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Ancestors of John Humphreys

Generation No. 2

2. Richard Humphreys, born Abt. 1853 in Llandegai, Carnarvonshire, North Wales; died September 09, 1923 in North Wales. He was the son of 4. Owen Humphreys and 5. Elizabeth (Humphreys). He married 3. Mary Williams September 09, 1874 in St. Ann's Church, Llandegai, Carnarvonshire, Wales.

3. Mary Williams, born 1852 in Carnarvonshire, North Wales; died April 06, 1933 in North Wales. She was the daughter of 6. William Williams and 7. Catherine (Williams).

Notes for Richard Humphreys:
Richard was employed at Penrhyn quarry in Bethesda. At that time the employees were given a cottage to live in with an acre of land to raise sheep. Richard kept sheep on his land at 16 Llwybrmain, Mynydd Llandegai, sectioning it off with pieces of slate and moving the sheep from one patch to another to graze. He was the first person to live in this cottage as far as is known by the family. He lived there still at the time of his death.

In early 1996, The Vicar of St. Anne's arranged for a visit from Belinda and Stephen Haycocks (Stephen is Richard's great-great-grandson) with Mrs. Mair Eluned Jones, who lives at 15 Llwybrmain and was 85 at the time of their visit. She remembers Richard as a tall man with a beard and mustache, and his wife Mary as a small lady. She also remembered Elizabeth and Edward Richardson, and the birth of their son William (Bill), and Edith visiting as a small child. She remembered that the butcher was a great friend of the Humphreys' and used to butcher the sheep for them. One day, after Richard had died, the butcher took all the children to the seaside for the day on a horse and cart. It was a special treat because they lived too far away from the sea to visit themselves.

The Vicar told Stephen and Belinda that in its heyday, the quarry employed over 3,000 men but only about 200 today. Apparently all employees had to buy their own tools and explosives from the company to work in the quarry and then only received a very small wage.

More About Richard Humphreys:
Burial: St. Anne's Cemetery, Llandegai, Gwynedd
Cause of Death: Conditions related to slate quarry work all his life

Notes for Mary Williams:
1881 Census, taken in April, shows Mary's age to be 27; however, the 1891 Census lists her as age 39. The 1871 Census shows her age as 18, and her age on the marriage license says she was 22 when she married on Sept. 9, 1874, so I believe her date of birth would be between late April and early September 1852.

A letter from her granddaughter, Edith Haycocks, dated Feb. 27, 1996 states that Mary died at the age of 81, but does not state the year. The gravestone gives the date of death as April 6, 1933 at the age of 80. See photo sent by Stephen and Belinda Haycocks, and notes for Richard.

The marriage license gives Mary's father's name as William, so a baptism record found at St. Anne's was for a different Mary Williams, whose father's name was John.

More About Mary Williams:
Baptism: November 04, 1854, St. Anne's
Burial: St. Anne's Cemetery, Llandegai, Gwynedd
Cause of Death: Strokes

Marriage Notes for Richard Humphreys and Mary Williams:
According to the 1881 Census dated April 3 for the Parish of Llandegai, Rural Sanitary District of Bangor, Ecclesiastical District of St. Anne, Richard and Mary lived at 16 Llwybrmain with their four children. The ages for the family were: Richard, a quarryman, 28; Mary, his wife, 27; daughter Catherine, a scholar, 6; son John (my grandfather) 4; son William 2; and another son, aged 6 months, whose name was Hugh.

A birth certificate was obtained by Stephen and Belinda Haycocks for Owen, who was born September 24, 1880, which was six months prior to the Census, but they also found an interment record for Owen, aged 2 months and buried in late November 1880. The only baby name Hugh Humphreys born in the last quarter of 1880 was born on October 23, 1880 at 77 Pool Hill in Carnarvon to William and Sarah Hope Humphreys. Hugh is not shown in the 1881 Census with his family, so the baby Hugh living with Richard and Mary at the time of the Census appears to be the child of William and Sarah. The relationship of William and Hugh to Richard has yet to be determined.

The 1891 Census lists living at #16 Llwybrmain Rd, Richard at age 38, but Mary as 39, which is quite clear, but so was the 1881 age. Their children listed are Catherine, 16; William, 12; Elizabeth 4; and Sarah Ann, 1 month. John was 14 at the time, so must have been visiting or living elsewhere.

Richard went to one Chapel, which was at the end of the Gefnan road, and Mary's non-conformist Chapel was at the end of Llwybr Main. Mary's Chapel is still there, although in a state of decay. Stephen and Belinda Haycocks have sent me a photo of this chapel, as well as Richard and Mary's gravestone, shared with their daughter Elizabeth and her husband Edward Richardson (Stephen's grandparents.) Mary went to chapel in the morning, Richard in the evening.

A copy of their marriage registration says that they were married in St. Ann's according to the rites and ceremonies of the Church of England. The witnesses were Humphrey Prichard (sic) and Ann Jones.

When Stephen's mother, Edith Richardson Haycocks, was there on holiday, she sometimes went to chapel with her grandfather and as a reward he would give her a "Jaffa" orange and a peppermint.

Lord Penrhyn owned all the cottages, Llandegai, all surrounding land and Penrhyn, which today is a tourist attraction.

Richard and Mary are buried with their daughter Elizabeth and her husband, Edward Richardson, at St. Anne's Cemetery in Llandegai. Their common headstone reads:

Er Serchog Gof Am Richard Humphreys 16 Llwybrmain Bu Farw Medi 9 1923 Yn 70 Ml Oed Hefyd ei Briod Mary Humphreys Bu Farw Ebrill 6 1933 Yn 80 Ml Oed "Canys Yn Yr Awr Ni Thybioch y Daw Mab Y Dyn" Hefyd ei Merch Elizabeth Richardson Hunodd Rhag 2 1958 Yn 71 Ml Oed Ai Phriod Edward Richardson Bu Farw Awst 4 1964 yn 68 ml oed

Which in English is: In Loving memory of Richard Humphreys 16 Llwybrmain who died September 9, 1923 aged 70 also his wife Mary Humphreys who died April 6, 1933 aged 80 "Because now there is no doubt the Son of God will come" Also their daughter Elizabeth Richardson who passed away December 2, 1958 aged 71 her husband Edward Richardson who died August 4, 1964 aged 68.

Children of Richard Humphreys and Mary Williams are:

Catherine Humphreys, born Abt. 1874; died 1960; married Frank Hobbs; born in Torquay; died Abt. 1930.

Notes for Catherine Humphreys:
Before she was married, Kate worked as a Nanny for a wealthy family named Rees in Bangor. They had a daughter of whom Kate was very fond. When the daughter was in her 30's, she went with her family to Africa on holiday and was eaten by a crocodile! Kate was very upset by this and never recovered from it.

More About Catherine Humphreys:
Burial: Glanadda Cemetery, Bangor, Gwynedd
Cause of Death: Old age/strokes

Notes for Frank Hobbs:
Exact year of death not known, but Belinda Haycocks says it was in the 1930's. Frank was a railway fitter.

More About Frank Hobbs:
Burial: Glanadda Cemetery, Bangor, Gwynedd
Cause of Death: Stomach cancer

Marriage Notes for Catherine Humphreys and Frank Hobbs:
Kate and her husband never had any children of their own and asked her sister Elizabeth if the could adopt Edith (Mary Edith), but Elizabeth wouldn't allow this. They lived in Bangor.

	1	ii.		John Humphreys, born September 25, 1876 in Bethesda, North Wales; died May 24, 1933 in Utica, NY; married Jane (Jennie) Pritchard July 16, 1903 in Ellis Island, New York.
		iii.		William Humphreys, born July 03, 1879 in Bethesda, N. Wales ²; died July 03, 1912 in Taylor, PA²; married Anna Williams Abt. 1909 in Taylor, PA; born Abt. 1887.

Notes for William Humphreys:
William immigrated to the USA in 1905 to Slatington PA. He died of a heart attack at the age of 33 after walking home from working all day at the Sibley mines in Taylor, where he and his wife lived with a Dr. E. Edwards. The temperature reached 92 degrees that day. He possibly worked in the office, as he is referred to as "a company man", and there is also reference to his "coat", which may have been a suit jacket, although the miners wore coats as it was cool and dirty in the mines.

I found his obituary, one in English and one in Welsh, with some other clippings, many of which are not dated, in a box of my grandmother's. A translation of the obituary in Welsh reveals that "William was kind, genial and gentlemanly. He wished nobody any harm and was always helpful. Calm and quiet, he kept a low profile. A good singer, he was a member of the Antracite Glee [Club], where he was well respected by his fellow choristers. This was especially apparent the day of the burial.

"Mr. Humphreys was a principled and conscientious teetotaller and a member of the Sons of Temperance. A good religious man and a loyal member of the Welsh Congregational Church, he was always ready to play his part. Faithfully in Chapel early each Sunday, his likes must raise the heart of a preacher to see so many people making the effort to attend. Our brother always made the effort and entered with a cheerful smile. We do not miss people who rarely attend, but immediately miss a faithful member of the congregation - our friend W. H. fell into the latter category. We will never forget the verses he read from the Bible from time to time."

In the 1881 Census for Bethesda, he is listed as 2 years old, 12 in the 1891 Census. These were taken in early April, so if his birthday was after April, he was born in 1878. His death certificate gives his year of birth as 1879, but his gravestone says 1878, which would be correct if he was born in July. He is buried with his wife's mother and stepfather, Robert Roberts, and two of Robert's children by a previous marriage.

To find William's grave in the Forest Home Cemetery, Taylor, PA, turn from Main Street onto Atherton. At the end of Atherton, trees obscure the entrance to the cemetery, which is down a hill. Turn right onto the main road of the cemetery. Just past a speed bump, there is a large reddish gravestone for TUBBS facing the road on the left side. This is at the top of a knoll. The Roberts/Humphreys grave is about 5 or 6 rows past Tubbs and several rows in from the road.

More About William Humphreys:
Burial: July 06, 1912, Forest Home Cemetery, Taylor, PA
Cause of Death: Heart Attack due to heat
Medical Information: Certificate of Death lists "apoplexy" as the cause of death
Occupation: Coal miner

iv.

Owen Humphreys, born September 20, 1880; died Abt. November 20, 1880.

Notes for Owen Humphreys:
There is a record of a burial for Owen Humphrey, 2 months old, of Llwybrmain on November 24, 1881 in St. Anne's Cemetery. Since there do not appear to have been any other Humphreys (or Humphrey) living on that road, it was an assumption that he was a son of Richard and Mary Humphreys. Belinda and Stephen Haycocks requested a birth certificate for Owen to determine if he was in fact a son of Richard and Mary. The birth certificate does confirm this. There is a six-month old son whose name is illegible listed in the 1881 Census, which was taken in early April, so that must be Owen. Prior to my finding him in the Census, no one in the family had any knowledge of him. The record for burial is incorrect in that Owen would have been one year and two months old, but perhaps the person who recorded this did not correctly hear information softly spoken by a grief-stricken relative.

More About Owen Humphreys:
Burial: November 24, 1881, St. Anne's Cemetery, Llandegai, Gwynedd

Elizabeth Humphreys, born April 02, 1887; died December 02, 1958; married Edward Richardson 1918 in Sunderland; born February 13, 1896; died August 04, 1964.

More About Elizabeth Humphreys:
Burial: St. Anne's Cemetery, Llandegai, Gwynedd
Cause of Death: Heart attack

More About Edward Richardson:
Burial: St. Anne's Cemetery, Llandegai, Gwynedd
Cause of Death: Cerebral Hemorrhage

Marriage Notes for Elizabeth Humphreys and Edward Richardson:
Elizabeth met Edward while he was convalescing in a nursing home in Craig-Y-Don after he was gassed during World war I. She was a maid in the Clarence Hotel in Llandudno, having had to leave home to find employment. Edward was from Durham, and they returned to Chester-Le Street to marry. She didn't like it in the Northeast, so she returned to her mother with Edward when she was pregnant. After she gave birth to their son William (Bill), they stayed there for about another year.

Edward didn't like living in Mynydd Llandegai because the local people, including his parents-in-law, could only speak Welsh, and he could only speak English. He worked in the quarry for awhile, but when the Council was building houses in Llandudno Junction, they successfully applied for one. Edward did any work he could find - odd jobs and gardening - and then worked on the railway. Their daughter Mabel still lives in the house today.

vi.

Sarah Ann Humphreys, born 1891; died January 01, 1969; married David Jones; died May 07, 1967.

Notes for Sarah Ann Humphreys:
Stephen Haycocks remembers that his great-aunt Sarah "had a room that was used "best guests", and [he] was not allowed in it except to stand at the door and look in. It had expensive furniture and a bay window looking over the garden and little boys did not step over the threshold!" Nevertheless, he says she was a nice old lady who always allowed him to wander around the huge garden for hours.

More About Sarah Ann Humphreys:
Burial: St. Agnes Cemetery, Conwy
Cause of Death: Heart attack

Notes for David Jones:
Stephen Haycocks remembers that Davey "was a gardener by trade and had a huge greenhouse, an orchard and extensive shrubbery to look after. He was always in the garden when we visited and made "small talk" with me. He had a green shed by the roadway gate and would sell ice cream and drinks, etc. to passersby from it. His house was en route to Conwy Mountain, a favorite place for tourists to walk to, so he provided them with refreshments! Uncle Davey was never one to miss an opportunity to make money."

More About David Jones:
Burial: St. Agnes Cemetery, Conwy
Cause of Death: Old age....

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