Searching for the Waltons in Wales

(C) 2016 by Frederick Walton

Recently a cousin of mine told me that he was planning a visit to Wales. I told him about the time that I visited Wales in September & October 2002. I had gone to Wales looking for information about my great grandfather, George Walton.

At this time, in 2002, the only information I had about George Walton was an 1860 birth date from his headstone (later discovered to be incorrect), his date of death and the fact that he and his parents were “English” from various sources like his U.S. Federal Census records and my grandfathers birth certificate. Oddly enough, My grandfather listed his father, George’s, birth place as “Wales” in his 1930 census. He also listed his mothers birth place as “New York”  both subsequently proven to be incorrect. But it was this fact, along with a Welsh address on a job reference that ultimately encouraged me to seek more information on George Walton in Wales.

Job Reference #2, John Peel of DANYRALLT Llangadock, S. Wales to George Walton dated 4 November 1882

Early in my genealogical sleuthing I had being given copies of a set of documents belonging to George that turned out to be his job references from throughout his work life. One of these had the name of an estate, DANYRALLT, in South Wales embossed on the stationary¹.

Llangadock or Llangadog?

"Llangadock (now called Llanadog), South Wales is a “market-town and parish, in the county of CARMARTHEN, SOUTH WALES, 21 miles (E.N.E.) from Carmarthen; and 188 miles (W. by N.) from London. This parish, which derives its name from the dedication of its church to St. Cadog, is of very remote antiquity . . . The TOWN is beautifully situated between the rivers Brân and Sawdde, over the former of which it has a neat stone bridge of three elliptic arches . . . it consists principally of one spacious street, containing several well built houses of respectable appearance, and is abundantly supplied with water, but neither paved nor lighted."²

The name DANYRALLT comes from the Welsh “Tan Yr allt” meaning “beneath the hillside” and is often used to names farms and estates in southern Wales.³

Searching through my records I came across the journal I kept during this trip. The following are notes I made of my visit to Llangadog, Wales, where, according to the 1882 job reference, my great grandfather, George Walton, was employed by John Peel as a groom.

Monday, September 30, 2002

Black Mountains of South Wales on the way to Llangadog. Photo by Rick Walton (c) 2002

Our trip from Bath, England to South Wales took us through some beautiful countryside, much of it on well paved, yet not very busy highways. At times the mountains towering above the lush green valleys reminded us of those fertile valleys in California near Brownsville. At other times the far-reaching vistas reminded us of the valleys in Pennsylvania and the Shenandoah mountains.

Turnoff to to Llangadog.  (Square and Compass refers to the old public house  at this spot)
Photo by Rick Walton (c) 2002

 Llangadog s on a major “B” road and was no challenge to find, the bigger challenge being the  navigation along the narrow streets of the village. The village is very small, composed of three primary  streets that meet in the village center.  The streets are clogged with cars parked in nearly every available empty place, but that did not seem to bother the local farmers driving massive tractors with farm machinery, at a fast pace, clearing the autos by mere centimeters. As I recall, we parked near the edge of the village and walked!

View of Main street from center of Llangadog village. Photos by Rick Walton (c) 2002

 The village consists of three or four hotels or public houses, a post office and newsstand, a general store and residences or shops. It was lunchtime, but the village was a quiet as a tomb.

Author Rick Walton in front of the Castle Hotel in Llangadog, South Wales. Could his Great Grandfather, George Walton, have frequented the pub 120 years earlier? Photo by Ruthann Walton (c) 2002. 

We ate lunch at the Castle Hotel before heading to the Post Office. Ruthann mailed some postcards while I made inquiries. The little man who ran the connected stationary/newspaper store was as fidgety as a nervous mouse. I explained that I was looking clues to my ancestor, who once lived and worked here but there seemed to be a minor language barrier. Even though I was asking him questions in English and he was responding in English neither of us seemed to understand the other well. I showed him the job references. He seemed to recognize the scrawled signature on job reference #1 but didn't know about Belmont Hall. This was exciting. I had been unable to decipher this name and it was causing a brick wall to my research.

He seemed to think the middle name was Lloyd and pronounced the last name…in his Welsh accent… still undecipherable, this time to my ear instead of my eyes. I begged his pardon and asked him to repeat it, which he did several times, ending up shouting at me. It was still illegible to my ear. I asked him if he would mind spelling it for me. He impatiently picked up a pen and wrote it out for me on a scrap of paper. It looked correct…in fact it looked exactly like the scrawl I already had, illegible.I could see it was pointless to continue so I thanked him for his help and we
left. Still a dead end!

“Mystery” signature from the 1879-1882 Job Reference #1.  

The Llangadog clerk incorrectly identified the middle name as “Lloyd” 

He directed me to the Shoemaker, a Mr. Edwards who at 80 something was the oldest man in the village and if anyone would know, he would. We walked down the road as directed and two buildings beyond the square we were looking at the cultivated fields outside the village. The distinctive smell of burning coal drifted from chimneys to ward off the late afternoon chill. Other, more pungent, odors wafted into the village from the fields. We came to a small darkened shop with shoes on display in the window. I tried the doorknob. To my surprise it opened into a small unlit room with counters on either side and cobblers tools neatly organized behind the counter.

I didn't know if I should enter or not, but the opening of the door jangled a shop bell. As I stood there deciding what to do next, I heard footsteps approaching. A tiny, spry, white-haired, older gentleman, dressed in a clean white shirt and tie and wearing an unbuttoned cardigan sweater looked at me with a friendly smile as he switched on the shop lights. He didn’t look 80 something. He stood about 4’ 8" high. He was not a dwarf, but a perfectly proportioned miniature man.

"Are you Mr. Edwards?" I inquired.

"Yes I am" He replied with a smile.

I explained to him the man at the post office had sent me and he was happy to listen to what I had to say. I mentioned the name Perl (which is what I thought the signature on job reference #2 looked like) and  he corrected me.

"It's Peel: P– E– E– L, he was a Sir you know! Sir Melvin Peel, a generous man!”

I pulled out the job reference and showed him the signature of John peel.

Mystery Signature for Job Reference #1- Is it PERL or PEEL (it’s Peel) 

"Oh, that was his father, they are buried at the local cemetery”.

I probed him for other details and learned the following: DANYRALLT was a large estate located on the edge of the village. After Word War I, Sir Melvin Peel partitioned off lots from his estate to give to destitute returning local veterans. They were very grateful to him. The mansion was used for refugees during World War II and burned down in the 1940s, shortly after the war. The horse stables, where my great-grandfather worked as a groom, were still standing near the entrance to the estate and being refurbished as town houses. The ruins of the estate were about half a mile beyond the stables and couldn't be seen from the highway.

Danyrallt Park was built as a villa in the 1840's, replacing the 'Old Tanyrallt' (Nprn 17288). In 1864-5, the villa and an adjacent farmhouse were joined and named 'Dirleton'. The building is thought to have had a stone circular staircase in a canted bay. In 1881, the building was renamed Danyrallt Park. It was burned down in the 1940's (5).. 

He had no recollection of any Waltons, but suggested visiting the village church, the only one in town. “They may have some records of the Waltons. If the vicar is not at church, his house is just down the street. The Peel family plot is in the village cemetery on the right about halfway down the lane.” Mr. Edwards informed us.

The shop bell jingled as a customer entered. Mr. Edwards had answered my questions and there was not much more to tell me,  so I thanked him for his time and let him return to his business.

Grave Monument for John Peel at the village cemetery in Llangadog, Wales.
Photo by Rick Walton (C) 2002

We drove to the cemetery on the edge of the village in search for the Peel family plot, a large conspicuous monument. We next searched each row for Walton headstones, eventually going up and down many rows in the cemetery. No Waltons were found., although we did not take the time to inspect every one of the hundreds of stones stretched out before us. 

As disappointing as this was we did find information on the Peel monument that John Peel was from “Lanc” which we took to mean Lancaster or Lancashire, perhaps this is where the Waltons were from as well. Mr. Edwards had explained that local land barons like the Peels brought their servants with them rather than trying to communicate with the Welsh speaking locals. Considering some of the communications issues we had encountered ourselves, this seemed like a good idea.

St Cadog Parish Church, Llangadog The name of the village, Llangadog, means the area around (the church of) Cadog. There has been a church on this site since the 7th century. The tower was a 14th century addition. The present-day church is mostly the result of an extensive restoration and partial rebuild in 1889.
source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:South_side_of_St_Cadog_Parish_Church,_Llangadog_-_geograph.org.uk_-_3331830.jpg

Our next stop was the church. it was closed and empty. The ancient burial grounds surrounding the church was full of ancient headstones tilted in every direction. No Walton was found among the few that were legible. We drove to the Vicars house, down Rectory Lane, no one was home. I had hoped to look at church records to see if the Waltons were among the parishioners but were unable to. Another dead end.

Alter inside the empty St. Cadog church. I wondered if this is what my Great Grandfather viewed while attending church on Sundays. Photo by Rick Walton (C) 2002 

The day was rapidly burning to a close but I had one more stop to make, the stable my great-grandfather worked at.

We drove down the highway and turned left as directed. We came upon a large two-story stone barn on the left side of the highway. Pulling off nearby I walked back along the highway to take photographs.

The countryside in all 360° of my view had probably changed very little since my great grandfather took in the same views over a century before. This was the land and the very building where my great-grandfather worked as a groom. I felt a connection, but also disappointment in not finding out any more details about my mystery ancestor.

We pulled into a country lane to turn the car around, and discovered we had entered the courtyard in front of the stable, and a sign that said DAN-YR-ALLT Park, Private.

Pulling over on the farm lane I got out and took several more pictures of the beautiful stone building. My great grandfather most likely had quarters here on the second floor to fulfill his duties as a groom which required him to look after and care for the horses at all times  Beyond the stable, the lonely farm lane farm disappeared into fields that rose to a commanding hill. I imagined the long gone estate mansion perched on the crest.

Farm lane leading from Dan-Yr-Allt Park Stable to Mansion ruins in Llangadog. This is the same view seen by my great grandfather George Walton while he worked worked here as a groom from 1881-1882

Photo by Rick Walton Sept 30, 2002

My wife reminded me that our time in Llangadog had run out. It was time to head to our next destination.

I had actually found the estate and the stable he worked in! Amazing! Exhilarating! Yet disappointing. I did NOT find what I was really looking for. Who was George Walton? I knew he left Wales from right here in 1882, but where did he come from? Who were his parents? What was my Walton ancestry?

All I knew at this point was that my 22 year old⁴ great grandfather, George Walton,  worked on this estate for John Peel as a “groom under a coachman for somewhat more than a year.” There was no trace of him or any Waltons in Llangadog now. He probably wasn’t Welsh. Walton is not a typical Welsh name. I still needed more  clues to uncover his origin. He had been right here, but I sensed the rest of the Walton clan originated elsewhere still waiting to be discovered. More research was needed to continue. My trail had dried up.

I had come all the way to Wales based on a letterhead. I found the actual estate where this reference was written 120 years before but still hadn't learned who George was. That would come years later.

Notes:

[1] I received a photocopy of this document from cousin Molly Lewis in Sept. 2000. It was a single, cut sheet measuring 8 ½ “ by 5 ½”. The seal and printed address would indicate it was a piece of stationary for the Danyrallt estate. The crest is the Peel crest.

In 2010 I received a scan from cousin Claudia Shuttleworth taken from the original in the position of her mother Barbara Simpson, the daughter of Harry Walton. Barbara was studying family history in the 1960’s when she received this from her cousin Connie Ludwig. Connie had received this and other family documents from her mother, Lillian (Walton) Halpin who had received them from her mother, Constance Wilhelmina Walton. Constance Wilhelmina lived with Lillian and her family before her death in 1931

[2] From A Topographical Dictionary of Wales (S. Lewis, 1844). Found online at  Genuki in 2002 & 2016. http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/wal/CMN/Llangadock 

[3] Gareth, John, List Administrator for Dyfed, GGM & PEM, Genuki, 3/1/2002 reply to  emailed question about present location of DANYRALLT in Llangadog. He was unable to identify the location, but shared the Welsh meaning of the name.

[4] Actually only 18 years old in 1882 once I found his correct birth date (3 July 1864) in 2006.

[5] source:  https://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/111848/details/llwyn-y-berllandirletondanyrallt-park