FAMILY STORIES

Pritchard Family in Wales

1867 to 1979

Great Grandparents [Selina Collins and Thomas E. Pritchard]

Selina Collins1 married Thomas E. Pritchard in 1867 at Christ Church, Turnham Green, Hounslow, Middlesex, which is located about 10 miles west of the center of London, England. Thomas E. Pritchard was a “station master” working at the Swindon England Workhouse2. Selina worked along with Thomas serving as “Matron”. Selina and Thomas started a family in Swindon and remained there until 1878 when Thomas suddenly died3. After that tragedy Selina moved to Beaumaris, Anglesey, Wales , where she stayed for the remainder of her life. Selina was the seventh of eight children from a farming family living in the Ashbury, Wiltshire area that is located seventy miles west of London4. Thomas was originally from Beaumaris, Anglesey5. The Pritchard family had a connection to Beaumaris, Anglesey, Wales, which is located in the Northwest part of Wales on the Irish Sea. Anglesey is an island connected to the mainland by the Menai Bridge, which was completed in 1826. Even today, there are many families with the surname Pritchard living there6. Pritchard seems to have primarily Welsh origins, which makes sense for descendants living in America who always thought our great-grandparents came from Wales. Thomas died young in 18787 at the age of thirty-eight, not having spent much time with his family.

Beaumaris Castle Today
Beaumaris Castle Today

Pritchard Family in Wales [1867 – 1979] Our Great-Grandparents, Selina and Thomas E. Pritchard had three sons:

  • Thomas E. H. Pritchard [B. 1869]
  • William John Pritchard [B. 1872]
  • Charles Samuel Pritchard [B. 1876]

By 1881, the Pritchard Family, Selina and her three sons were living in Beaumaris at number 3 Castle Street8. She was a lodging keeper. Beaumaris Castle was right next to their home. It was built (1295-1330) during the reign of King Edward I and never completely finished. Today, the castle is open to visitors as a tourist attraction9.

By 1881, the Pritchard Family, Selina and her three sons were living in Beaumaris at number 3 Castle Street8. She was a lodging keeper. Beaumaris Castle was right next to their home. It was built (1295-1330) during the reign of King Edward I and never completely finished. Today, the castle is open to visitors as a tourist attraction9.
Later that year, Selina, a widow for three years, married John Watkins10, a widower, at St. Mary’s Church in Beaumaris. John was the local baker, with a shop at 19 Church Street11, within sight of St. Mary’s. The family in 1891 was still living over the bakery at 19 Church Street. Wales census records for 1881 and 1891 and the marriage registration indicate the occupation baker for John Watkins, and the current shop at 41 Church looks like it could have easily have been the bakery as well as their residence after 189112. Unfortunately, Selina became a widow again, in 1893, after only twelve years of marriage13. She and her sons continued to operate the bakery, which remained at 41 Church Street for at least until 191114 [most recent available census]. One son, the oldest, Thomas E.H. Pritchard, left for America in 189515 or sooner, very likely never to return or see his family again. He had lost his father and stepfather, so he must have had reasons to leave. Maybe, he needed a new beginning with more hope. W. John Pritchard, continued to live with his mother14, probably at least through 1915, when Selina died at the age of 7416. W. John Pritchard lived until 1934, still in Beaumaris and it would be my guess, still as the baker. The 1911 census lists Selina Watkins, her son W. John Pritchard, and Selina’s niece, also named Selina, age 7, all living at 41 Church Street, the bakery. It’s hard to be sure who were the parents of this seven-year-old Selina, since the elder Selina had many relatives. The youngest son of Selina, Charles, married Annie Eliza Barr, from Perfleet, Essex, England in 1901 at St. Mary’s Church, in Beaumaris. The Barr Family, were neighbors living at #4 Rating Row, near Castle Street. Charles and Annie continued to live in Beaumaris and became part of the family bakery business. Charles and Annie started a family and by 1908 had four children;
  • Selina U. M. Pritchard [B. 1903]
  • Teodor Pritchard [B. 1904]  Welsh name version of Theodore
  • Edgar Ernest Pritchard [B. 1906]
  • Beatrice Olivia Pritchard [B. 1908] (middle name may have been Octavia)
In 1911, Charles S. and Annie and their four children were living at 36 Rating Row, around the corner from the bakeshop in Beaumaris.   Interestingly, a Selina Pritchard, the daughter of Annie and Charles was also listed at 41 Church Street with her grandmother Selina and her Uncle W. John Pritchard in the 1911 Census. Census-takers often listed who ever was there at the time of the census, not necessarily who was actually living there. Although, its possible that the younger Selina was really a niece from another Pritchard family and the daughter of Charles and Annie. It’s logical that everyone pitched in at the bakery, which was started by John Watkins before 1881. I can just picture the children going there everyday after school.   In parallel with all that’s happening in Beaumaris, Thomas E.H. Pritchard, the oldest, who had emigrated to America, had started a family of his own in New York City.  He emigrated after 1891, since he is listed in 1891 census in Beaumaris. Thomas E. H. Pritchard married Anne Connell, an Irish immigrant, in New York City in 1904. They had six children;
  • Thomas J. Pritchard
  • Selina Ed. Pritchard
  • Anna M. Pritchard 
  • Charles Pritchard
  • Theodor[e] Pritchard- partial Welsh spelling
  • Helen Pritchard 
Its interesting, how two cousins living in different countries had the same name, Selina and Theodor, and one was named after his uncle Charles living in Wales.  The oldest two in America kept the names Thomas and Selina going per tradition. I wonder if or how these Pritchard cousins in America kept in touch with their Welsh cousins without today’s modern conveniences of telephone, email, and iPhones.   Back in Wales, the family of Charles and Annie Pritchard continued to expand.  Selina U.M. Pritchard, the granddaughter of Selina Collins Pritchard Watkins , married William G. Owen in 1930 in the county of Anglesey or Caernarvonshire, Wales. Edgar Pritchard married Elizabeth Ellen Williams* in 1937. Beatrice Olivia Pritchard married T. Reginald Bennett in 1940. Edgar lived until 1972 and Beatrice lived until 1979. I am still looking for more information on Teodor after the 1911 census and for Selina U.M. Owen after 1930.   * closest geographically to Beaumaris of four(4) possible marriages of an Edgar E. Pritchard in Wales from 1920 to 1950.    Charles and Annie, unfortunately, passed away at young ages, 47 and 48, respectively, probably still living in Beaumaris continuing to operate the bakery. 

The Bakery- Their Home

Selina’s 2nd marriage to John Watkins, in 1881, led to some stability for the family for over forty-five years. The three boys; Thomas, W. John, and Charles had a stepfather who was working at home which provided a better family life than the demanding pace of a workhouse. Beaumaris was and is a small village on the coast of Anglesey. The addresses for the families from 1881 to 1911; Church Street, Castle Street, and Rating Row are all connected in a triangle shape with St. Mary’s Church near the middle on Church Street.

Selina lost her second husband, John, in 1893, yet continued on operating the bakery with her three sons and their descendants helping out. It continued to provide the extended family with a livelihood for many years after Selina died in 1915 at the age of 74. Probate records in 1927, for Annie Pritchard, listed property worth more than £16,000, a very large sum in 1927. This could have been the business. The death record for Charles Pritchard listed Church Street as his abode in 1923. The Bakery was home for family, cousins, and their church community for at least forty-five years (1881 to 1927).

The marriage record for Selina in 1881 when she married John Watkins listed Catherine Pritchard and Sarah Margaret Pritchard as witnesses. Sarah was her much younger sister. 

Today, there are many Pritchards listed in the local phone directory for Beaumaris. Possible cousins?

FOOTNOTES

  1. London  Metropolitan Archives, Christ Church, Turnham Green, Register of Marriages, DRO/079, item 008; Ancestry.com, England, Church of England Marriage and Bans, 1754-1932: accessed May 29, 2020
  2. The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1871 England Census; GSU roll: 830858 Selma [Selina] Pritchard, Ancestry.com: accessed May 29, 2020
  3. Free BMD, England & Wales, Thomas E. Pritchard entry, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837-1915; Ancestry.com: accessed May 29, 2020
  4. 1861 England Census
  5. ibid. 2, 1871 England Census
  6. BT.com
  7. ibid. 3, Death Record 1878 for Thomas E. Pritchard
  8. Death Index for Selina
  9. 1881 Wales Census for Selina and her 3 sons. 
  10. Beaumaris Castle
  11. John Watkins marries Selina Pritchard, September 29, 1881, p. 234, FindmyPast.co.uk, accessed 4/29/2020. 
  12. John Watkins lived on Church Street, Slater’s 1880 North Wales, Beaumaris, Directory. 
  13. 1891 Census for Selina and John Watkins and family
  14. 1893 Death Record for John Watkins
  15. 1911 Census for Selina Watkins
  16. 1895 Thomas E.H. Pritchard Immigration Record to New York
  17. 1915 Death and Burial Record for Selina Watkins. FindmyPast.co.uk Anglesey Burials, 19 Nov 1915, accessed 4/29/2020
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"The Influence of the Flowers" by Matthew Coyle

This poem written by Matthew Coyle,1 appeared in The Port Glasgow Express and Observer, on Friday 23 June 1899.  Matthew Coyle, was commonly known as “The Smiddy Muse”.  After attending school in Port Glasgow, he spent his life in Govan, which is now part of the City of Glasgow.2  Matthew Coyle was born in Ireland, and was removed to Port Glasgow Scotland as an infant.  He was born in Arva, County Cavan, became a gifted poet, having published at the age of twelve, and went on to become a regular contributor to Scottish and Irish newspapers throughout his life, working as a blacksmith in Govan.3  

FOOTNOTES

  1. The Port Glasgow Express and Observer, Friday, June 23, 1899– Source-  FindmyPast.uk
  2. Modern Scottish Poets, by D.H. Edwards, 1891, Fourteenth Series.pages 215 to 219, Source: 
  3. The Poets of Ireland, Dictionary of Irish Writers of English Verse, by D.J. O’Donoghue, University College, Dublin, 1912. p. 85. 

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