His Llandyfaelog aunts

Llandyfaelog is a village, and also a wider parish, on the other side of the Twyi estuary from Llansteffan, sitting in the countryside a mile or two above Ferryside.

The story of Dylan’s Llandyfaelog aunts and cousins is a brief one. I have found no accounts of what contact, if any, Florence or Dylan had with them, though two of the Llandyfaelog relatives (see below) did come to important family funerals, such as that of David Jones in 1927 and Annie Jones in 1933. Heulwen Morris of Llwyngwyn does not remember any on-going contact with the Llandyfaelog cousins.

The story begins with Thomas and Mary George of Cefn-y-coed farm, Llandyfaelog. They were one set of Dylan's great-great-great parents. In November 1814, their daughter, Hannah Williams, married John Williams. They settled in Lambstone farm, Llangynog, and then moved to Pen-y-coed, just outside Llanybri. Their son, Thomas, married Anne, the daughter of Evan and Anne Harry of Plas Isaf, Llanybri. They lived at Waunfwlchan farm, and had eleven children, one of whom, Hannah, was Dylan's maternal grandmother. There is more on the George family on the Family trees page at https://sites.google.com/site/dylanthomasandtheedgeoflove/

Four of Thomas and Anne's other children left Waunfwlchan to farm at Llandyfaelog. The first was the eldest son, John Williams, who was farming Coedlline – about a mile north-east of Llandyfaelog – at the 1871 census. At about the same time, in 1869, his sister, Amy, married Herbert Jones, a farmer of Llandyfaelog. (Amy went on to marry David Jones of Ferryside – see His Ferryside aunts on this site.)

Amy’s two sisters, Mary and Theodosia, were the next to leave Waunfwlchan, settling down in the Llandyfaelog area. Mary Williams married William/Gwilym Rees of Llandyfaelog and they farmed Cruganfach and Cwmafael, whilst Theodosia Williams married William Williams of Llangynog. They farmed Tyrnest (Croesyceilog, part of Llandyfaelog parish), Coedlline (after John Williams) and Cilmarch.

Llandyfaelog census returns

John Williams, 1871, Coedlline 112 acres

John, who never married, is here with his sister, Amy, visiting with her husband, Herbert Jones, and their baby daughter, Margaret, who seems to have died not long after. Amy and Herbert also had a son, William, born in 1876. He and Amy can be seen on the Waunfwlchan 1881 census return. William is also working at Pen-y-coed for John Williams in 1911.

Herbert Jones was the son of Margaret and William Jones of Pontfaw [?], Llandyfaelog, a farmer and woollen manufacturer (1861, 1871). They were married in 1840. Margaret’s maiden name was Walters, and her birth place is given variously on the census as Newchurch/ Merthyr outside Carmarthen.

By 1881, William and Margaret were also running the Red Lion pub in Llandyfaelog. Perhaps their widowed daughter-in-law, Amy, was helping them, after the death of Herbert in 1877, and perhaps this is where she met David Jones on one of his outings from Ferryside. By 1891, the pub was being run by John Walters of Llansteffan and his family; there are Walters of the Red Lion at David Jones’ funeral who are described as a nephew and niece. They were most likely related, not to David Jones, but to Amy’s mother-in-law, Margaret.

Amy was back at Waunfwlchan in 1881, where she is described on the census return as a publican's widow. She married David Jones in 1882.

John Williams had also returned to Waunfwlchan by 1881. There is a cousin called William Walters, aged 57, helping John farm Pen-y-coed in 1911. He had been born in Merthyr, just outside Carmarthen and it seems this was the same William Walters who was farming Merthyr farm, Merthyr, in 1881.

The 1871 census return for Coelline follows below:

1891, Cruganfach

Gwilym’s wife, Mary, had died on June 25 1890, and was buried at Capel Newydd, Llanybri; three weeks later, her father, Thomas Williams, died at Waunfwlchan on July 14. These two deaths were probably sufficient to weaken the Reeses’ link with the Williamses on the Llansteffan peninsula. (Move the slider at the bottom to see “Where Born”.)

1901, Cwmafael 95 acres

Gwilym Rees had now remarried, with four more children, and was farming Cwmafael. Gwilym and his son, Henry, were at the funeral of David Jones of Ferryside in 1927.

1901, Cilmarch

William Williams was still at Cilmarch when he attended the funeral of David Jones of Ferryside in 1927, together with his son Robert, who was also at the funeral of Annie Jones Fernhill in 1933. Robert’s address was given as Penyfedw, a farm just to the west of Llandyfaelog. A Miss Thomas of Penyfedw, described as a niece of the deceased, was also at David Jones’ funeral.