and its 165 acres of land was sold for £3,250.

The Perthyberllan memorial is in Eglwys Llanllwni.

teulu i fyw yn Perthyberllan. Bu Elizabeth farw yn ddibriod. Bu farw chwaer Elizabeth Margaretta, yn dair wythnos oed yn 1818. Yn 1893 gwerthwyd yr ystad a oedd yn cynnwys y plas a’i 165 erw o dir am £3,250.



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Teulu MaesycrugiauEr bod tystiolaeth bod amryw deuluoedd bonheddig wedi byw ym Maesycrugiau ers yr unfed ganrif ar bymtheg, yn y ddeunawfed ganrif y daeth yr ystâd yn eiddo i deulu’r Thomasiaid. Honnent berthynas ag un o ddilynwyr Iarll Richmond a ddaeth yn ddiweddarach yn Harri’r VII.

Margaret yw’r cyntaf i’w choffáu ar gofeb y teulu yn Eglwys Llanllwni. Nodir mai enwau ei rhieni oedd Thomas Thomas a Sarah. (Claddwyd Thomas Thomas yn Llanllwni ar 27.05.1751 a chladdwyd Sarah yn Llanllwni ar 17.04.1753).

Bu Margaret yn briod ddwywaith. Ei g[r cyntaf oedd John Bowen, mab Daniel Bowen, Waunifor. Cawsant bedwar o blant ond un yn unig, sef Sarah, a fu fyw ac a etifeddodd Maesycrugiau. Ail [r Margaret oedd y Parch David Williams, Dolwlff, Ceredigion. Nid oedd plant o’r ail briodas.

Priododd Sarah Bowen (1759-1827) Maesycrugiau â Jenkin Davies (m.1836) o Glanroca, Llanddewibrefi, Ceredigion.

Mae cytundeb cynbriodasol y pâr ifanc a wnaed ar 21 Gorffennaf 1792 yn dangos fod Maesycrugiau yn ystad sylweddol iawn ac yn cynnwys 12 eiddo yn Llanllwni; 8 yn Llangeler; 5 yn Llanfihangel-ar-arth; 12 yn Llanfairorllwyn, Ceredigion; 2 yn Llangunllo, Ceredigion; ffioedd 11 o ffermydd yn Llanfihangel-ar-arth; ffioedd 4 fferm ym mhlwyf Cellan, a ffi 1 fferm yn Llanddewibrefi. Roedd stad ei g[r yn cynnwys 6 eiddo yn Llanddewibrefi; 4 yn Llangybi; 1 ym mhlwyf Betws Bledrws yng Ngheredigion.

Bu Jenkin Davies yn warden Eglwys Llanllwni yn 1802-3, ac 1824-25. Roedd yn ynad heddwch yng Ngheredigion ac yn Sir Gaerfyrddin. Trigai yng Nglanroca ger Llanddewibrefi ac ym Maesycrugiau. Ac yntau’n ynad heddwch, roedd yn berson cwbl allweddol yng ngweinyddiaeth plwyfi gogledd Sir Gaerfyrddin a de Ceredigion. Yn 1875 agorwyd yr Hen Gapel ym Mhencader ar dir a gyflwynwyd yn rhodd

i’r achos gan Jenkin Davies, Maesycrugiau. Ymgartrefodd yr Annibynwyr yno am 125 mlynedd.

Cafodd Jenkin a Sarah Davies bump o blant:1. David Thomas Bowen (1792–1848). Roedd yn ddibriod, ond ar 01.08.1831 bedyddiwyd Mary, merch Gwenllian Mathias a David Thomas Bowen Davies yng nghapel yr Annibynwyr, Pencader. Roedd Capten David Thomas Bowen Davies yn berchen ar diroedd helaeth ym Mhencader.

2. Margaretta Bowen (m. 1858). Yn 1838 priododd â David Fryer Nicholl. Nid oedd plant o’r briodas hon. Yn Hydref 1843 llosgwyd t] byw, tai allan a stablau Gwar-y-graig, Brechfa, gan ferched Beca: roedd Gwar-y-graig yn eiddo i Mrs Nicholl. Roedd y lle yn wag ar y pryd ond y gred yn lleol oedd bod Mrs Nicholl yn trafod â sawl tenant posibl i annog cystadleuaeth yn eu plith am yr eiddo hwn. Roedd yn arfer annerbyniol ar ran tirfeddiannwyr a chafodd Mrs Nicholl ei chosbi gan Beca. Ar dir ystad Maesycrugiau y cafodd capel New Inn ei godi a dywedir bod Mrs

Nicholl yn gefnogol iawn i’r achos yno. Ym Mai 1846 cynhaliwyd cyfarfod misol Henaduriaeth Sir Gaerfyrddin yn y capel ac yn ôl adrodiad yn Yr Amserau gwahoddwyd y blaenoriaid a’r pregethwyr i giniawa gyda hi yn New Inn Cottage (Gwastod Abbot). Gwahoddwyd tlodion y gymdogaeth i

wledda ar weddillion y ginio.

3. John Bowen (1797–1832). Roedd yn ddibriod, ond yn dad i ddau o blant: Henry Jones (m. 1848) ac Elizabeth (1829-1890). Bedyddiwyd Elizabeth yn Llanllwni yn 1834 wedi marwolaeth ei thad. Magwyd Elizabeth yn y plas a daeth yn aeres Maesycrugiau. Enw ei mam oedd Elizabeth Jones, Maesycrugiau. Gwnaed cais gan aelodau’r teulu i herio ewyllys Mrs Nicholl; bu’r ymdrech yn faith ac yn gostus ac yn aflwyddiannus.

4. Sarah (m. 1800).

5. Mary (m. 1805). Flwyddyn ar ôl ei chladdu codwyd yr arch o’r gladdgell a’i agor er mwyn i’r fam allu syllu eto ar wyneb y fechan. Caewyd yr arch drachefn a’i gladdu dan sedd Maesycrugiau yn yr eglwys. Cofnodir y digwyddiad a ffynhonnell y wybodaeth yn

Teulu Maesycrugiau FamilyTeulu Maesycrugiau Family

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Maesycrugiau

Although there is evidence that various county gentry families had lived in Maesycrugiau as early as the 16th century, it was in the 18th century that the estate became the property of the Thomas family. They claimed descent from one of the followers of the Earl of Richmond who later became Henry VII.

Margaret is the first member of the family to be commemorated on the family memorial tablet in Llanllwni Church. It notes that her parents were Thomas Thomas and Sarah.(Thomas Thomas was buried in Llanllwni on 27th May 1751 and Sarah buried in Llanllwni on 17th April 1753)

Margaret Thomas married twice. Her first husband was John Bowen, son of Daniel Bowen, Waunifor. They had four children, but only one, Sarah, survived and inherited Maesycrugiau. Margaret’s second husband was the Revd. David Williams, Dolwlff, Ceredigion. There were no children from the second marriage.

Sarah Bowen (1759–1827) Maesycrugiau, married Jenkin Davies (d. 1836) of Glanroca, Llanddewibrefi, Ceredigion.

The pre-nuptial agreement between the young couple dated 21 July 1792 shows that Maesycrugiau was a very substantial estate and comprised of 12 properties in Llanllwni; 8 in Llangeler ; 5 in Llanfihangel–ar-arth; 12

in Llanfairorllwyn, Ceredigion; 2 in Llangunllo, Ceredigion; the fees from 11 farms in Llanfihangel-ar-arth; fees from 4 farms in the parish of Cellan and the fee from one farm in Llanddewibrefi. Jenkin Davies’estate included 6 properties in Llanddewibrefi; 4 in Llangybi and 1 in the parish of Betws Bledrws, Ceredigion.

Jenkin Davies was warden of Llanllwni church 1802-3 and 1824-5. He was a justice of the peace in Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire. He lived at Glanroca in Llanddewibrefi and in Maesycrugiau. As justice of the peace he held an influential position in the administration of parishes in north Carmarthenshire and south Ceredigion (Cardiganshire). In 1875 Hen Gapel Pencader was opened on land presented to the cause by Jenkin Davies, Maesycrugiau. The Independents worshipped there for 125 years.

Jenkin and Sarah Davies had five children:1. David Thomas Bowen (1792 –1848) . He was unmarried, but on 1 January 1831, Mary, the daughter of Gwenllian Mathias and David Thomas Bowen Davies was baptised in the Independent chapel Pencader. Captain David Thomas Bowen Davies owned extensive lands in Pencader.

2. Margaretta Bowen (d. 1858). In 1838 she married David Fryer Nicholl. There were no children from this marriage. In October 1843 the house, outhouses and stables of Gwar-y-graig, Brechfa were burned by Rebecca Rioters: Gwar-y-graig was owned by Mrs Nicholl. The place was uninhabited at the time but the perception locally was that Mrs Nicholl was discussing terms with several possible tenants in an attempt to encourage competition among them. This was practice was not approved of locally and so Rebecca punished Mrs Nicholl. New Inn chapel was built on land owned by the Maesycrugiau estate and it is said that Mrs Nicholl was very supportive of the cause there. In May 1846 the monthly meeting of the elders of Carmarthenshire was held in the chapel and according to a report in Yr Amserau the elders and preachers were invited to dine with her in New Inn Cottage(Gwastod Abbott). The paupers of the district were invited to feast on the remains of that dinner.

3. John Bowen (1797–1832) he was unmarried but was father to two children:

Henry Jones (d. 1848) and Elizabeth (1829 –1890) Elizabeth was baptised in Llanllwni in 1834 after her father’s death. Elizabeth was brought up in the mansion and inherited Maesycrugiau under the terms of Mrs Nicholl’s will. Her mother’s name was Elizabeth Jones, Maesycrugiau. The family attempted to contest Mrs Nicholl’s will; the legal battle was long and costly and unsuccessful.

4. Sarah (d.1800).

5. Mary (1796 –1805). A year after her burial, her coffin was raised from the vault and opened so that her mother could look upon the child’s face once more. The coffin was re-sealed and buried under the Maesycrugiau pew in the church. This event was recorded in the published notes of antiquarian George Eyre Evans (1857–1939).

The memorial tablet in Llanllwni church was erected by Elizabeth Jones (d. 1890). She is described as a strong willed woman by George Eyre Evans. When the memorial was erected, there was a huge dispute between Elizabeth and the diocesan authorities: the memorial was put in place without their permission and without discussion about its position in the church. But the memorial remains where it was originally placed. It is interesting to note that there is no mention of Margaret Williams’ second husband on the memorial. Elizabeth’s will shows that she also owned the 158 acre farm of Blaenblodau and it is probable that she was responsible for building Blaenblodau mansion, New Inn, towards the end of the 19th century.

Elizabeth (d.1890) married John Jones (1812–1877) of Llanddewibrefi. They had three daughters: Emily Annie, Elizabeth Rosie and Sarah Maud Margretta Bowen.

Emily Annie (1846 -1892) She married twice. Her first husband was William James Morgan, proprietor of ‘The Welshman’ a weekly newspaper published in Carmarthen. She lived for sometime in Blaenblodau mansion. They had three children:

1. Hugh Thomas (1868 –1893). He did not marry.

2. Frank. He married Louisa Wood ,who was much older than he was, in 1890.

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nodiadau’r hynafiaethydd George Eyre Evans.

Codwyd y gofeb bresennol i’r teulu gan Elizabeth (m.1890). Disgrifir Elizabeth fel gwraig o gymeriad cryf gan George Eyre Evans. Pan osodwyd y gofeb, bu helynt anferthol gydag awdurdodau’r esgobaeth: codwyd y gofeb heb eu caniatâd a heb ymgynghori am y lleoliad. Ond mae’r gofeb yn dal yn y man lle y gosodwyd hi’n wreiddiol. Mae’n ddiddorol na cheir sôn o gwbl am ail [r Margaret Williams ar y gofeb. Mae’n ymddangos nad oedd Elizabeth Jones yn ystyried ei bod hi’n werth ei goffáu ef ar y gofeb. Dengys ewyllys Elizabeth mai hi hefyd oedd perchen fferm 158 erw Blaenblodau ac mae’n debygol mai hi a gododd Plas Blaenblodau, New Inn, tua diwedd y 19eg ganrif.

Priododd Elizabeth â John Jones (1812-1877) o Landdewibrefi. Cawsant dair merch: Emily Annie, Elizabeth Rosie a Sarah Maud Margaretta Bowen.

Emily Annie (1846-1892). Bu ‘n briod ddwywaith. Y g[r cyntaf oedd William James Morgan, perchen wythnosolyn yng Nghaerfyrddin o’r enw ‘The Welshman’. Gwnaeth ei chartref am gyfnod ym Mhlas Blenblodau. Cawsant dri o blant:

1. Hugh Thomas (1868-1893). Roedd yn ddibriod.

2. Frank. Priododd yn 1890 â Louisa Wood, athrawes breifat Courtenay Cecil Mansel, a oedd dipyn yn h]n nag ef.

3. Llywellyn. (1877-?).

Evan Jacob, brawd Sarah Jacob, oedd ail [r Emily Annie. Priodwyd hwynt yn 1882. Cawsant un ferch, Eliza Hannah Rosy a fedyddiwyd yn 1883 yn eglwys Llanfihangel-ar-arth. Buont yn byw ym Mhlas Blaenblodau a’r Cottage (Gwastod Abbott), New Inn. Bu Emily Annie farw yn 46 oed a’i chladdu yn Llanllwni.

Elizabeth Rosie oedd ail ferch Elizabeth a John Jones. Cafodd hi ei bedyddio yn Llanllwni yn 1861 ond cafodd ei geni c.1850. Yn 1875 priododd â’r Dr Henry Harries Davies, Llandysul, meddyg teulu Sarah Jacob a g[r gweddw. Bu ysgariad yn 1894. Ond am gyfnod byr bu meddyg teulu Sarah Jacob a brawd Sarah Jacob yn briod â dwy chwaer! Ac roedd John Jones, Maesycrugiau yn aelod o’r pwyllgor lleol a sefydlwyd yn 1869 i ymchwilio i achos Sarah Jacob.

Sarah Maud Margaretta Bowen oedd y drydedd ferch. Cafodd hi ei bedyddio yn 1861 a phriodi’n ifanc iawn yn 1878 â Syr Richard Mansel, y 12fed Barwnig. Cawsant fab, Syr Courtenay Mansel (1880-1933), y 13eg Barwnig, a drigai ym Maesycrugiau. Cafodd Courtenay Mansel ei addysgu yn Harrow a chafodd yrfa fel bargyfreithiwr. Yn ystod y Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf ymunodd â’r Royal Flying Corps ac yn ddiweddarach â’r Llu Awyr. Priododd Syr Courtenay Mansel â Mary Phillippa Agnes Germaine (m. 1958) a chawsant o leiaf 11 o blant. Dinistriwyd yr hen blas ym Maesycrugiau yn 1902 gan dân, a symudodd Syr Courtenay i’r Cottage (Gwastod Abbott), New Inn. Adeiladwyd y plas presennol yn ystod 1903-1905 gan J C Mitchell ar gyfer Syr Courtenay.

Roedd Syr Courtenay yn awyddus iawn i ddilyn gyrfa fel gwleidydd ond methodd â chael cefnogaeth gan y Rhyddfrydwyr i ymladd sedd yng Nghymru. Yn 1923, sut bynnag, cafodd ei fabwysiadu’n ymgeisydd gan y Rhyddfrydwyr yn Penryn a Falmouth. Enillodd y sedd yn 1923 â mwyafrif parchus, ond ei cholli i Geidwadwr yn 1924. Yn 1928 ymladdodd is-etholiad Caerfyrddin, dros y Ceidwadwyr y tro hwn, a cholli’n drwm. Ymgeisiodd am sedd Prifysgol Cymru yn 1929 a cholli eto i ymgeisydd y Rhyddfrydwr.

Mae’n ironig mai colli ei sedd i Geidwadwr a wnaeth Syr Courtenay Mansel yn 1923 ond yn dilyn etholiad 1868 roedd teulu Maesycrugiau wedi eu cyhuddo o droi tenantiaid o’u tai am nad oedden nhw wedi cefnogi’r Torïaid, dewis blaid eu landlordiaid, yn yr etholiad hwnnw.

Cyhoeddodd Syr Courtenay Mansel ddwy gyfrol o farddoniaeth: The Masque of King Charles VI and other poems, John Ouseley, London 1912; The South Wind, Allen & Unwin, London 1923.

Mae Llyfr Log Ysgol Llanllwni yn dangos mor gefnogol fu teulu Maesycrugiau i ysgol y pentref. Trefnodd Lady Mary bod cinio ysgol i holl blant y pentref, flynyddoedd cyn i awdurdodau lleol fabwysiadu’r cynllun cenedlaethol.

Yn mis Mai 1931 priodwyd Katherine Mansel, un o ferched Syr Courtenay, ag Edgar Jones tafarnwr y Beehive a pherchen garej ym Mhencader, yn Gretna Green. Roedd a hi’n 23 oed ar y pryd, Cafwyd ail briodas ‘go iawn’ yn St Giles, Bloomsbury, Llundain, ddwy flynedd yn ddiweddarach. Bu Edgar a Katherine yn cadw’r Beehive ym Mhencader.

Olynwyd Syr Courtenay gan ei fab Syr John Philip Ferdinand Mansel (1910-47) y 14eg Barwnig. Yn 1939 priododd Syr John â Hannah Rees o Gwmhwplyn, Pencader, morwyn yn y Beehive. Bu’r briodas yn swyddfa’r cofrestrydd yng Nghaerfyrddin. Pan fu farw Syr John yn 1947 olynwyd ef gan ei unig fab Syr Philip Mansel (1943-) y 15fed Barwnig, ac yntau’n bedair oed.

Claddgell teulu Maesycrugiau ym mynwent eglwys Llanllwni yw’r gladdgell grandiaf o ddigon yn y rhan hon o Ddyffryn Teifi: adeilad hirsgwar cadarn o dywodfaen coch a lle arno i goffáu aelodau o’r teulu ar gerrig marmor.

Yr hen blas ym Maesycrugiau

Gwybodaeth bellach/ Further information

• Leslie Baker-Jones (1999) Princlings, Priviledge and Power...The Tivyside Gentry in their Community (Gomer, Llandysul)• Carmarthen Antiquarian Society and Field Club Transactions.• Cule, John (1967) Wreath on the Crown (Gomer, Llandysul) • Dubé, Steve (2000) This Small Corner: A History of Pencader and District (Cyngor Sir Caerfyrddin).• Hughes, D G Lloyd (1996) Tir yr Abad: Hanes New Inn a Gwyddgrug yn Shir Gâr.• Jones, Francis (2006) Historic Carmarthenshire Homes and their Families (Brawdy Books).• The Times 5 January 1933 p.12.

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She was private tutor to Courtenay Cecil Mansel.

3. Llywelyn. (1877- ?).

Emily Annie’s second husband was Evan Jacob, the brother of Sarah Jacob ‘The Welsh Fasting Girl’. They were married in 1882. They had one daughter , Eliza Hannah Rosy who was baptised in 1883 in Llanfihangel-ar-arth Church. They lived at Blaenblodau Mansion and the Cottage (Gwastod Abbott), New Inn. Emily Annie died aged 46 and is buried in Llanllwni.

Elizabeth Rosie was the second daughter of Elizabeth and John Jones. She was baptised in Llanllwni in 1861 although born around 1850. In 1875 she married Dr Henry Harries Davies, Llandysul, a widower and family doctor to Sarah Jacob. They were divorced in 1894. But for a short time Sarah Jacob’s doctor and her brother were married to two sisters! And John Jones , Maesycrugiau, Elizabeth Rosie’s father, was a member of the local committee set up in 1869 to investigate the Sarah Jacob affair.

Sarah Maud Margretta Bowen was the third daughter. She was baptised in 1861 and was married young in 1878 to Sir Richard Mansel, the 12th baronet. They had a son, Sir Courtenay Mansel (1880–1933) the 13th baronet who lived in Maesycrugiau. Courtenay Mansel was educated in Harrow and later practiced as a barrister. During the first world war he joined The Royal Flying Corps and later the Air Force. Sir Courtenay Mansel married Mary Phillippa Agnes Germaine (d. 1958) and they had at least eleven children. The old mansion was

destroyed by fire in 1902 and Sir Courtney moved to the Cottage (Gwastod Abbott), New Inn. The present mansion was built during 1903-05 for Sir Courtenay by J C Mitchell.

Sir Courtenay was very keen to enter politics but failed to gain the support of the Liberals to contest a seat in Wales. In 1923, however, he was adopted as Liberal candidate for Penryn and Falmouth. He won the seat in 1923 with a respectable majority, but lost it in 1924 to a Conservative. In 1928, he fought a by-election in Carmarthen, for the Conservatives this time, but lost heavily. He contested the University of Wales seat in 1929 but lost again to the Liberal candidate.

It is rather ironic that Sir Courtenay Mansel lost his seat to a Tory in 1924, because in 1868 the family at Maesycrugiau had been accused of evicting families from their homes for not supporting the Tories,

the party favoured by the Mansels in that election.

Sir Courtenay Mansel published two volumes of poetry : The Masque of King Charles VI and other poems, John Ouseley, London 1912; The South Wind, Allen&Unwin , London 1923

The Log Book of Llanllwni School records how supportive the Maesycrugiau family was of the school. Lady Mary saw to it that there was school dinner for all the village children, years before local authorities adopted a national system.

In May 1931 the Hon. Katherine Mansel, one of Sir Courtenay’s daughters, married Edgar Jones of Pencader, landlord of the Beehive Inn and garage, in Gretna Green. She was 23 years old at the time. Two years later, there was a second ‘proper’ wedding in St Giles, Bloomsbury, London. Edgar and Katherine kept the Beehive in Pencader.

Sir Courtenay was succeeded by his son Sir John Philip Ferdinand Mansel (1910 – 47) , the 14th baronet. In 1939 Sir John married Hannah Rees of Cwmhwplin, Pencader, barmaid at the Beehive. The marriage took place in the Registry Office in Carmarthen. When Sir John died in 1947 he was succeeded by his only son Sir Philip Mansel, 15th baronet (1943 -) who was just four years old.

The Mansel vault in the graveyard of Llanllwni Church is by far the grandest burial chamber in this part of the Teifi Valley: a solid oblong structure of red sandstone with marble plaques to record the names of family members.

Lady Mary Mansel Syr Courtenay Mansel

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Ganed Jozef Domanus 14 Chwefror 1896 yn Krzyszkowice, pentref bychan yn ne Gwlad Pwyl. Ei rieni oedd Wojciech a Anna Domanus. Bu’n byw yn y pentref tan iddo ymuno â byddin Gwlad Pwyl. Daeth drwy’r Rhyfel Mawr ond ychydig iawn a wyddys am y cyfnod cynnar hwn yn ei fywyd.

Priododd yn Ionawr 1928 â Janina Burghardt a oedd o linach fonheddig a’i gwreiddiau yn Awstria. Ganed eu merch Wieslawa ar 21 Tachwedd 1930. Trigent yn nhref fechan Lancut, yn ne Gwlad Pwyl. Yno roedd gwersyll catrawd y marchfilwyr, catrawd Jozef

Pan oresgynwyd Gwlad Pwyl ym Medi 1939, bu rhaid i Jozef ymadael â’i famwlad ac ailymunodd â byddin Gwlad Pwyl yn Ffrainc. Roedd Janina a Wieslawa wedi aros yng Ngwlad Pwyl ond bu rhaid iddynt ffoi rhag yr Almaenwyr. Aethant i Burghardtowka, Pawlow, Radziechow yn nwyrain Gwlad Pwyl (yr Wcrain, bellach) tan iddynt orfod ffoi drachefn yn wyneb bygythiad o du’r Rwsiaid. Bu rhaid iddynt ffoi tua’r Gorllewin

ond cawsant eu dal gan yr Almaenwyr a threulio gweddill y rhyfel mewn amryw wersylloedd i ffoaduriaid tan y cadoediad.

Ym Mehefin 1940 ymadawodd Jozef â Ffrainc a chyrraedd yr Alban. Roedd yn dal yn filwr yn myddin Gwlad Pwyl. Nid tan Awst 1946 yr unwyd y teulu. Roeddent wedi gallu cysylltu â’i gilydd drwy’r Groes Goch ond roedd hynny’n anodd ac ar adegau roedd gwraig a merch Jozef wedi’u cynnwys ar restr “y rhai heb gyfrif amdanynt”.

Yn Awst 1946 y gwnaed datganiad swyddogol: gwahoddiad gan Churchill i wragedd a phlant aelodau o luoedd arfog Gwlad Pwyl ymuno â’u gw]r ym Mhrydain. Cafodd Jozef ganiatâd i yrru i’r Llysgenhadaeth ym Mrwsel i gael y dogfennau priodol a fyddai’n caniatáu i Janina and Wieslawa ddod i Brydain. Cymerodd bythefnos. Aeth yn ei flaen i wersyll dosbarthu ym Maczkow (Emsland yn yr Almaen). Aethant i Ostende, croesi i Dover a chyrraedd Gorsaf Fictoria. Taith i’r Alban oedd o’u blaenau bellach a chyrraedd

tref fach ddymunol Aberfeldy. Roedd Jozef wedi cael gorchymyn i letya mewn t] mawr a oedd yn eiddo i ddau frawd, John and

Jozef Domanus was born on 14th February 1896 in a small village, Krzyszkowice, in southern Poland to parents Wojciech and Anna Domanus. Jozef spent his childhood here until he joined the Polish army. He survived the 1st World War but little is known of this period of his life.

Jozef married Janina Burghardt, of an Austrian aristocratic family in January 1928. Their daughter, Wieslawa was born on 21st November 1930. The family lived in Lancut, a small town in mid-southern Poland, where Jozef ’s cavalry regiment was stationed.

On the invasion of Poland in September, 1939, Jozef was forced to leave Poland and rejoined the Polish Army in France. Janina and Wieslawa stayed in Poland

but were forced to flee their home when the Germans moved in and

their lives were threatened. They fled to their birthplace Burghardtowka, Pawlow, Radziechow in eastern Poland (now the Ukraine) until they were forced to

flee once again. This time the Russians were the invaders and Janina and Wieslawa were forced to head towards the West where they fell into the hands of the Germans. They spent periods in various refugee camps until the War was over.

In June 1940, Jozef left France and came to Scotland where he remained a member of the Polish Army. Throughout the war, the family were separated and were not reunited until August 1946. It was possible to communicate via the Red Cross but it was difficult, and there were times when Jozef ’s wife and daughter were classed as “missing”.

An official announcement was made by Churchill in August 1946, openly extending an invitation for wives and children of the Polish forces to join their husbands in Britain. Jozef secured leave, drove to the Embassy in Brussels to obtain the necessary documents for Janina and Wieslawa to enter Great Britain. It took 2 weeks. He then made his way to the displacement camp in Maczkow (Emsland in Germany) and brought them

JOZEF DOMANUS (1896 – 1956)

JOZEF DOMANUS (1896 – 1956)

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Peter Haggart. Cofrestrodd Josef ei ferch 16 oed yn Breadalbane Academy er mwyn iddi barhau â’i haddysg. Gweithiai ei wraig yn ffreutur yr Ysbyty.

Gollyngwyd Jozef o’r fyddin yn Charterhouse, Godalming, Surrey yn Awst 1948. Rhoddwyd siwt o ddillad iddo a £25 yn ei boced!

Credai Jozef y byddai’n syniad da iddynt ymfudo i Ganada. Ond method ei brawf meddygol wedi i dri pwl o pneumonia ei wanhau. Teimlai Josef fod rhaid iddynt eu cynnal eu hunain a byw yn annibynnol. A hwythau’n hannu o wlad lle’r roedd chwarter o’r boblogaeth yn ffermwyr, dyma nhw’n dod i Gymru i chwilio am fferm ac ail-greu bywyd iddyn nhw eu hunain fel llawer o gynaelodau eraill o fyddin Gwlad Pwyl.

Ar noson oer a gwlyb ym mis Hydref dyma gyrraedd gorsaf Llanbedr Pont Steffan. Fe’u gyrrwyd mewn tacsi i’w fferm Cefncoed-uchaf, Llanllwni, milltir o’r briffordd mewn man tawel, tangnefeddus wrth odre’r mynydd. Ar y daith at y fferm aeth y tacsi i’r ffos. Holodd Josef ffermwr cyfagos i dynnu’r car o’r ffos â’i dractor.

Cofiai am y gymwynas hon ac am y croeso twymgalon a gawsant gan y cymydog hwn wrth i’r teulu ddechrau ar gyfnod newydd yn eu hanes.

Roedd ffermio yn brofiad hollol newydd. Hen d] cerrig â’r muriau’n ddwy droedfedd o drwch a hwnnw’n d] llaith ac yn d] oer. Doedd dim trydan yno na thap d[r. Amodau cyntefig. Ac roedden nhw ymhell o’r Alban ac ymhellach fyth o Wlad Pwyl. Ond roedd yn gysur eu bod yn fyw a gyda’i gilydd. Roedden nhw’n ffermwyr bellach ac roedd gweithio gyda chreaduriaid yn bleser ac yn fraint. Ond byddai’r gwaith yn waith caled.

Daeth d[r a thrydan yn eu tro a gwnaed gwelliannau i’r t]. Plastrwyd a phwyntiwyd y muriau. Roedd rhaid wrth ffenestri newydd. Trowyd y t]’n gilfach o hafan ddiogel.

Rhaid oedd cael ysgol newydd i’r ferch. Trefnwyd ymweliad ag Ysgol Uwchradd Llanbedr Pont Steffan. Eglurodd y prifathro mai Ysgol Ramadeg Llandysul fyddai’r ysgol fwyaf cymwys i Wieslawa. Bu’r prifathro Mr Edgar Davies yn gefn mawr gydol

gyrfa Wieslawa yn yr ysgol. Breuddwydiai hi am ddychwelyd i’r Alban ac astudio yn Mhrifysgol Caeredin. Ymhen blwyddyn roedd wedi llwyddo yn arholiadau’r Cyd-bwyllgor Addysg Cymreig ac yn Hydref 1950 cofrestrodd ym Mhrifysgol Caeredin.

Roedd godro’r da, bwydo’r ieir, y moch y defaid, y cathod a’r c[n yn orchwyl

beunyddiol. Roedd godro a llaw yn dreth mawr ar egni. Yn ddiweddarach cafwyd peiriant godro ac roedd hwnnw’n lleddfu dipyn ar flinder dwylo ac arddyrnau. Roedd cig yn ddrud ond roedd y caeau’n gyfor o

gwningod rheibus. Roedd gwledd hyd yn oed i’r c[n. Roedd dwy

ardd lysiau a digonedd o winwns, moron, pys, bresych a phob math o berlysiau. Tyfent ffrwythau: afalau, cwrens duon ac eirin Mair. Ac roedd digonedd o eirin duon i wneud jam. Gwerthid ychydig ohono yn siop y pentref. Tyfent datws hefyd (ar gae o ryw dair erw). Cedwid ychydig a gwerthu’r gweddill yn y farchnad leol. Roedd Janina yn gogyddes ac yn arddwraig penigamp - cyfuniad o ddoniau ardderchog. Ni fyddai Jozef a Janina wedi llwyddo cystal ar y fferm heb gymorth diflino Jack Thomas, Derlwyn; Efansiaid

via Ostende by ferry to Dover and then to Victoria Station. Their next train journey was to Scotland, a delightful little town called Aberfeldy. Jozef was billeted in a big house owned by two brothers, John and Peter Haggart. Jozef enrolled his 16 year old daughter in the Breadalbane Academy to continue her education. His wife worked in the Hospital Canteen.

Jozef was demobbed in Charterhouse, Godalming, Surrey in August 1948. His army discharge was a civilian suit and £25!

Jozef thought it would be a good idea to go to Canada. This was not to be when Jozef failed his medical. Three bouts of pneumonia had made his chest weak. Jozef felt that they had to be independent and coming from a country where one quarter of the population farmed the land, they set off to Wales in search of a farm to rebuild their lives as did many other ex-members of the Polish forces.

They arrived at Lampeter station on a cold and wet October evening. A taxi drove them to their farm, Cefncoed-uchaf, Llanllwni, a mile from the main road, set in a peaceful and tranquil place at the foot of the mountains. A short distance into

the lane, the taxi landed in the ditch near another farm. Without hesitation Jozef asked the farmer to pull the taxi out with his tractor. He remembered how kind this man was and how warmly and comfortingly he welcomed them into their new life.

The farm was very different to any life they had known. A cold, damp, old stone house with walls 2 foot thick. No electricity or hot and cold running water. Very primitive conditions indeed. Scotland was now far away. Poland was even further but again, they were consoled by the fact that they were alive and together. They had become farmers for the time being and living and working with animals was a rich and pleasant life. Little did they know how hard the work was going to be.

Gradually water and electricity were brought to the farm. The house was made habitable. The walls had to be plastered and pointed. New windows were essential. With all these changes the house became a little heaven, a sanctuary.

A new school had to be found for his daughter. An appointment in Lampeter Secondary School was arranged. The headmaster explained that the Llandysul

County Grammar was the school for Wieslawa. The headmaster, Mr Edgar Davies proved most helpful with Wieslawa’s school career. Her dream was to go back to Scotland and attend Edinburgh University. Another year and she would pass the Higher Leaving Certificate of the Welsh Joint Education Authority. In October 1950 she arrived at Edinburgh University.

Milking cows, feeding chickens, pigs, sheep, cats and dogs were an everyday task. Milking cows by hand was a great energy consumer. Sometime later a milking machine solved the problem of aching hands and wrists. Meat was expensive so trapped rabbits provided plenty of meat as the fields were overrun by the pestilent beasts. Even the dogs had a feast. There were two vegetable gardens which provided the vegetables, onions, carrots, peas, cabbage and all the herbs you could imagine. They grew fruit such as apples, black currants and gooseberries and vast plum and damson trees produced sufficient fruit to make jam which was then sold in the local village shop. They also grew one field (3 acres or so) of potatoes some of which they kept and the rest were sacked up for sale at the market. Janina was an excellent gardener and cook – a great combination.

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Penpompren a Defisiaid Blaencaerneuadd – yn enwedig y bechgyn. Mae gan hyd yn oed wyrion Jozef a Janina gof byw am gynaeafu gwair a didoli’r [yn.

Roedd Jozef a’i ferch Wieslawa yn agos iawn ac yn ystod gwyliau’r brifysgol byddent bob amser yn gweithio gyda’i gilydd yn y caeau yn gwerthfawrogi awel iach y mynydd.

Bob Sul byddai’r teulu yn mynychu gwasanaeth yn yr Eglwys Gatholig fechan yn Llambed. Byddai offeiriad Pwylaidd yn cynnal offeren i’r ffermwyr o Bwyliaid a lenwai’r eglwys. Roeddent yn gwerthfawrogi hyn yn fawr ac roedd gweddïo yn eu mamiath yn cynorthwyo’u myfyrdod a’u cadw’n agos at Dduw. Wedi’r oedfa byddai’r ffermwyr yn dal pen rheswm â’i gilydd ac yn cyfnewid profiadau. Weithiau byddent yn swpera yn nhai ei gilydd. Prynwyd t] i’r offeiriad yn Llambed gan y Pwyliaid a daeth hwnnw’n ganolfan i’r gymuned Bwylaidd.

Roedd pob Sul yn arbennig i Jozef a’i deulu. Byddent yn paratoi’n ddyfal cyn mynd i’r

eglwys gan sicrhau eu bod yn drwsiadus iawn ar gyfer yr unig daith wythnosol o’r fferm.

Yn y dyddiau hynny byddai’n rhaid iddynt fynd i Swyddfa’r Heddlu bob mis gan eu bod yn dal yn ddinasyddion Gwlad Pwyl. Yn ystod y Pasg 1950 cawsant eu holi’n fanwl gan swyddogion y Swyddfa Gartref a ddaeth i Gymru er mwyn eu cyfweld yn Swyddfa’r Heddlu ym Mhencader. Holwyd pob math o gwestiynau a dechreuodd Jozef ofidio am eu dyfodol ym Mhrydain. Yn y pendraw yn 1951 cawsant eu derbyn yn ddinasyddion Prydeinig.

Cwblhaodd merch Jozef ei chwrs yn y brifysgol a phriodi 10 Gorffennaf 1954 yn yr Eglwys Gatholig yn Llanbedr Pont Steffan. Priododd â Janusz Jozwiak a aned yn Poznan, Gwlad Pwyl. Roeddent wedi cwrdd yn y Brifysgol yng Nghaeredin . Bu’r brecwast priodas yn y Castle Hotel yn Llambed. Yn unol â thraddodiad lleol taniwyd gwn gan un o’r cymdogion wrth i’r pâr ifanc adael ar ei mis mêl. Dymuniad Jozef and Janina oedd i’w merch briodi Pwyliad a Phabydd.

Flwyddyn yn ddiweddarach, daeth Jozef yn dadcu i Suzanne ar 24 Tachwedd 1955. Aeth Janina i aros gyda Wieslawa. Erbyn hyn roedd y mab yng nghyfraith yn sâl iawn ac wedi ei gymryd i’r ysbyty. Bu rhaid i Janina aros gyda’i merch tra oedd Jozef yn gofalu am y fferm. Roedd hi’n gyfnod anodd i’r teulu. Dychwelodd Janina i Cefncoed-uchaf ar 14 Ionawr.

Ar 16 Ionawr 1956, bu Jozef yn godro’r da fel arfer ac wedi iddo lwytho’r caniau llaeth ar y tractor ei fwriad oedd mynd â nhw at y stand laeth wrth y briffordd. Cafodd ei daro’n wael wrth ochr y ffordd a bu farw o drawiad ar y galon heb weld ei wyres. Fe’i claddwyd ym mynwent Capel Nonni.

Claddwyd Janina (1907 – 1995) a Wieslawa (1930 – 2008) yng Ngwlad Pwyl.

Mae’r wyresau Suzanne a Yvonka am ddiolch i blwyfolion Llanllwni am bob caredigrwydd a chyfeillgarwch i’r teulu. Maent yn cofio treulio gwyliau hapus yn harddwch cefn gwlad Cymru.

Jozef and Janina could not have succeeded so well on the farm without the tireless help from the neighbouring farmers; Jack Thomas from Derlwyn, the Evans family from Penpompren and especially the Davies boys from Blaencaerneuadd. Even today their grandchildren remember the happy, long hard days of haymaking and picking the lambs.

Jozef was very close to his daughter, Wieslawa and during the holidays from University, she was always by his side working in the fields, breathing in the fresh mountain air.

They attended Church every Sunday in the small Roman Catholic Church in Lampeter. A Polish priest used to say mass for the Polish farmers who filled the church to capacity. They appreciated this and praying in their own language the familiarity helped them in their meditation and kept them close to God. After Church the farmers would chat to each other and share information on their farming methods and experiences. Sometimes they would dine on each other’s farms. The Polish parish bought a house in Lampeter which became a meeting point for the Polish Community. Sundays were very special for Jozef and his family. They went to great lengths in

preparing for Church making sure they were always very smart for their one and only weekly trip from the farm to Church.

In those days they had to report to the Police Station every month because they were still Polish citizens. During the Easter holidays of 1950 they were screened by officials from the Home Office who came to Wales and interviewed them at Pencader Police Station. They were asked all sorts of questions and Jozef became concerned about their security in Britain. His worries were allayed when he and Janina were finally naturalised and became British citizens in 1951.

Jozef ’s daughter, finished her studies and was married on the 10th July 1954, in the Roman Catholic Church. Jozef was proud to give his daughter away to Janusz Jozwiak born in Poznan, Poland. Janusz and Wieslawa met whilst in Edinburgh. A wedding reception was held at the Castle Hotel, Lampeter. According to Welsh custom, shots were fired in the air by one of the neighbours as they left for their honeymoon. It was Jozef and Janina’s wish that she married a Pole and a Roman Catholic.

The following year, Jozef became a grandfather to grand-daughter Suzanne,

on the 24th November, 1955. Janina went to be with Wieslawa. By this time, their son in law had become very ill and was in hospital. Janina had to stay with her daughter whilst Jozef tended to the farm. It was a very tough time for the family. Janina returned to Cefncoed-uchaf on the 14th January.

On the morning of the 16th January, 1956, Jozef milked the cows as usual and loaded up the tractor with the milk churns to take them to the milk stand on the main road. He became unwell on the side of the road and died from a massive heart attack, never even having seen his grand-daughter.

He was buried at Capel Nonni, Llanllwni where he rests today. His wife, Janina (1907 – 1995) and daughter, Wieslawa (1930 – 2008) were laid to rest in their beloved Poland.

The grand-daughters Suzanne and Yvonka would like to thank the people of Llanllwni for the kindness and friendship shown to their family and fondly remember their holidays spent in the beautiful, stunning countryside of Wales.

Suzanne Galvin and Yvonka WilkinsonMarch 2010

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JÓZEF DOMANUS 1896-1956 Józef Domanus urodził się 14 lutego 1896 r. jako syn Wojciecha i Anny Domanusów w Krzyszkowicach, niewielkiej wsi na południu Polski. Tu spędził całe dzieciństwo, dopóki nie wstąpił do polskiego wojska. Przeżył pierwszą wojnę światową, niewiele jednak wiadomo o tym okresie jego życia.

W styczniu 1928 r. Józef poślubił pochodzącą z arystokratycznego austriackiego rodu Janinę Burghardt. 21 listopada 1930 r. urodziła im się córka Wiesława. Rodzina zamieszkała w Łańcucie, niedużym mieście w centralno-południowej części Polski, gdzie stacjonował pułk kawalerii, do którego należał Józef.

Po napaści na Polskę w 1939 r. Józef zmuszony był opuścić ojczyznę. Wstąpił wówczas do Wojska Polskiego we Francji. Janina i Wiesława pozostały w kraju, lecz po wkroczeniu armii niemieckiej musiały dla ratowania życia porzucić swój dom. Uciekły do rodzinnej posiadłości Bugardtkówki w powiecie radziechowskim na południu Polski (obecnie Ukraina), by wkrótce ponownie zostać zmuszonymi do ucieczki przed zagrożeniem ze strony wojsk sowieckich. Nie pozostało im nic innego, jak skierować się na zachód, gdzie wpadły w ręce Niemców. Resztę wojny spędziły w różnych obozach dla uchodźców.

W czerwcu 1940 r. Józef wyjechał z Francji do Szkocji, nadal jako żołnierz Wojska Polskiego. Rodzina pozostała rozdzielona przez całą wojnę, aż do sierpnia 1946 r. Istniała wprawdzie możliwość kontaktowania się za pośrednictwem

Czerwonego Krzyża, nie było to jednak łatwe i nieraz zdarzało się, że żona i córka Józefa zaliczane były w poczet „zaginionych”.

W sierpniu 1940 r. Winston Churchill wystosował oficjalne zaproszenie dla żon i dzieci żołnierzy Polskich Sił Zbrojnych, aby dołączyły do swoich mężów i ojców w Wielkiej Brytanii. Józef otrzymał przepustkę na wyjazd do ambasady w Brukseli, aby zdobyć dokumenty umożliwiające Janinie i Wiesławie przyjazd do Wielkiej Brytanii. Zajęło mu to dwa tygodnie. Następnie pojechał do obozu przesiedleńczego w Maczkowie (powiat Emsland w Niemczech) i już razem z rodziną udał się przez Ostendę promem do Dover, a dalej na Victoria Station. Czekała ich jeszcze podróż pociągiem do Szkocji, do małego, uroczego miasteczka o nazwie Aberfeldy. Józefa zakwaterowano w dużym domu, należącym do dwóch braci, Johna i Petera Haggartów. Józef zapisał szesnastoletnią Wiesławę do Breadalbane Academy, by kontynuowała naukę, zaś jego żona dostała pracę w stołówce miejscowego szpitala.

W sierpniu 1948 r. Józef został zdemobilizowany w Charterhouse koło Godalming w hrabstwie Surrey. Za całą odprawę dostał garnitur i 25 funtów!

Józef uważał, że warto byłoby wyemigrować do Kanady. Okazało się to jednak niemożliwe, ponieważ miał zbyt osłabione płuca po przebytych wcześniej trzech zapaleniach, by przejść testy medyczne. Józef odczuwał potrzebę niezależności, a z racji tego, że pochodził z kraju, w którym jedna czwarta populacji zajmowała się rolnictwem,

wyruszył wraz z rodziną do Walii w poszukiwaniu gospodarstwa, gdzie, jak wiele innych rodzin byłych żołnierzy wojsk polskich, mogliby rozpocząć nowe życie.

Pewnego chłodnego i mokrego październikowego wieczora przybyli na stację w Lampeter. Taksówka zawiozła ich na ich nową farmę, Cefncoed-uchaf koło Llanllwni, położoną o milę od głównej drogi, w cichym i spokojnym zakątku u podnóża góry. Gdy byli już blisko farmy, taksówce zdarzyło się wpaść do rowu. Józef bez wahania poprosił farmera z pobliskiego gospodarstwa, by pomógł mu wydobyć samochód za pomocą traktora. Później długo wspominał tę przysługę oraz uprzejmość i ciepło z jakim sąsiad przywitał rodzinę na progu ich nowego życia.

A było to życie bardzo różne od tego, jakie znali. Zimny, wilgotny, stary kamienny dom o grubych na 2 stopy ścianach. Brak elektryczności i bieżącej wody. Były to rzeczywiście bardzo prymitywne warunki. Szkocja była daleko, Polska jeszcze dalej. Lecz fakt, że żyją i są razem dodawał im otuchy. Od tej pory byli farmerami, a życie i praca ze zwierzętami obfitowały w ciekawe i radosne wydarzenia. Czekało ich jednak mnóstwo ciężkiej pracy.

Stopniowo podłączono na farmie wodę i elektryczność. Dom nadawał się już do zamieszkania. Trzeba było otynkować i wzmocnić zaprawą ściany, wstawić nowe okna. Po gruntownym remoncie dom przemienił się w zaciszne, przytulne gniazdko.

Trzeba było znaleźć córce nową szkołę. Rodzice umówili się na rozmowę z dyrekcją liceum w Lampeter. Wyjaśniono im, że najodpowiedniejszą szkołą dla Wiesławy będzie County Grammar w Llandysul. Pan dyrektor Edgar Davies okazał dużo

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pomocy i zaangażowania w karierę szkolną Wiesławy. Jej marzeniem było powrócić do Szkocji i podjąć studia na Uniwersytecie w Edynburgu. Już w następnym roku zdała egzaminy końcowe (Higher Leaving Certificate of the Welsh Education Authority), a w październiku 1950 r. rozpoczęła naukę na wymarzonej uczelni.

Na farmie codziennymi zajęciami było dojenie krów oraz karmienie kur, świń, kotów i psów. Ręczne dojenie było bardzo ciężką fizyczną pracą. Nieco później pojawiła się automatyczna dojarka, która ulżyła obolałym dłoniom i nadgarstkom. Mięso było drogie, ale dostarczały go w dużej ilości chwytane króliki, które stanowiły prawdziwą plagę okolicznych pól. Nawet psy miały ucztę. W gospodarstwie znajdowały się dwa ogrody warzywne, w których rosły cebula, marchew, groszek, kapusta i najróżniejsze zioła. Hodowali też owoce, takie jak jabłka, czarne porzeczki czy agrest, a olbrzymie śliwy dawały dość owoców, żeby robić powidła, które później sprzedawali w miejscowym sklepiku. Mieli także pole (o powierzchni jakichś 3 akrów), gdzie sadzili ziemniaki. Część zatrzymywali dla siebie, a resztę sprzedawali na targu. Janina była wyśmienitą kucharką i ogrodniczką – wspaniałe połączenie. Józefowi i Janinie nie powodziłoby się tak dobrze na farmie bez niestrudzonej pomocy sąsiadów: Jacka Thomasa z Derlwyn, rodziny Evansów z Pempompren, a zwłaszcza synów państwa Daviesów z Blaencaerneuadd (Blaen Caerneuadd). Wnuczęta Józefa i Janiny do dziś wspominają długie, szczęśliwe dni ciężkiej pracy przy sianokosach i wykocie owiec.

Józef i jego córka Wiesława byli sobie bardzo bliscy i przez cały okres studiów córka przyjeżdżała na letnie wakacje, by pracować przy boku ojca, wdychając świeże, górskie powietrze.

Każdej niedzieli rodzina chodziła na mszę do niewielkiego katolickiego kościółka w Lampeter. Mszę odprawiał polski ksiądz, a farmerzy z Polski wypełniali kościół po brzegi. Czuli za to ogromną wdzięczność, a modlitwa w ojczystym języku pomagała im w religijnych rozmyślaniach i utrzymywaniu bliskiej relacji z Bogiem. Po kościele farmerzy zbierali się na pogawędki i dzielili wiedzą oraz doświadczeniami zdobytymi na farmie. Czasami zapraszali się do domów na obiad. Polska społeczność zakupiła w Lampeter dom parafialny, który stał się centralnym miejscem spotkań polskich emigrantów. Niedziela była szczególnym dniem dla Józefa i jego rodziny. Zawsze długo i starannie przygotowywali się do

wyjścia na mszę, starając się o odświętny wygląd w tym jedynym dniu tygodnia, kiedy opuszczali farmę.

W tamtym okresie, ponieważ wciąż byli obywatelami polskimi, raz w miesiącu musieli meldować się na posterunku policji. Na Wielkanoc 1950 r. zostali przesłuchani na posterunku w Pencadaer przez urzędników Ministerstwa Spraw Wewnętrznych, którzy specjalnie w tym celu przybyli do Walii. Zadawali najróżniejsze pytania i Józef zaczął się martwić o przyszłość rodziny w Wielkiej Brytanii. Koniec końców obawy okazały się płonne, gdyż w 1951 r. wraz z żoną otrzymał obywatelstwo brytyjskie.

Córka Józefa ukończyła studia, a 10 lipca 1954 r. wzięła ślub w katolickim kościele w Lampeter. Wyszła za pochodzącego z Poznania Janusza Jóźwiaka. Poznali się na uniwersytecie w Edynburgu. Wesele odbyło się w Castle Hotel w Lampeter. Zgodnie z walijską tradycją jeden z sąsiadów wystrzelił w powietrze na pożegnanie młodej pary udającej się w podróż poślubną. Józef i Janina życzyli sobie, aby ich córka poślubiła Polaka i katolika.

Rok później, 24 listopada 1955 r., Józef został dziadkiem małej Suzanne. Janina pojechała pomagać Wiesławie, gdyż w tym czasie ich zięć bardzo poważnie zachorował i leżał w szpitalu. Janina musiała zostać z córką, podczas gdy Józef zajmował się gospodarstwem. Był to dla rodziny trudny okres. 14 stycznia Janina wróciła do Cefncoed-uchaf.

Rankiem 16 stycznia 1956 r. Józef jak zwykle wydoił krowy i ładował bańki z mlekiem na traktor, aby zawieźć je na stragan na głównej ulicy. Przy drodze nagle zasłabł i zmarł na zawał serca, nigdy nie ujrzawszy swojej wnuczki.

Pochowano go na cmentarzu Capel Nonni w Llanllwni, gdzie spoczywa do dziś. Jego żonę, Janinę (1907-1995) i córkę, Wiesławę (1930-2008) złożono w ukochanej Polsce.

Wnuczki Józefa, Suzanne i Yvonka, pragnęłyby podziękować mieszkańcom Llanllwni za ich uprzejmość i przyjaźń okazaną rodzinie. Zawsze będą ciepło wspominać wakacje spędzone na przepięknej walijskiej wsi.

Suzanne Galvin i Yvonka Wilkinson

marzec 2010 r.

tłumaczenie: Marta Klonowska

Mary Eleanor Hardy (1873-1960)Mary Eleanor Hardy was born in Peniel in 1873 and was brought to Teifi Hill, Llanllwni on horseback by her father to live with her ‘Auntie Rees’ whose husband had died not long before. Auntie Rees was her mother’s sister and she later legally adopted Mary Eleanor. When she died in 1960 she was the last surviving sister of the Welsh Field Hospital in South Africa during the Boar War.

Mary Eleanor trained at Manchester Royal Infirmary and in 1900 she went to South Africa with The Welsh Hospital as theatre sister to the late Professor Tom Jones of Derlwyn, Alltwalis and of the Manchester Royal Infirmary. Professor Tom Jones was my father’s great uncle. Later when the Welsh Field Hospital was disbanded because of exceedingly heavy casualties, Mrs Hardy became a member of the Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service and served in tented hospitals the length and breadth of South Africa.

Her experiences were many and varied and her letters are in Teifi Hill. She personally nursed Prince Albert of Connaught, a grandson of Queen Victoria, who when he was invalided left his polo pony called ‘Intelligence’ as a personal gift to Sister Rose as she was known by her patients.

In 1906 she returned to this country and served at Shorncliffe and in southern Ireland, a posting she enjoyed immensely as she was an intrepid horsewoman and at the Curragh camp she had every facility to enjoy the sport.

In 1909 she was seconded to the Colonial Service and was posted to the British Hospital Tiensin, North China. She made the journey to Tiensin on the Trans-Siberian Railway unescorted. In those days it took three weeks. Again all her letters are treasured possessions of her grandson.

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Ganed Mary Eleanor Hardy ym Mheniel yn 1873 a daethpwyd â hi ar gefn ceffyl ei thad i fyw yn Teifi Hill, Llanllwni gyda chwaer ei mam, ‘Auntie Rees’ a oedd newydd golli ei g[r. A hithau’n ferch ifanc, cafodd Mary Eleanor ei mabwysiadu’n gyfreithlon gan Auntie Rees. Pan fu farw Mary Eleanor yn 1960, collwyd y chwaer nyrsio ddiwethaf i wasanaethu gyda’r Ysbyty Maes Gymreig yn Ne Affrica yn ystod Rhyfel y Boeriaid.

Cafodd Mary Eleanor ei hyfforddi yn Ysbyty Brenhinol Manceinion ac yn 1900 aeth i Dde Affrica gyda’r Ysbyty Gymreig yn oruchwilwraig theatr i’r Athro Tom Jones, Derlwyn, Alltwalis. Roedd Tom Jones yn Athro yn Ysbyty Brenhinol Manceinion ac roedd yn hen ewythr i’m tad! Pan ddiddymwyd yr Ysbyty Maes Gymreig yn dilyn colledion dybryd, ymunodd Mrs Hardy â Gwasanaeth Nyrsio Milwrol y Frenhines Alexandra gan wasanaethu mewn amryw ysbytai pebyll ar draws De Affrica.

Cafodd llawer o brofiadau diddorol ac amrywiol ac mae ei llythyrau yn dal ym meddiant y teulu. Bu’n nyrsio’r Tywysog Albert o Connaught, un o wyrion y Frenhines Fictoria, a phan ddaeth adref rhoddodd ei geffyl polo ‘Intelligence’ yn anrheg personol i‘r Chwaer Rose, sef yr enw a roddwyd i Mary Eleanor gan y cleifion dan ei gofal.

Yn 1906 dychwelodd i Brydain a gwasanaethodd yn Shorncliffe ac yn ne Iwerddon. Roedd wrth ei bodd yno gan ei bod yn dra medrus yn trin ceffyl ac yng ngwersyll Curragh roedd pob cyfle i fwynhau marchogaeth.

Yn 1909 cafodd ei symud i’r Gwasanaeth Trefedigaethol ac i’r Ysbyty Prydeinig yn Tiensin, gogledd China. Teithiodd i Tiensin ar Reiffordd

Traws-Siberia ar ei phen ei hun, taith o dair wythnos yr adeg honno. Mae’r llythyron a ysgrifennodd yn y cyfnod

hwn wedi’u diogelu gan y teulu.

Yn China cafodd anturiaethau lu gan deithio ar sawl achlysur i gefn gwlad

talaith Hopeh i nyrsio cymunedau o fwynwyr o Brydain. Bu’n lletya amryw

o droeon gyda chenhadon o Gymru ac mae ei llythyron o’r cyfnod

hwn yn cyfeirio’n deimladwy iawn at blant y brodorion yn

canu emyn donau megis ‘Calon Lân’.

Yn 1910 priododd Mary Eleanor â Walter Hardy yn Eglwys yr Holl Saint, Tiensin a buont yn byw yn China tan iddynt ymddeol yn 1922. Wedi ymddeol buont yn byw yn Haberfield Hall, Eastern-in-Gordano, Gwlad yr Haf. Yn 1912 roedd Walter Hardy yn awyddus i fynd ar fordaith gyntaf y Titanic, ond mynnai fy mamgu fod modd suddo pob llong. Penderfynodd Hardy ar fordaith ar long arall, llong a aeth i achub rhai o’r rheini a oedd ar fwrdd y Titanic.

Bu farw Walter Hardy yn sydyn, yn 1925 a bu ei weddw’n byw am rai blynyddoedd yn Wimbleton cyn dychwelyd i Teifi Hill yn 1939. Yma y treuliodd yn ddedwydd yr un mlynedd ar hugain olaf o’i bywyd rhyfeddol.

Mary Eleanor Hardy (1873-1960)

In China she had many adventures and made several journeys into the interior of Hopeh Province to nurse isolated British mining communities. On several occasions she stayed with Welsh Upcountry missionaries and heard Chinese children singing hymns to the grand old Welsh tunes such as Calon Lân. This moved her greatly and she writes very touchingly about these occasions.

In 1910 she married Walter Hardy at All Saints Church, Tiensin and lived in China until they retired in 1922. In retirement they lived in Haberfield Hall, Eastern-in-Gordano, Somerset. Walter Hardy looked to go on the maiden voyage of the Titanic in 1912, but my grandmother said that no ship was unsinkable, so he rebooked on another ship, a ship which went to rescue

some of the survivors of the Titanic.

After her husband’s sudden death in 1925 Mrs Hardy lived in Wimbelton for many years before returning home to Teifi Hill in 1939 where she happily spent the last 21 years of her long amazing life.

P H Hector Jones

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Clerigwr Methodistaidd, Angel Llan-gan

Ganed David Jones 10 Gorffennaf 1736 yn Aberceiliog, Llanllwni, mab Richard a Gwenllian Jones. Amcan ei rieni oedd bod David yn dilyn ei dad ar y fferm a’i frawd h]n yn mynd i’r offeiriadaeth. Nid felly y bu pethau: yn ôl yr hanes syrthiodd David i badellaid o laeth berwedig a bu ei fywyd yn y fantol am rai misoedd. Cymerodd ei frawd at y fferm ac aeth David i’r offeiriadaeth. Roedd ei dadcu (tad ei fam) yn fab i Edward Jones, ficer Llandysul a’i famgu yn Iddewes gyfoethog a roddodd enedigaeth i 24 o blant!

Cafodd David Jones ei addysg yn ysgol ramadeg Caerfyrddin a’i ordeino’n ddiacon gan esgob Tyddewi yn 1758. Bu’n gurad yn Nhydweiliog, Ll]n yn 1758-59; gwasanaethodd yn Llanafan-fawr, Sir Frycheiniog 1759-60. Ordeiniwyd ef yn offeiriad yn 1760 a cheir ef yn gurad Trefddyn (Trevethin) a Caldicot, Sir Fynwy, y flwyddyn honno.

Ymadawodd â Threfddyn a symud i blwyf gerllaw Bryste a mynd oddi yno i Crudwell, Wiltshire, yn 1764. Yn Crudwell cyflwynwyd ef i Selina, Iarlles Huntingdon, ac yn 1767 gyda’i chymorth hi cafodd fywoliaeth Llan-gan yn Sir Forgannwg. Bu’n gyfaill agos i Iarlles Huntingdon, un o bobl flaenllaw’r mudiad efengylaidd yn Lloegr, weddill ei bywyd; daeth yn un o’i chaplaniaid a phregethodd yn ei hangladd yn 1791, ac yntau erbyn hynny yn un o bregethwyr mwyaf blaenllaw’r mudiad efengylaidd. Roedd David Jones yn un o sylfaenwyr y London Missionary Society ac yn gefnogwr i’r Church Missionary Society ac i Gymdeithas y Beibl.

Ar Ddydd Calan 1771 priododd David Jones â Sinah Bowen, un o ferched Thomas a Mary Bowen, Waunifor (bu Sinah farw yn 1792 yn 60 oed).

Gwasanaethodd David Jones yn Llan-gan ac ym mhlwyf cyfagos Eglwys Fair y Mynydd (St Mary Hill), o 1767 tan ei farw yn 1810 - cyfnod o 43 o flynyddoedd. Er mai rhyw 500 oedd poblogaeth y ddau blwyf yn y cyfnod hwnnw, tyrrai miloedd i’r cymun misol yn Llan-gan i wrando arno’n pregethu ac i dderbyn cymun ganddo.

Yn ôl llygad-dyst i bregethu David Jones:

‘The church was so crowded, that to find a seat was out of the question. All eyes were earnestly fixed upon Jones, as a messenger come from God. I see him now … in his gown, with his fine commanding countenance, and drops of perspiration, and sometimes the trickling tear, running down his face, commending most earnestly Jesus Christ to the chief of sinners, but telling them at the same time to go and sin no more. And with such reverence did he speak of the love and sufferings of Christ and how sublime was his language. Oh, how dignified and noble was his countenance when bathed with tears as was often the case with him in the pulpit.’

Bob mis Awst cynhelid Ffair Geffylau ger Eglwys Fair y Mynydd. Parhaodd ar yr un safle tan 50au’r ganrif ddiwethaf. Coffeir y ffair gan lechen ar y safle.Roedd y ffair yn lle garw a pheryglus a nodweddid gan feddwi ac ymladd. Ond byddai David Jones yn mynd yno i bregethu. Roedd nai David Jones yn dyst i’w bregeth gyntaf ar y mynydd:

It was at St Mary’s Hill - Mr Jones undertook to preach and his text was “For the great day of His wrath is come. Who shall be able to stand?” Rev. 6:17. Great numbers were converted that day and he preached there annually afterwards to expectant crowds for 30 years. Amongst some who went up

to that fair where my uncle preached was a gentleman who lived in a country mansion called Collennau, Tonyrefail. His name was Evan Pritchard Esq. He and his wife were greatly affected that day by that sermon; and his wife was, as it were, captured by the king’s summons in that place. She forgot her station in life, and felt that her position counted as nothing and held no security for her, and that she possessed no saving grace before God.’

Erbyn 1775 gorfododd y tyrfaoedd a ddenid i Lan-gan i David Jones fynd ati i godi arian i godi capel ym Mhencoed gerllaw. Daeth Salem Pencoed yn ganolbwynt Methodistiaeth ym Mro Morgannwg ac yno y claddwyd ei wraig gyntaf Sinah.

Cafodd David Jones a Sinah dri o blant: Maria, Daniel a David Bowen Jones. Priododd Maria â Richard Llewellyn o Tremains, Coety. Cawsant fab Lewellin Llewellyn (1798-1878) a ddaeth yn brifathro Coleg Dewi Sant, Llanbedr Pont Steffan a Deon Eglwys Gadeiriol Tyddewi. Aeth Daniel i fusnes ym Mhen-y-bont ar Ogwr, ond ni lewyrchodd y busnes. Aeth David i’r offeiriadaeth ac wedi cyfnod fel curad i’w dad yn Llan-gan, daeth yn rheithor Cilgerran, Sir Benfro.

Ail wraig David Jones oedd y weddw gyfoethog, Mrs. Mary Bowen Parry, Manorowen, Sir Benfro. Ar ôl yr ail briodas,

David Jones (1736-1810)

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rhannai David Jones ei amser rhwng Morgannwg a Phenfro. Disgrifiwyd ef gan un a deithiodd yn yr un cerbyd yn:

jolly companion who smoked his pipe and took his beer as if he had served in the navy’.

Ceir cofnod diddorol am laniad y Ffrancod yn ei ddyddiadur 23 Chwefror 1797:

Heard at Llanddarog on my way to Manorowen that the French had landed at Pen-car near Fishguard and therefore traveled all that night and the next day the 24th found that there were 1200-1400 of them in the parish of Llanwnda with arms and ammunition, most of them in a camp at Trehowell farm, but being panic struck in the afternoon, they came in two divisions to Goodwick sands and surrendered to a small number of Militia and country people convened there by Lord Cawdor and others. ‘Blessed be God for this seasonal deliverance’.

Feb. 24th. Arrived at 9 a.m. in the morning. 4 p.m. Saw the French surrender.

Cadwyd rhai o’r Ffrancod yn Eglwys Manorowen tan y gallwyd eu symud i garchar y sir. Cynhaliodd David Jones wasanaeth o ddiolchgarwch yn eglwys Manorowen wedi i’r Ffrancod ildio ac awgrymodd goffáu’r achlysur yn flynyddol ar draeth Wdig.

Bu David Jones farw ym Manorowen, 12 Awst 1810 a’i gladdu ym mynwent yr eglwys.

Roedd David Jones wedi dechrau ymwneud â’r Methodistiaid pan oedd yn Sir Fynwy, a daeth yn [r blaenllaw yn eu plith ar ôl iddo ymsefydlu yn Llan-gan. Daeth Llan-gan yn gyrchfan poblogaidd gan Fethodistiaid Morgannwg; heidient yno wrth y cannoedd i gymuno. Achwynwyd ddwywaith yn ei erbyn i esgobion Llandaf gan glerigwyr cenfigennus.

Er bod David Jones yn Fethodist brwd trwy ei oes, ymlynodd yn ffyddlon wrth yr Eglwys wladol. Roedd yn bregethwr melys iawn; yn ôl William Williams. Pantycelyn ‘medrai doddi’r cerrig â’i ireidd-dra a gwneuthur i’r derw mwyaf caled blygu’n ystwyth fel y brwyn.’ Cyfeiria Pantycelyn ato fel ‘Dafydd onest o Lan-gan’. Teithiai Gymru benbaladr yn pregethu yng nghyfarfodydd y Methodistiaid. Roedd

y teithiau pregethu’n parhau am ryw chwe wythnos a phregethai dair neu bedair gwaith bob dydd. Ar un achlysur pregethodd 42 gwaith mewn 25 diwrnod.Ceir cyfeiriad ato mewn marwnad gan Williams Pantycelyn i Mrs Grace Price o’r Watford:

Yn Llan-gan o dan y pulpud.Roedd ei hysbryd, roedd ei thre’,Tra fai Dafydd yno’n chwareu‘N beraidd ar delynau’r ne’...Iesu’r text a Iesu’r bregeth,Iesu’r ddeddf, a Iesu’r ffydd, –Meddai Jones, a hithau’n ateb, –Felly mae, a felly bydd.

Cyfeiriwyd ato’n aml fel ‘angel Llan-gan’. Cyfarfu Richard Fenton (1747-1821), y bardd a’r awdur, ag ef am y tro cyntaf ar y goets fawr ar daith i Sir Benfro. Cofnododd:

‘The other traveler in the coach turned out to be one of the most eminent Methodist preachers in the principality...His whole appearance was such, as inclined me to think that he did not lack the good things of this world, or forebore to make use of them, for a mistaken notion that they obstructed his passage to the next...At Tavernspite, we changed horses and alighted for a few minutes. They crowded round the preacher as if he was an angel dropped from heaven,

everybody knew him, and children plucked his coat to share the good man’s smile...I shall always remember him with a degree of affection.’

Cyhoeddodd David Jones ddau lyfryn: Llythyr oddi wrth Dafydd ab Ioan y Pererin, at Ioan ab Gwilim (Trefeca, 1784) A Funeral Sermon … of the Late Countess Dowager of Huntingdon (Llundain, 1791).

Gwybodaeth Bellach/Further reading:

• Y Bywgraffiadur Cymreig hyd 1940 (1953) Anrhydeddus Gymdeithas y Cymmrodorion.• Davies, Aneirin Talfan (1976) Bro Morgannwg Cyfrol 2, Christopher Davies.• Higham, R Brian (1995) Rev David Jones: The Angel of Llangan [S.n.]• Higham, R Brian (2010) Yr Angel o Langan Y Cylchgrawn Efengylaidd.• Jones, Francis (2004) Historic Cardiganshire Homes, Brawdy Books.• www.pembrokeshirevirtual museum.co.uk• www.emw.org.uk/magazine/ 2010/12/the-angel-of-llan-gan

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Methodist cleric and ‘Angel of Llan-gan’

David Jones was born on 10 July 1736 in Aberceiliog, Llanllwni, son of Richard and Gwenllian Jones. It was intended that David would follow his father on the farm and that his older brother would enter the ministry. But that was not to be. According to local tradition, David fell into a cauldron of boiling milk and his life was in jeopardy for several months. His brother took over the farm and David entered the ministry. His maternal grandfather was the son of Edward Jones, vicar of Llandysul and his grandmother was a rich Jewess who gave birth to 24 children!

David Jones was educated at Carmarthen Grammar School and ordained deacon by the bishop of St Davids in 1758. He was curate at Tudweiliog, Ll]n 1758–59: he served at Llanafan–fawr, Breconshire 1759-60. He was ordained priest in 1760 and was curate of Trefddyn (Trevethin) and Caldicot, Monmouthshire in that year.

Leaving Trefddyn he moved to a parish near Bristol and from there to Crudwell, Wiltshire in 1764. At Crudwell he was acquainted with Selina, Countess of Huntingdon, and in 1767, with her support, he was given the living of Llan-gan in Glamorganshire. Lady Huntingdon was an important figure in the evangelical movement in England, and David Jones became a close friend of hers: he became one of her chaplains and preached at her funeral in 1791.

On New Year’s Day 1771 David Jones married Sinah Bowen, one of the daughters of Thomas and Mary Bowen, Waunifor, Maesycrugiau (Sinah died in 1792 aged 60).

David Jones served in Llan-gan and in the neighbouring parish of St Mary Hill (Llanfair y Mynydd), from 1767 until his death in 1810–a period of 43 years. Although the total population of the two parishes at that time was only about 500, thousands flocked to Llan-gan to listen to David Jones preaching and to take communion from him.

According to one eye-witness:

‘The church was so crowded, that to find a seat was out of the question. All eyes were earnestly fixed upon Jones, as a

messenger come from God. I see him now … in his gown, with his fine commanding countenance, and drops of perspiration, and sometimes the trickling tear, running down his face, commending most earnestly Jesus Christ to the chief of sinners, but telling them at the same time to go and sin no more. And with such reverence did he speak of the love and sufferings of Christ and how sublime was his language. Oh, how dignified and noble was his countenance when bathed with tears as was often the case with him in the pulpit.’

By 1775 the crowds who thronged to Llan-gan meant that David Jones had to raise funds to build a chapel in nearby Pencoed. Salem, Pencoed became the focus for Methodism in the Vale of Glamorgan.

Every August a Horse Fair was held near the church at St Mary Hill. The fair continued to be held at this site until the 50’s of the last century and is commemorated by a plaque.

The fair was a rough and dangerous place infamous for drunkeness and fighting. But David Jones would go there to preach and his nephew was witness to his first sermon on the mountain.

“It was at St Mary’s Hill - Mr Jones undertook to preach and his text was “For the great day of His wrath is come. Who shall be able to stand?” Rev. 6:17. Great numbers were converted that day and he preached there annually afterwards to expectant crowds for 30 years. Amongst some who went up to that fair where my uncle preached was a gentleman who lived in a country mansion called Collennau, Tonyrefail. His name was Evan Pritchard Esq. He and his wife were greatly affected that day by that sermon; and his wife was, as it were, captured by the king’s summons in that place. She forgot her station in life, and felt that her position counted as nothing and held no security for her, and that she possessed no saving grace before God.”

David Jones (1736-1810)

Cofeb Aberceiliog yn Eglwys Llanllwni Aberceiliog memorial

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David and Sinah had three children: Maria, Daniel and David Bowen Jones. Maria married Richard Llewellyn of Tremains, Coety. Their son Llewellin Llewellyn (1798–1878) became principal of St David’s College Lampeter and Dean of St David’s Cathedral.

Daniel went into business in Bridgend but was not successful. Later he entered the ministry and after a time as his father’s curate in Llan-gan, he became rector of Cilgerrran in Pembrokeshire.

David Jones’ second marriage was to a wealthy widow, Mrs Mary Bowen Parry, Manorowen, Pembrokeshire. After this second marriage, David Jones divided his time between Glamorgan and Pembrokeshire. A fellow traveller once described him as:

a jolly companion who smoked his pipe and took his beer as if he had served in the navy’.

There is an interesting record of the French landing in his diary on 23 February 1797:

Heard at Llanddarog on my way to Manorowen that the French had landed at Pen-car near Fishguard and therefore traveled all that night and the next day the 24th found that there were 1200-1400 of them in the parish of Llanwnda with arms and ammunition, most of them in a

camp at Trehowell farm, but being panic struck in the afternoon, they came in two divisions to Goodwick sands and surrendered to a small number of Militia and country people convened there by Lord Cawdor and others. ‘Blessed be God for this seasonal deliverance’.

Feb. 24th. Arrived at 9 a.m. in the morning. 4 p.m. Saw the French surrender.

Some of the French ‘invaders’ were kept prisoner in Manorowen Church until they could be transferred to the county jail.

David Jones held a service of thanksgiving in Manorowen church after the French surrendered and he suggested that the event should be commemorated annually on the shore at Gwdig. David Jones died at Manorowen, 12 August 1810 and is buried there in the churchyard.

David Jones first became involved with the Methodist cause during his time in Monmouthshire, and was one of their leading members after settling in Llan-gan. Twice complaints were made against him to

the bishops of Llandaff by clerics jealous of the fact that he attracted such a substantial following.

Although David Jones was a fervent Methodist throughout his life, he remained within the established church.

He was a powerful preacher; according to William Williams, Pantycelyn, ‘He could melt the stones with his mellifluence and cause the strongest oak to bend as though it was the weakest reed.’ Pantycelyn refers to him as ‘Honest David of Llan-gan’.David Jones travelled the length and breadth of Wales preaching at Methodist meetings. These journeys would last for six weeks or so and he would preach three or four times every day. On one occasion he preached 42 times in 25 days. There is a reference to him in an elegy by Pantycelyn to Mrs Grace Price of Watford, Glamorgan:

In Llan-gan beside the pulpit There her spirit, there her heaven,While David played so sweetly On the harps of heavenJesus the text, Jesus the sermon.Jesus the law and Jesus the faith,Said Jones, and she repliedSo it is and will always be.

David Jones was one of the founders of the London Missionary Society and a supporter of the Church Missionary Society and the Bible Society.

He was often referred to as ‘the angel of Llan-gan’. Richard Fenton (1747–1821) the poet and author, met Jones for the first time on a coach journey to Pembrokeshire. He wrote:

‘The other traveler in the coach turned out to be one of the most eminent Methodist preachers in the principality...His whole appearance was such, as inclined me to think that he did not lack the good things of this world, or forebore to make use of them, for a mistaken notion that they obstructed his passage to the next...At Tavernspite, we changed horses and alighted for a few minutes. They crowded round the preacher as if he was an angel dropped from heaven, everybody knew him, and children plucked his coat to share the good man’s smile...I shall always remember him with a degree of affection.’

Jones published two booklets:Llythyr oddi wrth Dafydd ab Ioan y Pererin, at Ioan ab Gwilim (Trefeca, 1784) A Funeral Sermon … of the Late Countess Dowager of Huntingdon (Llundain, 1791).

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Gwybodaeth bellach/Further information• Ysgrif Goffa/Obituary Carmarthen Journal 12.07.1891.

Cenhadwr yn New Mexico

Ganed Thomas Jones, mab Rees a Martha Jones, 24 Mehefin 1860. Bu farw’r tad, 27 Gorffennaf 1873 yn 43 oed a’r fam, 12 Mehefin 1875 yn 44 oed. Ni chafodd Thomas fawr o addysg gynnar a bu’n gwasanaethu ar amryw ffermydd lleol. Cafodd swydd clerc yn swyddfa’r Great Western Railway yng Nghaerfyrddin. Aeth oddi yno i Landysul cyn dychwelyd drachefn i Gaerfyrddin a symud yn fuan wedyn i’r brif swyddfa yn Llundain. Yno cafodd lwyddiant mawr ac achub ar y cyfle i gael addysg ffurfiol. Penodwyd ef i swydd gorsaf-feistr yn ne America ond torrodd ei iechyd a dychwelodd adref. Wedi adfer ei iechyd aeth yn ei ôl i Lundain, cael swydd ysgrifennydd gyda’r llywodraeth ac ymfudo i Ganada gan barhau â’i ddyletswyddau yno ar ran y llywodraeth. Arhosodd am gyfnod yng Nghanada cyn symud i New Mexico yn genhadwr. Bu yno am ryw dair blynedd a marw yn Santa Fe yn 31 oed ar 20 Mai 1891.

Mae Thomas Jones wedi ei gladdu yn Alberquerque, New Mexico, ond fe’i coffeir ar garreg fedd ei rieni a’i ddwy chwaer, Mary a Sarah, ym mynwent Eglwys Llanllwni. Roedd ganddo frawd, yn ogystal, Evan Jones, New Inn.

Thomas Jones, Glyn, New Inn

Missionary in New Mexico

Thomas Jones, son of Rees and Martha Jones, was born on 24 June 1860. His father died 27 July 1873 aged 43 and his mother on 12 June 1875, aged 44. Thomas received little formal education and worked on several farms in the area. He found a position as clerk with the Great Western Railway in Carmarthen.

He moved to Llandysul but returned to Carmarthen and was soon employed at the company head office in London. He was successful in the workplace and secured a formal education for himself. He was appointed to the post of station-master in south America but ill health forced him to return home. After a period of recuperation he returned to London and secured a secretarial position in a government office. He emigrated to Canada but continued to

be employed by the government. Following a period in Canada he went as a missionary to New Mexico. He was in New Mexico for a period of three years and died in Santa Fe aged 31 on 20 May 1891.

Thomas Jones was buried in Alberquerque, New Mexico, but is commemorated on the gravestone of his parents and two sisters in Llanllwni Church cemetery. His brother, Evan Jones, lived in New Inn

Thomas Jones, Glyn, New Inn

ddio pobl plwyf llanllwni people from the...

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