Village history People Records Houses Newspapers Updates

GLASCOED PEOPLE & PLACES

Home About Links Contact

Thomas Morgan


Thomas was born in about 1839 at Glascoed and was christened on 3rd March 1839 at Monkswood Parish Church.


His parents were John Morgan and Mary (nee Arthur). Thomas spent his early life at Hill Farm. He was certainly there until at least the time of the 1861 census, where he was listed as a “Farmer’s son”.


In 1862, we see that Tom had an adventurous spirt about him … In the 1850s and again in the early 1860s, there were gold rushes out to British Columbia. In 1862, Tom along with his brother William and a few other local residents  set out to discover gold at Fraser’s River, Vancouver Island. I don’t know exactly what they discovered although William did return to Glascoed by the mid-late 1860s. What happened to Tom? Did he stay in Canada? At this stage, I’m not really sure.


William and Tom’s expedition was recorded by William in a diary and he sent letters to his family, which were published by the Pontypool Free Press in 1862. See these fascinating extracts here and here.



RECORDS

Census: In Glascoed 1841, 1851, 1861.