Mumbles in 1914: The Village they left behind By Carol Powell MA

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The Great War had started on 4^th August 1914 when King Wilhelm II, a grandson of Queen Victoria, invaded 'Little Belgium'. It was a conflict which, although far away, was to involve every family in Britain and beyond.

Many of our young village men went off to fight and the local newspaper, the Mumbles Press recorded on 6^th August that 'thirty reservists had already left for Devonport'. Among them were Captain Twomey, the Pier master; two sons of William Davies, the Lifeboat coxswain; two fishermen and Coastguard Service members, Joseph Hughes, W. Jones and G. Petley. By Christmas, two hundred and fifty men, some little more than boys, had gone and by January 1915, the number had risen to two hundred and sixty two, among them Constables Roberts, Griffiths and Hamen of the Mumbles Police Station. Six months later, nine Constables had enlisted, leaving Inspector Davies with only one Sergeant and four Officers to patrol the entire parish.

The Parish of Oystermouth at that time had a population of just over 6,100, 'governed' by the Oystermouth Urban District Council from its offices in Dunns Lane under the Chairmanship of John Harris. Arthur Lloyd Jones was Medical Officer of Health; W.P. Puddicombe, Surveyor and Sanitary Inspector; H.F. Maslen Rates Collecter; and James Bevan collected the Income Tax and Poor Rates.

The were two schools – the Headmaster of Oystermouth Council School was Luke Bessant with Sophia Beynon as Headmistress of its Infants department, John Clough was in charge at the Church School in Dunns Lane and John Phillips was the 'Boardman' (School Attendance Officer). Some children attended the numerous small private establishments.

The Centre had two main shopping streets – The Dunns, where there were shops on both sides of the road and Newton Road with shops on only one. The village abounded with family-owned shops such as butchers (e.g. Eley) Bakers (John Jones), Grocers (Taylors) Greengrocers (Sanders), Fishmongers (Andrews), Dairymen (Leaker), Ironmongers (Jenkins and Brick), Chemists (Lowther and Varley), Blacksmiths (Brayley), Saddler (Evans), Oyster dealers (Evans), Draper (Kemp), Coal Merchants (Bater) and Cab Proprietors, (Peachey and Vivian). There were many public Houses (John Evans of the Nag's Head and Philip Ace at The Beaufort at Southend). Edith Bransby had her office at the Servants Registry Office in Castleton. There were three Banks - The Capital and Counties with Manager Frederic Edwards and The London City and Midland with Charles Vivian both on Newton Road and The Metropolitan Bank of England in The Dunns, where Thomas Islay Young was in charge. There were many small shops, such as Ceaton's confectioner and newsagents; F. Foneford, watchmaker, Mrs Skinner, grocer and Esther Nixon, draper, all the way outalong to Southend and numerous small 'parlour shops' in the back streets.

The steam Mumbles Train called at Oystermuth Square, but cars were still a rarity. Lewis Hyman at the Oystermouth Cinematograph Theatre was showing the 'Latest and Best Pictures,' where seats cost 3d, 6d and 1/-, Tom Owen was entertaining the crowds at his Promenade Picture Hall and Melville Clare, a local photographer, was busy recording everyday village scenes, as well as historic ones (see above) for posterity,

This, then was the village the men knew and had to leave behind and for one hundred and thirteen of them, there would be no return.

THE VILLAGE REMEMBERS THEM

Rolls of Honour

1914-1918

Acknowledgements

Powell, C., Once Upon a Village, 1996

Powell, C., Law and Postal Order, 2014

Kelly's Directory, 1914