THE "COUNTY OF MERIONETH", COLOMBO AND THE DAVIES FAMILY
Between 1877 and 1881, William Thomas of Llanrhuddlad, Anglesey - a ship broker in Liverpool - and his friends were responsible for building seven ships bearing the names of Welsh counties. The first was the "County of Flint" - an iron barque of 1083 tons - built by Doxford of Sunderland in 1877.
The "County of Merioneth" - a three-masted barque - was built in 1880 to a design by William Thomas and W.E.Jones, a ship-builder from Felinheli (Port Dinorwic), Caernarvonshire. It is reported that this ship in 1887/8, under the command of Captain Robert Thomas, of Llandwrog, Caernarvonshire, made the fastest voyage ever from Cardiff to San Francisco.
On a voyage to South Africa in 1900 and to Chile in 1901, the Captain was DAVID JOHN DAVIES, Aberarth, (His father, JOHN DAVIES, was Captain of this ship at an earlier date). An uncle of the late Mrs (Capt.) Mildred Evans, Llwynderw, was a member of the crew. When the 1901 Census was taken, neither JOHN DAVIES nor DAVID JOHN DAVIES are recorded as living at “Colombo", Llanddewi Aberarth; presumably they were both at sea on the qualifying date.
CAPTAIN JOHN DAVIES (1836 – 1904) lived at James’s Place, Aberarth, with his wife, MARGARET (1836 - 1905). (The house was later named “Corby House".)
They had three children, namely DANIEL JAMES DAVIES (1865 - 1888), JANE MARY DAVIES (1867 - 1949) and DAVID JOHN DAVIES (1869 - 1958).
In 1895, Capt. John Davies purchased a plot of land opposite “Corby House", on the seaward side, and built a house which he named “Colombo". (In 1958, the name was changed to “Tal-y-werydd").
WHY COLOMBO?
DANIEL JAMES DAVIES was a seaman on the S.S. Castledale and he died on 7 July 1888 aged 22 whilst the ship was at Colombo, Ceylon. He was buried the following day in the East Cemetery, Colombo, The cost of the grave and headstone was met by the Captain of the “Castledale" and crew.
The inscription on the headstone reads as follow:
SACRED TO THE MEMORY
OF
DANIEL JAMES DAVIES
OF
ABERARTH, CARDIGANSHIRE
SEAMAN OF THE
S . S . CASTLEDALE
DIED 7th JULY 1888
AGED 22
“FREE FROM ALL THE STORMS OF THE RAGING SEA
AND SAFELY AT REST TO ETERNITY"
ERECTED BY THE CAPTAIN AND CREW OF THE “CASTLEDALE"
A Memorial Card produced by his parents is in Welsh and reads as follows:
Er serchog goffadwriaeth am
DANIEL JAMES DAVIES
anwyl fab John a Margaret Davies, James’s Place, Aberarth,
Yr hwn a fu farw yn Colombo, Ceylon ar yr 8fed o
Orphenaf 1888.
Yn 23 mlwydd oid.
ac a gladdwyd y dydd canlynol yn yr East Cemetery, Colombo.
Prynwyd bedd a chodwyd beddfaen iddo gan Captain
Weatherhead,
a dwylaw y S.S.Castledale.
Ar y beddfaen y mae yn ysgrifenedig:-
“Free from all the storms of the raging sea,
And safely at rest to eternity"
-------xXx-------
Translation of the memorial card:
In loving memory of
DANIEL JAMES DAVIES
beloved son of John and Margaret Davies, James’s Place, Aberarth,
who died at Colombo, Ceylon, on 8th
July 1888
aged 23.
and was buried the following day at the East Cemetery, Colombo.
The grave was purchased and the headstone erected by Captain Weatherhead and the crew of the s.s. Castledale.
On the headstone is inscribed:-
‘Free from all the storms of the raging sea, And safely at rest to eternity’
-------xXx-------
(There is a discrepancy between the dates and the age on the headstone and those shown on the Memorial Card).
The headstone was made by Arthur F.Raymond, General Cemetery, Kanatta, Colombo, and a photograph of it was taken by A.W.Andrée, Hopetoun Studio, Slave Island, Colombo. The photograph and a copy of the Memorial Card, together with a painting by Godfrey, New South Wales, Australia, of the “County of Merioneth" when John Davies was Captain, are in the possession of the writer of these notes.
JANE MARY DAVIES (1867 - 1949) was a dressmaker. After her mother’s death, she lived at “Colombo" keeping home for her brother, David John, when he was home from his voyages. She never married.
DAVID JOHN DAVIES (1869 - 1958). He served on a succession of sailing ships, including the “County of Merioneth". He was referred to as Captain. It is assumed that he served as Captain on sailing ships, but records survive to indicate that on steam ships between 1904 and his retirement in 1930, he was 3rd mate, then 2nd mate and finally 1st mate. From 1904 to 1930 he served on the following ships: SYLVIANA, GLORIANA, DALHANNA, NORMANBY, ALLIE, JANE RADCLIFFE, IOLO, LLANGOLLEN, PICTON, ETHEL RADCLIFFE and LLANBERIS. The last six were owned by the Cardiff firm of Evan Thomas Radcliffe. One of the partners - Evan Thomas - was a native of Aberporth.
Capt. D.J.Davies made voyages to Halifax, N.S.; Japan; Black Sea; Argentine; India; River Plate; Montreal; East Indies, as well as to places recorded as “foreign", and, as was the case during the 1914/18 War: “on Admiralty Service". The longest term on one ship was 3½ years on the DALHANNA, and 3 years on the ETHEL RADCLIFFE. His Continuous Certificate of Discharge from 1904 to 1930 is in the possession of the writer of these notes.
On his retirement in 1930, he returned to Aberarth and lived at “Colombo" with his sister until her death in 1949. He was made a deacon at Bethel C.M.Chapel, Aberarth in 1933 and was senior deacon when he died on 23 March 1958.
Capt. John Davies, Mrs.Margaret Davies, Miss Jane Mary Davies and Capt. David John Davies are buried at Llanddewi Aberarth Churchyard. Their names are inscribed on the white marble headstone, as well as that of Daniel James Davies, who lies buried in Colombo, Ceylon.
Picture by courtesy of Meredydd Jones.
Notes prepared by: Dafydd M. Jones,
Tal-y-werydd,
Aberarth,
Aberaeron
November, 2003
Note from Webmaster
I recently(2010) received this interesting note from Nigel Parry‘County of Merioneth’ of the W. Thomas Line.
The ‘County of Merioneth’ was a three masted, ship rigged, iron hulled barque of 1065 tons, measuring 221’5” length x 35’1” beam x 20’9” draught. Her British official number was 81341 and her call sign was TFBK. She was built by William Doxford & Sons of Sunderland for William Thomas* & Co. of Liverpool, primarily for fast trading runs to the South Pacific. Some of the significant events in her working life were:March 1880 – launched
1887/88 – under the command of Capt. Robert Thomas of Llandwrog, CAE, she set a record of 96 days for the passage from Cardiff to San Francisco.
1888 /91 – commanded by Capt. William Meredith.
1892 – under Capt. H. Evans, she arrived storm-damaged in Melbourne.
1893/95 – under the command of Capt. John Parry of Beaumaris, ANG, she set a record for the round trip from Liverpool to Melbourne, Newcastle (NSW), Honolulu, Portland, Oregon (6 week layover) and back to Falmouth, Cornwall of 12 months 13 days.
1905 – under Capt. Chichester, the ship arrived in Adelaide storm-damaged with the captain injured and an AB (Patrick Golfor, 32, of Wexford) having died in a fall from the upper topsail yard.
1908 – sold to E. Nyland of Finland.
1909 - in January the crew mutinied while in Australian waters, possibly in Hobart.
in April she was run aground in Adelaide.
1912 – arrived severely storm-damaged and dismasted in Adelaide, and was condemned there.
William Thomas was born in Llanrhuddlad, ANG, in 1834. After training as a teacher, he moved to Liverpool and became a ship broker, then a ship owner. He always strove to recruit his ship masters and crew from Anglesey and Caernarvonshire.
From an impoverished pupil-teacher, he eventually became one of the founding members of the board of governors of the University of Wales, Bangor, Mayor of Bootle in 1892 & 1899 and High Sheriff of Anglesey in 1897.
Web Sources:
Dr Reg Davies; Welsh Mariners Index
Robert Cadwaladr; Gwynedd Maritime Database
Lars Bruzelius; Nautica
Australian Newspapers
Published sources:
The Ocean Ferry ca.1926.