I have tracked the family’s
movements by the addresses on the birth certificates of the children. Most of them were born in Wales. John worked for the coal mines. Apparently the main tunnel into the mines was lined with
brick and painted white – told to me by an ex miner at ‘Big Pit’ South Wales. He
also told me that all the mines had their own brickworks. on site. Caroline and Mary Ann were born during the
coal mining times.
From the coalfields
of South Wales they moved to Carmarthenshire, to the village of LLangunnor. It was a lead mine that brought them
here. On the 1861 census there is also a
number or Cornish people living along side them – Maria was Cornish. John Alfred William and Eliza Jane were both
born here. John Alfred William died in infancy and is buried
in the churchyard.
It was here that the girls
learned to swim. John fished in the rive
Teifi – in a coracle – they are still used today, the area is quite famous for
them. As the girls were now growing up
and talking I’ve often wondered if they had welsh accents – an aunt of mine
said they did, in fact she told me that they thought the name Durrant was welsh
– but of course, it isn’t.
From here the family moved to
Aberystwyth – in Cardigan Bay. They lived at the Brickyard at a place called
Ynyslas – Ynyslas is now a nature reserve and runs along the Dovey
Estuary. Very close by is the seaside
resort of Borth. Why did they go there –
because of the railway.
A Victorian entrepreneur
wanted to build a railway that would cross the Dovey from Borth to Aberdovey on
the other side. The project, however,
was a disaster, and in the end the railway had to go the long way round.
Elderly members of my family
told me that the family had to move from here because of the flooding. They also said that Maria went into labour
while she was out on a boat in the estuary.
The railway line is now a
stretch of the Cambrian Railway – a lovely journey from Aberystwyth to Phwelli I have been told that John made the bricks
that built the houses for the railway builders to live in, and for the station at
Borth.
The Brickyard still stands –
it is now a farm and the current owner very kindly showed me around many years
ago and gave me some of the handmade bricks that littered the ground.
From here the family went to
Chirk in North Wales – another brickyard,
another daughter. Next they left Wales and went
to Gentleshaw in Staffordshire – their daughter Kate was born here. But very soon they were on the move again –
to Macclesfield in Cheshire.
At that time Macclesfield was a booming
silk town – a number of people emigrated from here to Paterson,
New Jersey in the USA. As adults two of the girls emigrated and I have a photo of the girls grown
up - it has always been called the ‘Paterson
photo’. So they must have had contacts
there.
One way or another John got a
job making the bricks for the new infirmary that was to be built. The journey from Staffordshire to
Macclesfield must have been an arduous one because they’d no sooner arrived
when Maria gave birth to Emily and the child died soon after.
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