The History of the House

At the end of last year, we bought a Georgian-era Grade II listed building with the aim of turning it into a housing co-op. The building is more than 225 years old, so there’s a lot of people who have lived in the house before us, including a long chain of doctors, as well as links to a questionably-legitimate branch of the royal family!

So, starting from the present, let’s work our way back through time. As well as the dates, I’ll provide some historical timeline anchors so you know how far back in history we’ve gone.

Me and Thomas bought the house, along with its collapsing outbuilding, multiple leaks and dodgy floorboards. Our goal is to make it safe and then turn it into an intentional community housing co-op… and then (continue to) make it a nice place to live!

The house was occupied by a couple who used to run a magic shop in what is now the local music venue. Their daughter, who was disabled, is the reason that one of the ground-floor ceilings is decorated with deflated helium balloons, as well as the explanation for why the ground floor has an accessible bathroom and our kitchen is (currently) on the first floor.

Historical timeline anchor: In 2007, the first iPhone is released.

The house was owned by a woman who was apparently spinning a lot of plates. She split each of the floors into its own flat: the bottom floor housed a women’s gym (whose sauna we still have in one of the outbuildings today, even though it’s broken); the top floor had a children’s nursery (with window bars, which came with the house even though they’re no longer attached to it, to stop the kids from climbing up the window seat and leaping out of the inward-opening casement windows). The first thing we did when we moved in was to remove the Yale locks that she attached to various doors to separate her many business ventures because I was worried we’d lock ourselves out of some part of the house!

Historical timeline anchor: In 1998, Google is launched.

Dr John R. E. James lived in the house with his wife, Mary B. M. Lloyd Jones. With the inception of the NHS in 1948, Dr James became the consultant gynaecologist at Carmarthenshire Infirmary, which used to be down the road from the house and has now been converted into flats. He helped establish what is now called Glangwili Hospital and was one of the last doctors working at the old hospital when it closed.¹

Historical timeline anchor: In 1939, the Second World War starts.

Dr Alan Trevor Jones was the medical officer of health in Carmarthen and then became medical officer to the Welsh Board of Health and the Welsh Regional Hospital Board, working to implement the National Health Service Act in Wales. He went on to become the Provost of a medical school in Cardiff, training new doctors.²

Historical timeline anchor: In the early 1930s, the Phillips-head screw was invented.

Dr Robert Telford Martin was a doctor in Carmarthen. I can’t find much information about him, except that he once found a dead baby girl abandoned beside the Infirmary and had to give a pretty unpleasant testimony to the courts that was reported in the paper.³

Historical timeline anchor: In 1930, the patent for the first turbo-jet engine is submitted.

Dr Charles A. Basker was a self-employed physician and surgeon, running his practice from the house. When he moves out of the house, he and his family move to Bournemouth.

In 1919, while Dr Basker is renting the house, it is listed for sale but later withdrawn.⁴ The house is listed as having:

Historical timeline anchor: In 1918, the First World War ends.

Dr Rees Griffiths Price and Elizabeth Mathias lived in the house with their family. Dr R. G. Price works as a surgeon, running his practice from the house. Mrs Price is active in the local community, regularly donating flowers and food to church services.

Dr and Mrs Price have two sons (Ernest and Alfred) and a daughter (Florence) who train to be doctors, as well as a daughter (Emily) who works as a qualified dispenser.⁵ In 1904, Florence Price becomes the first female doctor working at Swansea Hospital.⁶

In 1913, Dr R. G. Price falls ill shortly after visiting a patient. A couple of hours later, despite medical attention from another doctor, he dies.⁷ The patient he was visiting also dies.

Historical timeline anchor: In 1907, the first fully synthetic plastic, Bakelite, was patented. A material that, much to the horror of our electrician, some of the fuse boxes in the building are still made from!

Around 1895-6, the road is renumbered, and the house number changes.

In 1890, the house is sold for £425 to Dr R. G. Price from the estate of Daniel Prytherch (who you’ll learn about later – he had a lot of money, and granting his probate took 30 years). Daniel Prytherch also owned both buildings that are adjacent to the house, as well as the field beyond the garden and the cottage on it, but, despite being the sitting tenant on both the field and house at the time of sale, Dr R. G. Price only bought the house.⁸ The field gave rear access to the house, and, much to our frustration, the rear garden gate has since been bricked up, and the land has now been turned into a car park.

Historical timeline anchor: In 1890, plasterboard is invented but doesn’t become popular in Britain until the 1930s. Most of the walls in our house are made from lath and lime plaster.

Dr John A. J. Timmins and Mary Buckley lived in the house with their 3 children and Dr. Timmins’ father. Dr J. A. J. Timmins was a physician to the Infirmary, which was built in 1857-8, and the first doctor to live in the house.

Historical timeline anchor: In 1876, the first telephone was patented.

William Henry Davies was a retired army officer who moved to the house from Cilgerran, Pembrokeshire, after the death of his wife. He still owned land near Cilgerran which gave him the right to vote. In 1872, he sold his possessions and moved back to Pembrokeshire.⁹

Historical timeline anchor: In 1867, both dynamite and barbed wire are invented.

Daniel Prytherch and Caroline Dalton lived in the house with their large family. Daniel Prytherch was a magistrate for the county. He was also Mayor of Carmarthen in 1825 and 1832.

Daniel Prytherch co-signs several public declarations in the local papers, from congratulating Queen Victoria on the birth of her first son¹⁰ and thanking C.R.M. Talbot for extending the railway to Carmarthen¹¹ to honouring George Rice-Trevor when he resigns as local MP upon becoming the 4th Baron of Dynevor¹². The family also attends the celebration of the arrival of the first train into Carmarthen in 1852.¹³

In 1854, Daniel Prytherch died at home.¹⁴ Mrs Prytherch remains in the house until 1868 before moving to live with family in Llansteffan.

Now, for the scandalous bit.

Daniel and Caroline Prytherch are cousins: Caroline’s Dad is James Dalton and Daniel’s Mum is Margaret Dalton, who are siblings. That’s not the scandal; that was quite normal for rich families at the time, but…

Caroline was born in India, where her father, James Dalton, was stationed as a surgeon. Her mother, Catharine, is rumoured to be the daughter of George III from his secret marriage to Hannah Lightfoot.

There’s not much evidence this marriage happened, and, even if it did, she was already married to someone else at the time she allegedly married the King, and he then later married someone else too, having children with both wives at the same time.

However, the organ in the local church was originally intended for Windsor Castle and gifted to St Peter’s Church by George III. When the floor beneath the organ was being repaired, the tomb of Caroline’s sister and daughter was uncovered, seemingly hidden by the gifted organ, used by the King to cover up the evidence of a politically-awkward branch of his family tree.¹⁵

Historical timeline anchor: In 1833, Britain abolishes slavery.

We know the house was built in 1798 because there’s an engraving in one of the stones at the top of the building. However, this is where records really get patchy, and the first 30-ish years of the house’s history are mostly guesswork.

The Dalton family were wealthy landowners with a long history. They’re also proof that we’re not the only people to move from Oxfordshire to Carmarthenshire: Walter Jacob Dalton, who was Daniel and Caroline’s great-great-great-great grandfather, was paymaster for Charles II during the civil war, living near Witney in Oxfordshire. He fled to Wales in 1651 and bought land around Kidwelly.¹⁶

Caroline’s father, James, is the eldest of his siblings and therefore likely inherited the family’s wealth. Despite Caroline being the youngest daughter, her other siblings died at a young age, so she likely inherited, particularly as she had helpfully married back into the family. We believe the Dalton family built the house (and the adjacent houses, one of which is occupied by two of Daniel and Caroline’s spinster aunts), which Daniel and Caroline inherited and raised their family in.

Historical timeline anchor: Around 1800, after the French Revolution, modern-style trousers were popularised.

From a rich, royal-adjacent family, through half a dozen doctors and their families, to us. Hopefully, the house has just as long a life ahead of it as a housing co-op.