Timothy Davies was the very first Timothy that I found in my research journey and the reason for my First Name Study. He was born about 1809 at Olwen Farm in Lampeter to Thomas Davies, who was the son of my 7x great grandparents, and Elizabeth Thomas of Bontfach, Cellan.
In his adulthood, he left Lampeter for Tregaron, a market town about 17km to the north east. Tregaron, in the 19th Century was the last stop on the drovers road in that part of Wales.[1] The town, which at one time was nothing more than a loose collection of farmhouses centered around a church, was an important economic centre fueled by the needs of the drovers, their cattle, and the large sums of money returning from the east of England. Inns were an important part of this system, giving shelter to the drovers as they passed through the town. Davies ran one of those inns: the Ivy Bush on Tregaron’s Market Street.
Davies was an important local figure in other respects too. In 1834, the Poor Law Amendment Act was passed which renovated the structure of the social welfare system of the day. This system was responsible for funnelling over six million pounds a year to support the poor.[2] What had once been the responsibility of the parish and the overseers of the poor, was now relegated to the newly-founded Poor Law Unions. Davies was, for 18 years, the relieving officer in this new welfare system for the Tregaron Union.
Davies was also the first post master for the town of Tregaron.[3] Establishing a daily post in the town became a discussion in 1845. At that time, the town was beginning to expand, with the Nanteos Estate promising land and £50 toward the building of a town hall and plans to build the North and South Wales Railway line near the town.[4] Funding a daily mail service, “the want of which [had] long been seriously felt,”[5] fit perfectly into these new developments. By 1846, the daily post was established, running back and forth from Lampeter. According to its announcement in The Welshman, “letters leave Tregaron at 5 o’clock a.m., and reach London at 10 o’clock p.m. the same day.”[6] According to Davies’ tombstone, he “was the chief instrument in establishing the daily Post at Tregaron.”[7]
Davies also married and had a large family. His wife was Mary Jones from Tregaron and they had at least seven children: John, Mary, Thomas, Elizabeth, Eliza, Margaret, and Timothy. As was common for people of their social class, some of their children (John and Timothy) became Anglican clergymen, one a draper (Thomas), and others married farmers and merchants (Mary and Eliza). Davies passed away April 28, 1855,[8] and is buried at the Tregaron parish graveyard.
Rhoi llais i’r gwir, lleshau’r gwan,—o galon
Oedd golud ei anian;
Athraw fu i gael llythyr fan
I’r dre’ hon ryw dro ‘i hunan.[9]
Citations & Footnotes
[1] Jones, Emrys. (1950). “Tregaron, A Welsh Market Town.” Geography 35(1): 20–31.
[2] 1982. Digby, Anne. The Poor Law in Nineteenth-Century England and Wales, p. 10. London: The Historical Association.
[3] 1855. Cardiganshire Burials, Tregaron, p. 106. Digital Images. Ancestry. Entry for Timothy Davies of Tregaron, May 1, 1855, no. 846.
[4] 1845. Tregaron. The Welshman, Jun. 27, 1845, p. 2, col. 6. Digital Images. National Library of Wales. https://newspapers.library.wales/view/4364491/4364493/19/, accessed Dec. 22, 2024.
[5] 1845. Tregaron. The Welshman, Jun. 27, 1845, p. 2, col. 6. Digital Images. National Library of Wales. https://newspapers.library.wales/view/4364491/4364493/19/, accessed Dec. 22, 2024.
[6] 1846. Tregaron. The Welshman, Mar. 6, 1846, p. 3, col. 1. Digital Images. National Library of Wales. https://newspapers.library.wales/view/4364680/4364683/21/, accessed Dec. 22, 2024.
[7] 1855. Tombstone of Timothy Davies. Digial Image. Findagrave. Photographed by Lost Ancestors. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/226856284/timothy-davies, accessed Dec. 22, 2024.
[8] 1855. Tombstone of Timothy Davies. Digial Image. Findagrave. Photographed by Lost Ancestors. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/226856284/timothy-davies, accessed Dec. 22, 2024.
[9] c.1855. Jenkins, Joshua (Amnon II). “Beddargraff Timothy Davies, Post Office, Tregaron.” In Cerddi Cerngoch, p. 159. Edited by Dan Jenkins and “ap Ceredigion.” Lampeter: Caxton Hall.
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