July 2011 Archives

The latest edition of "Gwreiddiau Gwynedd" or "Gwynedd Roots" came more than three months ago but at the time I only had time to glance through it and read a few items and it was only when I went on holiday in early June that I had time to read it properly. As I've mentioned previously this bi-annual journal of the Gwynedd FHS is a substantial A4 sized 64 page publication full of interesting articles and items of information.

Each edition has a section on one specific area of Gwynedd and this time it is Ardudwy which is the area on the western side of Meirionydd. 24 pages are devoted to 11 substantial articles on families from this area together with a number of shorter items of interest. There are 10 other substantial articles together with numerous shorter items in the remainder of the journal. It's impossible to mention all of these but I'll mention a few of more general interest.

T Meirion Hughes, Caernarfon's local historian, has an interesting article of general interest on the visit to Gwynedd in 1904 of Buffolo Bill with 800 performers in his Wild West Show. There were performances in Llandudno, Holyhead, Caernarfon, Porthmadog and Dolgellau and Meirion gives some of the highlights of the show in Caernarfon culminating in "Custer's Last Stand" - the like of which had not been seen in Caernarfon before or since.

Each issue contains requests from people for information about their ancestors and this time there are three such pages. There's also an interesting article by Gwawr Jones describing how she read one such request in the journal in 1992 and realised that there could be some answers in some of her father's papers. She describes how she helped the enquirer and how she, in return, received a wonderful story about an emigration from Anglesey to the USA. The lesson here is that you should use every possible avenue to make enquiries to try to remove the brick walls that you meet in your research and the other side of the coin is that helping someone can be very rewarding.

Last February we in the Arfon Brach of the Gwynedd FHS heard a really interesting talk by Dilwyn Grey-Williams on the architect John Lloyd (1793-1867) who was responsible for so many important buildings in Caernarfon. Dilwyn has written an excellent article on John Lloyd and his work including a list of all the buildings that can be attributed to him. In his talk he showed numerous photos but with the best will in the world it is not possible to include too many photos in the journal. I was therefore delighted that photos of eight buildings had been shown with the article.

The Society's President, Dafydd Wigley, gives his first contribution since his elevation to the Lords as Baron Wigley of Caernarfon. He makes the point that he is pleased to have been able to include "Caernarfon" in his title as that was the constituency that he represented in Parliament for 27 years. But since May, following boundary reorganisation, the name "Caernarfon" has disappeared from Parliament for the first time in over 500 years.

Dafydd also discusses the possibility of holding a "Year of Home-coming" for people of Welsh descent from around the world in 1915. He suggests that the idea could be extended over a longer period so that each year could be designated for people of a specific Welsh surname. This is certainly an idea that merits consideration and I'll be interested to see how it develops.

The journal also includes an 8 page insert giving details of all the Society's publication. These can also be seen on the website given below.

National Eisteddfod, Wrexham, 30 July - 6 August
The Clwyd FHS, with assistance from some members from Gwynedd FHS, will have a stand at the National Eisteddfod, starting tomorrow, where many of its publications will be available. This is an excellent opportunity to come to talk with experienced family historians. Those who are new to family history research will get good guidance on how to get started and find out the help that is available. The experienced ones can exchange experiences and probably pick up some new ideas. Members of the Denbighshire Historical Society will also be present.

There are usually a number of second hand bookstalls at the Eisteddfod and I've found it valuable to have a good look at these. I've picked up some very interesting out of print publications which were relevant to my family history research at these stalls in the past.

Gwynedd Family History Society, www.gwyneddfhs.org.uk
Meetings start again in September

Clwyd Family History Society, www.clwydfhs.org.uk The meetings are held on the second Saturday of each month (except August) at 2.00 pm at locations that rotate within the former county of Clwyd.

In the last blog I concentrated on cricket but in his comments on Blog No 58 Hywyn also gave details of another person from Colwyn Bay who had joined the Liverpool Scottish Regiment. I have a problem in that I'm not able to respond directly to people who sent comments. However, I recognised Hywyn as one of the regular contributors to the Caernarvonshire Rootsweb List. I wrote about the Rootsweb lists in Blogs No 36 and 37 as a very useful way of getting information and making contacts. When I see a message on these lists which contains a reference to a source which is, or could be, of interest then I usually save it. I went to this file and found that I had saved one of Hywyn's messages and so found his email and was able to make contact.

Hywyn has taken an interest in Caernarvonshire men in WW1 and, starting with the names on the war memorial in his home village of Deiniolen, has done an enormous amount of research over the past ten years and has created files on men from the Caernarvonshire parishes between Aber and Llanllyfni. If you have some unanswered questions about someone from these parishes in Caernarvonshire who was in WW1 then it's worth sending a question through the Caernarvonshire Rootsweb List and it's possible that Hywyn may be able to provide an answer or some guidance as to how to search further.

Hywyn gave a reference to a Hugh Hughes who was also from Colwyn Bay - a Wine and Spirit Merchant aged 25 living with his aunt, Ellen Price, at 57 Park Road, Colwyn Bay. He joined the Liverpool Scottish Regiment on 29 November 1915, eight days after Tom joined on 21 November. Hugh, like Tom, was also taken prisoner during the Battle of Cambrai on 30 November 1917. However, they were taken to different POW camps, Tom to Minden and Hugh to Munster and later Hugh was transferred to Parchim.

It's likely that Hugh and Tom were friends in Colwyn Bay before they both joined the Regiment but there is no mention of any friends on the post cards he sent. They could well have been mention in the letters (which I know he sent) but none of the letters have survived. There are a number of photos with no names on them. These would have been photos of people he knew well and he didn't feel the need to include any names - an attitude that has caused us great puzzlement for us so many years later!

I show one photo of a soldier in a kilt with no name on it. Could this be Hugh Hughes? This person looks very much like a man in another of Tom's photos taken in Colwyn Bay before the war. I'm very grateful to Hywyn for his comments and for the information he gave me about his research.

In Blog No 58 I showed photos of players from the Colwyn Bay Light Opera Company from 1920 and 1927. In the latest edition of Gwynedd Roots I saw news from the Conwy Archives saying that the records of The Operatic Players, Colwyn Bay (1928 to 2000) have recently been deposited in the archives. The photos that I have are before 1928 and I don't know whether the Colwyn Bay Light Opera Company was a forerunner of The Operatic Players. Anyone interested should go to the Archives in the Old Board School, Lloyd Street, Llandudno (01492 577550) and you're likely to find some interesting documents and photos.

It was a joyous day last Thursday when another milestone in my family history was created with the birth of my third grandchild. He is Calan Wyn and is a brother to Cara and Seán.

I'm affraid I'm having difficulties putting up photos again. If you wish to see the photo please right click on the icon in the space and the photo will appear in a new screen.

Gwynedd Family History Society, www.gwynedd.fhs.org.uk
Meetings start again in September

Clwyd Family History Society, www.clwydfhs.org.uk
The meetings are held on the second Saturday of each month (except August) at 2.00 pm at locations that rotate within the former county of Clwyd.
Meetings start again in September.

Last time I asked if Sidney Barnes had played cricket for Colwyn Bay and in less than 24 hours came the response from Hywyn Williams who gave the reference to the website: http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Articles/0/826.html
When I clicked on this I found an article giving a brief history of the cricket ground at Penrhyn Avenue, Rhos on Sea founded in 1924. The article said that "the legendary Sidney Barnes lived in the area and acted as a coach in the nets in the late 1920". So here was confirmation that Barnes lived in the area so Tom could have met him at the cricket ground or Barnes could have brought a suit from Tom at H R Davies!

I found the article really interesting and it reminded me of the Wilf Wooller connection and learned that his father was one of the people who founded the ground. I then started to explore the remainder of the website and found it to be full of incredibly detailed cricketing information. You can search for players, teams, grounds etc. I put in a search for S F Barnes and up came a list of over 400 matches in which he had played between 1894 and 1935 with a final match, North Wales versus an Empire XI, in 1942 at the age of 69!

Barnes played for North Wales a number of times including a match against South Africa in 1924 at Llandudno. He played for Wales 9 times including matches at Llandudno against New Zealand in 1927 and the West Indies in 1928; against South Africa in 1929 at Rydal School and against the Minor Counties at Rhos on Sea in 1930.

When I was a teenager I played and had a keen interest in cricket and I mentioned in the last blog of the interesting matches I'd seen at Rhos on Sea. I think that my interest was sparked by the exciting West Indies tour in 1950. As a youngster my holidays involved staying with both sets of grandparents and my father's sister in Liverpool, all of which I thoroughly enjoyed. In 1951, however, my father drove us in an old Ford Prefect to stay with my mother's cousin living on the southern outskirts of London. I remember that we travelled through the night stopping for a few hours' sleep in the car on the roadside somewhere around Worcester. The main purpose was to visit the Festival of Britain, which I thoroughly enjoyed, but my father also took me to see a Test Match at the Oval against the South African tourists.

The day started with South Africa 68 for 3 and they were all out for 154 leaving England needing 163 to win. I was looking forward to see the giants, Len Hutton and Dennis Compton, and newcomer Peter May. Hutton reached 27 only to be given out "obstructing the field". This is a very rare means of dismissal and this occasion was the only time that a batsman has been given out in this way in a Test match. Peter May came in and was out first ball! Compton made only 18 but Freddie Brown made 40 and England reached 164 for 6 to win by 4 wickets. I hadn't seen any big scores but I had seen a Test Match and I'd witnessed the most unusual dismissal of Len Hutton.

As I said in the last blog I saw some wonderful matches at Rhos ground later in the 1950s and I also remember going to see a Test Match at Old Trafford in the late 50s. When I worked in Leeds during 1965/66 I remember going to see a Test at Headingley and that was the last cricket match that I saw. Despite working in London for the next 8 years I didn't go to any cricket matches - my interest in cricket had clearly waned.

To anyone with an interest in cricket, this website is absolutely wonderful and will keep you occupied for days, weeks or even months.

Gwynedd Family History Society, www.gwynedd.fhs.org.uk
Meetings start again in September

Clwyd Family History Society, www.clwydfhs.org.uk

The meetings are held on the second Saturday of each month (except August) at 2.00 pm at locations that rotate within the former county of Clwyd. The next meeting is as follows:

Saturday 9 July 2011 Summer Outing (12.30 to 4.00pm) to Garthewin, Llanfair Talaearn.