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Today the Thomas & Elizabeth Mayhook Charity salutes Captain Tom Moore on his one hundredth birthday and wish him every happiness and many more years of good health and enjoyment .

It may be interesting to note that in St David’s Cemetery there are a number of centenarians buried here most notably ANN WILLIAMS  who according to the burial register was aged 115 years when she died in 1841. Which would have made her the oldest person in the world at the time.

Also MARY WILLIAMS (no relation) was also a centenarian and passed away in 1889 aged 100. Longevity was not common amongst the inhabitants of Carmarthen but careful examination of the headstone inscriptions are sometimes very revealing. May they all rest in peace.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The inscription on the headstone reads as follows

Sacred
To the memory of
DAVID WILLIAMS
Shoemaker, the son of
DAVID & MARY WILLIAMS
Mason, of Friar’s Park in this town
Who departed this life May 24th
1855 aged 26

**
Also the above
DAVID WILLIAMS, Mason
Died August 16th 1879
Aged 93 years.
Also the above MARY WILLIAMS
Died May 10th 1889
Aged 100 years
“Thy will be done”

The Thomas & Elizabeth Mayhook Charity continue to cut the grass and strim the areas inaccessible to the mowers and whilst it is very hard work for just two people at the moment we are hopeful that when the “lock down” restrictions are eased we will be able to call upon willing volunteers to assist us -free tea and coffee and cakes included. Stay safe and carry on.  !

Visitors to this website will see the sub heading of “Search Database” and on searching through it will find the names of over 1700 names of those recorded on the many memorials within St David’s Cemetery. This database has been produced by using the information provided by the survey carried out in 1977 before many of the memorials were removed to the perimeter walls of the cemetery. The database is however far from complete. With nearly 6,500 burials between 1841 and 2002 less than a third are recorded. The burial “plan” which was used by gravediggers and undertakers to locate the spot where individuals were buried has been lost. However, there are a number of additions to be included on the database in the near future. These have been discovered by the “rediscovery” of several memorials buried in the ground for over half a century and only recently restored.

Also, the survey carried out in 1977 mostly concentrated on names and dates of death only and did not include profession or addresses. It is hoped in time to fill in these gaps as we know that professions and addresses form an important part of research of which nearly all are recorded on the memorials. Finally it is hoped that photographs of the memorials will be linked to the search facility in due course which will enable researchers to see the actual grave/memorial as well, and also to include the plan of the survey locating the actual burial spot of those families.  If any researcher has any queries then the “contact us” page can be used to send in any questions and I will do my utmost to help.

Richard Goodridge (Chairman)

Dear Friends, I just wanted you to know that  we continue to cut the grass every week despite the difficult times we all face..

It is now done only by myself and my brother Robert, when we visited the cemetery this morning to give it the “once over” using our selection of mowers, keeping a safe distance apart of at least in our case 20 metres !

From 8.30am until 12.30 the sound of mowing (music !) was heard across the cemetery and when it was finally done I gave a sigh of relief, not least because knowing I had to cycle back home I needed to give my legs a rest. Not for 15 years had I ridden a bike, but as we are now in unchartered waters I felt it only right that I should have some exercise and leave the car at home as advised by the Government.

However, pushing a mower around for four hours is not recommended when you need to get on your bike afterwards  as I found out today !  Having spent the last five years in restoring the cemetery I am determined to see that it is not neglected again and will do all I can to see that we maintain regular maintenance during these difficult times, even if it is only the basics of grass cutting and strimming. Our planned works to complete the restoration of the grounds is of course on hold until the Autumn or even later but we will get there I am sure. Finally I wanted to say that the database of this website is nearing completion and I am confident will be finally completed very soon. It will then contain ALL the inscriptions of names and dates, addresses and professions of all of those buried in the cemetery that had a headstone in 1977 when the survey was carried out. The database will continue to be modified over time and eventually we hope to link up the names with photographs of each of the memorials which will benefit hugely any local historian and those wider afield with connections to Carmarthen.

In the meantime both myself and my Trustees wish to send to you all our thanks for your support. Stay safe and God bless you all.

Sometime ago under the sub heading of the “what’s in a name” section of this website I wrote a story about GEORGE REES -CARADOG BACH, who was a celebrated musician from Carmarthen. In that story I speculated that the pink granite memorial that had lain face down for over half a century could have been that of GEORGE REES’.  I can now report that today, both myself and my brother Robert, together with the aid of a pulley mechanism and much heaving and pulling managed to turn over the granite headstone to reveal it’s secret and the family who are buried there, and who are not recorded on the burial plan which was produced in 1977. The family inscription on this elaborate and extremely heavy memorial is given below. Interestingly however, the surname of the first named – DAVID GEORGE  does not appear which sometimes can be misleading to family historians and proves that inscriptions on memorials need careful interpretation……Here then is the inscription.

In loving memory of DAVID GEORGE, son of Thomas & Hannah Phillips 42 Lammas Street in this town who died October 27th 1892 aged 19. “The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away” Also of the above Hannah Phillips who died June 10th 1927 in her 78th year. “Thy will be done” Also the said Thomas Phillips who died November 5th 1933 aged 87 years.” Come unto me and rest”

 

In due course this memorial will be re- erected to it’s proper position and once again be visible for all to see after 50 years of being buried in the mud and overgrowth. Sadly however, Caradog Bach’s memorial still remains unaccounted for but we will continue to search for it. The Thomas and Elizabeth Mayhook Charity will continue to carry on it’s maintenance, upkeep and restoration of St David’s Cemetery to the best of it’s ability during these worrying times, in particular the grass cutting and strimming. Thank you all for your continued help, support and encouragement which is much appreciated.

Richard J Goodridge ( Chairman)

 

 

It has been an emotional rollercoaster for me personally, in researching the tragic stories of some of those who are buried in St David’s Cemetery Carmarthen and who are fortunate enough to have a headstone to tell the tale. For over 16 years, from 1841 until 1856 all the “inmates” for example from the Carmarthen Workhouse were buried in St David’s Cemetery – until the Town Cemetery opened, and even then many were continued to be buried there. Obviously coming from the poorest backgrounds and with poor health also, were given the most basic of funerals with no grave marker to speak of and also all those who died in the Cholera epidemic of the 1840’s which wiped out entire families in a matter of days.
Statistically there are nearly 6,500 burials in the “old” part of the cemetery that occurred between 1841 and 2002 when it closed. Out of these only 1,453 have named memorials, and 362 that have grave markers with no names. This leaves some 4,500 burials with no grave markers whatsoever – in other words “no known grave” The situation is made worse of course because of the loss of the “Burial plan” which would have recorded all the locations of all those buried in specific graves, though it is believed that during the cholera epidemic and for burials of those in the workhouse there were burial “plots” which were in effect multi burials in the same grave. Also it is believed that burials of persons who were of the Catholic faith also took place in St David’s until the opening of their own church in 1852.
My own great grandfather, Thomas David Thomas (pictured in the photograph) is one of those who have no known grave or grave marker. He died of Tuberculosis aged 38 in 1921. He was a gifted signwriter and famously painted the “Morris Top Hat” sign on the shop in Lammas Street when it first opened. His two infant sons, both named John Shamby Thomas are buried with him -aged 9 months, and 2 years and three months respectively.

Also, on looking through the burial registers one cannot fail to feel great sadness for the many infants – some of only a few days old who have the words “not baptized” inserted next to their name. It is my intention therefore to close what I regard as an injustice to those who are buried at St David’s and have no memorial to their name – all 4,500 of them by erecting a suitable memorial cross, not of stone or marble but of Corten Steel….It will feature a memorial cross with it’s centre hollowed out so that when you stand in front of it you will be able to look through it into the distance of the cemetery – effectively creating a type of “window” into the past. The attached diagram has been prepared by my sister in law Alison Goodridge (Roberts Wife) and I must offer her my sincerest thanks for making such a good drawing. Whilst it is not exactly to scale you can see the basic design principal. It will be located next to the present rose bed at the rear of the church with an additional rose bed added on the other side of it. No burials are in this location as some of the original foundations of the original church are underneath.

The inscription and wording has yet to be discussed. Its height will in total be about 6 ft and will be secured to a stone plinth made from some of the salvaged stones currently in the cemetery. At least then flowers can be laid at a memorial that commemorates each and every member of a family buried there with no grave marker whatever their status, age, or profession and be a fitting tribute. An application therefore for FACULTY PERMISSION from the Church in Wales is currently underway, and hopefully in the next few months approval will be given to proceed with this important memorial. The 3rd February 2021 next year is the 180th anniversary of the cemeteries consecration, and it is proposed that this date be the one at which the memorial should be unveiled/consecrated by the Bishop of St David’s at a ceremony involving VIP guests, Friends of the Thomas & Elizabeth Mayhook Charity and others. If you would like more information on the Faculty Application please get in touch using the contact page of this website .

Many thanks

Richard J Goodridge MBE
(Chairman of the Thomas & Elizabeth Mayhook Charity)

On the 24th January, the Thomas & Elizabeth Mayhook Charity received a grant of £2,500 from the Garfield Weston Foundation to enable the charity to complete the five year restoration programme of the cemetery. Richard Goodridge – Chairman of the charity said

” My trustees are delighted and honoured to receive this grant from the Garfield Weston Foundation, which will enable us to achieve our objective of completing the restoration of the cemetery by restoring the soil levels, allowing the mowing and strimming of the whole cemetery much easier in the future. Also, there are a number of headstones that require securing and the removal of a small number of old stone bases that have littered the cemetery will also be removed. Re-seeding of the cemetery will be the last job to be done . Finally, after five years of extremely hard work we can see the light at the end of the tunnel and I am confident of reaching our objective thanks to the Garfield Weston Foundation, the Prince of Wales’ Charitable Foundation, and the Pilgrim Trust and individuals, all of whom have contributed to a total of over £15,000 to make this possible”

 

Johnstown Primary School made a donation of £60.00 to the Thomas & Elizabeth Mayhook Charity on the 15th January from the profits received from the sale of Poppy bookmarks on the run up to Remembrance Sunday last November.  In October last year the Chairman took two groups of children from the school on a guided tour of the cemetery to visit the seven Great War graves and afterwards for refreshments at Picton Barracks.

“It was the children’s way of thanking the charity for what we are doing in keeping the memory of those servicemen alive” said Richard Goodridge who received the cheque from Emeritus Professor Tony Curtis D.Litt, FRSL  & his wife Margaret prior to their quarterly trustees meeting. Richard also went on to say, “The Thomas & Elizabeth Mayhook Charity is very grateful to Johnstown Primary School and it’s pupils for thinking of us in making this donation and we are very pleased to have had the opportunity to show the pupils the last resting place of these brave soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice over one hundred years ago.”

The last 48 hours saw the involvement of 20 plus volunteers in total descend on St David’s Cemetery, bringing along with them three mini diggers, one dumper truck, one mini dumper truck, two huge skips, and a whole host of other  implements. The purpose of which was to finally rid the cemetery of many stone bases – of no architectural value whatsoever, that scattered to 10,000 square metre area.

This will in turn allow much better access for visitors and will make the mowing and strimming of the cemetery much easier in the long term. Also a considerable amount of effort was put into the erecting of several marble and stone headstones that had fallen face down in the mud over 50 years ago and were uncovered over the last few months. In the coming weeks I will be adding some further stories about this weekend to the Memorial Restoration section of this website for you to see for yourself the tremendous work that has been done over this weekend. There is a tremendous satisfaction in finding and turning over these long forgotten memorials to reveal the names of those buried underneath and after careful photographic recording, these will now be added to the database in due course.

The charity owes a great debt of gratitude to  Mr John Trott who thought up the idea of asking all his friends from the “Mackworth Club” – who are a group of young Freemasons from West Wales  to come along and support the charity. Richard Holmes, one of John’s friends and local businessman, brought a huge amount of machinery  on the weekend including mini diggers, and skips, together with other friends who also came along with their own mini diggers including Rob Richardson, and also Rob Holland of RP Hire Johnstown who lent us the dumper truck and tracked barrow. Without this machinery it would have been impossible to have achieved so much.

On Saturday the 11th January the weather was atrocious with strong winds and heavy rain nearly all day, but this did not stop the efforts of all those involved who gave their all and stuck to the task for the whole day, only stopping for a short break. Thanks must also go to Neil of Williams Fish and Chip Shop in Lammas Street who provided 14 packs of sausage and chips to share out and was much appreciated by all.

Sunday was a much better day weather wise – even sunny at times, and the new workforce equally gave their all during the course of the morning in clearing a lot of stones from the cemetery, the ivy off the walls and again to re-erecting two memorials that had been lying face down for decades. It was unbelievable to see how much effort everyone concerned put in over this weekend and my Trustees are eternally grateful for this huge effort of community spirit. Apart from “restoration and repair” of course the charity has had to consider the health and safety of any visitors to the cemetery, young and old, and as a result has had to make safe several of the Victorian box tombs that had become unsafe due to collapse or damage by reducing their height to ground level thereby keeping the inscriptions intact and visible. As a result the cemetery is now a much safer and tidier place in which to visit. The Charity is grateful to the Chancellor of the Diocese, the Archdeacon, and to the Diocesan Officials for the granting of a Faculty in order to carry out this important work, which has been done to exacting standards.

Thanks to everyone involved. It was a brilliant effort. Also Robert Goodridge and Chris Dzioba – two of the Charity Trustees also attended on the two days and appreciation goes to them also for their efforts.

Richard Goodridge (Chairman)

Ann Williams was buried in St David’s Cemetery on DECEMBER 25TH 1842 aged 115 years old. How do we know this ? A careful examination of the burial register provides the answer.

If correct this would make Ann one of the World’s Oldest human beings ever recorded, being born in 1727, the year King George I died. Little is known of her at the moment and in time perhaps we shall find out more about this remarkable character who lived close to the banks of the River Towy. Her last resting place is not marked but is likely to be in the area first used for burials near the gate at the north end of the cemetery.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our supporters, volunteers and “Friends” of the Thomas & Elizabeth Mayhook Charity a very happy Christmas and a prosperous and peaceful New Year. The Trustees have a lot of work to do in the next twelve months, in particular to continue the restoration of the uneven soil levels of the cemetery and the removal of the very large old stone bases that scatter the cemetery. These were left in situ in 1977 when the memorials themselves were removed to the perimeter wall. Once these works are completed we will finally see the light at the end of the tunnel and St David’s Cemetery will once again become a place of pride and dignity in which our descendants can rest in peace.

The Trustees are still awaiting the decision on a further grant application in order to complete the above works and this should be known early in the New Year. In the meantime, the Trustees will continue to plan ahead whatever happens. Do keep “logging on” to the website for further updates and latest news. Merry Christmas to you all.

Richard J Goodridge MBE.JP.