Frederick Roach plus sons John Henry Rickard Roach and Richard Thomas Roach

Frederick Roach

 After serving with the Grenadier Guards, Frederick Roach was a veteran of the Boer War.

Frederick was born in 1877 in Swansea, the youngest son of Richard Roach and Elizabeth Davies, who married in 1861 at St. James church.

Richard died in 1875 and was buried at Danygraig Cemetery

At the time of the 1881 Census, the Roach family resided at 37 Jersey Street.

1881 Census

Elizabeth, 40, stated that she was still married.  Her children present were

Eliza Jane, 19, was a domestic servant, and David John, 15, was employed as a labourer.  Fanny, 11, and 4-year-old Richard attended school.

Also present were boarders, William Painter, 38, labourer, and Alfred Painter, 36, a cooper man.

A decade later, Elizabeth, at the time of the 1891 census, had remarried, to a Scottish man, Ebenezer Forest.

1891 Census

They were still living at 37 Jersey Street, and present at the property were Elizabeth’s children, Fanny, 21, and 14-year-old Frederick.

Lodger Alfred Paynter, 44, was also a resident at the property.

The next census that Frederick is recorded on was the 1911 Census.  Frederick, at the time, was married, having married Elizabeth Clark in 1906.

1911 Census

Frederick and Elizabeth were living at No. 21. They were both 34 years old.

Frederick’s occupation was recorded as a Lead Works Labourer.  Their children were Elizabeth Ellen, 4; Kate Helena, 3; David Charles, 2; and 3-month-old Frederick Daniel.

63-year-old widowed Ellen Clark, mother of Elizabeth, lived at the property.

Army Registers for Soldiers' Effects

At the time of Frederick’s death on the 30^th of May 1917, he served with the Welsh Regiment, 14^th Battalion.  Frederick died at Windsor Street Auxiliary Military Hospital, Toxteth Park, Liverpool.

Herald of Wales

Frederick Roach
Danygraig cemetery
credit - findagrave

The Herald of Wales reported Frederick’s funeral at Danygraig Cemetery

During the Second World War, two of Frederick’s sons died.

Herald of Wales

John Henry Rickard Roach
St. James’s cemetery, Dover
credit - findagrave

The Herald of Wales reported on the 1^st of June 1940 that Sapper John Henry Rickard Roach, who had been a member of the Territorials, had been in France since September 1939, served with the Royal Engineers, had been wounded and was returning to “Blighty”

John was one of 6 men from Swansea when it was bombed by a German aircraft.  When the ship docked, John was dead.  The newspaper article reports that John was expected to be buried at Danygraig alongside his father, however, John was 28 years old and is buried at St. James’s cemetery, Dover.

 South Wales Daily Post

Elizabeth moved to Killay. The South Wales Daily Post reported in July 1944 that Corporal Richard Thomas Roach, who had served with the Royal Armoured Corps since the outbreak of the Second World War, had been killed on the 27^th of June 1944 in Normandy. Richard was 31 years old and is buried Bayeux War Cemetery