Sunday 4 December 2022

Death of Daniel y Merched (age 97)

 DEATH OF DANIEL Y MERCHED AGED 97 (1902)


"A noted Carmarthen character has passed away in the person of Daniel Jones, better known as Daniel y Merched, who died at the Carmarthen Workhouse  on Wednesday afternoon. Daniel was a native of Pontynyswen, in the parish of Llanegwad and was born in the year 1805.  He is said to have earned his soubriquet (which being interpreted is the girls' Daniel) by the fact that he was bought up by two maiden aunts.  At any rate, he was never known by any other name and many Carmarthen people who knew him 3 score years never knew his legal name.  The most wonderful stories were told of his great age and Carmarthen men aver they remembered Daniel 60 years ago as old and grey as he was this year.  However, we believe that he was only 97 years of age.  He was a tailor by trade, but had led a very unsettled Bohemian way of life; since he was a boy he would spend the whole of the summer and the autumn fishing.  He had also served in the Militia.  He was one of the best trout fishermen in the whole of the Three Counties.  There really seemed to be something almost diabolical in his luck, for he could bring 12 or 15 pounds of trout, when the best fancy anglers in the district could not take six ounces.   He always fished with a worm, and it is said his success is due to his treating the bait with saliva in a manner which would not appeal to the fastidious.  Until within the last fortnight, he looked as well as ever, and was popularly believed to be immortal.  He was a prime favourite with angling gentlemen, as he had a skill in making flies coax the shyest fish onto a hook.  He had latterly spent his winters in the workhouse, and his summers wandering about the brooks and streams of the country with his rod and line.  On Saturday the 21st inst., he entered the workhouse in a general state of breakdown, and passed peacefully away on Wednesday the 4th June."




My daughter sent me this clip  from the Carmarthen Weekly Reporter newspaper of 1902.  I can't find him in the Workhouse, I can't find an obvious one that is HIM in the census records, there are lots of marriages for a Daniel Jones, but I doubt he ever married, if he was so footloose and fancy free. I don't know where he lived in Pontynyswen - and I have the census records printed off.  He may have been living in a bender or a barn somewhere.  He was certainly a  fascinating character - they've thrown the mould away of folk like him.



Obligatory kittens photo - they have just been yelled at for turning my legs to ribbons again, little wretches, attacking me from both sides at once!  They're only good when they're fast asleep!!



16 comments:

  1. What an interesting character. Hope you can find some more information on the gentleman.

    Love the kitties.

    God bless.

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    1. I doubt I will as he seems to have been a bit like a fishing tramp in his behaviour!

      I adore the kittens but when they hurl themselves onto my legs, claws dug into my flesh, it is VERY painful! TCP much in use.

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  2. It sounds like Daniel was an interesting character. The kittens are characters as well. Very adorable!

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    1. He lived life by his own rules - not many folk were able to do that in Victorian times.

      The kittens are such characters and quite different. Pippi will come up on me when it's sleep time, but isn't one for being made a fuss of. Food motivates her. Lulu purrs like an engine the moment you stroke her and loves to be made a fuss of.

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  3. I can see Pippi’s splayed claws - she’s ready to jump. And Daniel, what can I say, I take my hat off to him. Sarah x

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    1. They were both fast asleep there, so perhaps she was dreaming of leaping! Daniel did well didn't he?

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  4. Ninety seven is good age nowadays, but back then, my goodness, it's a testament to his constitution. I'm afraid the workhouse has a lot to answer for. It's brought me to a grinding halt with my family tree research. It seems records weren't kept and two ancestors went into the workhouse at a very early age when both their parents must have passed away. I am now at an impasse.

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    1. I think being outside most of his life, fishing, helped his constitution. Only old age got him in the end.

      What a shame you have come to a grinding halt with your family tree because of the workhouse. When it is a common name it is almost impossible to tie down family accurately. If they are first born children might they have been given their parents' Christian names? Can you find the parents' marriage using their birth-dates and those names? Or deaths for people of those names prior to their going into the workhouse?

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  5. Luckily kittens grow up, I would have thought one of the older cats would have more authority than you! Interesting about Daniel, he was a character in his own right, what a sad end though in a workhouse.

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    1. L. Whale would prefer not to meet the little horrors, thank you very much! He keeps running away. Alfie authoritarian, but a bit TOO much and it worried me no end that Lulu was baby rabbit coloured (and size) to begin with. He now sniffs noses, and head-butts them but any swipe with a paw has claws out, so I don't quite trust him yet. Need to take their crate down though and let them be free-range at night. I won't sleep a wink for worry!

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  6. It sounds as if Daniel picked a life that suited him. It also sounds as if people thought quite a bit of him.

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    1. He was his own man, that's for sure. A tailor by trade, but I don't know how long for. He sounded pretty footloose and fancy-free and obviously got paid by visiting fishing guys to show them the best pools.

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  7. I hope that you are wearing long thick trousers at all times during the day to protect you from those sharp little claws.

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    1. Even my thickest denim jeans don't help much. Having been gotten by Lulu this morning, on the softest skin on the back of my calves (one back of knee- OWWWWWWWWWWW) I swiftly wrapped my nether regions in a blanket - which they promptly went inside to explore! I reek of TCP and my legs look I've got Measles!!

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    2. As you know they will grow out of it LOL

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    3. That stage can't come soon enough!

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