Mary Powell (1838-1897)

In 1841, John Powell, a farmer, was living at Millend with his 6 children. His wife Mary had died of consumption 2 years earlier, in 1839. It’s difficult to pin John down. Though he and Mary were born in Nibley, they were married in Lydney. Mary was baptised in Skenfrith, Monmouthshire. Four of the other children were baptised in Dursley. On one of the son’s baptism entries, John is recorded as being a wire worker. My conclusion is that he and Mary lived in Monmouthshire, then moved back to Nibley, then John and at least two of his children moved back to Monmouthshire. Then, before his death, John moved back to Nibley.

At the time of the 1851 census, he had moved to Chapel Hill, Monmouthshire, with two of his daughters, Emily and May, and was working as a wire drawer. Henry, his second son, had also moved to Chapel Hill, as was following the same profession. Orlando, his eldest son, stayed in Nibley, where he died at the age of 33.

This is a link to an interesting page on the wire drawing industry in the area https://www.wyevalleygreenway.org/wireworks

Oddly, John was recorded as being a wire drawer while he was still living in Nibley, on his child’s birth certificate. John returned to die in Nibley in 1868, and left his estate, valued at £3 to his son Henry.

In December ’54, Mary married Guy Humphries in Abertillery

In 1861, Mary, having had a child and been widowed over the preceeding decade, was living in Newport, Wales, and was listed as a dressmaker. In ’63 she married Charles Stock, a butcher. In ’71 she was living with Charles, her mother-in-law, and her daughter, Emily Mason Humphries (now surnamed Stock) in St Woollos, Newport. In 1881, Charles, now a hairdresser, was living with Mary and two boarders in Llanvihangel Llantarnam. In ’91 the couple were living in 1 Railway Road, Llantarnam.

Mary died in January ’97.

Sadly, Emily was admitted to Abergavenny Mental Asylum in 1880, where she died in 1892.