Over the River Severn to Wales

The earliest I can pinpoint my Nixey ancestors in Abertillery is towards the end of World War I. My cousin Lynne Baker has in her collection a postcard that my grandfather Ernest Nixey had sent from Abertillery in 1917. From 1920, he began appearing in Electoral Registers at 17 Darren Road, located high on a hillside near Abertillery town centre.

From as early as 1918, William Smith and his wife Elizabeth Anna née Emery are found living at 17 Darren Road. In the 1921 Census which was taken on the night of 19th June, they are again found at 17 Darren Road with their two sons Arthur Henry (born 15th August 1896), and Herbert Floyd (born 1904) (Ref: RG15 Piece 26106 Schedule 289). Meanwhile, my grandfather is found with his family at 1 Warwick Villas in Bath, Somerset (RG15 Piece 11515 Schedule 189). Both Arthur Henry Smith and my grandfather were employed in the local coalmines, Arthur at the Powell’s Tillery Colliery, while my grandfather was out of work but said to be employed by the Abertillery Lancaster and Co. My dad was somewhat puzzled by his father moving to the South Wales coalfields, as there were coalmines at Radstock and Midsomer Norton, just a few miles from his father’s birthplace of Twerton.

In 1921, Darren Road was in the forefront of many people’s minds – not just locally but internationally. House number 10 was where the parents and siblings of 15 year-old double child murderer Harold Jones were living at the time of that year’s Census (Ref: RG15 Piece 26106 Schedule 276). Harold was at His Majesty’s Prison at Usk near Pontypool in this Census (RG15 Piece 26221 Page 3) where he was awaiting trial for the murder of his first victim, 8 year-old Freda Elsie Maud Burnell, who he killed on 5th February 1921. Two days after this Census, Harold was acquitted of her murder at the Monmouthshire Assizes on Tuesday 21st June.

Only 17 days after being acquitted of the murder of Freda, Harold murdered his second victim on Friday 8th July at his home in Darren Road. She was 11 year-old Florence Irene Little who lived with her family just a few doors away at number 4 (Ref: RG15 Piece 26106 Schedule 267). Owing to the fact that Harold was less than 16 years-old when he committed the murders, he escaped execution, and was sentenced to be detained At His Majesty’s pleasure on 1st November 1921.

Also during 1921, Arthur Henry Smith married my grandfather’s sister, Caroline Fanny Louise Nixey, who had been born at Twerton on 12th March 1893. Records of their Banns of marriage state that he was of the parish of St. Michael’s in Abertillery, while she was of the parish of Twerton, and they were soon married in the city of Bath in Somerset.

It was also around this time that my grandfather met Esther Annie Cooksey. She had been born at Blaenavon on 1st July 1901, the daughter of George Cooksey and Annie née Powell who had been married by Licence on 19th May 1891 at Llanwenarth in Monmouthshire, the witnesses to their wedding being William Tibbs, and Annie’s aunty Mary Ann Wilson née Cooksey.

By 1918, Esther Annie’s grandfather, George Cooksey, had moved to Abertillery to live with his son-in-law and daughter, Thomas Bishop and Esther née Cooksey at 34 Marlborough Road in Six Bells. They soon moved to 49 Powell Street, much closer to the centre of Abertillery, and just a few Minutes’s walk from Darren Road. Apparently, Esther Annie, or Nance as she was known, came to Abertillery to help nurse her grandfather until his death in the Spring of 1920. He died at 49 Powell Street, and was buried on 18th June. When the 1921 Census was taken, Nance was still living with her uncle and aunt at 49 Powell Street (Ref: RG15 Piece 26103 Schedule 287).

Less than three years later, my grandparents to be, Arthur Albert Ernest Nixey and Esther Annie Cooksey, were married on 21st April 1924 at Llanwenarth, in the presence of Nance’s brother-in-law and sister, Richard and Edith May Buck. They both gave their home address as 21 Upper Waun Street, Blaenavon, which was the Cooksey family home at that time.

Electoral Registers for Monmouthshire show that during 1924 and 1925, my grandfather (and presumably my grandmother as well) spent a little time at 7 Kimberley Road in Six Bells.

Six Bells is a village located just to the south of Abertillery, and was a mining community until the colliery closed in 1988. It has long been debated as to where Six Bells got its name. Some say the colliery manager had six daughters, hence six belles. Others say it was the name of an old pub located just down behind where the Six Bells Hotel now stands, the old pub having been in earshot of the six church bells ringing down the valley from Abertillery (although apparently there weren’t six church bells in the area). The original name of the area appears to have been Cwm-Llwydrhew, possibly meaning Hoarfrost Valley.

The Western Mail in its issue dated Thursday 18th November 1926 reported on an incident supposedly involving my grandfather, Ernest Nixey, under the heading “Protest By Bath Magistrate.–An Abertillery Man Acquitted”:

Ernest and Nance had 2 sons who were both born at Abertillery. My father Arthur Ernest was born on 16th September 1927 at 138 Alexandra Road where my grandparents had lived after moving from 7 Kimberley Road in 1925.

Something my father had told me was that his grandfather, George Cooksey, along with his second wife, Sarah Matilda (late Hillier formerly Boycott), and their son, Reginald, had moved to Melbourne, Victoria, Australia when my father was several weeks old. I found the three of them recorded on passenger lists, but interestingly they appeared to have sailed from the UK twice the same year, the first time from London on 13th October, and the second time from Falmouth on the 31st October. Obviously this was very confusing as it simply wouldn’t have been possible to have made the two journeys within such a small space of time. The following article which appeared in the Kirkintilloch Herald, in its issue of Wednesday 2nd November 1927 answers the mystery by giving a clear description of what went on from a fellow passenger’s perspective. Unfortunately, the newspaper has two errors, the date should read 13th not 3rd, and the ship’s name should be Balranald:

There’s a hand-written memo filed with the Bendigo passenger list, which reads:

Then, at the head of the SS “Balranald” passenger list, the following is typed:

My dad’s brother Jack completed the family when he was born in July 1929. It was around the time of Jack’s birth that they moved over the road to number 99, where they stayed for a few years. From 1932 to 1937 they lived at 45 Under Queen Street, and from 1938 they lived at 44 Queen Street.

When the 1939 Register was taken on 29th September, Ernest, Nance and the two boys were living at 44 Queen Street, Ernest’s occupation being recorded as “Colliery Timber Man (Below)” (Ref: RG101 Piece 7434A Schedule 252). Arthur and Lou Smith are found not far away at 17 Darran Road, where Arthur’s occupation was recorded as “Colliery Rider Below Incapacitated” (Ref: RG101 Piece 7433F Schedule 333). Also at number 17 were Arthur and Lou’s son Edward James Smith (born 24th July 1923), a House Decorators Assistant, and Arthur’s parents, William Smith and Elizabeth Anna née Emery, William’s occupation being recorded as “Colliery Engine Driver Retired”. Their dates of birth were given as 26th July 1860 and 8th July 1864 respectively.

Also living with the Smith family at Darren Road was a young boy named John Oliver Hayward who was born on 16th February 1933 in the Kingston area of Surrey. It’s quite likely that John was an evacuee, because evacuation of children from the London area began EARLY in 1939, well in advance of the formal declaration of war. The Register shows many evacuees being displaced from their home towns, notably schoolteachers as well as children. Further research on the Hayward family showed that they were very closely related to the Smith family.

At the age of fourteen in July 1942, my father completed his schooling at the Abertillery County School, gaining three passes in English Language, French, and Physics, and three credits in Geography, Mathematics, and Chemistry. Several years later, he took three examinations in pianoforte playing with the London College of Music, which were held at the Central Methodist Church in Somerset Street, Abertillery. Awards were given by the examiner based on the following five points: the position of the candidate’s hands on the keyboard; the touch; the fingering; expression; and correctness of notes, and attention to time, rests, etc. The first of these exams was at the intermediate level, and was taken on Friday 25th July 1947 at 11:20am. He was awarded a first class pass, having achieved a score of seventy-eight out of a possible one-hundred. The second examination was taken on Thursday 1st April 1948 at 10:55am, and was at the advanced intermediate level. He did a little better in this examination, and achieved seventy-nine out of one-hundred, which earned him another first class pass. His third examination was on Friday 29th April 1949 at 12:30pm, and was at the senior level. Once again, he was awarded a first class pass, having scored a total of seventy-six.

I knew that my parents had been involved in amateur dramatics when they were younger, but you can imagine my excitement when I found the following article printed in the South Wales Gazette dated Friday 16th December 1949:

It’s quite apparent that my parents were getting on really well – apart from within the amateur dramatics society, as can be seen from this announcement that appeared in the South Wales Gazette of Friday 2nd June 1950:

My parents, Arthur Ernest Nixey and Enid Vera Jones, were both aged 23 when they were married on 24th March 1951 at Abertillery, in the presence of my father’s brother, Jack Nixey, and Edith Daisy Evans. There addresses were given as 44 Queen Street and 180 Alma Street, while their occupations were recorded as Laboratory Technologist Coal Board and Domestic House Maid. This is how their wedding was reported on in the South Wales Gazette in its issue dated Friday 6th April 1951:

Two years later, my dad’s brother Jack married Winifred Richards at Neath in West Glamorgan. This is how their wedding was reported on in the Neath Guardian of Friday 3rd April 1953:

My uncle Jack and aunty Win started off their married life at 15 Penydre, Neath where they stayed until the early 1960s. They then spent several years at 9 The Greenway, Neath, before moving to 18 Whittington Street in Tonna in the early 1970s.

Arthur and Lou Smith (right) survived my grandparents by about 12 years, and so I have more memories of them at 17 Darren Road than I do of my grandparents, and in particular their grandfather clock.

References

Unless otherwise stated, all newspaper articles can be found at the British Newspaper Archive.