The John Edwards Family of Cwmdeuddwr
The Edwards family had lived in the parish of Cwmdeuddwr for many generations.
Edwards Family - Early Dates
1698 – Thomas Edwards married Elizabeth Jones
1710 – They had a son Charles Edwards
1754 – Charles married Ann Evans (1725 – 1786)
1753 – They had a son David Edwards
1755 – Charles Edwards died
1788 – David married Anne Powell (b. 1766)
1791 – David and Anne had 7 children including David Edwards
1820 – David married Ann Evans (1792 – 1856)
1828 – David and Ann had 5 children including John Edwards
1861 –
David was still at New House but Anne had now died. 2 sons remain at
home one being John.
1861 – John Edwards married Ann Wilde (see The Wilde Family of Cefnllys)
1871
– John Edwards father David had died and he was now head of the family with his
wife Anne and 5 children including Charles who was 4. John’s brother Evan also
lived with them and they farmed jointly.
1881
– John was still farming New House with Evan, his brother. They now had 11
children including Charles.
1889 – Charles Edwards married Anne Eliza Jarman (see The Jarman's of Rhayader) and after a short while they moved to Herefordshire to live. (see Charles Edwards and Family)
1891 – John Edwards decided to move his family from New House farm to Llanfair Hall farm, Llanfair Waterdine in Shropshire, a distance of about 30 miles.
John's decision to move away from Cwmdeuddwr coincided with a big payout he got for his land from the Birmingham Corporation who bought it to build reservoirs and run pipes under, to supply water to Birmingham, 70 miles away. The payments were usually good for land owners as the Corporation were trying not to upset the local population. A map from 1902 shows that the massive water pipe taking the water to Birmingham passed very near to New House farm.
1891
– Anne Edwards was still at New House with Rees and 7 girls. Two of the Beavan girls were staying with them. John was recorded
on the census for Llanfair Hall along with his son John and his daughter Ann as he was visiting the Beavan family with a view to renting Llanfair Hall and farm.
1891
– John, his son and daughter, were visitors at Llanfair Hall because John was
intending to rent the hall and farm and move there.
1891
– The presentation of a marble clock was made to John and Anne, from their friends in Cwmdeuddwr and Rhayader, when they moved to Llanfair
Hall.
1901
– John and Anne were at Llanfair Hall with 3 sons and 3 daughters.
1902 – John farmed at Llanfair Hall for 10 years and was obviously successful as he then decided to move to Dewsall Court in Herefordshire. This was a much bigger farm on very good land, with a large house.
Arthur Morris, who had farmed Dewsall Court, sold up his cattle and it was rented by John.
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| Dewsall Church |
Dewsall Court is a Grade II listed building. It is 18th
century in style but the internal features are 17th century. It was probably
built in 1644 by Richard Pearle on the site of an older building. The Pearle
family lived there for over a century before being owned by the Brydges. James Brydges, who later became first Duke of Chandos was born there in 1674.
He became very rich but subsequently in 1731 he sold all the family's
Herefordshire estates to the Governors of Guys Hospital who became lords of the
manor and chief landowners of Dewsall parish.
1911
– Anne was at Dewsall Court with 2 sons and 3 daughters. John and Rees were
farming between them.
1915 - Anne died.
It was at this point that the farm was probably sold up. It appears that at this time a lot of the money went to Rees at the expense of the rest of the family. From then on he lived only in hotels in Hove and Cheltenham.
A Brief History of the Edwards Children
from the recollections of Dorothy Moore (Dorothy Edwards)
Ann Edwards - married
Mr Beaman a farmer from Pudleston, near to her brother Charles’ farm close to
Leominster. He died in ploughing accident when Anne about 33. She had no
children and went travelling in Australia where she had road accident in which
she lost an eye. Her bag was stolen while she was lying on the road
unconscious. She did not wake up for several days and know-one knew who she was.
Later in life she lived with her sisters, Emily and Beatrice.
(Dorothy’s mother gave her the middle name Anne because she felt sorry for Anne being so ill.)
John Edwards - called Jack. Jack was a good singer and liked sports such
as shooting, fishing etc. He joined the Guards but he did not like it and was
bought out by his father. He was a tall, smart gentleman. He also managed an
Orange plantation at some point and apparently lived an adventurous early life
when he was a cowboy in Mexico. (This might be apocryphal however).
After John Senior died in 1909 Jack and his brother Rees
farmed Dewsall Court till 1913. Although they farmed together they had a
fallout and did not speak to each other for many years. The next time they
spoke was at the sale of Dewsall when one said “the sale’s gone well”.
Neither married until they had finished farming. Jack married Sofie Vickerstaff from Prestbury in Cheshire and had 2 children called Dilys and John. He moved to Fownhope near Dewsall Court and died in a tragic accident when he went to buy decorations for a christening cake for one of his children, in Hereford. On the way back the bus he was on was in an accident in which John had his jugular vein severed. He managed to get off the bus and said “if anyone knows first aid they had better act quickly”. He died soon after. The doctor who was called out happened to be his personal friend.
Charles Edwards – Married Annie Jarman from Rhayader and moved to Herefordshire where he farmed and had 7 children. (see Charles Edwards and Family)
Mary Edwards married Edward Jones of Uppington House, Atcham, near Shrewsbury. They emigrated to New Zealand to farm sheep. They had no children.
Evan David Edwards - went to Aberystwyth University. He didn’t enjoy it at first and wanted to leave so his father sent him to work on his brother Charles' farm near Leominster in the vacation. Charles was told to work Evan as hard as he could. Evan was very pleased to go back to university at the end of the vacation. He became a chemist with 2 pharmacies in Cardiff.
He married Doris Holmes Walker had 3 sons, Rees, John Evan Harrap Edwards and Austin Charles Holmes Edwards. Rees went to New Zealand and then Australia followed by Austin. John Evan Harrap worked in the family business.
Evan was involved in a car accident in Cardiff in 1923 but recovered.
1923
His son Austin was a Goldstick Cadet at Sandhurst and, apparently, the youngest Colonel in the British Army. (This may be apocryphal). He was reported missing in the Far East and presumed killed. However his wife heard his voice on the radio thanking the Japanese for giving another soldier a Christian burial. He eventually returned home. Austin later lived in a fine Georgian house in Bath.
Elizabeth Edwards (the George Edwards family called her Aunty Quiz) married John Owens of Llandrindod who was a coach builder. They had 4 children called John, Joan, Eunice and Gwen. They lived in the South of England.
Rees Edwards farmed Dewsall Court with his brother John and later married May Andrews, the daughter of a wealthy Herefordshire farmer, when he retired later in life. They never had a house but just lived in hotels for the rest of their lives. Hove in summer and Cheltenham for the winter, going to the races by taxi.
Rees seems to have done much better than the rest of the family from the sale of Dewsall.
Alice Edwards was delicate and never married. She died in 1919 when she was 45. - Dorothy never met her.
Louisa Edwards married Ernest Hughes, a chemist from Melksham, Wiltshire.
Jane Edwards called Jinny, was a nurse for a while at St Mary’s hospital, London. She married Cecil Robinson a ex naval officer who owned a ship. She would travel with him to China etc. She gave up her house when her husband died and travelled the world.
Emily Edwards called Emmie - bought Brook House farm at Kingsland with her sister Beatrice when they left Dewsall Court. Emily never married.
Beatrice Edwards also never married.
Later Beatrice and Emily both lived in Aberystwyth. They were very posh and still went
swimming in the sea in their 70’s.