Davies Family History (continued)
The
Davieses of Merthyr Mawr
(Return to the Rhondda Davieses)
Merthyr
Mawr was a small parish; the 1841 census lists only 29 houses and a
population of 147. This had increased to only 154 by 1851, peaked at
174 in 1861, then dropped back to 121 by 1891 - a stark contrast with
the population explosion taking place around the Davieses who had
remained in the Rhondda valleys! The 1851 population of Merthyr Mawr is
reported as "78 Male and 76 Female". 
We
can imagine that everyone in the parish knew everyone else; strangers
and newcomers would be instantly identified and probably subjected to
thorough questioning in that rather special way that Welsh villagers
still have of showing genuine interest in their neighbours; it would be
uncharitable to regard this as nosiness!
One such new arrival in 1851 was a young lady by the name of Anne Wiltshire
(#722), daughter of Henry Wiltshire (#751), the village butcher of
Studley, near Calne in the county of Wiltshire. Anne came to Merthyr
Mawr to work as house servant for Edward Rees and his family at Merthyr
Mawr Mansion.
At least one of Merthyr Mawr's 78 males, Jenkin Davies
(#146), Gwenllian's eldest son, by now aged 26, showed immediate
interest in 19-year-old Anne, and however many suitors she may have had
amongst the local young men, it was Jenkin who won her heart, and by
1854, her hand in marriage. The couple were married on 23rd
November 1854 in the parish church of St. Teilo, Merthyr Mawr by the
Rev. Lewis Thomas; Anne's younger sister Martha (#147) was a witness.
The happy couple moved into a new home, Mynydd Herbert Farm, on land
bordering Candleston, but in the parish of Tythegston.
Their happiness was to last a tragically short time, however - just one year. At 10.40pm on 22nd
November 1855, Anne gave birth to the first of twin boys, Ezra (723);
it was a difficult birth, it seems, and there followed what must have
seemed like an eternity to poor Anne before Ezra's brother, Ebenezer
(#154) finally arrived at 2pm the following day. As a direct result of
this experience, probably due to an as-yet untreatable infection, Anne,
despite her youth, was to survive only three more weeks. She was buried
on 12th December 1855 at St.Teilo's, Merthyr Mawr.
Christmas
must have been celebrated that year but Jenkin would have known nothing
about it; robbed of his young bride, he was now solely responsible for
his two tiny sons, and one of them, Ezra, was very sick. Ezra did not
survive; he died in January and was buried with his mother. Anne's
sister, Martha, probably arrived at Anne's bedside in Merthyr Mawr
during her last days in December 1854. We may surmise that, absorbed by
the same grief as her brother-in-law, she remained to comfort and help
him with the surviving child. How long she had intended to stay when
she arrived we cannot know - but Martha was to stay with Jenkin for the
rest of his life. But the couple did not stay in Merthyr Mawr, or even in Wales, as we shall see shortly.