Dylan and Caitlin Thomas lived in South Leigh with their two children, Llewelyn and Aeronwy. Their third child, Colm, was born two months after they had left the village.
Florence and D.J. Thomas, Dylan’s parents, also stayed with the Thomases in South Leigh.
Yvonne Macnamara née Majolier, Caitlin's mother. Two South Leigh residents interviewed by Colin Edwards recall Yvonne Macnamara visiting South Leigh to see the Thomases. For more on Caitlin's French literary family, see
https://sites.google.com/site/caitlinthomaslearningmore/caitlin-s-literary-family-the-majoliers
Harry Locke, comedian. He and Cordelia Sewell (see below) lived in The Cottage, now called Acre Cottage, in South Leigh, as well as having a flat in Hammersmith. Locke had known Dylan since at least 1946. For more on Locke, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Locke
Bill and Helen McAlpine. South Leigh resident, Lionel Drinkwater, said that the McAlpines “had a room up and down at 79, I think it was…just along the Station Road here." Dylan's letter of November 17 1948 refers to the McAlpines leaving "London next weekend to take a cottage in this cowpad village." McAlpine was a scientific officer with the British Council. He and his wife, Helen, became friends with the Thomases during WW2. Caitlin described them as “very close friends – our best, I would say.” Helen and Bill published Tales from Japan, 1958, OUP.
Cordelia Sewell. Daughter of Olivia and Thomas Saleeby, and granddaughter of the writers/artists, Wilfred and Alice Meynell. She had known Caitlin’s sister, Nicolette, at the Slade School of Art. Lived with Harry Locke before marrying him in 1952. Previously married to (1) Frank Benton and (2) Hubert Sewell, an "aeronautical engineer", with whom she lived at The Cottage, South Leigh (1939 Register).
Margaret Taylor. One of Dylan’s benefactors, who found the Manor House for them. Wife of the Oxford historian, AJP Taylor.