Several people have responded to my note that perhaps my 3 g grandmother Ada Jones nee
Gravel ( who described herself in the 1861 census as driving an ass) might have been a
cockle collector. I think this quite likely given that Kidwelley and Llandefeilog where
she lived are close to the Towy estuary.
I found this wonderful quote from a 1900 author called Tierney about Llansaint in the
adjecent parish of St Ishmael.
"Llansaint ...... a place inhabited for generations by a somewhat primitive and
exceedingly hardy race of people who live by gathering shellfish, especially cockles. The
trade is almost entirely in the hands of the women, often assisted by children. The
business seems to pay them remarkably well ... there is some truth in the old saying, so
well known in St. Ishmael's parish, that "he who marries a Llansaint woman
marries a fortune".
This is from
www.welshmormonhistory.org a site that has several Welsh Family histories.
Dave Davies
Boulder CO