Friendly greetings to all
I recently joined the Gwent FHS but have yet to receive a response to my inquiries (I
realize everyone is busy!), so I thought Id try this approach. Im anxious to get any
information I can as soon as possible, as Ive recently learned that my husband and I will
be coming to South Wales for a few days this May, our first trip there in 23 years. Im
excited! I want to make the best possible use of our limited time there two days each
staying at Llantrisant, Mons. and Clydach (for Brynmawr/Nantyglo) to flesh out more
family history on my POWELLS and NEWMANS.
Ive been an appreciative lurker at this discussion board for several years, but this is
my first posting. Heres an overview (as brief as I can make four generations of life
stories) of what Ive unearthed so far over the past 35 years:
My g-g-g-g-grandfather William POWEL was born c. 1755-1775, probably at or near
Llantrisant, Monmouthshire. On 12 May 1791 he married Sarah THOMAS (chr. Llantrisant Feb
1766, dau of John and Ann THOMAS) at Llantrisant. There they had six POWEL children, all
christened at Llantrisant: William, chr Sept 1791; John, chr June 1793; Thomas, chr Oct
1795; Mary, chr June 1798, d. 1800; Sarah, chr July 1801; and James, chr April 1803. I
dont know yet what became of most of them.
William and Sarahs second son John POWEL(L) was my g-g-g-grandfather. As a young man if
not sooner he moved from Llantrisant to Herefordshire (whether with his family or alone I
do not know there may still be Powell relatives in southern Monmouthshire). There he
married Mary KYRWOOD (chr Oct 1793 at Burghill, Herefs. dau of Thomas and Mary KYRWOOD) at
Burghill 11 June 1815. John and Mary remained in Herefordshire much of their adult lives,
raising at least four POWELL sons there: John, chr 20 Sep 1819 at the teensy parish of
Monnington-on-Wye; William, chr 1 Apr 1821 at Monnington; James, chr 8 May 1823 at
Monnington; and George, chr 7 Mar 1830 at Bromyard (actually born at the hamlet of
Norton). The familys stay at Norton, where John Powel(l) was a gamekeeper, was temporary
for by 1841 the Powell family had returned to Monnington, where they appear on the 1841
and 1851 censuses. In Monnington John was usually listed as a farm labourer Im
guessing in the local !
cider industry. Mary Powel(l) died between 1851 and 1861. I believe (but have not
confirmed) that she died at Monnington, and she MAY be the Mary Powell listed on the GRO
death index for Weobley district for the first quarter of 1853. (I have not yet obtained
a certificate not clear where to go for it.) Its also conceivable that Mary may have
died in Blaenau Gwent, probably Brynmawr, as by the 1861 census John had returned to Wales
and was a widower (an unspecified labourer) living at Brynmawr with his son Williams
family. John himself died, almost certainly at Brynmawr, between the 1861 census and
William and familys departure for Pennsylvania USA in the late 1860s. The GRO death
index lists 9 John Powells who died in the Crickhowell district 1861-1869, so on a
disability pension it would bankrupt me to send to the GRO for every one of these
certificates. To complicate matters, the notorious issue of the Brynmawr boundary
intersections means (if I understand !
it correctly do I??) that my g-g-g-grandfathers death might also ha
ve been one of 5 additional John Powells recorded in Abergavenny district. Its even
conceivable he may have gone to live with another of his sons elsewhere in Monmouthshire
or Herefordshire after Williams family emigrated. Im hoping someone can suggest a more
economical way to narrow this list of recorded John Powell deaths down! Assuming he did
die in Brynmawr, Im also very, very eager to learn where he was buried. Ive sent for
several Gwent FHS cemetery fiches, but since theres a good possibility he was buried in
the Brynmawr municipal cemetery, I have no idea how to look for him there short of
crawling around the graveyard this May. Any suggestions?
Again, Im not clear what became of three of the POWELL sons, though I do know that in
1840 a John Powell married a Mary Ann JONES in Madley parish, Herefs., which is quite near
Monnington. Whether these three young men remained in Herefordshire or eventually
returned to Wales is unclear. However, John and Marys second son William POWELL was my
g-g-grandfather, and I know much more about him. He left Herefordshire as a young man,
between 1841 and 1846, to return to his fathers homeland. He became a skilled collier at
or near Brynmawr, though Im not clear which colliery. (Can anyone tell me which ones
were operating in the Brynmawr area 1840s-1860s? Would the colliery arm of the Bailey
ironworks have been the biggest?) On 26 Mar 1846 William married Eliza NEWMAN (b. 1823 at
Michaelwood, Berkeley parish, Gloucs. and now alas just a motorway service area! -- and
chr 9 July 1823 at Berkeley) somewhere in the Crickhowell RD, presumably at Brynmawr. (I
need to get t!
heir marriage certif. this May, but again am not clear where it is archived other than
the GRO. Can you tell me?)
Let me detour for a moment to give NEWMAN background: Elizas parents George NEWMAN and
Emma Louisa BOOTH Newman had been married 9 July 1821 at Berkeley and given birth to their
first four children there, all christened at Berkeley: William, chr 26 Oct 1821; Eliza;
Mary Anne, chr 25 Dec 1825; and Maria, chr 27 Jul 1828. William, Mary Anne and Maria were
all born at Woodford, Gloucs., a small village adjacent to Michaelwood. Sometime between
1828 and 1831 the Newmans moved to Nantyglo, Mons. and as far as I know resided there the
rest of their lives. They lived for at least part of that time at Pen-y-waun, the
northern part of Nantylgo almost touching Brynmawr. In Nantyglo they had six more NEWMAN
children and lost at least four: Jane, b. 1831, d. bef 1841; John, b. and d. 1833; David,
b. 1833; Henry, b. 1833, d. bef 1841; Maria (born earlier in Gloucs.) d. 1833; a second
Jane, b. 15 June 1837, who is the ancestor of Larry White who has contributed to this
discussion!
group; and James, b. 1840. I was really puzzled by all these 1833 birth dates how
could the Newmans have been so suddenly fertile?? but when I read here that the 1841
census apparently rounds birth years up or down to the nearest 5, realized those birth
years may not be precise. (Did I get that correctly?) Much of the info on the later
Newman children comes to me indirectly from Larry White via Kathleen Tifft Cooper, my
relative and fellow researcher here in the U.S., and Im not entirely clear about Larrys
sources for some of it. In any case, the Newmans, including the women and girls, worked
at various times at the ironworks (which Im supposing would be Baileys or am I jumping
to premature conclusions?) and in the coal pits, Im not sure which one(s). Again, would
love to be clearer about what ironworks and collieries were functioning in and around
upper Nantyglo 1830s-1860s. Also, what was a hallier, George and Emma Louisas
occupation on the 1851 ce!
nsus? In 1841 George was an iron miner.
In any case, William POWELL and Eliza NEWMAN had six POWELL children, presumably all born
at Brynmawr. According to the 1851 and 1861 censuses, the first two children were born in
Llangattock district: James abt. 1847 and Mary abt. 1850. Censuses show the remaining
four were born in Llanelly district: John, abt. 1852; George W., b. 28 Dec 1854; William,
b. abt 1860, d. bef 1869; and Sarah Ann, my great grandmother, who was born 21 July 1863.
I know in fact that Sarah Ann and George were born in Brynmawr, and I believe all the
others were as well. The censuses makes it appear that the Powells moved a lot, but in
fact it looks like it was never more than a block or two, from King St. to Well St. to
Hatter St.! (Aaaargh, those boundary stones!)
Sometime between the 1861 census and 1869 (I believe closer to the later date) the POWELLS
emigrated to America in two batches. William and his two eldest children James and Mary
went to Plymouth, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania first, to establish a new home for Eliza
and the younger children. Very sadly, both father and son were killed in the Avondale
Mine disaster at Plymouth 6 Sept 1869, which cant have been long after their arrival in
the U.S. Other Blaenau Gwent men perished at Avondale, too, including Evan HUGHES of
Brynmawr, the underground boss. (Evan and his brother Benjamin HUGHES, Scrantons most
influential Welsh-American, were sons of a Nantyglo ironworker.) The holocaust, which was
entirely preventable, was the worst anthracite accident in U.S. history and made news
around the world. It led to significant reforms in American mine safety laws and is still
well-known today. Almost all the 110 victims were from South Wales, and most of them,
including my g!
-g-grandfather and g-granduncle, are buried together at the Welsh cemetery at Hyde Park
(now called Washburn Street Cemetery), Scranton as close to their homeland as they could
get in America. Many former neighbors in Blaenau Gwent contributed to the international
disaster relief fund for the widows and orphans. Whether Eliza Powell knew that she had
been widowed before she, too, emigrated with the younger children is something Id love to
sort out. Has anyone archived references to the Avondale calamity in local Welsh
newspapers? All I know is that U.S. newspaper accounts listed Eliza and the young ones as
in the old country at the time of the Avondale disaster, and a few months later at the
time of the 1870 U.S. census they were living in Plymouth, PA.
The widowed Eliza POWELL had vanished from the record by the 1880 census and Ive been
trying to trace her last years forever. At some point Mary POWELL married a Mr. PHILLIPS,
but Im not clear whether it was in Brynmawr or Pennsylvania. I dont know when or where
she died. She is buried with her father and brother in the Avondale section of Hyde Park
Cemetery, but neither my cousin Kathleen nor I can read the weathered gravestone. John
POWELL headed for the Colorado frontier during the great silver boom and reportedly died
there in Leadville in mining union-related violence (the family story says his house was
dynamited) Im still trying to verify that. George W. POWELL spent his life in mining
in the Plymouth-Scranton area, mostly with the D. L. & W., but like a true Welshman
his real love was music and poetry. He was a well-known organist in the region
(Congregational church) and his wife, Sarah HUGHES (who may be from a Blaenau Gwent
family) is said to have been!
a very noted poet in the region. (Ignorant question: were there ever female bards??)
My great grandmother Sarah Ann Powell moved to Denver, Colorado when it was still a
frontier town, married railroad man George Thomas TIFFT there and raised four children.
In Denver she was an active Methodist, an early crusader for womens suffrage and a
Republican party volunteer driving voters to the polls in her buggy all in all a spunky,
politically conscious Welsh woman. Her two sons G. Frank and Perry (known as Dean) TIFFT
both died in the great flu epidemic of 1918 one as a civilian in PA and one in the
service in LeHavre, France. Her two daughters Ethel and Grace TIFFT married two Swedish
brothers, Arthur and Ted OSTERBERG, in California and lived their lives there. Both my
Grandma Gracie and Auntie Ethel were a much-loved part of my childhood, and my grandmother
in particular was a marvelous raconteur and guardian of the familys Welsh memories.
Bless her! Brynmawr was!
always spoken of as the nearest thing to paradise and I grew up heari
ng its name often.
This has gone on far too long already, but I would love to exchange information with
anyone. I especially need info on which archive(s) to visit for (1) the most efficient
and inexpensive access to registrations for Brynmawr, Nantyglo and Llantrisant and (2)
Brynmawr & vicinity cemetery records (Congregational and Church in Wales/a.k.a.
established). Also, does anyone know of emigration societies active in the region in
the 1860s or any other information on general conditions for Welsh emigrants to America?
Im sure Ill be posting many more questions in the weeks to come, and I thank you all in
advance for your interest and help. Ill keep it much shorter next time!
Best regards,
Judith Osterberg Sylte
Whidbey Island, Washington USA