The Richards move to Wales

I'm still trying to work out how to post an image of the family tree which would make things a whole lot clearer to others following this blog and my thought processes.

In the meantime, here is a narrative version of my line, starting from me and going down the paternal line:

Philip Roger Richards  (b.1968)
Clayton Windsor Richards (b. 1944)
Richard Richards (b. 1913, d. 1979)
Richard Richards (b. 1884, d. 1947)
Richard Richards (b. 1851, d. 1912)
John Richards (b. 1815, d. 1897)
Richard Richards (b. 1790/2, d. 1875)

The initial research goes beyond this, currently to Baronet Sir John Richards (b. abt 1640) but there is some evidence that the tree is not accurate from the last person mentioned in the list above, and in any case it's not relevant for the point of this post.

The point of this post is to identify which of the Richards' from Devon were the ones who came over to Wales. In turns out, according to the research of Angela Manning (who still lives in near Trentishoe, Devon, and appears to share my ancestry) that of John Richards' (1815-1897) nine children, four of them went over to Wales. This included Richard (in bold in list above) who is my great-great grandfather, and who was the one who started my line of the Richards' in Wales. The 1871 census shows him inn Wales at that time as a "stone breaker", a "collier" in his marriage certificate to Margaret Morgan in Cadoxton (a village outside Neath where I was brought up) before it appears that he took over the Duke of Wellington pub sometime after 1888.

The other children of John and his wife Mary-Ann who went over to Wales, according to Angela Manning, appear to be Thomas, Grace and William Richards. According to the current information on Ancestry.com, Thomas appears to have lived in Llantwit Lower (which is in/near Neath) - I wonder whether him and his brother Richard were close? Grace married a Thomas Phillips, and at one time lived for some time in the Cardiff area (Canton is mentioned as her residence in the 1901 census). William, according to Ancestry, was not the son of Mary-Ann and there is no evidence on Ancestry of where he lived in Wales.  

6/11/14 update : Angela Manning of Combe Martin (who is also a relative) has  drawn to my attention that William Richards, Richard's brother, lived  close by to Richard at 35 Rosser Terrace, Neath (1901 census) and at 35, Sydenham Terrace, Penydre, Neath (1911 census). The Penydre area of Neath is no more than half a mile from the Duke of Wellington pub. 



 

Combe Martin to Trentishoe - the trail moves

My father, Clayton Windsor Richards, celebrated his 70th birthday on 3 January 2014. As a treat, the family organised a get together in Combe Martin for a few days and we had a very enjoyable stay at the Sandy Cove Hotel (link).

Dad and grandchildren at the Sandy Cove Hotel, Jan 2014

Dad knew that his family originated from the Combe Martin area but knew little more than that. In fact, he had never visited the village before. Beforehand, I had managed to contact some knowledgable local experts via Facebook (link) who managed to clarify the Richards story somewhat. Trevor Dunkerley who lives in the village, and a deft hand at the ancestry.com website, had informed me that the family had actually lived in Trentishoe, a hamlet and parish a few miles outside Combe Martin towards Lynton. An interesting twist in the story is that my great great great grandfather John Richards (1815 - 1897) ran the Hunters Inn in the Heddon Valley, close to Trentishoe. Today, the inn remains very popular with locals and tourists (link) and we met the current owner who himself is looking into the history of the inn. It was John's son, Richard (1851-1912), who appears to be the one who left the Devon nest and ventured over to Wales and started the Richards line over there.

Before leaving for home, we visited St Peter's Trentishoe and paid respect to the graves of John Richards and his wife Mary Ann (3rd pic below with John's name right at the bottom of the gravestone) and his father Richard Richards (1790/2-1875). The line beyond there needs further work. The initial research kindly undertaken by Trevor suggests that the line moved to Trentishoe from Lynton, a nearby small town. The line - for the moment at least - ends tantalisingly with the name Baronet Sir John Richards, born in Toulouse (France) about 1640 and christened in Lynton. Further validation work, yes, but surely exciting!

Richard Richards 1790-1875

John Richards (1815-1897), his wife Mary-Anne Richards and daughter Eliza Richards (not captured in picture) 

Starting out

I suspect most families have at least a vague idea of their ancestors or family tree beyond the second generation. Observe the sentimental scene of grandparents and parents sharing stories with the children beside the fireside on winter evenings. Names of people and places are drawn out from the dusty attics of memory, permeate the room with their presence for a few brief moments, then evaporate quickly into the collective cloud of the past. They are rarely documented. The stories are oral, and are meant to be told and not necessarily written.  In any case, such was the case with myself.

My name is Philip Roger Richards, born 18 October 1968 in Neath, in the county of West Glamorgan, in the principality of Wales which is part of the United Kingdom. I was born to Clayton Windsor Richards and Heulwen Richards (nee Jones) and have two younger siblings - Arwel Wyn Richards and Meinir Eleri Richards. I married Nicola (nee Kirkman) in Neath on 27 May 2000. I have two children, Kirsten Jamie Richards (b. 26 June 2002 in Tilburg, Netherlands) and Luke Clayton Richards (b. 11 June 2007, Stellenbosch, Republic of South Africa). My wife and children currently live in Overton, a village in the county of Hampshire, United Kingdom.

Nikki and I with our children Kirsty and Luke (Somerset West, South Africa 2011)

This blog is meant to provide a means for me to reflect and document the researching of my family tree. I am not a professional family historian/geneaologist so my methods may be inefficient, but I intend to learn something about better methods as I go along and have some fun in the process. 

I also hope that this will be interesting to the rest of my immediate family and to my and my father's extended family and that they may be able to add some information to make the research more accurate and interesting.

A specific note of gratitude to Mr Trevor Dunkerley of Combe Martin, Devon, the importance of whose place of residence will hopefully become clear in the next post. He, together with other members of the Combe Martin History Forum on Facebook (link here ) were both helpful in terms of providing very useful information in getting me started, and at the same time restoring my faith in the potential and usefulness of social media sites like Facebook!