The last known Welsh speaker in the family
Many of my ancestors spoke Welsh, both on the Hamer and the Edwards side of the family. The most recent was my maternal grandfather, David John Edwards (1883-1958) who according to my mother was fluent in Welsh. However as the woman he married (Jane Green) was from the Midlands, Welsh was not spoken in the house and so was not passed on to their children and thus died out.
Edwards - Welsh speakers
John and Joan Edwards and their children, living in 5 Werfa Place, Aberdare were recorded as being able to speak both Welsh and English in the 1891, 1901 and 1911 census and so one assumes they came from families that spoke Welsh in the home and that it was their first language. With the banning of Welsh in schools, the language sadly died out in the following generations.
Hamers who spoke Welsh.
The 1891, 1901 and 1901 censuses in Wales had an extra column which indicated whether those listed persons spoke "English", "Welsh" or "Both". Elizabeth Pryce and her husband Edward Hamer from Llandinam would have been Welsh speakers. Although Edward died before such things were recorded on a census, Elizabeth and her children did live long enough and they are all recorded as Welsh speakers in the 1891, 1901 and 1911 censuses. In the move to South Wales the Welsh language was forbidden in the schools and so the next generation lost the language although possibly speaking a little Welsh at home.