| Luckily John William was alive
when the 1841 census was taken. He is living adjoining his daughter Mary
in Rotten row in Melincryddan and this has enabled me to link him as her
father. He is mentioned as a Pilot in the book - "Reminiscences of Briton
Ferry " by E. Humphreys. He lived to a good age -he was given as 88 in
the Baglan Parish Register. Pilots led a life which was fraught with danger
and many of them did not live so long.
His son in law William Griffiths was a Cooper by trade. This puzzled me for some time as to where he would have been employed in the 1840`s when they are living at Rotten Row, Melincryddan. The 1851 Census shows his son Herbert to be a Chemist and following up on this I discovered a Plan of the Chemical Works of Bevington Gibbins. The Plan showed the "Cooperage" so almost certainly William was also employed at the Chemical Works. The barrels would probably have been used to transport the chemicals such as "Sugar of Lead" and Copper Sulphate hich they produced. They also produced Sulphuric Acid for the tinplate Works at Aberdulais but this was transported in glass "Carboys". |
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| I initially placed William as the son of a William & Ann (born 7/8/1802) . This proved wrong when I found the grave of this William buried with his parents in Baglan. Jenkin Griffiths is a witness at William & Mary`s wedding. He is also a Cooper in the 1841 Census. When he married in 1811 Anne is described as a Widow her surname Thomas. A child was baptised as William son of Anne & Thomas Thomas 13/8/1797 in Baglan and a Thomas Thomas was buried 22/5/1799. It would all fit if William Thomas had taken the name of his step father Jenkin Griffiths! |  |
