The Rees family of Cilymaenllwyd
John Hughes Rees and murderer Will Manney
Arthur Augustus Rees 1814-1884
Arthur Augustus Rees and the Victoria Hall Disaster 1883
Arthur Augustus Rees "Our Friends in Heaven"
John Van Der Horst Rees 1824-1908
John Rhys [Rees]
The first of the family to live at Cilymaenllwyd, Pwll, a relative of the Lloyd Family of Cilymaenllwyd, Llandeilo, he broke with tradition and changed the family name to the English version ‘Rees’. The Lloyds and the Rhys families claimed descent from Urien Rheged, King of Cumbria and Lord of Gower who built a stronghold at Carreg Cennen near Llandeilo Fawr.
Son of John Rhys, Hector married Jane Pryce (Price), daughter of Evan Pryce of Penyfan in 1719. Hector and Jane had two sons and a daughter:
1. John
2. Edward
3. Jane.
Hector was High Sheriff of Carmarthenshire at the time of the Jacobite Rebellion of Bonnie Prince Charlie in 1745. During the troubled times of the rebellion he was offered a knighthood for his loyalty to the Crown but he declined the honour.
Hector died on 7 October 1750 aged 67 and bequeathed Cilymaenllwyd, Pwll, to his eldest son John Rees (1724-60).
This John Rees married Mary Hughes, only child and heiress of Daniel Hughes of Penymaes, Llandyfaelog. Mary was the last at Penymaes which estate she brought to her husband John Rees of Cilymaenllwyd.
John Rees died at the young age of 36 and Cilymaenllwyd passed to his 11-year-old son, another John Rees (1749-1802), and during his minority his mother administered his estates.
During the time this John Rees was owner of Cilymaenllwyd he established the Clerical and Lending Library in 1764.
He served as High Sheriff of Carmarthenshire in 1775.
When he died on 14 December 1802 aged 53 Cilymaenllwyd passed to his son John Rees (1781-1843).
His daughter Jane Rees married Alexander Raby junior in February 1809 and she was described as "daughter of the late John Rees Esq., of Killymaenllwyd, Carmarthen".
Note
When Alexander Raby junior married Jane Rees of Cilymaenllwyd he was described as ‘of Jersey’. Following their marriage Alexander and Jane lived ‘in Town’ and they were still living ‘in Town’ when their only daughter Helena was born in 1821. Alexander, Jane and Helena moved
to Brynmôr before 1830.
Alexander and Jane lived at Brynmôr House, Furnace close to Furnace House, the Raby family residence. The census of 1841 shows they had a daughter, Helena Eliza aged 15 years, who was living with them.
In June 1843 Helena Elizabeth of Brynmor, Llanelli, married David Lewis of Bank House, Llandeilo.
In August 1848 Helena Eliza married Alfred Watney of Gwendraeth, Carmarthenshire.
The census for 1851 shows Helena Eliza, aged 26, living at Coalbrook House, Pontyberem, with husband Alfred Watney also aged 26, described as Iron & Coal Merchant from Wandsworth. They had a daughter Edith Helena aged 3 and a baby son Alfred Watney. There were three servants to attend to them.
This John Rees was born on 4 September 1781 and in keeping with the tradition of well-born families, he was sent to sea when still quite young.
John Rees joined the Royal Navy and is known to have been a midshipman in 1797. He served six years as a midshipman and ‘held command at the battle of Camperdown’ when the Dutch fleet was destroyed. In the battle of Copenhagen he served aboard the HMS Argent which was the second ship to go into action.
On 19 May 1803 Captain John Rees married Anne Catherine Van der Horst, a Dutch Lady and the third daughter of Elias Van der Horst. John and Anne had three children:
2. Helen-Marian Rees
3. Arthur Augustus Rees 1814-84.
In 1804 when there was the threat of a Napoleonic invasion he was instrumental in founding the Llanelly Volunteers which, according to John Innes in Old Llanelly, appeared for the first time in uniform under the command of Captain John Rees of Cilymaenllwyd.
The Cambrian reported on 24 February 1804:
‘The gentlemen of Llanelly and its neighbourhood have it in contemplation to enter into a subscription for the same loyal purpose as those of Swansea, but on a larger scale, for purchasing six 24 pounders, which are intended to be placed on Machynys Point, as being the most desirable spot for a battery to protect the navigation of the Burry River.’
On 25 October 1810 the first meeting of the newly appointed Trustees to the Burgesses was held in an upper room at the Falcon Inn (later London House), and John Rees of Kilymaenllwyd (sic) was appointed Chairman.
When the Town Hall was completed the Trustees held their first meeting on 19 October 1827. In his capacity as Magistrate John Rees is said to have formed part of the army of ‘the great unpaid doling out justice to the great unwashed’. Rees was described as a despotic and intractable father and died at Cheltenham on 27 May 1843 aged 61 when his estates passed to his eldest son John Hughes Rees (1806-1871).
The older brother of Arthur Augustus Rees, he spent most of his life at Cilymaenllwyd. In 1841 when he was 34 years old he was living at the family home with his wife Isabella, aged 30. Isabella was the daughter of John Rutson of Cobham House near Uxbridge.
By John Hughes Rees and Isabella had several children:
1. John Van Der Horts Rees (b. circa 1840 and died in 1908)
2. Isabella
3. Anna
4. Caroline
5. Elyder
6. Bertha died 1869
7. Mansel
8. Emily
After inheriting his father’s estates in 1843 John Hughes Rees decided that the farmstead was not grand enough for his growing family so he built a new house on the site which is more or less the building that can be seen today.
As a magistrate John Hughes Rees was responsible for bringing to justice the murderer Will Manney, a domestic servant at Court Farm Pembrey. He was also involved in trying to stamp out the ancient practice of looting ships wrecked on the shifting Cefn Sidan sands.
In 1855 three of his daughters died and his fourth daughter, Bertha, died in 1869.
John Hughes Rees died on 11 October 1871 and an inventory of the house and estate was drawn up.
John Hughes Rees and the murderer Will Manney
In his capacity as magistrate, John Hughes Rees's grandfather John Rees 1749-1802) of Cilymaenllwyd was responsible for bringing the murderer Will Manney to justice.
Manney, a domestic servant at Court Farm, Pembrey, was considered to be a man of ill repute who was suspected by the locals as being a footpad and a ship wrecker.
Local tradition says that Manney terrorised the Pembrey Mountain and Kidwelly Road. An old woman was found barbarously murdered in her lonely cottage and when she was discovered she still held a scrap of cloth in her hand believed to have been torn from her attacker’s clothing in the death struggle.
Magistrate Squire Rees of Cilymaenllwyd arranged for Will Manney’s garden at Pwll to be dug over and a blood-stained coat was uncovered.
At the trial a tailor, who was the chief witness, identified the coat.
Manney was gibbeted in chains on Pembrey Mountain near the scene of his crime and was the last criminal to be executed in Carmarthenshire.
Manny cursed John Rees but it was the magistrate's grandson, John Hughes Rees, who seems to have borne the brunt of the curse. Three of his daughters died before him, two by drowning and the youngest, Emily, died as a result of a fall, leaving no children.
She married the Comte de Hamel de Manin.
Arthur
Augustus Rees 1814-1884
The son of Captain John Rees 1781-1843. Captain Rees had enjoyed some success in the Royal Navy and he felt that his son Arthur Augustus should follow in his footsteps. Arthur Augustus was sent away to school for a few years and then joined the Royal Navy at the age of 14 as a first-class volunteer on board HMS Wasp. He was popular but found the discipline of a fighting ship difficult. He sailed on several long tours of duty with the Royal Navy and during his early service at sea as a midshipman on the 120 gun Britannia, he was saved three times from drowning.
In 1832 he was nearly shot whilst watching a battle between two rivals,Don Miguel and Don Pedro, near Lisbon. He was present when the French took Algiers and his naval career was ended when he fell from the poop deck, severely injuring himself. Although he continued at his post for a little while he was examined by the ship’s surgeon and sent home. When he left the ship at Portsmouth the young midshipman was presented with a sword and rifle by his second officer.
A considerable period elapsed before Arthur recovered from his injuries and he spent time at Cilymaenllywd until he took lodgings in London with a friend.
For a while Arthur and his friend frequented artistic circles and the theatre but he was anxious to be of use and applied for another naval appointment. Disappointed at the lack of response from the Admiralty, he began to take an interest in religion. He wrote to his father telling him that he intended giving up the navy in favour of the Church, whereupon his father commented that if he took that course he would be cut off without a penny.
Arthur decided he would not ask his family for anything and because he could not afford college expenses he bought a few special books which he ‘methodically studied in his locked room’. He went to Bristol where a group of clergymen were so impressed with his talent and character they gave him enough money to go to St David’s College.
He was ordained a priest in 1841 when aged 27, and preached his first sermon as a last-minute replacement in a Sunderland church in County Durham. He did not have time to prepare a written sermon and very little time to think about it. After his speech an influential parishioner asked Arthur whether he had taken lessons in speaking whilst he was at college. He replied that he had not taken lessons and he spoke "off hand" as God helped him.
He was very popular with his parishioners because he had a gentle, easy, manner, believed in his faith and became a great power for good.
Unfortunately, for him his rapid rise made him enemies amongst the career-minded clergy who regarded him as an upstart who had no respect for the old ways. Dr Maltby, his Bishop, demanded to see his manuscripts before he preached his sermons but the Revd Arthur Augustus Rees only spoke from notes. The Bishop of Durham ordered him to write his sermons in full and prevented the Revd Rees from preaching in any church other than the one he was licensed to preach in. Arthur Augustus could not submit to these harsh conditions and resigned from his curacy.
In 1842 he preached his last sermon in the vast St John’s Chapel in Sunderland which was attended by nearly 4,000 people, many of whom were said to be in tears. Seven thousand of his followers had signed a petition asking that he be allowed to continue but the Bishop ignored this and the Revd Rees left the established Church.
Although the Revd Rees could not be classed as a dissenter he did become a nonconformist and the chapels and Presbyterian churches happily welcomed him back to Sunderland.
From March 1844 he began to preach in a large schoolroom in Nicholson Street. His father had died in 1843 and left him a legacy, which he converted into money which he used to build the Bethesda Free Chapel in Sunderland where he would not allow collections to be made and all seats were free. Arthur Augustus was not one for formality, ostentation and ceremony, so when the mason asked who would perform the ritual of laying the foundation stone of the chapel, he was told to perform the duty himself. Even though the chapel was enlarged three times during his ministry it remained too small to hold his congregation that grew to 1,500.
In June 1883 an incident clouded the remainder of his life when local children were killed in the Victoria Hall disaster.
More than 2,000 children had gathered to be entertained by a conjurer at the Victoria Hall. About 1,000 children were seated in the galleries and at the end of the performance the children holding winning tickets for the lottery were asked to come forward and receive their prizes.
In the excitement many children rushed down the winding flight of stairs from the galleries but the exit was not capable of dealing with such a large number.
Nearly 200 children were crushed to death and the Revd Rees who lived nearby was called to comfort the bereaved. Although he had no personal connection with the project other than being called to administer what comfort he could, the scene he witnessed was so dreadful that he was never the same person again.
The Revd Arthur Augustus Rees, younger son of John Rees of Cilymaenllwyd, died the following year on 21 April 1884 aged 70.
Arthur Augustus Rees of Cilymaenllwyd, Pwll
By the Comtesse Heloise de Manin,
wife of the Rev. Arthur Augustus Rees’s nephew
HIS EARLY DAYS were passed at Killymaenllwyd [sic], an ideal old place built on the southern undulating slope of a richly wooded hill, with the open sea below, and the Glamorganshire hills to the left.
Young Rees was allowed at home a free open-air life, and in company with his youngest and favourite sister, Helen-Marian (the future wife of the Comte de Hamel de Manin), he passed a bright and happy childhood.
The two children used to play together on the sands and the rocks, building castles, or climbing the hills, or rowing in their own little boat. They would often go on excursions and when his sister was tired he would carry her home on his back. One day, having ventured alone unusually far from the shore, the wind rose unexpectedly, and put them all in danger for a while. Humanly speaking they were saved only by the boy’s chivalrous, calm and courageous spirit.
The special love and sympathy developed in the early years between the two children was blessed throughout their lives.
Young Rees was sent to school for a few years and at the age of 14 and entered as a first-class volunteer on board HMS Wasp, which was shortly afterwards ordered off to the Mediterranean. His bright, sociable disposition soon made him a favourite on board. Being a good singer and dancer, he was often called up to join his senior officers in the gun-room. His buoyant, free spirit felt the severe discipline of the man-of-war to be something hard to bear, but compensation was to be found in the stimulus of new dangers to be run, of men and people to be known, of countries new and old to be seen.
The great world, with its beauties and its evils, opened out before him.
John Vanderhhorst Rees c. 1824-1908
A
Lieutenant in the 40th Regiment, he served in New Zealand and fought in the
Maori War of 1860-61. He was severely wounded in the battle with the Maoris
at Waita on 18 March 1861. Because of the injuries he sustained he was
unable to continue in active service and was appointed to the administrative
post of ‘Captain of Invalids’ at the Royal Military Hospital, Chelsea,
London, where he spent the remaining 40 years of his life looking after the
interests of the pensioners.
He spent little time at the family home at Cilymaenllwyd which he inherited as eldest son when his father died in 1871.
Although his older brother, John Vanderhorst Rees, had inherited Cilymaenllwyd, Mansel Rees continued to live at the family home and was known to have been living there with his wife Susan in 1881.
Mansel, a solicitor, and Susan did not have any children but they did care for their niece Susan Rees.
According to the census of 1871 Emily (aged 26) was the only child living at home with her father John Hughes Rees.
When her brother Mansel died in 1889 the estate passed to Emily de Ferry who was living at Cilymaenllwyd, Pwll in 1891.
Emily married L G H de Ferry, an English gentleman born in France, who had private means.
Emily was aged 46 in April 1891, had no children and was the last of the Rees family to live at Cilymaenllwyd.
Sources
John Rees of Cilymaenllwyd
Blanchworth Care
Historic Carmarthenshire Homes and their Families, Major Francis Jones, Brawdy Books
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Page updated Wednesday May 21, 2008