The White Hart and a George Street Mystery

On 29 June 2017 the Lost Souls Paranormal Group carried out an investigation at the White Hart.  I was asked if I could find some history about the building for them.

The first mention I found came from the Monmouthshire Merlin in 1829. In November of that year it was advertised that new houses and buildings for business were being let at the upper end of George Street, one of which had a garden attached to it.

It is possible the building with the garden is the White Hart as this garden is mentioned again in a news article from the Pontypool Free Press in June 1867.  It concerned a collier from Pontnewynydd, Isaac Osbourne, who was charged with assaulting Sarah Ann Madley on 23 May.  Sarah was a servant at the White Hart and at midnight her mistress had told her to go and shut the door that led to the skittle alley.  When Sarah got there she found two men lying down there.  One of them was Isaac Osbourne who grabbed her by the neck from behind.  Sarah had been a witness against Osbourne at the trial of the murder of Herbert Morgan.  Sarah became hysterical and the landlady's daughter, Mrs Daniels had to send for the doctor because Sarah was tearing her own hair out.  The White Hart had a garden and Sarah had left the garden gate open allowing Osbourne to hide in the skittle alley without having to go through the front of the house.

In November 1868 the White Hart was attacked by a mob that had formed on election day.  Mrs Jones, a widow, was the landlady.  The windows of the building were smashed in and a stone hit her on the head.  Another stone hit her little grandchild who was in bed.  Three months later, Edward Williams, Alfred Joy and Elijah Elton were charged with assaulting two policemen, P.C. Kendall and P.C. Agg.  Williams was the brother in law of Oliver Evans who had left prison on 6th February 1869 after his part in the election riots and the smashing of the White Hart windows.  The same night he went with the other three and punched Mrs Jones in the face for giving evidence against him.  Williams and Elton were given one month's hard labour.  Joy was fined 20 shillings but Evans didn't show up at court.

There was more fighting at the White Hart in December 1870.  Timothy Desmond, his wife Julia and another woman, Hannah Crowley were charged with being drunk and assaulting P.C. Basham and P.C. Gardner. Timothy Desmond was also charged with trespass and for breaking furniture.  He had been fighting with his wife and a chair was smashed.  Then when the police arrived they attacked them too by beating, scratching and kicking them so they were removed to the lock up.  Timothy was fined £3 or one month's hard labour.  The women were fined £2 each or 14 days in prison.

Things appear to quieten down after this date.  In 1876 the Railway Servants held their annual dinner at the White Hart without incident.  In October 1897 Mr Williams is recorded in the Western Mail as being the landlord.  When he died his wife became landlady until the license was transferred from her to Mr E J Hill, County Court bailiff, in July 1901.

In February 1903, Mr Hill was assaulted by customers William and Robert Bigham who refused to leave the establishment.  Then in September 1903 Mr Hill was summoned himself for selling drink during prohibited hours.

That was all I could find out from old newspapers but then, as sometimes happens when digging around in the past, I was told a story about George Street.  My Great Grandparents lived at 67 George Street which was opposite the White Hart.  My Great Uncle believed the house was haunted.  This wasn't all, a great aunt recalled a body being discovered in the back yard of the property.  The bones were removed and presumably re-buried.  She also said that the area was built on an old burial ground.  How old or big this burial ground was, or if it included the land the White Hart was built on is unknown and so far all attempts to find out more have failed.

Is there anyone else out there who has heard anything similar ... ?

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3329446

The Mason's Arms and a Pontnewynydd mystery

This is some research I did for a local paranormal group.  It began as history of the Mason's Arms but instead uncovered a mystery!

The earliest mention of the Mason's Arms that I could find is on the 1871 census where it is the home of Thomas Jones who was a widow living with his mother, Mary and Sarah, his aunt.  His occupation was a stone mason so this is probably how the pub got its name.

Numerous inquests were held at the pub on unexplained deaths in Pontnewynydd.  Many of them were babies such as the inquest on Laura, baby daughter of Rees Powell who was found dead in bed in November 1878.

In July 1879, an inquest was held on John George, aged 74 who had died suddenly and in October 1880 an inquest was held on Anne Radway, aged 75 who had fallen downstairs and broken her neck.

In January 1882 another inquest was held on Florence Watkins, one month old who had died suddenly.  It was stated she was one of twins and had been sickly from birth.

In January 1886, an inquest was held on Nathaniel Rosser, aged 57, from River Row.  He had been drinking heavily over the Christmas holidays and had been suffering from delirium tremens for several days.  At 7 p.m. on a Tuesday evening he left his house and did not return.  A search was made and he was found dead in the river next morning.  His throat was cut.  An open verdict was recorded. He left a widow and nine children.

The most interesting case though happened in November 1874.  A puddler, Joseph Evans, 33,  known locally as Yankee Joe was found lying on a narrow part of Canal Parade overlooking the railway about a hundred yards from the bridge over which the road leads from Pontypool to Abersychan.  He had been shot through the head and died the following day after lingering in an insensible state. A gun lay near him and it was thought he had attempted suicide but had first attempted to murder a woman he was pursuing, Ann Joshua.  Evans had a wife in America and by coincidence, Ann had a husband in America and so the two became friends.  Evans offered Ann money and free passage to America if she would go with him.

At the inquest, Dr. Thomas, surgeon of Pontypool said he had found a wound on the right side of Evans's head penetrating the temple bone and the brain.  The wound was circular and the bullet had travelled through the brain, splintered the inside of his skull and rebounded back into the brain. There was no burning of the hair and Evans never spoke or recovered consciousness after he was discovered.

A witness, James Chaplin, stated he was returning home from work at 10 p.m. along the canal bank when he stumbled over the arm of Evans who was lying under the fence beside the railway.  Chaplin called for help and a man named Campbell helped to carry Evans to his lodgings with Jane Snell and her husband.

Earlier that evening, about 9.30, Evans was having supper with Mrs Snell when someone knocked the door.  Evans got up to answer but Jane jumped up and got to the door first.  On opening the door, Jane saw it was Mrs Joshua.  Evans asked who was there and then said 'Come in Annie, dear'.  Mrs Joshua said she wouldn't and ran away.  Evans then said that if she didn't come in he would 'have his revenge'.  With that, he got up and ran out after her.  Mrs Snell also ran out after them both, but paused to lock the door and in doing so lost them.  She heard two shots being fired and someone scream.

Superintendent Macintosh stated on the afternoon of the 10th, Evans had gone to Newport and bought a six barrelled breech-loader revolver pistol at the shop of Mr Nibblett in Commercial Street.  All the chambers of the gun were loaded at Nibblett's and Evans had a spare four bullets he put in his pocket.  After the shooting it was found three chambers had been emptied, two were still loaded and one had dropped out.

Anne Joshua was questioned at the inquest and said Evans had offered her ten pounds to go to America with him but she never saw the money.  On the night of the 10th she went to see Mrs Snell to find out when Evans intended leaving.  She claimed she heard no scream and saw no more of Evans until his body was carried home.

Mrs Nash, Mrs Snell's neighbour stated that when Ann had heard of Evans injuries she behaved quite strangely.  She said 'Perhaps he intended to shoot me'  She would not go to see Evans but instead laughed about the situation and said 'Perhaps he is in labour, perhaps he is ill'.

The coroner concluded though that Ann's behaviour was not that of someone who had committed murder and there was no evidence to bring any suspicion upon her.  She could account for her movements on leaving Mrs Snell's house until Evans was brought home.  The coroner recommended to the jury to return an open verdict and suggested it should be that on the 10th, Joseph Evans was found insensible in the parish of Trevethin with a wound on the temple penetrating the brain and that he died the following day but there was no evidence to show by whom that injury was inflicted.

The coroner also remarked that it was strange that there were no marks from burning on Evans's head as would have been the case if the gun had been fired close to his head.  To demonstrate what he meant, he fired the revolver at a piece of rag which was set alight and became blackened.

So what happened that evening to Evans.  Did Ann Joshua shoot him?  Did she run off from Mrs Snell's house knowing Evans would follow?  Was there another person involved who fired Evans's gun?  It remains a mystery.

The Pegasus Pontnewynydd, formerly The Mason's Arms.

William 'Blackwood' Jones, Pontypool RFC

In May 2014 I gave an interview to the South Wales Argus regarding the experiences of my ancestors during WW1.  An article was published and I was also invited to the launch of the Torfaen at War exhibition.  This is a copy of the article -

"A WOMAN has spoken of her shock at finding out that her great great uncle was a part of the WWI Christmas Day truce - where a copy of the Argus' sister paper The Free Press was used as a make shift flag.

Carol Lewis, 45, a member of Cwmbran Writers Group, started researching her relatives who fought in the war and has collected their stories into a book entitled Tell Them of Us.

One of the stories is of her great great uncle, William Jones, who was born in Blackwood in 1879, but lived in George Street, Pontypool from 1900.

Mr Jones was a rugby player and member of Pontypool RFC, going by the name of Blackwood Jones.

During her research, which took around ten years to complete using books and websites, she discovered her great great uncle, a sergeant, had taken his Pontypool roots to war with him.

She said: “One of the soldiers including William got hold of a copy of the Pontypool Free Press and attached it to the top of a rifle as a flag of truce."

The Germans were the 7th Bavarian Regiment, and they exchanged food and cigarettes while giving them all the chance to bury the dead, Ms Lewis' research suggests.

Author of the book, They Fought with Pride, David Nicholas confirmed the tale from a soldiers written account from the time.

It reads: “We spent Christmas Day in a rather unique position... as soon as it was daylight we stopped firing and sang ‘Hark!’ the Herald Angels Sing in real Poolian style.

“The Germans were astonished, so me and Segt Jones (Blackwood) got a copy of the ‘Press,’ dated December 11 and struck it on top of a rifle as a flag of truce.

"They stopped firing... there they were on top of their trench waving for us to come, and asking for cigarettes.”

Mr Jones lived at 29 High Street, Pontypool, with his wife Mary Elizabeth and their two children, Elsie and Pansy.

But in 1914, Mr Jones and his two brothers, Richard and Percy, were called up to fight.

Mr Jones served in the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers (militia) and the 2nd Monmouthshire Regiment.

He was mobilized on August, 5 1914 and was in France on November 6 at Le Havre.

In December, the 2nd Monmouthshire Regiment occupied the same trenches as the Essex Regiment, rotating every four days, near Frelinghien.

Ms Lewis also researched the history of her other great great uncles. Richard's body was never found, while Percy, is buried in Calvaire (Essex) Military Cemetery. Their stories also feature in her book.

But Mr Jones survived the war, returning to Britain after sustaining facial injuries, and was discharged in 1917. He died in 1936.

Her book is available on www.amazon.co.uk and also on Kindle."

You can read the article here

 http://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/11218846.Pontypool_uncle_rsquo_s_war_exploits_retold/

Anyway, after watching tonight's episode of Who Do You Think You Are, I decided to delve again into the family tree and while doing so found this article from the British Council, regarding the Football Remembers Week back in December 2014.  It seems that Great Great Uncle William was one of the men remembered by the Football Association of Wales  and it is his name specifically mentioned in British Council Wales's article -

"Gwyn Derfel, Corbett Sports WPL Secretary, said: “On 17 November the Wales international squad visited Artillery Wood Cemetery in the village of Boezinge near Ypres to pay their respects. 1307 soldiers are buried there, many of them are Welshmen.                    

“The FAW is pleased to participate in the Football Remembers project and it is believed that a number of Welshmen were involved in the historic football match. 

“Local reports in Ypres suggest that the 1914 Christmas truce was started by a Welshman; William ‘Blackwood’ Jones who held up a copy of the local Pontypool newspaper as a white flag to start it all and that a Welsh regiment played in the match.”

You can read the whole article here

https://wales.britishcouncil.org/en/about/press/welsh-football-honours-centenary-christmas-truce

I wonder what he'd make of it all if he were around today :)