His paternal aunts and uncles

There is an extensive account of D J Thomas’ family tree in Thomas 2003 pp186-192 but I am now able to update some of the information given there.

Dylan had just two paternal aunts, his father’s sisters Jane Anne and Lizzie. Both died well before he was born so they played no part in his upbringing:

1. Jane Anne 1864-1903. Born in Swansea, according to the 1881 census, where she is listed as a pupil teacher. In 1885, she married William Greville b.1860. He was a draper and grocer of Carregholt, Llanon (with two servants in the house), and an Alderman and JP.[iii]

Greville represented the parish of Llanon on Carmarthenshire County Council for over thirty years, serving as Chairman of the Council 1923-24. He was chairman of the governors of Llanelli County School and Gwendraeth Valley Secondary School. He was also a senior deacon at Tabernacle Congregational Church, Cefneithin, Cross Hands. After Jane's death, he married again in 1906, to Alice Davies (1874-1912), an assistant schoolmistress. William Greville died in 1937[iv].

Jane and William Greville had four daughters, who were Dylan’s first cousins:

• Lizzie May 1888-1962. Married Dr D H Grifiths in 1915 and lived in Cross Hands. Their only child was William Greville Griffiths b.1917. He never married, and worked for BDP (architects) at their London headquarters. He died in October 1996. Lizzie May was one of the witnesses at the wedding of DJ Thomas and Florence Williams. Lizzie's husband died in 1948.
• Minnie Olive b.1890. Trained as a school teacher. Later Head of Penygraig Infants in the Rhondda. She married D J Bowen in 1939; he was headmaster of Hendy school (see John and Thomas 2010). Lived on the Fforest, Pontardulais. No children. Lived to be over a 100.
• Dilys Irene 1892-1961. Worked in Midland Bank, Ammanford. Unmarried.
• Florence Evelyn b.1895. An art student (1911). Head of a school at Midsomer Norton. Married William Wyatt, 1951. No children. She previously married Griffith James in 1925. Lived to be over a 100.

After their mother’s death in 1903, both Dilys and Florence went to live with their grandparents (who were, of course, also Dylan’s grandparents) at the Poplars in Johnstown (1911 census). Minnie Olive also stayed at the Poplars, and is on the register of a local school in August 1895. Much later, Minnie, Dilys and Florence moved to Weston Super Mare.

There is little information on what contact Dylan had with his four first cousins. They were all old enough to be counted amongst his various aunties. Certainly, Minnie and Florence kept up with the family news, partly through their nephew, William Greville Griffiths. With him, they had "front-row seats" at the unveiling of the Dylan Thomas plaque in Westminister Abbey on March 1 1982, as well as attending the reception afterwards at the House of Lords. [v]

2. Lizzie 1866-1900. Unmarried.

3. William b.1869 in Swansea, married Ellen Ann Keene b.1867 of Llangadog. Ellen was the daughter of Robert Keene, a farm bailiff. William and Ellen married in 1897 and lived at 12 Fulham Road, Kensington, when William was a hosier’s assistant (1901) and then at 13 Derby Ave North Finchley when he was a shop assistant (1911). They had no children. William died around 1947 – see Dylan’s letter to his parents of January 12 1947 in which he refers to “poor Will.” Poor Will was also the title of a short story that Dylan was thinking about writing in late 1946.

4. Arthur Lewis b.1880c, d. October 15 1947, unmarried. A railway traffic foreman (1911) and then a guard at GWR's Dyffryn Yard, Port Talbot and then Traffic Supervisor at the nearby North Bank Docks. He lodged at 71, Llewellyn Street, Aberavon from at least 1901 to 1911 and, from 1939 until his death, in 37, Beverly Street, Port Talbot with friends/relatives, Ken and Hettie Owen (on whom see His Port Talbot aunt and uncles on this site).

Notes

[i] Evan is shown as a miner on his marriage certificate. He and Anne were living in Corner Row, Swansea, at the time of the 1871 census.

[ii] At the time of his daughter’s marriage to Evan, William Lewis was living in Lime Grove, Carmarthen and was working as a gardener. The 1881 census gives the birth place for William and his daughter Anne as Llangadog. The widowed William was living at The Poplars with the Thomas family at this date. Anne’s birth place is also given as Llangadog in the 1901 and 1911 censuses.

[iii] The servants are shown in the 1891 and 1901 censuses.

[iv] Alice and William are found in the 1911 census; with them is Lizzie May, his daughter by his first marriage. William Greville’s funeral report is in The Welshman, July 9 1937.

[v] The school register is reproduced in Hughes 1998 pp70-71. Westminister Abbey: an interview with Minnie and Florence carried out by a Mrs Hooper in a care home in Weston-super-Mare. They had also been interviewed by Colin Edwards but I cannot find the recording in his archive in the National Library of Wales.

References

B. Hughes (1998) The Cat’s Whiskers, Hughes

D. John and D. N. Thomas (2010) From Fountain to River: Dylan Thomas and the Bont, in Cambria, autumn issue. It’s also athttps://sites.google.com/site/dylanthomaspontardulais/home/dylan-and-the-bont

D. N. Thomas (2003) Dylan Remembered 1914-1934 vol 1, Seren

With thanks to Maggie Seddon for information about the Grevilles, and to Paul Ferris for the Poplars image.