William Davies

   Another name for William was Will Davies.

  General Notes:

William Davies was made redundant from the Willoughby Estate in 1908, by Sir Willoughby Evans. Apparently, in a bid to cut costs (after losses on horses), the owner tried to save money by keeping Will's apprentice over the experienced and therefore more expensive Will Davies.
Letters were sent out to family members asking where work may be found. At this point, Will was prepared to take on any work to tide him over and eventually found employment in Pontypool underground in the coal mines, working with pit props. Having loved his previous working life in the open air as a highly skilled gardener, going underground was something that Will hated, although would have to put up with for around 10 years.
At this point (c. 1918), Will was actually the front-runner for two jobs as head gardener, I believe, for both Abersychan and Pontypool town councils. There was even reportedly a bit of a bidding war, but Will eventually plumped for the job at Pontypool park. This was a great success, with Will being especially proud of his bowling green and roses. His aim was to make Pontypool park's green the best in Wales.

Notes from a telephone conversation with Arnold Pitt on 6th March 2010. ²

  Noted events in his life were:

• Occupation: Gardener. ³

• Census: 1881, 3 Apr 1881, 7 Ty Coch Street, Henllan, Denbighshire, Wales.

• Occupation: Underground labourer (Coal mine), 1911, Pontnewynydd, Trevethin, Monmouthshire. His job involved checking and replacing pit props.

• Census: 1911, 2 Apr 1911, 20 Charlesville (Church Terrace), Pontnewynydd, Pontypool, Monmouthshire.

William married Harriet Mary Hughes circa 1902.¹ (Harriet Mary Hughes was born circa 1875 in Llandudno, Caernarvonshire.)