Penybont and District History Group Notes

6^th February 2023

 

Main Topic: Penybont Police Station and Law and Order in Penybont, Radnorshire – Andy and Michelle Jackson and Jordan.

Geraint welcomed members to the meeting, almost 60 people present today.

The new programme for the coming year has been assembled by Geraint and printed. The first item on the list for the 6^th March is Geraint talking about the 9 churches within our area.

Geraint then talked about the work that Jennifer Lewis has done in relation to an item that Derek had brought to the meeting in November about a Bible, dated 1896, that a gentleman, Gethyn, had discovered on its way to a skip.

Jennifer had traced the original family and the Bible is now with that family as an important link with their past relatives. The following is a document that Jennifer has put together to describe her research:

At a meeting of Penybont History Group on Monday 11^th. November Derek Turner, secretary read out information from an email from a Gethyn Rees, asking for information on a family, whose names he found in a Bible.

Below is the information that Gethyn found out about the family and sent to Derek. There are three siblings listed in the bible which belonged to Mary Ethel Ann Griffiths.

1 – Mary Ethel Ann born 15.10.1875 Llanbadarn Fawr, Radnorshire

2 – John Lewis Griffiths born 23.12.1876 Llanbadarn Fawr, Radnorshire

3 – James Brian Griffiths born 14.5.1880 Glynneath, Glamorgan

They were born to Bryan Griffiths who had married Mary Jones 16.5.1874 Llanbadarn Fawr.  Bryan born 1850, Nantmel. Mary Jones born 1848 Abbey Cwmhir.  They lived 1881 – Glynneath, 1891,1901, 1911 – Llanbadarn Fawr.  Bryan was a farmer but in 1881 listed as an Innkeeper in Neath Valley.  Bryan is son of John a farmer (born 1801) and Ann Griffiths (born 1815) both in Llanbister.  Mary Jones dau of John a carpenter (b.1818) Ynys Mon and Ann (b.1821) Llangadwaladr, Ynys Mon

1 – Mary Ethel Ann (b.1875 d. March qtr 1913) married Joseph William James (b 1869, d. 1948) One child – Marianne b .1896 d. 1976 Did not marry.

2 – John Lewis (b1876 d.3.2.1951) married Agnes Fanny Davies (b.1882) Two children. Doris Griffiths (b.1909 Penybont station) & Eleanor Mary Griffiths (b1904 Llanbadarn Fawr)

3 – James Brian (b 1880 d 6.4.1928) married Margaret Ann Price (b. 1881) Three children. John Brian Griffiths (b 1904) & James Lewis Griffiths (b.1905) & William Arthur Griffiths (b.1910) All Penybont.

As no-one in the room knew anything about this family, I undertook to find out more and contacted Gethyn.  From the information Gethyn has given me about the names on the family bible I found out more information.

The 3 names on the bible.

1.  Mary Ethel Ann Griffiths married Joseph William James.  in 1939 they were at Coedgwgan Hall, Crossgates.  They had one child Marriane who did not have any children.  I believe the family were very involved with Llanbadarn Church i.e. choir and organists.
2. John Lewis Griffiths married Agnes Davies.  They had 2 surviving children.  Doris born 14/12/1909 married Stanley Kefford in 1935 in Radnorshire.  The couple were with her parents in the 1939 register at Brynhafod.  I can’t find any record of them having any children, but I could be wrong.  The other daughter Eleanor Griffiths born 1/6/1903 was also at Brynhafod in 1939.  She had married a Jack Webb in Radnorshire in 1928.  Eleanor’s daughter Irene born 4/3/1929 married a James Dolan in Ealing in 1951.  There is also a birth record for Brian J Webb born in 1934 and I think he was with his mother in 1939, but not positive as his name is blacked out suggesting he is still alive.  I don’t think the Webb family lived local, but perhaps came back to Radnorshire because of the onset of War. Jack Webb was not living at Brynhafod in 1939.
3. James Brian Griffiths married Margaret Ann Price.  James must have died before 1939.  I have found Margaret born 11/8/1881, sons John Brian 25/3/1904 and James Lewis born 1.4.1905 in Coppice House Farm, Brand Hill, Clungunford.  There was one other son William Arthur.

I wrote a letter to Coppice house Farm addressed to the Griffiths Family who then made contact with me. This is part of their reply.

My Grandfather James Brian died of lung Cancer in 1928, then my father John Brian Griffiths, and his brother Jim and my grandmother moved to Coppice House in 1932. Arthur the youngest became a policeman and spent most of his life in South Cerny Gloucestershire. My father was the only one who had children, I am 1 of 7. Jim married and emigrated to Australia.

I have a full spreadsheet of my father ancestors going back to 1650, most of them lived at Cwmgwiddel at Nantmel. My father John Brian Griffiths was born at Brynllygoed, Abbeycwmhir.

 I then put Gethyn in touch with Richard and Caroline Griffiths.

My name is Gethyn Rees and I believe Jennifer Lewis has been in touch
with you about Mary’s bible.

I found it about to be thrown into the unwanted rubbish pile at Hay
earlier this year. I could not let that happen as it is a lovely piece
of family history and hoped one day to track the family who once owned it.

I got so far and found the history society online and they did the rest
which you now know. It is embossed leather bound and has your ancestors
names written in the front cover. It is the Old Testament and in English
though I am sure she spoke Welsh as your family is clearly very Welsh
based on the ancestors that came before the Bibles owner. I am sure you
would like this back in the family.

I live in Kent so unfortunately cannot make the trip to personally hand
it over though I am back in Wales on a fairly regular basis but in
Pontardawe which I’d imagine is a fair way from you. I can post it at
your risk. Let me know what you’d like me to do.

On the Griffiths family request the bible was then posted to them, by Gethyn.

Geraint introduced Michelle and Jordan with apologies from Andy who is currently working away from home. Jordan, Andy and Michelle’s son, has come to deliver the talk.

Main Topic: Penybont Police Station and Law and Order in Penybont, Radnorshire – Andy and Micelle Jackson and Jordan. (Apologies from Andy who has work commitments)

1. The Flag

A proposed Radnorshire Flag has been designed by Philip Tibbetts draws upon the arms of Cadwgan and those of the Mortimers. Jordan has used this flag to accentuate his slide show with considerable effect. In his first slide he sets the tone for the talk by bringing together the Flag with the emblem for the Radnorshire Constabulary and framing his talk as Law and Order in Radnorshire.

• 2. Early Law and Order

The Parish Constables were also voluntary and were appointed for a period of 1 year. The Court would, however, not allow them to step down from their duties unless they could identify 3 men who had not been Constables in the last 10 years. Crime was very low in Radnorshire and thee was no ‘criminal class’ to be managed.

• 3. Rebecca Riots

The Rebecca Riots (Welsh: Terfysgoedd Beca) took place between 1839 and 1843 in West and Mid Wales. They were a series of protests undertaken by local farmers and agricultural workers in response to levels of taxation. The rioters, often men dressed as women, took their actions against toll-gates, as they were tangible representations of taxes and tolls. The rioters went by the name of ‘Merched Beca’ which translates directly from Cymraeg as Rebecca’s Daughters. The riots ceased prior to 1844 due to several factors, including increased troop levels, a desire by the protestors to avoid violence and the appearance of criminal groups using the guise of the biblical character Rebecca for their own purposes. In 1844 an Act of Parliament to consolidate and amend the laws relating to turnpike trusts in Wales was passed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca_Riots see: https://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/history/sites/themes/society/politics_rebecca_riots.shtml

Though crime remained low in Radnorshire there was concern that the ‘volunteers’ were not sufficient to manage serious incidents like riots. activities.

• 4. Radnorshire Constabulary

Penybont was given one Police Constable. For further details see: https://british-police-history.uk/f/radnorshire

• 5. Police Station

• 6. History of the period

For perspective during 1859 the following also occurred:

• Queen Victoria monarch for 22 of 60 years reign.
• General Post Office erect first national standard pillar boxes
• Charles Dickens publishes of A Tale of Two Cities.
•  “Big Ben” first became operational.
• HMS Victoria, Royal Navy’s last wooden three-decker ship, is launched at Portsmouth.
• Naturalist Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species, is published.
• Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Scottish-born fiction writer was born.
• Isambard Kingdom Brunel, civil engineer, died
• Robert Stephenson, railway engineer, died.

• 7. The Chief Constable at Penybont Police Station

• When we moved in we received this but Jordon had no idea where this is from, it is from Geraint’s Book on the History of Penybont
• States that between 1859 and 1909 Police HQ was in Penybont
• The 1861 census had Superintendent George Jackson and Police Officer David Evans lived here with their wives
• It’s nice to think that since George Jackson, the house has now returned to the Jacksons, so this is our family home J
• In 1868 Radnorshire appointed it’s own Chief Constable, Major Penry Lloyd, who resided at Penybont
• The 1881 and 1891 census give Joseph Wheeldon as the Chief Constable, plus one constable and his wife.
• Plans for a court house attached to the police station were never actioned
• Until 1896 it was the only lock up facility for Llandrindod and the whole of Ithon Valley
• Other names listed are 1901 John Morgan, 1909 Sgt Richard Jones, 1912 EJ Hitchman

8. A Ban on Fishing

• The average beat was 34 square miles and it was several years before they had the luxury of a bicycle
• Apparently, you couldn’t even go fishing in your spare time as the gentry didn’t approve
• It ceased to be a Police Station in 1929 and became a private house called Roxbury

• – 9. Building Plans

• Tried to find blueprints for the house
• Archives in Llandrindod had these but they are generic for Station Houses
• Several different designs were used
• Although our exact layout isn’t in there, this was the closest

• 10. Cell Design

Showed details of the cell construction

• Again, not exact to our cells but some evidence still remains

1. – 11. Cells as they are now

• You can see the arch roof
• where the original doors would have been
• where the bars would have been fitted to the windows.

1. – 12. Original Contract

• Archives had a copy of the original contract for the house
• Dated 7^th April 1859

1. – 13. Articles of Agreement

• Gets a bit confusing as the text says 7.4.59 but stamp is 7.3.57
• Between William Smith of Leominster and Richard Banks, clerk of the peace for the county of Radnor
• Also states that all specifications are given by William Wishlade, county surveyor
• To be built on the site already marked out on the common within the manor of Swydd, proper name for the Common is Swydd Common, in the parish of Llandegley
• Had until 1.10.59 to complete

1. –14. Costs for Building the Police Station

• Estimate from William Smith dated 11 April 1859 for 569 pounds and 10 shillings
• Figure crossed out and rounded down to 560 pounds
• Obviously tough police negotiation worked

1. –15. Report on the Completed Work

• Report by William Wishlade in 1861 – building meets standards laid out with a couple of additions not in original contract.
• Details the cost of these additions such as alterations to the stables and ensuring hot air pipes pass through each cell.

1. –16. Proposed Extension to the Police Station (1898)

• Planned addition made by Stephen W Williams, County surveyor, Rhayader, 26 Feb 1898
• It was proposed to build a 2 storey extension with another kitchen and dining room downstairs

1. –17. New Bedrooms

• Addition of 2 bedrooms, one of which would be en suite
• It mentions a Capt James and a Miss James but there is no other mention of them.
• Planned to search census when time permits to see who they were

1. –18. Proposed Additions to the Chief Constable’s House 1899

• Planned addition made by R Hettings Thomas, County surveyor, June1899

1. –19. Police Store Room

• Proposal for ground floor now has a store room, (instead of a kitchen) and dining room

1. –21. Hallway

• The hallway hasn’t changed much although it is now extended into what was once part of the exercise yard

• -20. Staircase

• Apparently there was once 2 staircases but now they have been combined
• Albeit stairs went to the same place, one was for the Chief Constable and members of the Force, while the other staircase was for ‘servants’.
• –22. Scullery and Guard Room

• The scullery and guard room have now been joined and is now the kitchen
• –23. Scullery and Guard Room

• A view of the kitchen from the window side
• Access to the other stairway would be where the fridge is now
• A door way to outside would have been to the right of shot

• –24. Upstairs facilities       

• Proposed extension upstairs would have been a dressing room and en suite bedroom
• It also has 2 x servants rooms.
• The box room shown is now the upstairs bathroom

• –25. Bathroom and Servant’s Bedroom  

• The bathroom and front servants room form one of the front bedrooms

• Where Extension of 1899 would have been built

• –26. Where the addition would have been

• –27. Also Showing site of Proposed Extension

• Front elevation showing where the extension would have been

• –28. Chief Constables Residence

• This would have been the Chief Superintendents residence

• –29. Constables Office and Exercise Yard

• The 2 dormer windows are the old Constable’s office which is above both cells
• The covered area below originally had 11ft wall surrounding an exercise yard

• –30. Constable’s Office and Exercise Yard

•  Another view of the constables office and cells below

• –31. Trees have Gone

• The property was originally surrounded by a square of trees but most of these have now been chopped down

• –32. Escape!

• Leads directly onto the common, good for escaping prisoners

• -33. Penybont Market with Police Station behind

• December 1991 cattle market

See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVbCEay51Mk34.

• –34. Buildings in 2004

• A view of the house from 2004

• –35. House in 2015

• And a view from 2015, not really changed that much

• –36. Crime Register

• We did some research into the type of crimes recorded in the area
• It’s also nice to see that the printing company who produced these documents, Shaw and sons, are still going

• –37. Drunk and Shouting

• 23 Sep 1909 – Drunk and shouting – one days imprisonment

• –38. Begging Alone

• 30 Sep 1909 – drunk – one days imprisonment
• 30 Sep 1909 – begging alone – imprisonment for 14 days with hard labour

• –39. Wilful Neglect of Wife and Children

• Wilful neglect to maintain wife and children – order of maintenance of 10 shillings Per week and costs

• –40. Intention to Dip Sheep

• Drunk – fined 5 shillings Plus costs, (he didn’t fancy a days prison)
• Not giving notice of his intention to dip sheep during the sheep dipping period – fined 5 Plus costs

•  –41. Scrumping

• Extract from Penybont Petty Sessions 30 Mar 99
• Hard to read but I think people were stealing apples from an orchard

• –42. Shorthand

• Some of it is written in hieroglyphics, if you can read that then well done!

• –43. Last Court in Penybont

• 4 Feb 1930 – Notice that the Petty Sessional Court will move from Penybont to Llandod
• Last court at Penybont 18 Feb 1930

• – 44. Expenditure Account 1896

Extract from Expenditure account for the quarter ending Mar 15 1896

• –45. Cost of Policing

• Estimate for the quarter ending 13^th Dec 1896
• Shows the breakdown of Police personnel by station
• Penybont had 1 x Chief Constable, 1 x Inspector and 1 x Constable which apparently totals approximately £70 per quarter. There is however an anomaly however in that based on the figures the Inspectors earn less than the Constables, which does not seem right.

• –46. Crime and Punishment

• Extract from Crime Returns from Sep 26 to Dec 5 1896 giving crime and punishment

• – 47. Uniforms

• An example of the uniforms of the time (1920s)
• See: https://british-police-history.uk/f/radnorshire

• – 48. Sgt Frederick Beatrup

• Taken 1895, Sgt Frederick Beatrup of Radnorshire Constabular served in Elan Valley Rhayader (1878), Boughrood (1888 – 1890) and spent some of his time in Aberedw, Powys in the 1890s. Promoted to Sgt 1897 in Elan Valley.
• Tunic button found in the garden
• Wives were required to take messages for their husbands as part of the duty

• – 49. David Weake’s Pottery

• House then became a pottery
• David Weake and his wife Beryl
• Head of art at Llandrindod High School
• Well known uni-cyclist, used to ride it during Victorian festival
• Celebrated potter and dealer in antique ceramics which he repaired and sold
• He had a kiln in one of the cells
• A show room of his work in the stables
• His wife would show people his work when he was at work in the school
• Would be nice to find some of his pottery to ‘bring it back home’

• – 50. Some of David’s Pots

• Examples of his work

51. Any Questions

There was a comment about having two staircases and that they were quite common even in quite small houses where servants were living in.

The May and Hiring Fairs were a challenge for a very small Police presence when in excess of 10,000 people could be in Penybont. Extra Police help had to be brought in to cope with the numbers.

The top 5 crimes going through the Court system and still available from the Archives were:

1. Drunkenness
   1. Singing in the street
   1. Allowing your chimney to catch fire
   1. Riding a horse with no reins
   1. Catching salmon

Steeling sheep was another common offence.

Then of course there were the crimes associated with the railway:

Travelling without a ticket was the main one. More concerning however was the fact that women were at risk in carriages that had no passageway along the train.

Suicide was a crime that ‘dishonoured’ the Queen.

Not a crime but a serious and tragic incident was the death of 3 boys by drowning in 1901.

There is an interesting story associated with a Sgt Maddox. One day he was called to 3 boys who had found a Hand Grenade. He shouted at them to put it on the ground before moving to recover it. It was then taken to Penybont where it unexpectedly exploded. Fortunately, no one was hurt.

Additional Information:

Stephen Williams’s first major official assignments involved rebuilding police stations at Rhaeadr and Knighton, and the county gaol at Presteign. A Home Office inspector in 1863 found both of these police stations: ‘badly planned and deficient of proper accommodation for the resident constable’. This was the result of years of official complacency, going back to 1805 when George, the second Lord Rodney, of Berrington Hall, near Leominster, was appointed Lord Lieutenant of the county. He held the office for thirty-seven years, though in 1837, an advertisement, inserted by one describing himself as A Radnorshire Freeholder and no Magistrate, appeared in the Hereford Times protesting against, amongst other things, Lord Rodney’s neglect of his duties as Lord Lieutenant of a county in which he did not live and seldom visited.

The Radnorshire Freeholder alleged it was a legal requirement that Lords Lieutenant should be resident within the county or division they served. Undeterred, Lord Rodney continued in office until1843, and in 1841 it was his decision that the county did not require a rural police force . Rodney was succeeded by Sir John Walsh, the first Lord Ormathwaite, and he was followed by his son in 1875. Neither lived in the county, but both showed consistent concern for its welfare, and a rudimentary constabulary was established in 1844, with superintendent constables at Knighton, Presteign, and Rhaeadr. But in 1856 county constabularies became obligatory. Since January 1855 Sir George Cornewall Lewis of Harpton Court had been MP for the Radnor boroughs and Chancellor of the Exchequer. In October 1856 he ‘attended a meeting of the Committee of Magistrates at Presteign, to consider the subject of Police. Settled the outlines of the plan & appointed a deputation to confer with the Herefordshire magistrates on the subject’ .

 Then, in November 1856, with Sir John Walsh and Lister Venables, he attended a meeting in Hereford: ‘to make arrangements respecting the election of a chief constable for the two counties. The preliminary steps were agreed to. I tried to persuade them to include Brecon & Monmouth, but could make no impression. The exclusive county feeling was insuperably strong on this head. Even with regard to Radnorshire there was no great willingness. ‘  A Chief Constable was appointed, acting for both Radnorshire and Herefordshire, and one superintendent, two sergeants, and ten constables.

A flurry of activity resulted from the 1863 inspection: £2000 was borrowed from the Economic Life Assurance Company and Williams was instructed to draw up plans for new stations to be built in Rhaeadr and Knighton. Williams’ s new police station at Rhaeadr, for example, provided a court room, cells for prisoners, and accommodation for the constable, in stone and all under a slate roof, in the style of a country school. Then the re-building and re-modelling of the county goal at Presteign followed in 1867. Williams’s first set of plans and estimate was rejected when it appeared ‘that a less extensive alteration of cells and internal arrangements may suffice than those indicated in the plans previously submitted by the County Surveyor’ . His revised plans would have cost £1,337 to implement, a welcome saving for the County of £500 on the original scheme, but the Home Office declined to give its approval, on the grounds that it provided too few cells and most of those it did provide were too small. A third revision, however, with provision for twenty-four larger cells was accepted. Williams’s remodelled prison was ready for occupation by the end of May, 1870, when he was elected a Fellow of the Surveyor’s Institution. The gaol was closed in 1878. It then became a police station and served this function until 1898 when it was demolished to provide a site for the new building for John Beddoes School. Williams then designed its successor. In fact, in the course of his career he built or re-built several of the county’s police stations, including those at New Radnor and Bleddfa.

Stephen W. Williams of Penralley, 1837-1899 – ‘Our Ubiquitous Friend’ By R. W. D. Fenn And J.B. Sinclair. Stephen Williams the engineer and surveyor – Extract From Archaeologia Cambrensis ‘Our Ubiquitous Friend’ By R. W. D. Fenn And J.B. Sinclair.

Geraint thanked Michelle and Jordan for an excellent talk, which was particularly significant bearing in mind how short a time they have been in the village.

The next talk will be Geraint talking about the churches in the area, ‘Change or Decay’, on Monday March 6th in Penybont Community Centre at 10.30 a.m.