Newspapers
Thanks to William Caxton and the advent of the printing press in 1477 we are able to look back in our social history with the help of newspapers. The first newspaper ever printed was the Daily Courant in the sixteenth century. Today we have dozens of tabloids, magazines, journals, paperbacks, books, etc etc, to help us understand the world we live in and keep us in touch with the current daily news. It also helps us delve back in time to understand and record our ancestors social background and the world they belonged to. We are just going to deal with the newspapers of the Eastern Valley of Gwent and its borders.
These are just some of the newspapers circulated within the county of Monmouthshire.
Monmouthshire Merlin 1829-1891
Monmouthshire Beacon 1837-1994?
Usk Observer 1855- *
Pontypool Free Press 1859-** (continues today)
Merthyr Express 1864-*** (continues today)
Abergavenny Chronicle 1871-1963
Abergavenny Gazette 1973-?
South Wales Daily News 1872-?
Evening Star 1877-1903
South Wales Daily Star 1892-?
South Wales Argus 1892- (continues today)
• *Usk Observer, later known as the County Observer and appeared until 1878
• ***Merthyr Express, had a Rhymney Valley version as well as one for West Monmouthshire.
• **Pontypool Free Press 1859-1896, then incorporated the Herald of The Hills 1896-1909 and was later known as the Free Press of Monmouthshire 1909-1993 and is now known as The Press.
The majority of the above newspapers can be found either at the County Records Office, Cwmbran or Newport Reference Library, John Frost Square, Newport. Of course a copy of every newspaper that was printed can be found in the British Library at Colindale.
The most popular newspaper for this part of the County was indeed the Pontypool Free Press/Free Press of Monmouthsire, which shall be used as an example of the importance newspapers can be with regard to genealogy. Within its pages you will find the obligatory births, marriages and deaths columns along with obituaries, silver and golden wedding anniversaries, school examination lists, shops and businesses, retirement anecdotes and many other articles of interest to family historians.
The most obvious of all the newspaper entries is the B/M/D’s (birth, marriages and deaths), the largest of these being the deaths. The reason for this was that in the early days of the Free Press, which began in 1859, there was no charge for placing death notices in the paper. This helps explain the ethics of that particular period in our history.
The following are entries taken from the deaths index and which are as transcribed next to each other in the database.
(1) Thomas, Edmund, died 3.12.1893 aged 65 at Penrhiwfranc, Cwmnantddu, Pontnewynydd.
(2) Thomas, Edmund, died 8.5.1915 aged 27, Killed in action World War One. Of Old Green Boat, Pontnewynydd. * #
(3) Thomas, Edmund S, died February.1938 aged 69 at School View, Pontymoile. Native of Maesycwmmer. Great Western Railway Worker for nearly 50 years. Wife, Elizabeth. Daughter Mrs Ralph Owen.
The first example shows just the date of death, age of person at death and place of death. This was fairly common of entries prior to 1905. Complete obituaries became more common after 1905.
The second example in 1915, gives the same date and age at death, along with the place of death, which in this case was in World War One, no actual place being given for military reasons. It also gives the place of residence should he have resided at home, and an asterisk *. This donates more information available in the original newspaper, which could not be included in the database owing to there being no room for printout purposes. The hash # indicates there is a photograph of the person mentioned in the article.
Finally the third entry shows the maximum amount of information that was available and the variety of genealogy. The first three entries are common to the first two examples, but then it gets interesting. It also gives the original birthplace of the deceased, Maesycwmmer (near Blackwood). As you can imagine, this can be very helpful in tracing your family members. The information tells you that the deceased worked for the GWR for nearly fifty years, thus describing the character as a loyal servant to his employer and also that he was hard working all his life. His wife is still alive and his only daughter has married someone called Ralph Owen. If more than one daughter had been mentioned it would have been included somewhere in the entry. The same rule applies if there were any sons.
It is more likely than not, the family home was 69 School View, Pontymoile and that if the deceased had worked for the GWR for nearly 50 years the house would have been paid for. There is only one child so we can assume the aged mother would now be living with her only child, her daughter and son-in-law. This could either be at the family home or at least nearby. In actual fact after some searching through cemetery records it was found that a Ralph David Owen died in 1937 at 5 School View, Pontymoile. Edmund’s wife Elizabeth actually died in 1945 from 1 Victoria Rd, Pontymoile, which was a few yards from School View.
So you can see from these three entries, how important newspapers can be in genealogy. This next example gives another slant on the importance they make.
Thomas, Daniel died 5.10.1936, aged 66yrs at 806 Morris St, Newcastle, Pennsylvania, USA. formerly of Pontymoile, Pontypool. Brother of Samuel Smith, Pontypool Road (New Inn).
This is perhaps one of the most important factors of using newspapers for family history. The Parish Register would not show this death that occurred overseas, and would have been difficult to trace without the newspaper entry. Thanks must go to the relatives of the deceased who placed the death in the Free Press enabling those family and friends still living in the area to grieve for the deceased. This situation is also common to those from the Eastern Valley of Gwent who lived outside the County, in England, Scotland and Ireland and made the same commitment of placing the notices of not just deaths, but births and marriages that occurred outside the area.
Marriages, mainly give the names of the bride and grooms parents, place of marriage and residence at the time. In other cases there are photographs and more details such as bridesmaids, wedding dress, place of reception and the piece de resistance, the wedding gift list. This last item shows the type of gifts given at that particular time and the name of the benefactor.
Births, are mainly given under the fathers name although this did change as time went by. Even in the early years the Christian and maiden name of the child’s mother were sometimes added. The items recorded on the database were mainly, fathers name, date of birth, sex of child, place of birth, mothers name and in some cases the trade of the father. On very rare occasions the child’s Christian name was given, although from 1939 it became more common.
Obituaries of the more important members of the community were the only ones to be present in the paper from 1859 to around 1905. From 1905 onward the paper included the working classes and others on a more frequent basis. The information ranged from a few lines of those who attended the funeral, to whole page entries of the deceased’s family history, which included all the family members and their actual relation to the deceased, ie, brother, sister, nephew, niece, aunt, uncle, son-in-law, etc, etc. Also included in some cases are those organizations the deceased attended, such as, sport, social clubs, salvation army, churches, works, etc, etc. All obituaries are a wonderful source of genealogical material, which sometimes included photographs.
Silver and Golden Wedding notices are just as important. These give a brief time-line of the couple which includes, their ages, place and date of marriage, number of children and in some cases their names and places of their abode. In most cases only the male of the relationship worked and this is normally given in full detail. In some cases the number of children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren are given and these numbers can then be cross-referenced against any number you may already have.
Retirement articles also hold valuable information on the recipients working life history and in most cases shows a photograph of the person at that period in time.
With relation to local Business, adverts showed the type of trade, establishment date of business and of course the proprietors name and address. Annual Reports can be a hive of information with lists of investors and members of the committee. Bankruptcy listings can also prove fruitful, disclosing the end of a business and perhaps a move away from that particular area.
Other items worth looking for are School Examination Results, which provide large lists of pupils, subjects achieved (sometimes helpful in perhaps a showing future job positions) a time period, residence and school attended (good for looking at admission registers which give date of birth, fathers name, etc).
The Sports pages can be just as fruitful. Articles give the team members and places where they played, which was normally where they resided. Photographs of teams and individuals can also be found especially in Cup Matches and victories.
In the two World Wars (1914-1918 and 1939-1945) that involved local men and women, the paper covered the news of their bravery, experiences and tragically the ultimate price paid in all wars, their death. Perhaps some of the more harrowing and emotional entries you will come across are letters sent to the relatives of the deceased by their comrades who were comrades of the fallen heroes. Photographs were regularly entered in the paper at these times.
There are many other useful tit-bits of genealogical material within the pages of these newspapers and it is suggested that next time you visit your local Records Office or Reference Library, you give this valuable tool a read.
The births, marriages and deaths from the Free Press of Monmouthshire newspaper have been transcribed from 1859 to 1940. Search and printouts from this database can be obtained by contacting Warren Lewis on Gwentree74@aol.com |or by post to The Phaeton, Broadway, Pontypool, Gwent, NP4 6HW. Contact can also be made to Richard Roynon, 20 Benton Villas, Talywain NP4 7LD, E Mail, RRoynon@aol.com . There is no actual fee, but a donation would be appreciated to cover expenses and part of which is given to the Friends of Varteg Graveyard for the up keep of this place of rest that was recently vandalised to the tune of £100,000.