The first family tree shows how Dylan’s ancestors, the Williamses, were linked through marriage with their neighbours, the Harries and Phillips families, parts of whose family trees follow next. The Phillips section includes material on Vera Phillips, Dylan’s childhood friend from Swansea. Her husband, William Killick, was tried for attempting to murder Dylan and acquitted. The incident was fictionalised in a 2008 film, The Edge of Love. Vera's paternal grandfather, William Phillips, as well as a great-uncle (Thomas) and a great-aunt (Rachel), married into the Williamses. William, Thomas and Rachel were the children of Josiah and Rachel Phillips of Cwmllyfri farm, Llanybri, just a few hundred yards from the Williamses at Pen-y-coed. Both the Williamses and some of the Phillipses attended Capel Newydd in Llanybri, and would have worked together in the fields. You can also see on another page on this site, Lloyd and Williams family tree, how the Phillipses were also related by marriage to the family of Jim Jones Fernhill.

The farms shown in the first family tree below are, with the exception of Dishley Court and Cefn-y-coed, all within the “square mile” that lies to the south of Llangynog and Llangain on the Llansteffan peninula in Carmarthenshire, as shown on the map on another page on this site.

What we see at the top of this tree are Dylan’s maternal great-grandparents (Thomas and Anne Williams of Waunfwlchan) and two sets of great-great grandparents (John and Hannah Williams and Evan and Anne Harry aka Thomas), as well as three sets of great-great-great grandparents (Theodocia and William Robert(s) of Maesgwyn, Thomas and Mary George of Cefn-y-coed, Llandyfaelog and John and Jane (aka Jennet) Williams of Graig farm, Llangynog.

....//... = half-siblings <> = first cousins m. <> = married a first cousin .............. = related by marriage

Blue heart = love child

Blue highlight: William and Sarah married each other in 1851.

Yellow highlight: In 1864, Sarah’s love child, Jane Daniel, married Anne and William’s brother, John Harries. In 1863, William Phillips, Vera Killick’s grandfather, married Jane Lloyd of Glogue farm; Jane was a first cousin once removed to Jane Daniel, whose father was Theophilus Daniel of Wernoleu farm. Jane was also a second cousin to Hannah Williams, Dylan’s grandmother.

Green highlight: Robert Williams and Anne Gwyn nee Williams married each other.

I have not been able to fit in all the spouses, children and siblings of the people in this tree, but you can find them in the text that follows. The details for Margaret Harries of Dolaumeinion and her husband, David Francis, and their children and grandchildren, can be found on this site: https://sites.google.com/site/dylanthomasandtheedgeoflove/notes-on-the-francis-and-williams-families

I’ve already given a detailed account of the Williams’ tree in Dylan Remembered 1914-1934, vol 1 (Seren 2003) and at https://sites.google.com/site/dylanthomasandhisaunties/home but here are some of the basic details:

• Theodocia b.1766 and William Robert(s) of Maesgwyn had at least four children: Anne b.1793 who married Evan Harry in 1812 (see the Harries section that follows); Amy b.1796; Theodocia b. 1801 who married David Davies and lived at Llwyngwyn; and William b.1801, who farmed Maesgwyn after his mother’s death in 1849 (birth dates given here vary from census to census). The story of the descent of Llwyngwyn and Maesgwyn farms through the Williams family is told at (https://sites.google.com/site/dylanthomasandtheedgeoflove/llwyngwyn-and-maesgwyn-2.)

• John Williams (1746-1828) and his wife, Jane aka Jennet (1753-1849), are another set of Dylan’s great-great-great-grandparents. There is a marriage for a John Williams and a Jennet Rowland in the Llangain parish register of 1778, and this could be them. Jane is the name that John uses in his Will of 1828 http://hdl.handle.net/10107/639305, but she is named Jennet at the 1841 census, where she is staying with her daughter, Mary, at Glogue. She is Jennet on her 1849 death certificate and described as the widow of John Williams, deceased. She died at Glogue. All four of John and Jennet's children, Thomas, Mary, Sarah and John, are mentioned in John Williams' Will of 1828. We have not yet found John Williams Pen-y-coed's birth record.

• John Williams (1784-1846) and Hannah Williams (1775-1860), of Lambstone farm, Llangynog, and then Pen-y-coed from the 1820s, were Dylan’s maternal great-great grandparents. Hannah (aka Anna) was the daughter of Thomas and Mary George of Cefn-y-coed, Llandyfaelog; for more on Hannah and her parents, see the following Note.[i] John and Hannah had two children, Thomas (1816-1890) and Sarah (1818-1882), on both of whom see below. Hannah also had two other children: a daughter, Mary (1809-c1860) who married Thomas Williams, minister at Ebenezer chapel Llangynog; and a son, Daniel (1812-1898), both by a previous marriage. Daniel farmed Pencelli Isaf, Penlan-fach and Waunffort. He married Harriet Proper; they had several children, including Eleanor whose son, Robert, married Ann Gwyn, nee Williams, Florence’s half-sister (see below). [ii]

• Sarah Williams (1818-1882) had a daughter, Jane Daniel (1842-1932), born out of wedlock to Theophilus Daniel (1800-1855) of Wernoleu farm, Llangynog. Sarah followed on at Pen-y-coed after her parents. In November 1851, she married William Thomas of Plas Isaf, Llangynog. William had previously changed his surname. He was, in fact, William Harry, son of Evan and Anne Harry of Plas Isaf, Llanybri (see the Harries family tree below for information on this change of name). William and Sarah’s daughter, Anne, married her first cousin, Evan Williams b.1838 of Waunfwlchan, in 1871. Sarah was followed at Pen-y-coed by her other daughter, Hannah and her husband Joseph Thomas.

• Thomas Williams (1816-1890) married Anne Harry, sister of the above William Thomas, and daughter of Evan and Anne Harry of Plas Isaf. Anne was born in 1815 in Maesgwyn, her grandmother’s home.[iii] By the time of her marriage, her surname had changed to Thomas. Anne and Thomas Williams lived first in Pencelli Isaf and then, by 1841, settled in Waunfwlchan, Llangain. They had eleven children, including Evan b.1838, Amy b.1847 and Hannah b.1840. Hannah was Dylan’s grandmother. The names of Thomas and Anne’s children followed an interesting naming pattern: see this Note.[iv] For a detailed family tree, see Dylan Remembered vol 1 (2003), chapter 1.

• Hannah married George Williams; they had nine children, including Florence b.1882, who married DJ Thomas. They had Nancy and Dylan. See Dylan Remembered vol 1 (2003), chapter 1

• After marrying in 1871, Evan and Anne Williams lived in Tirbach and Llwyngwyn. They had six children, the eldest of whom was Sarah b.1871, who farmed Maesgwyn, with her husband, Thomas Evans. The youngest of Evan and Anne's children was Thomas, who married Mary Ann Davies of Pen-y-coed in 1929; they had a daughter, Heulwen b. 1934, who inherited Llwyngwyn and Maesgwyn, and still lives in Llwyngwyn today (2014). See Dylan Remembered vol 1 (2003), chapter 1, for a list of Evan and Anne’s children.

• Amy had Anne (1866-1922) by Hannah’s husband, George Williams. Amy later married David Jones of Ferryside. Anne had a daughter, Gladys (1885-1893), Dylan’s eldest first cousin; her father isunknown (Anne is confirmed as her mother on Gladys’ death certificate). Anne then married John Gwyn, son of Plas Cwrthir, Llangain, in 1891 (the family story that the fourteen-year old Anne had been previously bethrothed to John’s father, an elderly widower, and had a baby by him, is unfounded, not least because he was never a widower, predeceasing his wife by many years). John and Anne had one child, Rev. Thomas Edward Gwyn (1892-1916). They lived at Plas Uchaf, Llanybri. After John Gwyn’s death in in 1893, Anne married her cousin, Robert Williams of Waunffort (grandson of Daniel and Harriet Williams), at Holy Trinity Church, Llanybri, in 1895. Anne and Robert lived at Rose Cottage, Llansteffan (1911 census, 1918 and 1919 Register of Electors) but Anne moved to Ferryside in her last years, where she died. Their children, Dylan’s first cousins, were William (1897-1917) and Doris (1902-1967) who married Randy Fulleylove. For more on Anne’s mother Amy, see https://sites.google.com/site/dylanthomasandhisaunties/

The Harries and Phillips Trees

Dylan’s maternal ancestors on the Llansteffan peninsula married into a small number of local families, including the Harries family of Plas Isaf, Llanybri, and the Phillips family of Cwmllyfri farm, Llanybri.

The Harries (aka Thomas) family

Evan Harry (1791-1847) is said to be the son of Margaret Harry (1763-1837).[v] His father is not known. Evan married Anne Robert (b.1793), the daughter of Theodosia and William Robert of Maesgwyn. They were married on November 10 1812. Evan’s surname is given as both Harry and Harries (not Harris) on his marriage certificate, and then as Harry in the 1841 census and as Harry in his Will of 1847. When his son Thomas was married in 1838, Evan gave his surname as Thomas. In his mother-in-law’s Will of 1849 (see below), she calls him Evan Harris, and his children as Harris as well. His children’s names then vary between Harry, Harris, Harries and, for six of them, Thomas, in subsequent censuses and documents.

The Harries family were astute marriage makers. Evan and Anne’s children married into the Williams family (three times between 1835 and 1864), as well as the Phillips, Francis (Dolameinion) and Davies (Pentowyn) families. These alliances and some, but by no means all, of the farms involved, are shown in the family tree below. Evan and Anne Harry had ten children. I’ve presented the tree in two halves to make it easier to absorb.

In words

Evan and Anne farmed Tirbach, Llangynog Farm, Dyffrynolcwm (which he bought in 1837) and Plas Isaf, Llanybri, the last from the 1830s; they were there at the 1841 census. The names of nine of Evan and Anne’s children are to be found in the 1849 Will of Theodosia Roberts of Maesgwyn at the National Library of Wales. You can access the Will online at http://hdl.handle.net/10107/516279. Most of the children’s names can also be found in the 1841 census for Plas Isaf. For reasons we do not understand, six of Evan and Anne’s children (all born before 1830) took, or were given, the surname of Thomas; we explore this below in the entry for William Harries.

(1) Thomas Harries (1813-1856). As Thomas Thomas, he was a witness at the weddings of his sisters, Anne in 1835, Margaret in 1844 and Amy in 1853. As Thomas Thomas, he married Sophia, the eldest child of David Williams of Penlan farm, in 1838, giving his father’s name as Evan Thomas. They lived in Pendegy Mill, Llanybri, where he was the miller, and they later farmed Trehyrne. They had nine children: Margaret 1838-1915, Anne 1840-, John 1842-1905, Amy 1844-1910, Anna 1845-1906, Theodosia 1846-1820, Mary 1848, Evan 1851, David (taken from Genes Reunited). The last son, David, married a first cousin, Anne Williams, also a descendant of Penlan. They kept the Plough and Harrow, Llangynog. Their son, Thomas Thomas b.1878, kept the Castle Inn and then the Edwinsford pub in Llansteffan, together with Catherine, his wife, nee Higgon b.1882 in Cwmparc in the Rhondda.. Thomas was also a butcher, and had a slaughterhouse in Llansteffan. Their daughter, Florrie b. 1908, was named after “Auntie Florrie Swansea”, Dylan’s mother; she and her sister, Elizabeth Ann b. 1907, delivered meat by pony and trap to local farms in the 1930s. Thomas and Catherine’s son, William (Billy), kept a butcher’s shop in Llansteffan from the 1940s to the late 1950s.

(2) Anne Harries (1815-1902). Born in Maesgwyn, where her grandmother, Theodosia Roberts, lived. As Anne Thomas, she married Thomas Williams of Waunfwlchan in 1835; she is noted as Anne Williams in Theodosia Roberts’ Will of 1849. Their eleven children included Hannah, Dylan Thomas’ grandmother. For details, see Dylan Remembered vol 1 (2003), chapter 1.

(3) Evan Harries b.1817 as Evan Harry at Tirbach; he appears to have died young, and is not mentioned in Theodosia Roberts’ Will.

(4) Margaret Harries (c.1822-1896). She was Margaret Harry in 1841 but her surname was Thomas when she married David Francis of Waunygroes in 1844; her father is named as Evan Thomas. David and Margaret farmed Dolaumeinion, and their children and grandchildren were at Llettyrneuadd, Down and Laques-newydd. For more information, go to https://sites.google.com/site/dylanthomasandtheedgeoflove/notes-on-the-francis-and-williams-families.

(5) William Harries (1824-1886). As William Thomas, he married Sarah Williams of Pen-y-coed in November 1851, giving his father’s name as William Thomas. They had two daughters, Anne (who married her first cousin Evan Williams of Llwyngwyn) and Hannah, who farmed Pen-y-coed after her parents, together with her husband Joseph Thomas.

William’s name at birth was recorded as William Henry Harry, and his sister as Amy Harry with their parents as Evan and Ann Harry. Both were surnamed Harry in 1841. At the 1851 census, William and Amy were living, under their new surnames of Thomas, at Plas Isaf, a farm of 144 acres north of Llangynog (today, it is known as Plas Farm, just off the A40). Four of their siblings had also changed their surnames to Thomas.

Both Harry parents, and their children, adopted the surname of Harries and/ or Harris, but not consistently. This was probably to do with the anglicizing of surnames which was prevalent in Wales at that time, a view that a “proper” English-sounding surname was a mark of prosperity and higher social status. For this reason, they might have changed to Harris and/or Harries i.e. making a name for themselves. They seem to have been an ambitious family, and all but Amy did well for themselves as farmers.

It’s harder to know why six of the Harry children born before 1830 took, or were given, the surname Thomas. It might have been in expectation of, or to encourage, a bequest from a relative. Or there may have been an ‘ap Thomas’ in their near ancestry. Perhaps Evan Harry discovered that his father was surnamed Thomas. The answer might possibly lie in exploring the 1833 Will of Theophilus Thomas of Pencelli Isaf, Llangynog, who made a bequest to his brother, Thomas Harry.[vi]

We know about William’s name change from the originals of conveyancing documents in respect of a farm owned by his father, Evan:

"September 22nd 1855 Indenture of Conveyance “Between David Harris (formerly called David Harry) of Gelly in the parish of Llandilo Abercowin in the County of Carmarthen Farmer of the one part and William Thomas (also formerly called William Harry) of Penycoed in the parish of Llangunnock in the same county Farmer of the other part.”

Abstract of the Title 1893 “By the Indenture of this date made between David Harries (formerly called David Harry) of Gelly in the parish of Llandilo Abercowin in the County of Carmarthen Farmer of the one part and William Thomas (also formerly called William Harry) of Penycoed in the parish of Llangunnock in the same county Farmer of the other part.

Reciting the said Will of the said Evan Harry and that he was the father of the said David Harries and said William Thomas.” (Originals in the possession of Alun Davies, Llansteffan).

The name change is also confirmed by other documents. The Pen-y-coed family bible (that once belonged to William Thomas’ wife, Sarah) gives William Thomas’ date of birth as 1st March 1824. The Llangynog parish register gives the baptism date for William Harry as 21 April 1824. The birth date for William Thomas on his marriage certificate is 1824. Likewise, the baptism date in the parish register for Amy Harry accords with the birth date given for Amy Thomas in the 1851 census. And at her marriage as Amy Thomas in 1853, her father is named as Evan Harry.

(6) Theodocia Harries (1826-1895). By 1841, when she was only 15, her surname was given as Thomas but by 1861 she had returned to the surname of Harries. As Theodosia Thomas, she was at Waunfwlchan with her sister, Anne, in 1841, and at Maesgwyn with her uncle, William Roberts, in 1851. As Theodocia Harries, she married Thomas Phillips of Cwmllyfri, Llanybri, in 1865, giving her father’s name as Evan Harries (see the Phillips family tree below for more on Theodocia). Theodocia and Thomas farmed Plas Isaf, Llanybri. Their two children, Robert and Ann, farmed Mwche. Thomas Phillips was the brother of Vera Killick’s grandfather, William.

(7) Amy Harries (1829). Her surname is Harry in 1841. We find her in 1851 living as Amy Thomas with her brother, William, at Plas Isaf, Llangynog (see above on her brother). As Amy Thomas, she married John Walters in April 1853, when she gives her father’s name as Evan Harry. By 1871, Amy and John are living at Marble Hall road, Llanelli. They are still there in 1881, and John is described as a haulier (carter). Their children were Evan, Anne, Lucy, Theodosia, William and Henry.

(8) David Harries (1832) was the first not to use, or be given, the surname Thomas. He married Ann Davies in July 1854, the daughter of William and Margaret Davies of Lanmartin farm, also known as Plasnewydd, just north of Llanybri. David and Ann farmed Gelli, Llandeilo Abercowin (1850s) The Farmhouse, Llanybri (1861), Beili-syfi, Llangain (1871) before moving to Ty Gwyn, Pembrey (1881) and Cwmburry, Pembrey (1891). They had some eight children: Richard, Margaret, Eliza, John, William, Thomas, Esther and Anne. Some are buried in Capel Newydd, Llanybri, in a family tomb.

(9) John Harries (1836-1894) married Jane Daniel, the lovechild of Sarah Williams Pen-y-coed and Theophilus Daniel, at Carmarthen Registry Office on 10 Dec 1864. John and Jane farmed Treasgell-Ganol, a few miles south-west of Meidrim (1871) and then Llwynbrain (1881,1891), Bancyfelin, until John’s death in 1894. He is buried in Capel Newydd, Llanybri. John owned a farm, Dyffrynolcwm, just east of Llanybri, which he left to Jane. They had been renting Llwynbrain from the Williamses, probably from Sarah and Thomas Evans of Maesgwyn, because it was eventually left to Heulwen Morris, along with Llwyngwyn and Maesgwyn.

After John’s death, Jane and her three sons then moved to The Sherrifs, Lyonshall, Herefordshire and then to Dishley Court, Ivington, Leominister. The three sons were William b.1865, John (1870-1948) and Thomas (1874-1915), who is, like his father, buried at Capel Newydd, right next to the Williamses. Only John married, in 1910, to Elizabeth Bounds and they lived at Dishley Court. They had one child, Eleanor Jane “Dosie” (1911-1947).

Dylan’s sister, Nancy, was a frequent visitor to Dishley Court, and sent a letter of condolence to the family on Dosie’s death in 1947. Other visitors from the Williams side included Dylan’s aunt, Theodosia Rees of Blaencwm; his mother’s first cousin, Sarah Evans of Maesgwyn; and Doris and Randolph Fulleylove (Doris was the daughter of Anne Williams, Llansteffan, Florence’s half-sister). Heulwen Morris’ parents, Thomas and Mary Ann Williams of Llwyngwyn, spent their honeymoon

at Dishley Court in 1929. (Thanks to Susan Deacon, and Heulwen Morris of Llwyngwyn, for this information. Susan Deacon was Dosie’s granddaughter; Florence’s sister, Theodosia Rees, was a godmother to Susan’s mother.)

(10) Eliza Harries (1839-1887) married Benjamin Davies (1835-1913) at Llansteffan parish church on September 17 1857 and they farmed Pentowyn from at least 1871, though Benjamin had worked there for at least ten years before that. They had six children:

• • • Anne Davies b.1858. She married William Williams of Llangan, Whitland, in 1881 and farmed Furnace, St Weonards, Herefordshire (1891). They had three children: Evan Morgan 1885-1910, Lizzie and Britanna b.1890. After William’s death, Anne lived at Down farm, Llansteffan (1901) next to her cousin John Francis and his wife Amy. In January 1903, Anne married Edward Jones, a labourer and they lived at Dalton Villa, Llansteffan (1911). Britanna married Rev. David Hughson Jones in 1916; she died in Liverpool in 1953. She is listed as a cousin at the funeral of Thomas Gwyn Williams of Rose Cottage, Llansteffan, in 1916. Lizzie (1885-1968) married Harry Sherwin Richardson and they lived in Chesterfield.

    • Theodosia Davies b.1861. She married John Raymond, a farmer, in 1882, and by 1891 had three daughters, Elizabeth, Keturah and Margaret. They were living atGlanmarlais, High Street, Lampeter Velfrey (1891). John b.1862 was the son of Benjamin and Keturah Raymond of Honey Corse farm, Llansadurnen, Laugharne.

    • Margaret Davies b.1865

    • John Richard Davies b.1870 who, in 1890, married Elizabeth Phillips of Talvan farm, Llanddowror and, previously, of Clos farm, Meidrim, who was a second cousin to Thomas Phillips, Vera Killick’s father; they left to farm on the Leicestershire/Northants. border. They had at least seven children: Benjamin, David, Mary, Margaret, Catherine, Florence and Gwladys.

grey <>= first cousins yellow <> = second cousins

• • • Eliza (aka Lizzie) Davies b. 1872 married W. Hancocke, and lived in Rugby.

    • Anna Davies (1875-1959) of Pentowyn, who was a first cousin to her neighbours, Robert Phillips and his sister, Ann, at next-door Mwche farm, and an affinal cousin to Vera Phillips. After the death of her husband, David Evans (1881-1945), Anna remained at Pentowyn until the 1950s, and was followed there by her children until the 1980s. Anna was also related to the Williamses, being a first cousin to the children of Thomas and Anne Williams of Waunfwlchan, including Dylan’s grandmother, Hannah.

The Phillips Family

Josiah Phillips was one of the three sons of David Phillips and Rachel Lewis from Penycaeru Bach, a farm in Trelech a’r Bettws; his two brothers were Jotham and Joshua. Josiah’s wife, Rachel James, was also from Trelech.

grey <> = first cousins

Rachel and William Jnr lived at Coomb farm, Llanybri. They had five children, all first cousins to Vera Phillips’ father, Thomas.

<> = first cousins mauve= siblings green = siblings yellow = siblings

Rachel and William's five children were John, Margaret, Sarah, Thomas and Ann.

• • • John Davies (1850-1901), a servant and then gamekeeper in Coomb Mansion. He and his wife, Anne, had no children.

    • Margaret Davies (1852-1933), married Samuel Jones, a farm labourer, in 1871 and lived in Ty Isaf, Llangain. They had seven children, including Henry Jones, postmaster (who is listed as attending Annie Jones' funeral), second cousins to Vera Phillips. Henry was also linked by marriage to Dylan; two of his cousins, Alice and John Jones, married children of Amy Francis, a first cousin to Dylan’s grandmother, Hannah (see the next entry on Sarah Davies).

    • Sarah Davies (1855-1902) married David Jones, of nearby Hendre farm. They had five children some born in Myddfai, Llandovery. They returned to live in Ty Mawr, Llansteffan. Their son, John Jones, married Margaret Francis of Down farm in 1910, daughter of Amy and John Francis, and they farmed Trehyrne and Down. Then Sarah and David’s daughter, Alice, married Margaret’s brother, Johnny Francis, in 1914, and by 1916 they had settled in nearby Laques-newydd. Alice and John Jones were second cousins to Vera Phillips, as shown on the above family tree. Their spouses, Margaret and Johnny Francis, were second cousins to Dylan’s mother, Florence. Sarah and David also had a daughter, Margaret, who married Thomas Jones. Their son, Harry Jones (Harry’r Stores, Llansteffan) was interviewed by Colin Edwards in the 1960s. See Thomas 2003, p254. Harry was also linked to Dylan by the marriages made by his uncle John and aunt Alice to the Francis children.

    • Thomas Davies (1858-1922) who married Amy Howells of Gilfachwen, Llanybri, in 1887, and they lived at Gilfachwen and then Coomb Lodge, which they farmed from the early 1900s to 1927. Thomas and Amy had two children, William/Billie and Rosa b.1895, who were second cousins to Vera Phillips. Rosa and her husband, Emrys, farmed Coomb Lodge from 1927 to Emrys death in 1964. In 1946, their daughter, Louise b.1921, married Richie Davies, son of Mary Anne and David Davies of Ffynnonau. Louise and Richie then farmed Ffynnonau until the 1970s. They had three sons: Eric, Alun and Gwyn. Thomas and Amy’s second child, Billie, moved to Penclawdd. He became a miner and with his wife, Jane Austin, also ran the Ship and Anchor pub. They had three children: (1) Willie b. 1916 played fly-half for Swansea and Wales outside his cousin, Haydn Tanner. Willie later turned professional when he joined Bradford Northern. (2) Ieuan (3) Amy, who was brought up at Coomb Lodge with her aunt Rosa. Amy married Gwyn Davies in 1934, youngest son of Evan and Sarah Davies of Pen-y-coed, and sister to Mary Ann Williams of Llwyngwyn. Amy and Gwyn lived in Ffald, Llangynog.

    • Ann Davies (1860-1935) married William Howells in 1883, brother of Amy of Gilfachwen. They farmed initially at Gilfachwen and then Lanmartin (Plasnewydd). They had four children: Margaret, William, Rosianna and Elizabeth.

Rachel married, secondly, John Morris of Llanboidy, and they had two children, Alice and Elizabeth. They were at Coomb farm until about Rachel’s death in 1904.

(4) Hannah Phillips (1826 ) married John Edwards, the son of a farmer from Llanybri. They moved to the Swansea area, and then Neath. There were some eight children.

(5) John Phillips (1831-1877) married Hannah Walters in 1859 at Haverfordwest St Marys. They ran the Hope and Anchor hotel at Neath Abbey until at least 1891. John and Hannah had seven children. Their second son, Phillip Walter Phillips (1864-1947), married Margaret Ann Cribb in 1889. He worked as an accountant, and then moved to Swansea docks, where he was, in 1914, Chief Assistant to the Clerk, and then, from at least 1917, “General Manager of Docks, Railways and Estate and Statutory Harbour Master” until 1923. Phillip and Margaret lived in Bryn Road, Swansea, and then Brynmill Crescent. They had three daughters: Doris, Olive and Constance May who, in 1920, married Sir Archibald Rowlands (1892-1953, on whom see http://wbo.llgc.org.uk/en/s2-ROWL-ARC-1892.html with more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archibald_Rowlands). About 1942, Phillip, Margaret and Doris moved to New Quay, and lived in 5, Church Street. He died in 1947 and she in 1949.

(6) Thomas Phillips (1836-1906) married Theodocia Harries of Plas Isaf, Llanybri (see above in the Harries tree) at Union Street chapel, Carmarthen, on March 4 1865. They farmed Plas Isaf, Llanybri, to at least Thomas’ death in 1906, and Theodocia had farmed it herself before marrying. Thomas and Theodocia had two children:

• • • Ann Phillips (1866-1944), who never married, and lived at Plas Isaf with her parents and then at Mwche with her brother and his family.

    • William Robert Phillips (1867-1925). Robert married Sarah Evans (1878-1956) of neighbouring Ffynnonau on July 10 1902 and they later farmed Mwche, a farm of 131 acres south of Llanybri overlooking the estuary. They moved in c1910, and are there on the 1911 census. Robert and Sarah had Idris b.1903, William b.1906, a minister in London, Theodocia b.1907, Gwladys b.1908, Llewelyn, James, George (a draper in London) and David Edward b.1917, a police officer. All these children were second cousins to Vera Killick nee Phillips. The Phillips family left Mwche in the 1980s; Gwladys and Llewelyn went to live in Wenallt, Llangain.

(7) William Phillips (1840-1882), grandfather of Vera Killick nee Phillips. William married Jane Lloyd in 1863, the daughter of William and Margaret Lloyd of Glogue farm, Llangynog. The marriage gave William three connections with the Williamses. First, Jane’s father, William, was a first cousin to Thomas Williams of Waunfwlchan (see the Lloyd family tree on this site). Second, Janes’s mother, Margaret b.1825, was the first cousin of Jane Daniel, daughter of Sarah Williams of Pen-y-coed and Theophilus Daniel of Wernoleu farm. Third, Jane Lloyd’s uncle, David Richards (1827-1908), had married Anne Davies of Llwyngwyn and Maesgwyn, a first cousin to Anne Williams nee Harries/Thomas of Waunfwlchan.[vii]

Blue heart = lovechild grey <> = first cousin green = first cousins ........//......... = half-siblings. Margaret’s father is thought to have been John James of Trehuddion Llansteffan but it is not confirmed – see the Lloyd family tree on this site . The Will of David Daniel provides further information on family members: http://hdl.handle.net/10107/821263

William and Jane moved into Tirbach farm just after their marriage. They had Mary, Josiah, William [Jnr] and John.

• • • Mary (d. 1869)

    • Josiah (1863-1941) worked as a stable boy and then as a coachman in Llanelli. He married Mary Ann Butler in 1885, and they had eight children, of whom: Margaret Jane m. Henry J. Richards, Mary Anna m. Albert E. Hinder, Agnes m. Thomas Prestidge, Emma m. William J. Edwards and Edith Maud m. Henry J. Richards

    • William Jnr (1865-1929) worked as a teenager in the copper mills and then seems to disappear. We find him again at his death in Spain on September 30 1929. His address is given as Calle Goyeneta 23, Seville, and his occupation as a teacher. He died there in the Hospital Provincial Central. He left no Will but administration was granted to his brother, Josiah, noted as a retired coachman. William Jnr left £273.

    • John b.1869. No information available.

Jane died in 1869. A few years later, in 1873, William Snr left Tirbach, together with his three sons, and landed up in Llanelli, working as a labourer. He married again in 1874, to Sarah Thomas of Cilrhedyn, the daughter of David Thomas, a jockey. William Snr and Sarah had three children: David, Thomas and Rachel.

• • • David b.1877. By the time he was 14, he was working in the mills, as a greaser in the tin house.

    • Thomas was born in 1878 in Llansteffan but was brought up in Llanelli. He left school early to work as a grocer’s boy, but then moved into insurance, where he worked for the rest of his life. In the early 1900s, he went to Cymmer, in the Afan valley, above Port Talbot. At that time, Cymmer was a flourishing settlement, with men working in both the mines and the railways. It was a natural place for an insurance man to go and find business and, by 1911, he was a “Superintendent of Agents Assurance”. Cymmer had three railway stations, with a line connecting it to the Rhondda; Thomas probably used the train to supervise the insurance staff there. One of these was Maria Morgans, born near Llanarth, New Quay, but brought up in Clydach Vale, in the Rhondda. They married in 1908, when Thomas’ address was given as Cymmer, and they were living there in 1911.

Thomas and Maria had four children: Evan b.1910, William b.1911 in Cymmer, Evelyn b. 1912 and Vera b.1916. The family moved to Bryn-y-Mor Crescent, Swansea, sometime after 1911 and before Vera’s birth. They evacuated to Plas Gelli, Talsarn (near Lampeter) after the bombing of Swansea in February 1941. Vera and Evelyn then went to New Quay. Vera married William Killick in 1943. Her cousin, Dylan Thomas, was the best man. She and William named their first child, Rachel. It was hardly co-incidence; Rachel had been the name of Vera’s great-grandmother at Cwmllyfri. It was also the name of her grandfather William’s sister, and the name of her own father’s sister. There is a good deal more on Thomas Phillips and his Swansea family in my A Farm, Two Mansions and a Bungalow (Seren, 2000)

• • • Rachel (1882-1893) She died aged 11.

Notes

[i] Hannah appears in census returns as Anna but in most documents she is named as Hannah or some variation of Hannah. She was born on September 3 1775 in Llandyfaelog; the baptism record gives her father as Thomas George. As Hannah George, she married William Williams on June 10 1805 in Llandyfaelog. They had two children: Mary (1809-c1860) who married Thomas Williams, minister at Ebenezer chapel, Llangynog; and Daniel (1812-1898), who married Harriet Proper and farmed Pencelli Isaf, Penlan-fach and Waunffort. William Williams was buried on 3 May 1814 in Llangynog. Hannah then married John Williams on November 7 1814 in Llangynog, and had Thomas and Sarah. The marriage entry for John and Hannah has her name spelt as Hannah. As Hanah, she and her siblings, including her brother Thomas, received bequests in her father’s Will of 1805, http://hdl.handle.net/10107/353778 ; her mother’s Will of 1820 as Hanna Williams http://hdl.handle.net/10107/650079 ; her brother Thomas’ Will of 1846 as Anahhttp://hdl.handle.net/10107/347350 ; and from her husband, John, in 1846, where she is named as Hannah Williams http://hdl.handle.net/10107/428016 (The Wills are online at the National Library of Wales). Hannah’s brother, Thomas, is at Pen-y-coed in 1841. An entry in the Pen-y-coed family bible says: "Thomas George late Penplwiff died at Penycoed the 14th day of June in 1846 in 82 year of his age". Hannah was named as Anna in the family bible when she died in 1860: "Anna Williams Penycoed Llangunnock parish Died October 23rd 1860 in 86 years of Age and was buried in New Chapel Llanybree the 25th of October"

[ii] Daniel and Harriet Williams had two daughters called Eleanor/Elinor. The first, born in 1839, died a year later; they then called their next daughter Eleanor, who was born in 1840, and she was the mother of Robert Williams, who later married Anne Gwyn in 1895. Daniel and Harriet also had two daughters called Hosulah; the first died in 1846, aged 11 months. Their second daughter with that name was born in c1850, and is on the Waunffort census in 1871. The first Eleanor and the first Hosulah are buried in Ebenezer chapel, Llangynog, just by the front gate with their parents.

[iii] As declared by her on the 1891 census.

[iv] Thomas and Anne’s children were named after their parents’ relations (fa = father, mo = mother): John (fa’s fa), Evan (mo’s fa), Hannah aka Anna (fa and mo’s mo), Thomas Harris (mo’s bro), Daniel Harry (first name = fa’s half-bro and second = mo’s fa’s surname), Amy (mo’s sis), William (mo’s bro), Mary (fa’s half-sis), David (mo’s bro), Theodosia (mo’s sis), Robert (mo’s mo’s surname).

[v] Margaret Harry: information taken from Louie Davies’ notes. No birth record has yet been found for Evan.

[vi] Thomas Harry is identified by Theophilus Thomas as his brother: “I give and bequeath to my brother Thomas Harry the sum of one shilling.” Theophilus names six other siblings surnamed Thomas in his Will, including a Harry Thomas. He names his father as Thomas Thomas. Pencelli Isaf is the farm that Evan Harry’s daughter, Anne Harry/Thomas, moved to after her marriage to Thomas Williams in 1835, before moving to Waunfwlchan. The date of Theophilus’ Will would help to explain why none of Evan’s children born after 1830 took, or were given, the surname Thomas. The Will is at the National Library of Wales, and online at http://hdl.handle.net/10107/783724

[vii] David Richards married Anne Davies on 13 November 1855. She was the daughter of David and Theodocia Davies of Llwyngwyn and Maesgwyn. Anne’s mother, Theodocia, was a sister to Anne Harry of Plas Isaf, Llanybri, who was the mother of Anne Williams of Waunfwlchan. David Richards inherited Wernoleu from his uncle Theophilus Daniel in 1855 – see the Will at http://hdl.handle.net/10107/469602 After David retired from Wernolau, he lived at 3 Church Street, Llanstephan and died in 1908. His half-nephew Theophilus Lloyd was farming Wernolau in 1901.