John & Sarah DAVIES

my great grandparents

Click here for a 3 generation chart for John

John DAVIES Birth: 22 Feb 1863, Cwm, Llanidloes, Montgomeryshire, Wales i, ii Death: 9 Dec 1938, 36 Greaves Rd, Lancaster UK iii Burial: Lancaster Cemetery iv Occupation : foreman, railway yard iii Religion: Calvinistic Methodist v Father: Joseph DAVIES b. 1828 & d. 1894 Mother: Ann PUGH b. 1844 & d. 1886 click here for Joseph & Ann Davies' story As children, John and his sisters all helped out on their father's farm at Cwn near Glynhafren township. In 1881, when John was 16 years old the family had moved to Gwernerin, parish of Llandinam and he was assisting on his father's farm .At the time of his marriage to Sarah Lewis in 1883, John was working as a miner and living at Cevin. They were married at the Calvinistic Methodist Church in Llandinam. John Davies

			left; Calvanistic Methodist Church in the main street of Llandinam. (a few kilometres north of Llanidloes where John & Sarah married.
			After their marriage, the couple moved to Guilsfield ,Wales (three miles north of Welshpool) where John obtained work as a bailiff at Buttington Hall and their first child, Sally was born. The job of bailiiff was that of an agent to the lord of the manor, responsible for administering the estrate, collecting rents etc. By 1887 they had moved to Lancaster in Lancashire were John obtained work with the L.M.S. Railway Co. (London Midland and Scottish). In 1889 they were living at 4 Back George Street, Scotforth. In 1891 they were living at 32 Motham Street, Scotforth and by 1901, the family were living at 22 Railway Street, Scotforth and John was working as a railway goods checker. There were four children still living at home, Jane, John, Tom & Evan.

In 1914, John was employed as a labourer but was later promoted to foreman with LMS Railway Company at the old station yard near Ashton Road, Scotforth. In the period around 1916-1919 they were living at 5 Ripley Street ,Scotforth. In 1921, John and Sarah were still in Ripley Street with their grandson Wilfred aged 6. My father, Wilfred, remembered his grandfather taking him to visit his cousin, Rees Jarman at Glan-y-nant near Llanidloes in Wales in the early 1920s. Glan-y-nant had a very narrow street surrounded by five terrace houses in amongst the Welsh countryside. John retired from the railway yard aged 65 years and died ten years later when they were living at 36 Greaves Road, Lancaster. His death was registered by Jim Capstick, his son-in-law who was present at his death. He died from chronic bronchitis, inflamed gall bladder stones and senility. vi

John Davies (left) with workmates at Railway Goods Yard, Ashton Road, Scotforth c. 1910

His wife: Sarah LEWIS Birth: 19 Jan 1864, Fynnon-Gedwin, Trefeglwys, Montgomeryshire, Wales xiii ,ii Death: 25 Feb 1938, 36 Greaves Rd, Lancaster UK iii Burial: Lancaster Cemetery viii Occupation : domestic servant then home duties i Father: John LEWIS b. 1822 & died 1869 Mother: Sarah CLEATON b. 1825 Married: 19 May 1883, Calvinistic Methodist, Llandinam, Wales v Sarah Davies nee Lewis

This area (above) is called Ffynnon Gledgwyn ( means 'well of Gledwin in Welsh') and it's near the village of Trefeglwys, north of Llanidloes. Sarah was born here at the farm of her father's uncle. Her father, John Lewis, was ill with lung problems having been a lead miner. He died here when Sarah was five years old. Sarah's mother, also called Sarah, moved to Lower Green Llanidloes around 1870. Sarah didn't work but her older children, Edward aged 12 and Evan aged 10 got work in the nearby factory. My great grandmother Sarah was still at school.   The photo above shows the village of Trefeglwys with the parish graveyard on the left and Red Lion pub on the right.

Children of John & Sarah
Sarah A. (Sally) DAVIES b. 1885 at Guilsfield, Montgomeryshire i. In 1901 Census, Sarah was working as a silk cleaner in a silkmill and living in Low Mill Road, Galgate. ix She married Mr. Lucas and their children were Noel, Maggie & Doris.

Jane Elizabeth (Lil) DAVIES b. 1887 in Lancaster i & died after 1952 xiv She was known as Lil, which was a shortened version of Elizabeth. In 1901 at the age of 14, she was working in the cotton mill as a weaver's tenter. Lil married an army cook James (Jim) CAPSTICK (b. 1887 iv & died 28 Aug 1842 in Lancaster (iv ,xv ) and they lived most of their life in India. Jim was demobbed in Lancaster in the early thirties. ix Their children were Violet, James & Francis .

John Herbert (Jack) DAVIES b. 1888 in Lancaster - & died 28 Aug 1962 in Royal Informary in Lancaster. Jack started work as a fireman on a stream train. He married Emily Shuttleworth (b. 1893 v daughter of Richard, & died 6 Jan 1973 in Morecombe xvi) , who was from the nearby seaside town of Morecombe. They were married 3 Oct 1914 at St. Paul's Church of England in Scotforth v and had three children, Thomas b. 1915 then Annie & Evan. Jack had been living at 17 Ripley Street, Scotforth at the time of his marriage in 1914 and my father , Wilfred, can remember them still living there in 1922. Jack eventually became a locomotive driver before his retirement. He was then living in 13 Borrowdale Street, Lancaster. He died aged 73 from coughing up blood related to Tuberculosis and the rupturing of a ballon in the artery. His youngest son, Evan, registered the death. v

Joseph Thomas DAVIES b. 20 Nov 1889 in Lancaster ii & d. 27 Dec 1971 in Harris Park, NSW, Australia- my grandfather- Tom married my grandmother Janet (Jenny) RIDING but Jenny died when their son Wilfred (my father ) was 9 months old. He then married Jenny's sister Lilian. click here for Tom's story.

Evan W. DAVIES b. 1905 v in Lancaster xi

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Footnotes:
i. 1891 census of Scotforth
ii. birth certificate
iii. death certificate
iv. I saw or heard this on my UK trip, July 1997.
v. marriage certificate
vi . 1871 Census of Llanidloes, Trefeglyws & Llangurig
vii . 1881 Census of Llandinam, Montgomeryshire. CD series
viii . Newspaper clipping
ix. 1901 Census of UK
x. Marriage certificate of son
xii . My father (Wilfred) can remember living with his grandparents at this address when he was a child. His mother had died and he lived with John & Sarah Davies until his father remarried.
xii. . Letter from Wilfred to Connie & Evan Davies 1978
xiii . Joseph Thomas Davies certificate of Identity for immigration to Australia- 1923
xiv. . UK National Probate Indexes for 1938 and 1952. Pages 57 and 657 respectively.
xv. . oral
xvi . Letter from Connie to Wilfred.
xvii . Lena Huntington, daughter of Maggie Huntington (nee Riding), from Murray Bridge ,South Australia.

by Ros Davies

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