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People from the past

1876 Charles Williams, referred to as John Charles Williams and John Cydwel Williams, but known as ‘Jack’ was born in a small terraced house in Lady Street, Kidwelly on 31 March 1876, the son of Thomas and Elizabeth Williams. Jack had four sisters and one brother and his father Thomas probably worked at the Kidwelly Tinplate Works as a rollerman. Jack was educated in Llanelly and when he was 13 years old his father was appointed mill superintendent at the St David’s Works, Yspitty, so the family moved to Bryn Road, Loughor.

When Jack left school he went to work in the tinworks with his father and it is believed that he worked at Yspitty and Hendy before moving to Italy with his father at the age of 17. Thomas had been sent to Italy to supervise the construction of the La Magona d’Italia, Works at Piombino in Tuscany, and it was not long before Jack was appointed Cold Rolls Superintendent whilst his father managed the Hot Mill.

1897 Jack stayed in Piombino for about four years before he returned to Wales. By 1897 he had decided his future lay across the ‘Big Pond’ and he emigrated to America where the tinplate industry was expanding rapidly.

Jack met and married his wife Anna in America and his fate was sealed when he met Ernest Weir.

1919 Jack and Ernest went into partnership and set up a new steel mill in 1919. Their company, known as the Weirton Steel Company, became very successful and Jack was appointed President of Weirton Steel.

1929 After a merger in 1929 he was appointed Vice-President of National Steel.

Jack never forgot his roots and made many visits to the family home in Bryn Road, Loughor. He was always very generous and one story relates how when he heard a little girl’s recitation, he invested £1,000 in her education. Loughor has a beautiful park known as Parc Williams, which was opened in 1929 with money given by Jack.

1936 When he died in 1936 he left £1,000,000 in a Fidelity Trust designed to administer educational bequests for scholarships in the Kidwelly, Llanelli and Loughor schools districts. The bequests have since taken the form of grants for post-graduate research both in Britain and overseas.

Jack’s Trust also provided funding for a new wing for the old Llanelly Hospital and the Elizabeth Williams Community Health Clinic in memory of his mother.

A plaque on the wall of the small terraced house in Lady Street, Kidwelly, where Charles Williams was born  reads:’

KIDWELLY CIVIC SOCIETY

JOHN CHARLES WILLIAMS

1876-1936

WAS BORN HERE 31st MARCH 1876

SON OF A KIDWELLY TINPLATE WORKER WHO

BECAME A STEEL MAGNATE IN AMERICA.

A BEQUEST ON HIS DEATH ENABLES

KIDWELLY PEOPLE TO UNDERTAKE

POSTGRADUATE STUDY IN THIS

COUNTRY OR OVERSEAS.

SPONSOR

MR B W PREECE: CHAIRMAN 2001/02

For more detailed information see:

A Llanelli Chronicle - compiled by Gareth Hughes;

Tinopolis ‘Llanelli Tinplaters Abroad’ - edited by John Edwards

Looking Around Llanelli ‘A Local Boy’s Legacies’ - by Harry Davies.