UPDATED 14th March 2010

Welcome

This site includes information on:
The ANTHONY families of Llanfihangel Aberbythych, Llanarthney and Llanelli
The BARTHOLOMEW family of Norton Fitzwarren in Somerset
The BARNES family of Ubley in Somerset
The BLACKMORE family of Bishops Lydeard and Hutton in Somerset and Llanelli
The CHAPPELL family - descendants of Joel CHAPPELL of Llanelli (1772-1831)
The DEWSBERRY Family – descendants of Thomas DEWSBERRY, Master Mariner (1783-1826)
The EVANS family of the New Lodge Inn at Capel Dewi in Carmarthenshire
The EVANS family of Llanddeusant in Carmarthenshire, descendants of Evan EVANS Gorsddu (1795-1862)
The GILMORE family of Burslem – descendants of Robert GILMORE of Glasgow (1812 – 1881)
The GRIFFITH family of Lleyn - descendants of Hugh GRIFFITH, Shoemaker of Nefyn (1792-1879)
The GUEST family of Whitehaven, Burslem and Llanelli – descendants of George GUEST (b 1759)
The HURFORD family of Llanelli – descendants of George HURFORD of Yarcombe in Devon (1860-1944)
The JONES family of Llanynghenedl on Anglesey - descendants of William JONES, Blacksmith (1806-1873)
The ROBERTS family of Llanelli – descendants of Thomas ROBERTS (1833-1904)
The THOMAS family of Llanelli - descendants of Evy THOMAS (1833-1874)
The WELLS family of Llanelli – descendants of John WELLS (1788–1850)
The WILLIAMS family of Ty Newydd in Llanystumdwy - descendants of William WILLIAMS (1806-1884)

Family History Name Index | Family History Surname List

Dedicated to the memory of my grandparents
Eluned and Frank ROBERTS (1898-1990 and 1894-1960)
Doris and Griff EVANS (1900-1985 and 1899-1964)
and my father Jeffrey Gilmour Evans (1930-2007)


Potters from Staffordshire and farmers from Somerset were among thousands of people who moved into Llanelli in the nineteenth century as it grew from a fishing village on the Carmarthenshire coast into the industrial town in which I grew up during the ninteen sixties and seventies.  Today most of the industry has moved on, as have some of their descendants, but others have remained.

This family history resource is the product of family history projects started by my mother and three of her cousins, including Vernon Hurford (1922-2002) the artist famous for his drawings of the town. 

Information on the living has been removed.  There may be errors and omissions.  If your family are here and you can fill in any gaps get in touch. family@rwgevans.com

The Evans families of Carmarthenshire

Land around Llanddeusant on the Black Mountain was owned and farmed by descendants of Rees Evan (d 1722) and for more than 250 years. Find out about the legend of Llyn-y-fan Fach and read about the New Lodge Inn in the Twyi Valley and how it was attacked during the Rebecca Riots.
Read more about country life in the nineteenth century...

Llanelly Pottery
DEWSBERRY GUEST ROBERTS

Swansea Road Nurseries
ROBERTS HAWKINS THOMAS
Read about the potters from Staffordshire who moved to Wales, about Sarah Jane Roberts (1859-1935) who painted the cockrel plates, and  David Guest (1825-1892) and Richard Dewsberry (1841-1906) who rescued the business.
Read more about the pottery workers ...		 A love of gardening kept the Roberts family afloat when financial problems forced the Llanelly Pottery to close. Thomas Roberts (1833-1904) began a family business selling fruit and flowers which flourished for 75 years.
Read more about the Nurseries ...

The Griffith and Jones families of Lleyn

Music, religion and seafaring - my grandmother came from a family that embraced all three Welsh traditions. Read about the family of Hugh Griffith (1862-1922) how he bought an orchestra to the Lleyn Peninsular and the inevitable family connection to David Lloyd George
Read more about Music And The High Seas ...

Steel And Stone
EVANS THOMAS WELLS DEWSBERRY

A Meeting On Stepney Street
ROBERTS BLACKMORE DEWSBERRY EVANS
Coal, copper, lead, iron and tinplate transformed Llanelli from a sleepy village into a bustling industrial town. Read about the wagon works established by John Herbert Evans (1869-1840) and find out about Edward Wells (1829-1882) who was just three feet tall.
Read more Steel And Stone ...		 Small shopkeepers were flourishing in Llanelli in the latter part of the ninteenth centure and so were new political ideas. Read how John Wells Roberts (1862-1932) met Caroline Martha Blackmore (1871-1960) during a Sunday afternoon stroll through the centre of town.
Read more about Victorian Llanelli ...

The Dewsberry family of Burslem

Thomas Chapman Dewsberry (1817-1892) was just nine years old when his father, a sea captain, drowned off South America leaving the family penniless. Thomas went to work in the pottery and through luck and thrift became prosperous in the employ of James MacIntyre.  Two of his children became talented artists well known for their pottery.
Read more about the changing fortunes of the Dewsberrys...

Births Deaths and Bibles
WELLS GRIFFITH GUEST JONES DEWSBERRY GILMORE

For King And Country
ROBERTS DEWSBERRY EVANS HAWKINS THOMAS GUEST
Cholera, drowning and questions that remain unanswered. See what is left of the Wells/Roberts and Jones Family Bibles and read about the murder of William Lowe in 1835. Did his wife have a hand in it?
Read more Mysteries And Tragedies.		 Nearly a million young men from the British Empire died during the First World War. Many like Tom Roberts (1893-1915) were killed in the prime of their life and buried thousands of miles from home. Locate their graves here...

Acknowledgments
  • June Sinclair for inspiring this project and putting her family history to paper
  • The late Huw Gareth Griffith for his research on the Griffith and Jones families of Lleyn
  • John Morgans for his research on the Williams family of Criccieth and Llanystumdwy
  • Peter and Pat Spearing for their research on the Spearing and Anthony family
  • The late Peter Lloyd Morris, Peter Blackmore and Phil Newick for their research on the Blackmores
  • The late Vernon Hurford for his research on the Hurford and Toft families
  • Hilary Kidd, Steve Larwood, Derek Sunners and Sandy Peach for research on the Dewsberry family
  • Gareth Hicks and the late John Dossor for research on the Evans family of Llanddeusant
  • John Jardine for research on the Chappell family
  • Christine Gover for research on the Thomas family of Llanelli
  • Carol Barry for the Jones family bible
  • Sue Lowe and Diane Wyatt for research on the Guest family of Australia
  • Chris Smart for research on the Barnes family of Ubley
  • Geoffs Genealogy
  • Wells Genealogy pages
  • Stuart Jebbitt for research on the Jebbitt and Wessel families
  • Huw Evans for the website design
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