When I was given the address at which our midsummer BBQ was to be held, I couldn’t believe my eyes. The address was the house where my uncle’s family had lived and farmed for generations.
My uncle married into our family so he has no Norwegian connections, but his wife, my father’s sister, had a Norwegian grandfather. Sadly none of his grandchildren met him because he lost his life in 1915 when his ship hit a mine off Flamborough Head.
But I digress.
The farm once belonged to the Stevens family.
In the 1939 register, Ernest was farming. He was known around the UK for breeding and judging Ryland sheep.
Prior to that, in the 1911 census, William and his wife Lydia, together with their 4 children, including Ernest and Ethel (born 1904), my uncle’s mother, were living there. William was in charge of the farm.
In the 1901 census William was married to Margaret (who sadly died) and was a bus proprietor, but, obviously, when his father died he took over the farm.
William’s father was John Stevens, born 1828 at the Lizard, Cornwall. I was surprised at this revelation. We know that there was a great deal of “unofficial” emigration between Devon and south Wales as boats plied their trade regularly, but to travel from Cornwall, by sea, presumably, and to end up farming in Gower… that’s a new one on me.
When I showed my research to the lady who now owns the house she said that she found it quite spooky! But I hope I have helped her to learn a little more about the generations who lived there before her.
Janet Neilson
Welsh Norwegian Society 