14th welsh regiment

[SarahCarroll]

Hi. I'm hoping someone can help me shed some light on where i can get more information about my great grandfather. His name was Gwilym Evans and i ordered a copy of his marriage certificate on Ancestry and found that he was born in 1874, married on 15 Aug 1917 and put his rank as Private 14th Welsh Regiment (coal miner).

[MaxD]

There is a medal record for a Gwilym Evans who was in 14 Battalion Welsh Regiment who later transferred to the Royal Engineers but his detailed service record does not seem at first sight to have survived the bombing in WW2.

Just to look deeper, where was he born, where did he live and what was his wife's name, did he have a middle name?

MaxD

[SarahCarroll]

Thanks for replying. I think he was born in Pontypridd. When he married he was 43, a bachelor and living at Donald St in Cardiff. His father was John, a collier. His wife was a widow called Edith Charlotte Dean, maiden name Edwards, who had 5 young children already. They went on to have at least 4 children, one of which was my grandfather, the first girl born in Dec 1919 called Victorine. I'm not aware of a middle name.

[JJen]

Hi,

Found this which could be your Gwilym -

Swansea Pals (14th Welsh Regt.)

G. Evans
Year - 1914
Service no. - 17508
Rank - Private
Next of kin - Mrs A Evans (mother)
Next of kin address - 5 Springfield Terrace, Morriston, Swansea, Wales
Swansea Pals (14th Welsh Regt)

Perhaps MaxD will be able to give you more information regarding Swansea Pals 

JJ

[SarahCarroll]

Thankyou JJen, i will look into that. It does seem likely that was him.

[MaxD]

JJen's suggestion looks good.  The medal card is for a man of that service number in the 14th Battalion Welsh Regiment (Swansea Pals) and the date of entering France on the medal card, 3 Dec 1915, accords with the arrival date of the Swansea Pals.  The Swansea Pals had a "sister" battalion the 13th raised in Cardiff in which he may have served before going overseas, the medal card records only the battalions he served with overseas.
Unfortunately his record has not survived so we don't know when he transferred to the Royal Engineers.  As  a miner, such a transfer would make sense.

That said, hopefully JJen's find of his mother and address adds up with any family info you have?

MaxD

[SarahCarroll]

Thankyou. This is really helpful and hopefully something i can look into. The John Evans line is a complete blank to me. I have no info on him and unfortunately it's an incredibly common name  . I will keep digging however.

[JJen]

Have you found Gwilym on the 1939 register which will give his actual birth date?

By doing a 1939 free search his birth year is recorded as 1873.

JJ

[JJen]

It would appear on looking at which I presume to be your family tree on Anc****y that you already have the birth date of Gwilym - 3 Oct 1873,

This could be his birth record -

Gwilym Evans   
q4 1873, Pontypridd
Vol 11a Page 365
Mother's maiden name - Thomas

To progress further it would be advisable to purchase the above birth cert to clarify the correct line.

JJ