Joan Hamer - her Edwards ancestors
Joan was born in 1925 into a working class mining family. Her father's ancestors originated from mid Wales and were all Welsh speaking. Her mother's ancestors originated from the Black Country in the Midlands.
Here follows the background of her father's family.
Edward Edwards was Joan's great grandfather. Edward was born in 1805 in Llanidloes, Montgomeryshire in the heart of Wales. Llanidloes is the first town on the river Severn and is a beautiful rural town, famous for its timbered buildings. In 1805 it main industry was the manufacturing of flannel. Many small cottage industries would have used water powered mills as power to make the flannel but as steam power was introduced the small cottage industries began to close. The people that operated these water mills were then looking for other work. It may have been that Edward Edwards had worked on small mills. 1841 the census shows him in Forest Mill, Talgarth, a very rural and sparsely populated upland area of Breconshire. He would perhaps have been putting his milling skills into good use - milling the neighbouring farmer's corn. He lived there with his wife Ann, daughter Hesther and sons John (4) and William. I would imagine that life there was fairly harsh – the site is remote even now - down a very steep sided valley in a mountainous area several miles south of the village of Talgarth. There was probably little money to be made and very few home comforts. The site of the mill still exists in a very steep valley in Pengenffordd a few miles south of the village of Talgarth, but it is now developed as a private residence.
By the 1851 census, Edward Edwards had moved to Georgetown, Merthyr Tydfil. The area reflected the typical industrial housing of the time, with cat-slide roofs etc. and properties built back to back, with numerous courts and alleys. Tha attraction must have been work. Edward and John (aged 14 by now) are described as “ostlers” in this census, ie. Someone who takes care of horses. The animals may have been horses that were used underground as there would have been many collieries in the area. However, horses were also the main form of transport so they would have been in considerable demand.
Ten years later in 1861 there had been quite a few changes. Edward had died in May 1853 of a fever and Ann was living with her son John in a charmingly named street, Brick Row in the Robertstown area of Aberdare. John was almost certainly working in Werfa Colliery which was located in that area (Abernant) which would at that time have been a village just on the hillside overlooking the growing town of Aberdare. In the 1871 census, John had married and had moved to “Werfa Colliery” which were miners cottages built by the mine owners alongside the Colliery. In later censuses it was known as Werfa Place and the family lived here until 1939 when the local council re-housed the occupants of this area to Llwydcoed a few miles away and demolished the colliery and the cottages. John Edwards had married Joan Harris (from St Athan) on 2nd December 1862 in the Siloah Baptist Chapel in Green St. Aberdare. They had 10 children – 6 girls and 4 boys. One of those boys was David John who was Joan's father. He was born in 1883. In 1899 Joan Edwards died which left John living with those children who had not moved out. John Edwards died at his home on 13th October 1916, aged 80.
Here follows the background of her father's family.
Edward Edwards was Joan's great grandfather. Edward was born in 1805 in Llanidloes, Montgomeryshire in the heart of Wales. Llanidloes is the first town on the river Severn and is a beautiful rural town, famous for its timbered buildings. In 1805 it main industry was the manufacturing of flannel. Many small cottage industries would have used water powered mills as power to make the flannel but as steam power was introduced the small cottage industries began to close. The people that operated these water mills were then looking for other work. It may have been that Edward Edwards had worked on small mills. 1841 the census shows him in Forest Mill, Talgarth, a very rural and sparsely populated upland area of Breconshire. He would perhaps have been putting his milling skills into good use - milling the neighbouring farmer's corn. He lived there with his wife Ann, daughter Hesther and sons John (4) and William. I would imagine that life there was fairly harsh – the site is remote even now - down a very steep sided valley in a mountainous area several miles south of the village of Talgarth. There was probably little money to be made and very few home comforts. The site of the mill still exists in a very steep valley in Pengenffordd a few miles south of the village of Talgarth, but it is now developed as a private residence.
By the 1851 census, Edward Edwards had moved to Georgetown, Merthyr Tydfil. The area reflected the typical industrial housing of the time, with cat-slide roofs etc. and properties built back to back, with numerous courts and alleys. Tha attraction must have been work. Edward and John (aged 14 by now) are described as “ostlers” in this census, ie. Someone who takes care of horses. The animals may have been horses that were used underground as there would have been many collieries in the area. However, horses were also the main form of transport so they would have been in considerable demand.
Ten years later in 1861 there had been quite a few changes. Edward had died in May 1853 of a fever and Ann was living with her son John in a charmingly named street, Brick Row in the Robertstown area of Aberdare. John was almost certainly working in Werfa Colliery which was located in that area (Abernant) which would at that time have been a village just on the hillside overlooking the growing town of Aberdare. In the 1871 census, John had married and had moved to “Werfa Colliery” which were miners cottages built by the mine owners alongside the Colliery. In later censuses it was known as Werfa Place and the family lived here until 1939 when the local council re-housed the occupants of this area to Llwydcoed a few miles away and demolished the colliery and the cottages. John Edwards had married Joan Harris (from St Athan) on 2nd December 1862 in the Siloah Baptist Chapel in Green St. Aberdare. They had 10 children – 6 girls and 4 boys. One of those boys was David John who was Joan's father. He was born in 1883. In 1899 Joan Edwards died which left John living with those children who had not moved out. John Edwards died at his home on 13th October 1916, aged 80.