1800s

When someone was born in one century and died in the next, they appear in the century relevant to the piece of information.

John Howell, 1781 – 1819. Surgeon in East India Company

1700s, 1800s, People

Jeni Molyneux, who lives in England, discovered she has many ancestors from Abernant, Trelech a’r Bettws, and Talog. It was the uncovering of Howell and Thomas family papers and letters, firstly at Pembrokeshire Records Office, then at the National Library of Wales, and then at Northamptonshire Records Office, that has made this primary research possible. The papers were all collected by the Rev. Thomas Thomas, himself an amateur antiquarian, as well as a clergyman. In 2019 she gave a talk in St Lucia’s Church, Abernant, about her ancestor, John Howell. He was born in 1781 at Rhydygarregddu, Talog, and went to India as a surgeon. This transcript of her interesting talk also mentions other relatives from the area. It is reproduced here with kind permission from Jeni Molyneux who retains the copyright of this article.

John Howell 5th November 1781- 28th June 1819
Surgeon in the East India Company -7th Regiment Native Infantry
from Rhydd y Garreg Ddu, Talog, to Kissengunge, India.

On 30th June 2019 a memorial service was held at St Lucia’s Church, Abernant to remember the life of this young Welsh boy from Talog, Carmarthenshire.

John Howell (his father Thomas Howell tells us in a letter written in 1785 to his brother in law) that John, his youngest son was born at 4pm on the afternoon of 5th November 1781 at the farm Rhydd y garreg ddu. John’s eldest brother was Howell Howell, five years older, and born in 1776 in Abernant. Howell Howell farmed nearby at Cwmgest until his death in 1840. It was this older brother Howell Howell who worded, and arranged for the above memorial in St. Lucia’s church to be erected in his brother’s memory.

John, as the youngest brother with no expected inheritance, had to make another way in life. He seems to have been supported financially and most probably to have been educated by his ‘Anwyl Ewythr’ the Rev. Thomas Thomas who was a curate at Isham and Farndon in Leicestershire. At the turn of the century in 1800 John Howell is 19 years old and he is already a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons. Four years later, in 1804 and aged 23 he achieves his MD and becomes a surgeon in London.

The following year, the Rev. Thomas Thomas receives a letter dated 6th February 1805 from John Howell’s parents Rosamond and Thomas Howell asking his advice about ‘how to raise £150 for India equipment’. However, luck prevails and a few months later, in 1805, John Howell is appointed Assistant Surgeon for Bengal, India, in the East India Company. John Howell sailed to Calcutta on the ship Britannia as 3rd mate arriving in Bengal in December 1805 to take up his appointment.

On the 3rd of March 1806 John Howell entered the Indian Medical Service as an Assistant Surgeon in Benares, India. (Present day Varanasi). No more is heard of John Howell’s life in India for the next 9 years…

Then in May 1814, aged 33 John Howell writes to his uncle the Rev. Thomas Thomas about ‘having had a bad horse-riding accident and his consequent poor health that he is suffering’
1814 John Howell took a furlough to travel home because of certified sickness.
16th June 1814 John Howell, surgeon, left Calcutta on board the ship Matilda to return home to Portsmouth. There were two employees of the East India Company coming home from Calcutta: Mr John Howell, and Captain S. Lutwige of the 11th native infantry who was also on sick leave.
16th December 1814 In a letter John Howell on arrival from India to Portsmouth is writing to his uncle the Rev. Thomas Thomas at Farndon describing a very painful voyage at sea. John Howell is clearly not well.
8th June 1815 Rev. Thomas Thomas writes to his niece Phoebe’s husband the Rev. Thomas Skeel at Newhouse, Pembrokeshire asking him to come and collect john Howell from “Mr Talbot’s madhouse” in Bethnal Green.
- “The fall from his horse in Asia probably is the primary cause of his derangement having affected his spine and brain… his removal to his native air is possibly a salutary means of recovery. There is more to be said about John Howell’s affairs than I can explain on paper. Mr Talbot is to have £1.11.6 pence per week, besides some extra expenses each week. avour me with a reply as soon as possible. In much trouble of mind”
In that summer of 1815 John Howell is rescued from Bethnal Green, by his cousin’s husband the Rev Thomas Skeel, and taken to Millbrook House, Carmarthen, to recover his sanity.
In 1817 John Howell returned to duty as Assistant Surgeon with the East India Company in Bengal with the 7th regiment of native infantry.
In 1818 John Howell was nominated a Surgeon by Sir H. Inglis. Bart.

John Howell died on 28th June 1819 aged 38 at Kissengunge, Maharashtra, India. The memorial was requested by him to be placed in St Lucia’s Church, Abernant.

Source: Jeni Molyneux

1887 Wedding

1800s

An amusing article from the Carmarthen Weekly Reporter, Friday 16 September 1887

A SINGULAR MARRIAGE. Every one was astir early last Tuesday morning in Talog, for there was to be a marriage which promised more merriment than serious rejoicing. Two garlands were put up in the village – one at J. Bowen’s house, the other at the Castle Inn. Everything of a bright colour, or of a comical shape, was put in the garlands. The bride was Rebecca Davies, of Pantycoch, widow, 52 years, with three children, and:the bridegroom was David James, Penbank, widower, aged 74, with seven children ; both of Abernant. By eight a.m. men in the village were firing off guns, and there was likewise shot firing, which continued till the bride came to Talog, when a volley was discharged in her honour. The blushing bride was visibly affected, especially when she found that the bridegroom had not come. The firing party by this time were thirsty, so the bride treated them to liquors, after which they renewed their firing with vigour. After the bride had been kept in suspense for half an-hour, the blooming bridegroom appeared, in the company of Mr Howells, Lan, and Mr Hughes, Ffynonwen, who brought their traps to carry the happy pair to Abernant Church. More liquor then went round, and the volleys followed quickly. The bridegroom was as active as a young boy, and the bride as modest and as timid as a maiden. When the party left Talog, there was a shower of old shoes and rice, a roar of laughter, and a final volley. People considered it a comical scene, for the bridegroom is old, and so they determined to make his marriage as public as possible. Long life to the happy pair, for though not possessed of youth, we trust he is full of wisdom, so that he can guide his wife aright. Love rules the world.– Com

The Perils of being Baptised in a River

1800s

This is an extract from “How I became a Blacksmith”, some notes written by John Davies, who was born in Talog in 1891. As a child he often frequented the Smithy in Talog where he became interested in the work of a blacksmith. His family moved to Llangain when he was seven years old. As an adult he became a multi-award-winning blacksmith in Carmarthen.

These notes recall an incident involving “Dafi Gof”, the Talog blacksmith who died in 1905.

“He was a stout and short man and kind to children, but he was not a full member of the local chapel until well on in years. I can remember him being baptised in the river which runs through the village, and great commotion was caused in the village that day. They used to baptise in a pool, called “pwll y bedydd¹” to this day. But through some misfortune the minister and Dafi Gof got entangled in each other. He pulled the minister with him into the water to the great fright of us children, and we all ran back to the village shouting “Mae Dafi gof wedi boddi²”.

1 (the baptism pool)
2 (Dafi Blacksmith has drowned)

Now that can’t happen again, as they have diverted a stream of water to a brick built Baptistry in the field close by.”

With thanks Jo Kerslake, a grand daughter of John Davies, for supplying the information

You can read more about the life of John Davies in ‘Where did the Anvil first ring for John Davies, Champion Farrier of Great Britain five times?‘, and there is some more information about the baptistry in ‘Blessing the Baptistry‘

Where did the Anvil First Ring for John Davies, Champion Farrier of Great Britain Five Times?

1800s, 1900s, People

John Davies was born in Talog on 3 November 1891 to David and Anna Davies of Ffynnon-madog. He was one of eleven children born to them, six while they were living in the parish.

David and Anna were married at the non-conformist Tabernacle Baptist Chapel by the Rev. David Roberts of Bethania Chapel, Talog, on 12 November 1885.

Life for John was carefree until he went to school and he was able to wander with other children among the farms and along the banks of the river Cywyn, but he was always attracted to the smithy with its fire and the drama of shaping metal and watching horses being shod.

Home was just a short walk away and he would spend hours at the smithy. The blacksmith was a short and stout man, and John described him as being kind man, particularly to children, and he allowed John and others to ‘play’ at knocking on the anvil. Playing wasn’t enough for John and he soon began to learn the neccessary cadences required to succesfully shape metal.

So much so that he learnt to match the style of the smith, probably David Thomas, who took the opportunity of leaving him at the smithy while he walked across the road to the Castle Inn to ‘slake his thirst’. This earned John many pennies to spend at the shop, as it meant that David’s wife Mary would be content that work was being done. If she could not hear the sound of the anvil she would come across to the smithy and strike it, imitating a waiting customer and calling David back to work.

David told John’s father that because of his interest, unlike the other boys who came to the smithy, he might actually make a blacksmith which, even at such a young age, he had suggested as his ambition. Though he was cautioned that the trade required strength and commitment.

At age seven the family moved away to Llangain outside Carmarthen and he went to school until the age of about 12. But across the fields he could hear the sound of the two smithies at Brook village which he visited when he could. He confided there that it was his intention to be a blacksmith but was told that it was a hard trade to learn.

He spent four years working on a local farm, ‘to get his back up’ as his father said. He was then apprenticed to Henry Evans at Pantyrhin Forge just outside Llangain on the road to Carmarthen. His father put down the not inconsiderable sum at the time of £8 for the indenture, to be returned when John completed his apprenticeship.

After three “hard but happy years’’ and to the surprise and pleasure of both him and his father he received £10 back.

John then spent a year at Llanfynydd as an ‘improver’ where they also made and repaired farming tools and implements, using various grades of iron, not just cast iron which he had been used to. This experience he said was of great value to him in later years when there were fewer horses needing to be shod.

The turning point in his career was when he went to Carmarthen and worked at the Cambrian Forge in the centre of town near the cattle market. Owned by John Issaac, John desribed him as being not only a clever craftsman but also a good business man who taught him the way to run a forge.

It was here that John Isaac, noticing his skill and commitment, encouraged John to enter competitions. Taking part not only provided the challenge to develop skills but also confirm skills and attract business, promoting the forge as a centre of excellence.

John qualified first as a Registered Shoeing Smith [RSS] and later as an Associate of the Worshipful Company of Farriers, their highest award by examination, recognising him as a master farrier.

That John continued at Cambrian Forge is a credit to John Isaac owner of the forge. But it also shows that they got on well – evidenced that John was later able to purchase the business – and that he was recognised as being an asset to the business. Competent and well-liked.

His skills were widely recognised and it was later said of him that he ‘could make a lame horse trot.’

It brought him a very comfortable living and in the agricultural community ‘position and influence’. He was elected Secretary and later President of the Carmarthenshire Master Farriers Association.

John won over 100 competitions throughout England and Wales, including the prestigious Capewell Challenge Shield three times and in 1923 he brought the Champion Farrier of Great Britain Shield to Wales for the first time. Eventually five times.

He was always in demand as a judge, not only the ‘grand’ agricultural shows but also happy to support smaller shows and encourage those willing to learn ‘the arts and mysteries of the craft’.

John’s quiet demeanour hid a kind and generous personality who when encouraged in later years by his many grandchildren would often include funny stories of the happy, carefree times he spent as young boy in Talog, where he first heard the ring of the anvil.

John Davies, AFCL, Master Farrier, died at Glangwili Hospital on 27 August 1965. Enw da yw’r trysor gorau

In an extract from “How I became a Blacksmith”, some notes written by John Davies, he recalled an incident involving “Dafi Gof”, the Talog blacksmith.

Contributed in 2021 by Jeff and James John Herschel, David-Miles James and Johanna Kerslake. Four of his grandchildren.