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AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS NEW YEAR, 2017, I WOULD
LIKE TO TAKE SOME TIME FOR REFLECTION ON THREE POIGNANT FAMILY HISTORY STORIES
THAT I RECEIVED DURING NOVEMBER LAST YEAR. THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE THREE IS
DANYGRAIG CEMETERY
October 2015, I wrote an article covering the topic of military records
and the information they hold. The case histories I used for the piece were two
men, David James Mitchell and Charles James Godfrey, both of
whom are buried at Danygraig Cemetery, their graves weren’t marked with a military
headstone.
At the time of writing the CWGC (Commonwealth War Grave
Commission) were looking to find relatives. Moving forward to
October 2016, to the article Exploring Swansea’s Graveyards, when I
photographed the two newly erected headstones of these men I received an email
from Mr Derek Gibbs, who was interested in any information I
had about Charles Godfrey. After a series of emails to and fro I
found out that his father-in-law, Joseph Godfrey was
the younger brother, 4 at the time of Charles’ death in
1919. Charles died at home at 28 Orchard Street,
Swansea, 5 months after the Armistice, 1918. The family were aware of Charles, as his brother spoke of him often, but were
unaware of his final resting place. They were flabbergasted to read of Charles in the Bay! I was delighted during November to
meet with Peter and Jeanette Godfrey and Derek and Susan Gibbs at the graveside of Charles. When I wrote the piece, in October 2015, I
thought Charles was the only one to be buried in the grave, but
from information obtained from the Cemetery Department, Civic Centre, I learned
that Charles’ parents and a sibling are also buried there.
A footnote to this story – whilst there we
tried to locate the grave of Henry Godfrey, Charles’ grandfather, but with no success. Henry belonged to a circus with his Indian wife. There
is rumoured to be buried at St. Peter’s Church, Cockett,
a lion tamer, who met his end at the jaws of his lion.
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| William Bromfield |
We go back to 1914, to the outbreak of
the First World War, for the next poignant story. Mrs J. Bromfield
contacted me regarding her husband Brian’s
grand-father, William Bromfield. William died on the
14th October 1914, he was a Sergeant from the 6th Battalion, Welsh Regiment.
His occupation be-fore the war, was an Engine Fitter, with the Harbour Trust.
Taking up the story from, The Cambrian, which
reported that “Sergeant Bloomfield was in the military police,
well known and highly respected in the town. On Wednesday, 7th October,
Bloomfield left the house in the morning…. but very soon returned saying that
he felt faint. Dr Anderson and Dr Isaac, we called and his complaint was
diagnosed as being pneumonia. As a result, he was at the beginning of the week
removed to the Hospital, where he passed away on Wednesday”, a
slight mistake was made by the reporter in regards to his name!
What information is there about William Bromfield?
A death certificate was sourced and this established that William did die from pneumonia at Swansea Hospital, he
was registered as Bloomfield. Further information
revealed the father-in-law’s name as J. Lloyd, Rutland Place,
whom the family didn’t know about. Unfortunately, the hospital records dating
from 1914 have all but disappeared. Luckily some hospital records have survived
and those interested need to apply to view the information from the West
Glamorgan Archive Service.
Another good source of information, are the census’, dating from 1841 –
1911. For William, 1881, he is living with his parents at 10 Keniston Place, his father Thomas, is a Blacksmith. 1891 the family have moved to Rutland Place. 1901 and 1911 William
is now the head of the family and is living at 20 Swan Street, and
this is where he was taken ill in 1914.
A footnote to this story, 6th Battalion, Welsh Regiment, which was
formed at Swansea on the 4th August 1914, didn’t have a good start
to the conflict, with the death by drowning of one Owen Owen at Swansea
Docks, and also a murder during Christmas 1914. Sergeant William Hooper, a Boer War veteran was charged and
convicted of the murder of Private Enoch Dudley
in Wind Street. The group of men were guarding the South
Docks, and were given Christmas drinks, a bottle of whiskey went missing. Hooper accused Dudley, and fatally
shot him. Hooper was sentenced to death, although the court of
appeal reduced the sentence to four years’ imprisonment. Dudley is buried at Gorseinon. I wonder what happened
to Hooper?
 |
| Henry Lewis |
The final family history story dates back to the
early days of the Second World War, Mrs. D. Lewis
contacted me, with regard to her grandfather, Henry Lewis. She was
interested to find out any information as all she had was his name, Henry Lewis, and that he was killed at Cardiff whilst
defusing a bomb.
At the time of his death, he had a wife and four sons, one of whom was Bernard, who was 6 at the time of his father’s death. Bernard is Mrs. D. Lewis’
father. A further death certificate was sourced, revealing that Henry Lewis, 33 years,
died on 12th November 1940 at
Scully Beach, receiving multiple injuries sustained from an explosion whilst
laying land mines. An inquest was held and a verdict of misadventure was
returned. Henry lived at Robert Owen Gardens, Port
Tennant. The certificates didn’t mention what his occupation was
before the war, thus causing some difficulties as there are no further records.
He wasn’t registered on the 1939 register either. If you remember Henry I would be delighted to hear from you. I was
limited as to how much information I could find on Henry. For those
interested in obtaining Second World War records, apply to the Ministry, at a
cost £30 with proof of identity. Records take up to 3 months to return.
William Bromfield, Charles Godfrey and Henry Lewis all received a
full military funeral.
Copyright – The Bay Magazine – February 2017
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