This site will try to give the story of Bessie Morgan’s ancestors. We have met Bessie at the tail-end of the Davies story. This part will consider her ancestors. As before, we will start with the oldest ancestors that we have found and follow the story through to Bessie.
Living in this area, the Cynon valley, were small tenant farmers. Among them, just North of Penderyn, there were Prices, Howells and Morgans, all of whom are part of this story.
We need to introduce the Price and Howells families before considering the Morgans. The relationships are often complex and difficult to follow.
Not surprisingly, for what was a remote and relatively low population, intermarriage was frequent.
The Prices
Prices in History:
Declaration of American Independence on July 4, 1776 .
Living at Heol Las Farm (GR SN945095) was Rees Price (1772 – 1850) with his wife Margaret (b.1771).
Heol Las in 2021
We can find them in the 1841 census (their ages are census recorder’s guesses) :
Rees and Margaret had five children that we know of: Gwenllian (b.1801), Margaret (b.1802), Edward (b.1808), Thomas (b.1816), Amelia (b.1821). Also living with them was grandaughter, Amelia Howells. We shall meet her parents, John and Gwenllian, when we meet the Howells below.
Edward stayed at home and managed Heol Las. He married Hannah Hopkins (1817 – 1897). Their 1861 and 1871 census entries are shown below:
Aside
Of the Edward Price family children listed in the census above, we will only consider two fascinating snippets concerning Kezia (1860 – 1897) and Charles (1857 – 1925). (See also the family tree below)
i/. Kezia married David Davies (1853 – 1937) in 1879. He was both assistant post master and silica sand miner. How he managed these two jobs is uncertain. Dai the Post was better known as Dewi Cynon, the writer. At the London National Eisteddfod, Mr. D. Davies (Dewi Cynon), Post Office, Penderyn, won the prize of £10 for the best Collection of the Folklore of Radnorshire.
He was best known as the author of the interesting hand-book entitled “Hanes Plwyf Penderyn,” “History of Penderyn Parish.” Many of the facts presented here concerning the early ancestors come from this work.
The following is an extract from a local paper:
Mr. David Davies (Dewi Cynon), Penderyn, received the news some time ago of the death of his son. John Haydn Davies, in Tongoa, one of the South Sea Islands, where he was engaged as a cocoa plantation manager. He was murdered by natives.
ii/. Charles Price we have already met in the Davies story. He married Margaret Morgan (Llewelyn Morgan’s daughter) and it was his daughter, Gwenllian, who managed the Red Lion Inn in Penderyn and, as a widow, was to marry Llewelyn Davies in 1924. We will discuss him further later in the story.
The Howells
Jenkin Howells (1758 – 1830)
Gwenllian Howells (1771-1829)
Placing Jenkin Howells in History
- Dr Johnson publishes his dictionary in 1755.
- Boston Tea Party 1773
Note that the surname ‘Howells’ sometimes was written as ‘Howell’
Jenkin and Gwenllian Howells farmed Wern Las farm ( GR SN965099) which is less than 1 km from Glynperfedd farm (discussed below).
Wern Las Farm 2021
We know little about them other than they are buried in Siloam Baptist Chapel (SBC) in Penderyn:
Siloam Baptist Chapel
From ‘Tarian y Gweithiwr 21/06/1897’ [computer translation].
Siloam, Penderyn, This church is a branch of Ynysfelin church, in Cwm Taf. This cause was initiated in 1823 by the Rev. Richard Howell, and John Howell, his brother, uncle and father of Mr Jenkin Howell, Printer, Aberdare. The chapel was opened on the 5th of August, 1824, and the first minister was the Rev. Richard Howell, who remained here until his death in 1842.
We shall meet Richard Howell below. Note also the identification of John Howell and his son Jenkin (the printer – not to be confused with Jenkin Howells (b 1758)).
Jenkin and Gwenllian Howells grave. Strangely, it is in English.
Note the name of the farm (here spelled Wern Laes – Welsh spelling is never very consistent).
Jenkin and Gwenllian had seven children (that we have found) :
Richard (b.1790), John (b.1793),Mary (b.1796), Jane (b.1797), Howell (b.1799), Gwenllian (b. 1801) and Thomas (b.1809).
{Names in bold are considered further}
We have found baptism records for all except Thomas. That for Gwenllian is shown below:
Note the name of the farm which confirms the relationship. Gwenllian is particularly important, as we shall see when we discuss the first of the Morgans . She and Richard and Thomas are highlighted above because they help us to identify relationships. John is unknown except for the reference found about Siloam Chapel given above.
Part of the family tree showing the intermarriage of the Howells and Price families. The coloured diagonal lines show that these people are in both family trees. The Morgan connection is coloured green. Margaret Morgan was Llewelyn Morgan’s daughter.
Richard married Margaret Price (see above). She and his brother Thomas both suffered an early death of scarlet fever as recorded in The Cambrian of 7th Nov 1835:
Thomas’ headstone is reproduced later when considering the death of Gwenllian Morgan.
Richard re-married in 1838:
His new bride, Harriet, was a servant at Wern Las. We shall meet Harriet again. Note that Richard’s father was Jenkins Howell which supports our original finding. (As was common in Welsh names, the final ‘s’ is often missing. Most people were illiterate at this period.)
An Aside
John Howell provides an interesting link.
In 1827 he married Gwenllian Price who was discussed above. They produced 8 children of whom Jenkin Howells (1837-1902) was the most famous.
Jenkin moved to Aberdare, where he attended night-schools kept by John Anthony and Dan Isaac Davies. He gave up shoe-making, and from 1854 until 1861 worked with his brother-in-law as a sawyer. But on the advice of his pastor, Thomas Price (1820 – 1888), he became a printer, opening works of his own in 1867.
Census return of 1881
His frequent contributions to the press won him repute in all parts of Wales — much of his poetry appeared in Yr Ymofynydd, Seren Gomer, and Y Geninen. He himself printed many Welsh books, besides the newspaper Y Gweithiwr Cymreig which he owned and edited. He was an authority on the folklore and the dialect of eastern Glamorgan, and at the Pontypridd National Eisteddfod of 1893 he shared with T. C. Evans the prize for an essay on ‘Glamorgan Folklore.’ Two years before his death, he began a series of articles, in Y Geninen, on the history of the Aberdare valley. He died 14 June 1902, and was buried at Penderyn.
Jenkin’s brother, Thomas, is worthy of a mention. As a young man he was converted by two missionaries to the Church of the Latter Day Saints. None of his brothers and sisters were at all interested in this sect. In 1856 he emigrated to the United States. He landed at New Orleans and took a steamer up the Mississipi to St Louis and then took a wagon train to Utah. Here he met and married a Welsh girl, Ann Evans Francis. His church sent him back to Wales to try and persuade his family and friends to take up this faith (without much success, it is said) before he returned to Utah. There are still Howells living in Utah. Thomas’s journal makes interesting reading. See the links below:
http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~chrisandhowellsfam/genealogy/howellsaf_line.html
http://www.welshsaints.byu.edu/Resource_Info.aspx?id=1347
Llewelyn Morgan (1797-1881)
Gwenllian Howells (1801-1880)
Placing Llewelyn in History:
Nelson loses his right arm at the battle of Santa Cruz in 1797
Llewelyn Morgan marks the earliest that we meet the Morgan name in the family tree. We know very little about Llewellyn’s early life. Almost all the data comes from census reports. He was born in the village of Ystradfellte and some time about 1825 he married Gwenllian. We shall show that this Gwenllian was Gwenllian Howells discussed above.
In 1861 Llewelyn was farming Glynperfedd farm (a farm which neighbours those where the early Davies family lived! GR SN955095) .
They had seven children that we know of:
Morgan (b. 1826), Jenkin (b.1829), Mary (b.1836), Llewelyn (b.1838), Catherine (b.1840), Jane (b.1842) and Margaret (b.1845).
Note the name Jenkin – that of his grandfather. We have highlighted four of them because they have more to tell us about the Morgan family. The long gap between Jenkin and Mary probably indicates that there were others who died in infancy.
In the 1871 census return above, Mary had married someone called Jones but was already a widow with a young son, John.
Llewelyn’s [the elder] son, also called Llewelyn (b.1838), died in 1873. The loss seems to have struck the family very hard judging by the elaborate gravestone they erected in the cemetery of Siloam Baptist Chapel (SBC) in Penderyn. It also records the death of daughter Catherine in 1914.
Llewelyn Morgan’s wife, Gwenllian, died in 1880, and her gravestone is also to be found in the SBC cemetery. She is buried with Thomas Howells of Wern Las who died of scarlet fever (the son of Jenkin Howells) which leads us to believe that her maiden name was Howells and that she was the daughter of Jenkin Howells. We shall give additional proof of this later.
Thomas Howell and Gwenllian Morgan
(note the farm names – Wern Laes for Thomas and Glynperfedd for Gwenllian – which identifies them more certainly than the names alone. Thomas’ inscription is in English but Gwenllian’s is in Welsh.)
Llewelyn senior is the link between the Price and Morgan families.
In the 1881 census for Glynperfedd, Charles Price is listed as the head of the family. He had married Llewelyn’s daughter, Margaret,[see the Price family tree above] and was running the farm at Glynperfedd, but Llewelyn’s name also occurs in the list as ‘father-in-law’. Llewelyn senior eventually died in 1881. We have not quite finished his story as we shall meet with him again in discussing the succeeding generation.
Morgan1 Morgans (1827- 1893)
Harriet Evan (1807 – 1888?)
(surname sometimes written as ‘ Morgan’) The 1 indicates he is the first Morgan Morgan we have met.
Placing Morgan in History
- March 26, 1827: Composer Ludwig van Beethoven died in Vienna, Austria, at the age of 56.
- August 12, 1827: English poet and artist William Blake died in London,
In the 1851 census return we find the person we believe was Llewellyn Morgans’ eldest son, Morgan1 . There is little direct evidence to tie Morgan 1 and Llewelyn. Most of the evidence is circumstantial.
Morgan1 was now a farmer in his own right and had married a Harriet Howells from Llangiwg.
Harriet was a widow. They married in 1846 which would have made him aged 20 and her 39! This unusual age difference is supported in all the census returns.
This certificate is the primary source of information on Morgan’s father. It shows that his father was a Llewelyn Morgan who was a farmer. Note also that widow Harriet’s maiden name was Evan as her father was William Evan. Comparison of this certificate with that of Richard Howells (above) shows that the father of Harriet in both cases was William Evan(s).
Morgan1 was farming at Beili Helig – a small farm of 40 acres in 1851 so he does not appear on any of the census forms for his father Llewelyn. (See discussion below.)
Note the name of William Howel (step son) who would have come from Harriet’s first marriage. Note also son Daniel who appears next in our discussion.
1871 Morgan’s census return is reproduced below:
Between 1861 and 1871, Morgan1 Morgan moved to a bigger farm, 243 acres, at Trebanog Fach (‘little’ Trebanog) {which is close to Trebanog Fawr Farm and to the Mill House where Bessie was born .. see below }. . Jenkin Morgan (b.1829) [see Llewelyn’s children above] took up the vacated farm at Beili Helig which strengthens the case for Morgan1 Morgan being his brother.
We also note that Jenkin named three daughters, Jane, Margaret and Catherine [his sisters’s names] and his eldest son was named Morgan2 (b.1867) [his brother’s name].
Aside
As discussed under the Davies Web page, one of Charles Price’s daughters, Gwenllian Ann, (see above census) married Lewis Lewis of the Red Lion, Penderyn. When he died, she re-married Llewelyn Davies (b.1873) whom we have met in the Davies’ story. It is a curious fact that Llewelyn Davies and his brother William (b.1872) both married descendants of the Morgan line.
Aside
Beili Helyg still exists. It is very close to Nantmaden farm and is now a guest house. [The name Beili Helyg means ‘Willow Trees Courtyard‘. The spelling sometimes changes!] .
Jenkin Morgan (b.1829) was still farming it in 1891 but had retired by the time of the census in 1901. In the 1911 census, it was farmed by his nephew, Edward Price (b.1882) [Charles Price’s son].
Jenkin Morgan died in 1910 in Penderyn and is buried with his wife in SBC as shown above.
Despite her age, Morgan1‘s wife, Harriet, produced three children: Gwenllian (1847), Daniel(1848) and Jenkin (1854!) Note that Gwenllian was the name of her grandmother and that Jenkin is the name of Morgan’s brother.
The 1881 census records ‘Morgan2 Morgans (1872), grandson and scholar! 
The 1891 census marked a big change. Harriet had died and Morgan1 had moved in with son Daniel and his family [see below] to Penrheol farm, Penderyn (G.R. SN992115). The farm no longer exists.
Morgan1 died in 1892 and is buried in SBC with his wife.
Also for the forenamed Morgan Morgan who died November 21, 1892 66 years old.
Aside:
This gravestone is the first mention of a wife of Morgan called Angharad and is something of a surprise. Morgan’s wife was recorded to be Harriet in the all the census returns up to, and including, the 1881 census. It is likely that ‘Angharad’ and ‘Harriet’ were the same person. It is noticeable that Angharad was 20 years older than her husband – the same age difference as Harriet and Morgan. Angharad was born in 1807-8 which is the same year given to Harriet in the census returns. There is no evidence for Morgan re-marrying. However, a death certificate was issued for Angharad Morgan and we can find nothing for Harriet.
Harriet’s first husband was Richard Howell, we believe. Further research has yielded Richard Howell’s will of 1842 of which a portion reproduced below: 
It can be seen that Richard calls her ‘Anarat’ – not Harriet of the marriage certificate or the census returns. Given that the will was in English and was obviously dictated by Richard, who would probably not have spoken English, ‘Angharad’ could easily have been written ‘Anarat’ by the person taking the dictation. In any case, Richard died on the 8th Aug 1842 and the will is dated 1st Aug.. Richard has not signed the will and his ‘mark’ is a mess so that it is likely that he was in no fit state to do much checking. We think Morgan married Richard’s widow (see below). It would seem that Harriet was the English name but she was called Angharad in Welsh.
Morgan’s obituary from Seren Cymru, 21st April, 1893 (computer translated)
MR. MORGAN MORGAN, PENYRHEOL, PENDERYN. The above good brother finished his earthly career November 21st, 1892, at the age of 66. It was in the parish of Penderyn that the deceased was born, raised, and spent his life. He was baptized at the age of 14 by his uncle, the Rev. Richard Howell, Wernlas, and was a handsome and useful member at Siloa, Pontbrenllwyd, until his grave. He served the theological office for many years to the great satisfaction of the church, and there is a large gap behind him that cannot easily be filled, Morgan Morgan was one of the quietest, most gentle, gentlemen in all the neighborhood. He was in fact the son of peace in the world, and in the church. He was a true friend of the ministers of the Word and many of them were assisted by his affectionate hearing of the Gospel. He left two sons and a daughter to mourn After him, those who followed their father’s paths in religion and action. The following Thursday after his death, his body was taken to Siloa cemetery by a large and respectful crowd. Davies, assisted by the Reverend B. Evans, Gadlys, and W. Harries, Church Watch, The angel of his tomb watched until the morning of the erection, and the Lord raised some kind of spirit to fill his place.
The obituary helps fill in some of the missing facts in the family. Note that at the age of 14, Morgan was baptised by his uncle, the Rev Richard Howell, of Wern Las who, we learned above, was responsible for creating the chapel.
We have noted that Richard was the eldest of Jenkin Howells’ family. Morgan could only call him uncle if Morgan’s father was Llewelyn Morgan and his mother was Richard Howells’ sister, Gwenllian.
We believe that the Harriet Howells who Morgan married was his widowed aunt by marriage. This would account for the big discrepancy in Morgan and Harriet’s ages ( 20 and 39) when they married. He would have known her since he was about 12. These complex relationships are sketched below:-
Part of the Howell-Morgan family tree. Double line are for marriages.
Daniel Morgans (1848-1920),
Jane Morgans (1841-1886)
(surname sometimes written as ‘ Morgan’)
At this point consider the son of Morgan1, Daniel. We find him in the 1871 census:
He had married Jane Harris (1841) in about 1869 in Penderyn. (A Jane Harris was recorded as being a servant in Aberdare in 1861 so they may have met there).
They had a daughter Bessie [who later married William Davies (b.1872) and is the link between the Morgan and Davies families].
The census recorder has written ‘Elizabeth’ for the daughter’s name but Bessie only ever used the latter name in later life.
Bessie was born at Mill House next to Trebanog Fawr.
The latter still exists a short way south of Penderyn. The mill has gone. A farm worker at Trebanog Fawr related that the mill was unusual in that the water wheel was central, not off to one side.
By 1881 they had moved to Dyffryn Nedd – a farm of 112 acres on the Afon Nedd (River Neath) in the parish of Ystradfellte and which still exists (SN913125).
They had two more children – Morgan Morgan2 (1872), and Evan William Morgan(1877). Both were present at Bessie’s funeral in 1937.
By the time of the 1891 census they had moved again, to Penyrheol farm. which we noted earlier was not far from Coed Cae Ddu farm and Bessie’s future husband, William Davies.
Daniel’s father, Morgan1, now a widower, as we noted, was living with them at Penyrheol.
By the time of the 1901 census , shown above, everything had changed. Morgan1 had died.
Daniel died in 1920:
Like the rest of the family, he was buried in SBC. If Daniel and family worshipped regularly at SBC then they had a long trek. SBC to Penrheol is about 7 km.
Buried with him is second wife Gwenllian. Jane, the first wife, had died in 1886 and is buried in the same cemetary (see below).
Obituary. Y Darian, 26 July 1917 (translated)
Death. — Mrs. G. Morgan, dear spouse of Mr. Daniel Morgan, Penyrheol, suddenly Friday afternoon, June 29th, aged 73 years. Her health has been poor for months. She was a religious sister, and the oldest member of the Church of Siloa (B.), who showed great zeal for the best cause. Her brother is Mr. DD Jones, an officer in our French army, who now writes and repeats a word to the “Shield.” Her remains were buried at Siloa Cemetery by a crowd of people with signs of intense mourning. The funeral was attended by the Rev. David Jones, who is in charge of Ynysyfelin church, the Rev. Cefni Jones, her pastor, was away on holiday.
Before leaving Daniel’s family, we should record that Morgan2 Morgan (Bessie’s brother) became a ‘Reservoir Keeper’, (which is ironic given that most of his ancestors fought against the construction of these reservoirs), for Cardiff Corporation. He married Mary Ann Evans in 1892 and they had 6 children.
Evan William Morgan (the other brother) moved back under father Daniel’s roof. He married Elizabeth Owens in 1908 and they had one child, Gwenllian (b.1909). He is buried in the grave, above, with his mother.
To return to the Davies page follow this link)
— This concludes the description of Bessie Morgan’s ancestry —
The following links are useful.
http://cynonculture.co.uk/wordpress/
http://web.archive.org/web/20070611235600/http://www.cefnpennar.com/penderyn/siloam.htm
http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~chrisandhowellsfam/genealogy/howellsaf_line.html
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