Category Archives: History

All in black and white

Posted on June 12, 2015 by bookvolunteer

The run-away marriage of Stephen George and Mary George in 1866 produced a large family of seven girls and three boys. This photo was probably taken about 1914 at Bank House, Dinas, and David George (died at sea), Hannah Jane (died of … Continue reading →

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Frozen to death

Posted on June 5, 2015 by bookvolunteer

Many of Dinas’ young men were employed on tramp steamers – ships that had no fixed schedule or itinerary but were chartered to carry goods as and where needed. David George, from Hescwm, made his final voyage at the age of 25 … Continue reading →

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Help me discover why 1897 has disappeared.

Posted on June 2, 2015 by bookvolunteer

I want to know what happened in 1897 in Dinas. It was Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee Year and the year that Hannah Jane George died of typhoid  but the whole year is missing from the archived back copies of our … Continue reading →

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4d to save a life.

Posted on May 29, 2015 by bookvolunteer

On September 5th 1897, Hannah Jane George (my great-aunt) died at the age of 24. She had contracted typhoid from drinking water from a well.  I don’t know what other sort of water she could have chosen to drink as there … Continue reading →

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Built with a tiny carbon footprint

Posted on May 26, 2015 by bookvolunteer

The old houses in Dinas were built with local materials. The stone came from quarries in the village and the the roof slates didn’t travel much further as there were slate quarries within a few miles.  Sand came from local beaches … Continue reading →

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Pwnc (to rhyme with Nunc)

Posted on May 22, 2015 by bookvolunteer

Being the child of a mixed marriage – mother from a Catholic background and father from a Protestant, non-conformist, family – I had thought that those two versions of Christianity were at opposite ends of a very broad spectrum. But Whitsun … Continue reading →

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A farmer at Hescwm

Posted on May 19, 2015 by bookvolunteer

This is the only photo I have of my great-grandfather, Stephen George, standing alone, in his soft, comfortable, everyday clothes.  The other photos that have survived show him as a ‘pillar of the community‘ or ‘pater familias’ –  his place in the group … Continue reading →

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From Hescwm to London via Swansea

Posted on May 15, 2015 by bookvolunteer

This photograph comes from a period of my grandfather’s life that I knew nothing about until recently. I had always assumed that Evan George went straight from Hescwm Farm, Dinas to an apprenticeship on the barque ‘Glance’ at Swansea and then, when … Continue reading →

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Train spotting in the Preselis

Posted on May 12, 2015 by bookvolunteer

Fishguard Harbour, the nearest station to Dinas, is the end of the line. Your only options are to take the ferry to Ireland, at 2.30 am or 2.30 pm, or go south towards Carmarthen. As there are only seven trains a … Continue reading →

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One Christmas card that escaped the recycling

Posted on May 8, 2015 by bookvolunteer

This Christmas card was sent to my great aunt Paulina, probably some time in the late 1890s. By 1903 she was employed as a teaching assistant at Dinas school (paid £35* per year) and would shortly marry Thomas Maurice, the … Continue reading →

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The foolishness of tax avoidance

Posted on April 28, 2015 by bookvolunteer

The sea wall at Cwm yr Eglwys was built to protect the graveyard after the great storm of 1859 had destroyed the Church and the sea threatened to encroach further and further inland with gruesome and distressing consequences. The Rev. Jones (writing … Continue reading →

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When Dinas fed Birmingham

Posted on April 10, 2015 by bookvolunteer

If you’d like a project while you’re staying in Dinas, the Mammal Society is looking for help in mapping populations of rabbits and hares in the UK. See here for more details. Apart from the catastrophic myxomatosis outbreak in the … Continue reading →

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