Henry Tom Jenkins and His Family
The Story of Henry Tom Jenkins and His Family
This story begins on 18th March 1924, when Henry Tom Jenkins purchased a grave at Bethel—plot 45, row 16—for his baby son, Arthur. Sadly, Arthur was mistakenly buried in the neighbouring plot.
Who was Henry Tom Jenkins?
Henry Tom Jenkins was born in 1879 in
Pontypridd, Glamorgan, the son of Henry and Margaret Jenkins.
 |
| 1881 Census |
1881 Census: The family lived at 48 Maerdy Road, Ystradyfodwg, Pontypridd. Henry (27) was a coal miner and Margaret (28) managed the home. Their children were Margaretta (6) and Henry Tom (recorded as H. John, age 2). Also lodging with them was Thomas Jones, 21, also a miner.
1891 Census
1891 Census: The family had moved to 9 Wood
Street, Ystradyfodwg. Henry (37) still worked as a collier, while Margaret
was 38. Their children were Margaretta (16), Henry Tom (12,
attending school), and Idris (3). Two boarders lived with them:
Morgan Price (21, collier) and Thomas Owen Jones (24, house painter).
1901 Census
1901 Census: The family was at 23 Oakland
Terrace, Ystradyfodwg. Henry (47) was a widower and coal hewer. His
children present were Henry T. (22, butcher’s clerk) and Idris
(13). He employed a domestic servant, Bessie Morgans (22).
In 1902, Henry Tom Jenkins married Eliza
Fanny Mordecai in Pontypridd.
Eliza Fanny Mordecai
Eliza was born in 1881, daughter of William
Mordecai and Eliza Fanny Napier, who married in 1871 in
Keynsham, Somerset.
1881 Census
1881 Census: The family were lodgers at 85
Ferndale Station Terrace, Pontypridd. William (34) was an engine driver,
Eliza (29) kept house. Their children were Edith Ann (9), Richard William (8),
Charles (6), Thomas (2), and baby Eliza Fanny (3 months).
1891 Census
1891 Census: At age 10, Eliza stayed with her aunt
Alice S. Napper at Tibberton School House, Worcestershire,
attending school there.
1901 Census
1901 Census: She was back at the family home, 5
Taff Street, Ystradyfodwg. Her father William (54) still worked as an
engine driver, and her mother (48) kept house. Children at home included Thomas
(22, railway fireman), Eliza Fanny (20), John (16, coal labourer), Arthur (13,
railway clerk), David (11), and Frederick Henry (9).
In 1902, she married Henry Tom Jenkins.
Building a Family
 |
| 1911 Census |
1911 Census: Henry Tom (32, commercial traveller in wholesale groceries) and Eliza Fanny (30) lived at 72 Hilley House, Fairfield Terrace, Swansea. Their children were Edna May (8), Keith (5), Kenneth Hylton (1), and an unnamed newborn daughter. They also employed a servant, Gwladys Miles (19).
1921 Census
1921 Census: The family lived at 23
Mountpelier Terrace, Swansea. Henry Tom (42) was a commission agent for
Marsh & Banler Ltd (bacon curers, Brierley Hill). Children present
were Margaret Eva May (18, helping at home), Henry Thomas
Keith (15), Kenneth Hylton (12), Fanny Eileen (10), Gretta
(7), and David Hersebell (2).
On 17th September 1935, Henry Tom Jenkins died
and was buried at Bethel.
The Second World War
 |
| 1939 Register |
The Register remained a working document throughout the war
and was later used to form the NHS. Updates were made, including name changes.
Marjorie’s surname was crossed out and replaced with “Longhurst” following her
marriage.
Swansea was bombed 46 times during the war.
The first raid came on 27th June 1940, when 6 bombs fell
on Danygraig Road, causing only slight damage. The most devastating was 19th–21st
February 1941, the “Three Night Blitz,” when 896 bombs fell in 13 hours 48
minutes. Swansea town centre was obliterated, with 327 casualties and
230 deaths. The last raid was on 16th February 1943,
when 32 high explosives and countless incendiaries hit Neath Road, St. Thomas,
and Brynmill, causing 110 casualties and 34 deaths.
One victim of this final raid was Emily Mathias,
aged 33, who was killed on Bryn Road and buried at Bryn Chapel Yard, Llanelli.
During the bombing on the 16th of February, 74
Bryn Road, took a direct hit, with the small family still at home. Hearing the
sirens and bombers overhead Eliza cried out to her 2 daughters, who were crouching
under the dining room table, to run and join her under the stairs. The girls made
a mad dash just before a bomb dropped destroying the back half of the house.
Without Eliza’s quick response there could be a different tale.
When the dust settled the family realised that their dog,
Scamp was missing. Efforts were made to locate the dog in the rubble.
Eventually someone heard whining and Scamp scrambled out followed by a litter
of new puppies
Marriage and Later Life
On 18th February 1945, Marjorie
Jenkins married Edward Ernest Longhurst, who had been a
lodger at her mother’s home. Edward was the son of Arthur Edward
Longhurst and Ethel Maud May Marion, married in 1913 in
Wandsworth.
 |
| 1921 Census |
By the 1921 Census, Edward’s family lived
at 11 Norman Road, Belvedere, Kent. Arthur (25) was unemployed but
previously a labourer at Callenders Cable & Construction Co. Children were
Sydney Charles (4), Edward Ernest (2), and John Thomas (1). Also visiting were
Gainsford Capel Steed (40, clerk, unemployed) with his wife Hannah Elizabeth
and children Gertrude Ivy (10) and Vera Violet (5). Tragically, Edward’s
brother John Thomas lost his life in WWII.
After marriage, Ernest and Marjorie returned to London to be
near Ernest’s widowed mother.
Eliza Fanny Jenkins died aged 68 and was buried with her
husband at Bethel.
Ernest and Marjorie later settled in Dartford, Kent, though
they often returned to Swansea on holidays, staying at Port Eynon caravans or a
farmhouse at Oxwich Bay.
Marjorie died in 1996. In her handwritten note,
she requested to be laid to rest at Bethel. Ernest died three years later, and
both are remembered with a memorial stone there.
Comments
Post a Comment