TOPIC:

Plaque is in Gelligaer parish church and the newspaper snippet is from The Carrdiff Times Feb 1 1902

Regards, Royston

Thank you, Royston! I have a shorter report from The Weekly Mail, but the one in the Cardiff Times is much better. It's not easy getting access to smaller churches in Wales, or even finding contact details, so I've been more or less limited to attending services. I was very fortunate with Bargoed - I stopped there to fill up with petrol on a Sunday afternoon, and then spotted the church. When I walked up to it I found that there was a wedding rehearsal going on, so I only had to wait until that had finished to get my photos.





The Welsh verse was the composition of "Berw," North Wales.

In Nov 2017, after a decade of research on my local village of Brithdir I had my book published. My interest in David Thomas stems from the fact his family farm, Tirferchgryno, is one of four farms featured in my book. I an also currently working on a separate article on David Thomas for a future Gelligaer Historical Society journal. Can I ask what is your interest, are you a relative or, like me someone who has an interest in local history.

Dannemois wrote: Can I ask what is your interest, are you a relative or, like me someone who has an interest in local history.

I love to travel in Britain, and as I'd seen hardly anything of South Wales I decided to have a couple of days in the area, taking the opportunity to photograph as many ABW memorials as possible. Welsh Newspapers Online was a terrific resource for looking for memorials in preparation for my visit.

Actually, the churchwarden at Bargoed made some inquiries at Brithdir for me, regarding a memorial in the church there -

"A memorial service and the unveiling of a tablet to the memory of Corporal John Thomas, formerly of Brithdir, who volunteered for service and was killed in South Africa, took place at the Mission Church at Brithdir on Thursday. - The Rev. T. J. Jones, M.A., rector of Gelligaer, officiated, and he was assisted by the Rev. E. Boughton, curate-in-charge. Colonel Lindsay, R.E., unveiled the tablet."
Evening Express, Friday 15th January 1904

I know that that particular church building is likely to be the one that burnt down (1970s?), but do you know if the memorial was also destroyed at the time, or was it rescued? The churchwarden told me that the present Brithdir church isn't open for services at present.

Hi Berenice
The tablet in memory of Cpl Thomas was inserted in the masonry of the new St. Paul's church. The church was officially opened on Saturday October 27, 1906 by the Bishop of Llandaff. In 1927, structural cracking began to appear so severer they deemed the building unsafe. The Merthyr Express of August 6, 1927, reported that on the previous Friday the Bishop of Llandaff paid a visit of inspection and decided that “service must be discontinued at once.” St Paul’s services were then conducted in the Brithdir Ambulance Hall. In May 1935 the temporary home became the new church; the Bishop of Llandaff conducted the dedication service and named the church St. David’s. In 1974 the church was to suffer its second disaster when it was destroyed by fire. The cost of a new building proved prohibitive. The idea of converting a house in the village into a new church materialised when the betting office and general store in Station Terrace was up for sale, nine-months later the conversion was completed. It isn't open for services at present.
When St Paul's was demolished I found no mention in the press of what become of Cpl Thomas's tablet.
Regards Royston