My Oystermouth Family

I never knew my grandfather ELEY; his life was cut short by the intervention of the Great War. He left Oystermouth in 1914, went to war alongside his cousins and friends, joined the Royal Garrison Artillery, was gassed, contracted trench fever, held in the army of occupation until 1919, to return to his father’s butcher shop in the Dunns a broken man. William David ELEY died on Saturday 7th January 1922 and following a large funeral on the following Thursday, was laid to rest in Oystermouth cemetery. His devotion to duty in the defence of his county was lost in time, a victim who died as a consequence of war, but not within its time boundary, not recorded on any war memorial, but truly loved in the hearts of those he left behind.

William David ELEY was 37 years of age when he died, it is said he was a good and kindly man, for some years the Secretary of the Mumbles Bird Fancier’s Society, he had played rugby football in the village and worshipped at All Saint’s Parish Church. Here on the 22nd July 1906 he gave a talk to the men’s Bible class entitled ‘Reminiscences of a Sunday in Canada’ following a visit to that country during the preceding month. He left a wife and four young children (three boys and one girl), the youngest of which was my father, George Cadman ELEY, aged seven years. My Aunt remembers the days following his return to Oystermouth, playing in the yard at the rear of the shop. She recalls seeing his sad face looking out from the upstairs window at the children playing below. He was not able to come down, remaining for the most part confined to his bed.

William David’s father was John ELEY, a native of Blaenavon, Monmouthshire who moved with other members of the family to Swansea. Just what were the circumstances that lead them to settle in the area I cannot accurately explain. The families in Monmouthshire were Farmers, Butchers and Landowners with a flair for business, which included owing large numbers of horses for pulling barges down the canal bringing coal to Newport. Their moving from the Eastern valleys coincided with the Acts of Parliament that allowed rail tracks to be laid and steam trains to operate vastly reducing both the time and the cost of transportation. Perhaps this was the answer.

The earliest recorded ELEY in Mumbles was David, recorded in Carol Powell’s book, Inklemakers (local dialect for ‘busy people’) in 1880 as being paid £30 per annum to keep the streets clean. We have no record of his address nor where he fits into the story, as the only David ELEY at that time was John’s father. This would have put him in his 60’s at the time of the reference. The majority of the ELEY family set up their business in High Street, Swansea, however, it may be that it was David who started the connection that was to bring the family to Oystermouth.

The 1881 census shows John’s Mother, Priscilla (nee Cadman) as the head of the family with two of his brothers residing at number 23 High Street. John, himself residing in the Butchers shop in the Dunns with his sister Annie Southall ELEY as manager of the shop. Annie married Alfred JENKINS whose father owned land around the Langland bay; ‘goodly portion’, which includes the Osborne Hotel, which Annie continued to run after Alfred’s death. They had no children. Annie’s marriage lead to John taking over the management of the shop and his name was to be immortalised shortly after when it was painted high on the side of the shop, clearly visible to all entering Oystermouth from Swansea by road or Mumbles train.

Just how John met his future wife, we do not know but Rosa Ann MORRIS, the daughter and second of three children of William MORRIS, Butcher of Southend, became Mrs ELEY on the 21 January 1883, the marriage ceremony taking place at All Saints Church, Oystermouth. (Rosa Ann’s mother, Rosa BURT, from another well-known Mumbles family, had been the first wife of William MORRIS, The MORRIS connection going back to the old Gower families, including those of BEVAN). William’s second wife was to bear him a further eleven children.

John and Rosa Ann had five children—Gwynne who went to war with the Royal engineers, won a commission, was wounded on more than one occasion and died in 1926; Gordon Burt died in infancy; John Graham, who later became the owner of ELEY taxi’s in Dunns Lane and William, my Grandfather.

William David married Alice Margaret ORRIN, from another well-known Mumbles family. John, knowing that his son would not take over the butcher’s shop, sold it and my Grandmother and the family moved to other accommodation in Oystermouth. Alice was to move many times in the Oystermouth / Swansea area before her death in 1970. William and Alice had four children born in the accommodation over the shop—Frederick John, also known as Tim; Margaret Rosa (Peggy); William David (Bill) and my father George Cadman. Of these, only Bill remained in Oystermouth, working in Swansea Docks until his death in 1974. Frederick John moved to Herefordshire to join the police force, Peggy married Ebenezer JONES from Neath, who rose to high rank in the Swansea Police and my father, who left school and joined the Merchant Navy, before eventually settling in Southgate on the Gower Coast.

Ed note: We are currently collating information on Mumbles people who went to both World Wars, returning home to die as a consequence of that experience. Their names must be added to those other brave persons, who gave their lives in defence of their country. Please advise Carol or John if you have information.