The Rees family of Maesarddafen
William Rees (the Elder) 1775-1858
William Rees (the Younger) 1809-1894
John Rees was born in 1747 and lived at Cwmddyche Farm, Furnace. He married Anne (née Evans) and they had two sons:
1. William b. January 1 1775;
2. John b. 30 April 1778 (he died in childhood).
John Rees began acquiring land in 1784 when he purchased land in King Square where the Royal Park Hotel was built.
In September 1785 he was described as ‘butcher’ of Cwmddyche, when he purchased part of Maesarddafen from John Vaughan of Golden Grove. The Golden Grove Estate was in severe financial trouble at this time and John Vaughan was forced to sell off parts of his land.
In June 1805 and described as ‘Gentleman’ John Rees bought additional land at Maesarddafen from E W R Shewen of Stradey.
William Rees was born in 1775 at Cwmddyche, and was the only surviving son of John and Anne Rees. He married Mary Evans of Llangendeirne on 10 December 1799. William and Mary had five children:
1. Mary Ann, b. 1800, but she died at a young age.
2. Jane, b. 1801. Married John Humphries of Coed Dan-y-Lan.
3. Mary Anne, b. 1803. Married E. Williams of Morfabach and died in 1845.
4. John, b. 1807. Married Mary Bonville of Bwlch and died without issue in 1871.
5. William, b. 1809. Married three times and died in 1894.
From 1807 to 1810 William Rees (known as William the Elder), was appointed as one of the trustees to the Burgesses.
He purchased Gellygennuer Farm, Bryn, around 1813.
When he died aged 83 years in 1858 Gelli Farm and Maesarddafen passed to his younger son William Rees (1809-94) with a lifetime interest in Maesarddafen going to his oldest son John (1807-71).
The eldest son John Rees, born 11 February 1807, married May Bonville of Bwlch Farm, built Forest Villa which was destroyed by fire in the 1980s, held a lifetime interest in Maesarddafen Farm, and died childless in 1871.
William Rees (the Younger) 1809-1894
William Rees (the youngest son) was born in 1809 received his early education from the Revd Ebenezer Morris, Vicar of Llanelli. He later attended Newton College where the principal, Mr Bennett, acknowledged that he had an aptitude for mathematics.
William married three times:
1. Ann Davies (1833) of Carmarthen by whom he had one daughter who died in infancy aged 15 months. Ann and her baby daughter Mary Rachel are buried in the family tomb close to the main entrance of the Parish Church.
2. Miss Phillips of Llanhilleth near Abercarne, Monmouthshire, who died without issue. Very little is known about William’s second wife apart from the fact she came from a well-known land-owning family.
3. Mary Ann Smith (September 9 1862) at Kington. Her family the Pritchard-Smiths, had strong connections in Herefordshire. They had three children:
(i) William John Rees 1865-1947 married Minnie Maude Smallwood.
(ii) Mary Anne Rees (Ada) 1864-1913 married Cuthbert F Thompson.
(iii) John Smith Rees b. 1868 married Elizabeth Edwards of Cefn Farm Bynea.
In 1836 William Rees was appointed Relieving Officer to the Llanelli Union (Workhouse) and from 1837 to 1850 he was clerk to the Portreeve. Other offices he held were:
Member of the Board of Guardians representing Berwick Hamlet;
Superintendent Births, Marriages and Deaths;
Clerk to the Highway Board;
Clerk to the Trustees of the Burgesses.
William Rees the Younger was an astute businessman and began buying and exchanging land and properties especially in the Bryn, Llwynhendy, Dafen and Capel districts of Llanelli.
In September 1843 he leased pieces and parcels of land situated on the Great Marsh known as Morfa Mawr from the Portreeve of the Borough (The Town Council). He built a new home – Glandafen House – which was opposite the southern end of Ropewalk Road.
In 1847 he formed the Llanelly Savings Bank with Charles William Nevill, William Chambers senior, William Chambers junior, the Revd Davies Rees of Capel Als and others. William Rees was the first actuary and Richard Janion Nevill was the first treasurer.
In 1851 John Symmons Tregoning decided to build his new tinplate works and leased 3 acres of land adjoining Glandafen House and the census of that year shows that William Rees (widower) Accountant and Farmer was living at Glandafen House Farm. Probably as a result of the new tinplate works being built on his doorstep he moved to Gelly Farm sometime in the 1850s.
William Rees was said to be a man of high moral qualities and showed ‘puritanical sternness of honesty and a rectitude in his private and public business.’
The area around New Dock was was just marshland prior to its development, and William Rees was associated with a survey that was commissioned by the Great Western Railway. When the railway linked with Llanelli he was invited by the Mayor of Carmarthen to a grand banquet in celebration of the important event. It was as a result of his report that the New Dock Road was constructed.
William Rees the Younger’s brother, John, died in 1871, and three years later in 1874, William opened Maesarddafen Colliery, which was just north of Maesarddafen Farm. The colliery and sidings closed in 1888.
For the last 19 years of his life – from about 1875 – William was unable to take an active part in public life because he was losing his sight. In 1882 he became blind and his son, William John, only 17 years old, was brought out of school to help his father in the Maesarddafen Colliery.
William Rees (the Younger), died at his home Gelly [Gelli] House in January 1894. The funeral was strictly private according to his wishes and his estates were administered entirely by his son William John Rees.
Family group at Gelli House, Bryn, c. 1880
Extreme left – William John Rees (1865-1947), with crutch.
Squire William Rees (1809-94), his father (seated) with wide-brimmed hat.
Photo: Stephen P. Rees, great grandson of Squire Rees
William John Rees, the elder son of William Rees the Younger was born at Gelly House, Bryn in 1865, he was educated at Long Ashton School, Bristol and when he left school aged 17 in 1882 he managed his father’s collieries at Maesarddafen. He married Minnie Maude Smallman of West Bromwich and built Uplands House, Bryn, in 1896 for his bride.
Mary Ann Rees known as Ada married Cuthbert Thompson who became involved with the Glanmorfa Foundry and Engineering Works.
John Smith Rees married Elizabeth Edwards of Cefn Farm, Bynea and lived at Capel Isaf House. He seems to have been the ‘black sheep of the family’ and went bankrupt twice before he was 25 years old. When his father died John Smith Rees’s half share of the estate was left in trust with the proviso that under no circumstances was he ever to be involved in the administration of his father’s former estate. His brother William John Rees was the sole administrator.
Acknowledgements
Byron Davies, Local Historian
Stephen Patrick Rees, High Sheriff of Dyfed 2002-2003 (great great grandson of William Rees the Elder).
Sources
Guardian newspaper
Parish Registers
UK Census
Trade Directories
A History of Bynea and Llwynhendy by the Local History Group
The Glanmorfa Foundry and Engineering Co. Ltd., incorporating the Glanmor and Morfa Foundries by Byron Davies
© W & B Rees & ARTdesigns 2004/2006
Page updated Tuesday July 29, 2008