Kenneth Ronald Mattey – Welsh Regiment

Second Lieutenant Kenneth Ronald Mattey – Welsh Regiment

Early Life and Family Background

Andrew Mattey and Jennie German marriage certificate St. Peter's Church, Cockett

Kenneth Ronald Mattey was born in 1901 in Swansea, the son of Andrew Mattey and Jennie German, who married in 1886 at St Peter’s Church, Cockett. His early life is well documented through the 1911 and 1921 Census returns, which reveal a large, industrious family deeply rooted in Swansea’s clerical and administrative professions.

Census 1911

1911 Census

The 1911 Census records the Mattey family living at 13 George Street, Swansea. Andrew, aged 46, was employed as a clerk, while Jennie, aged 44, managed the household. Their daughters Ethel Mary Margerie (20) assisted with home duties, Murel Kathleen (21) worked as a shorthand writer and typist, and Hilda Beatrice (19) was employed as a telephone operator. Younger children Hessie Matheson (15), Averil Josephine (12), Kenneth Ronald (10) and Gerald Raymond (8) were all still in school. The census paints a picture of a capable, hardworking family typical of Swansea’s emerging professional class.

Census 1921

1921 Census

By the 1921 Census, the Mattey family were still residing at 13 George Street. Andrew, now 56, was working as a secretary for the Royal Cambrian Institute for the Deaf and Dumb and the South Wales Institute for the Blind, while Jennie, aged 54, continued her household duties. Several adult children remained at home: Ethel Mary Margerie (30) undertook household duties; Hessie Matheson (25) worked as a telephonist for Dyffryn Works Ltd; Averil Josephine (22) was a clerk and shorthand typist employed by the same charitable institutions as her father; Kenneth Ronald (20) was an export clerk in coal, coke and fuel for James Primrose, Steamship Owner & Broker; and Gerald Raymond (18) was also present. Two visitors, Mary Jane Gauntlett (54), a widow, and Rose Mary Gauntlett (31), were staying with the family at the time of the census.

Marriage

Kenneth Ronald Mattey and Elsie Thompson
marriage certificate
parish church of St Woolos, Monmouthshire

In 1928, Kenneth married Elsie Thompson at the parish church of St Woolos, Monmouthshire, marking the beginning of his own family life.

Kenneth Ronald Mattey
St. Peter's Church, Cockett
credit - findagrave

Military Service

Kenneth later served as a Second Lieutenant with the Welsh Regiment, one of Wales’s most distinguished infantry regiments with a long and honourable tradition of service. His commission placed him among the regiment’s junior officers during the demanding years of the Second World War.

Death and Burial

Second Lieutenant Kenneth Ronald Mattey died on 13 April 1942 at Imber, Wiltshire, while serving with the Welsh Regiment. His body was brought home to Swansea and laid to rest at St Peter’s, where he is remembered among the parish’s wartime dead.