Our Family History
Thomas Thomas (b.1811) and Rachel Bowen (1819 – 1881)
Thomas Thomas was born in the Parish of Llanwinio, in the country of Carmarthenshire, South Wales in 1811. There is no current information available about his parentage or his wife Rachel’s family background.
Rachel Bowen was born in 1819 in Parish of Tre-Lech-A'r-Bettws , in the county of Carmarthenshire, South Wales. This parish was comprised of large tracts of enclosed arable farming and pasture land, and also extensive uncultivated land, consisting chiefly of hills and heaths, from which the local inhabitants principally obtained their fuel.
Thomas Thomas and Rachel Bowen were married in September 1837. He was 26 and she was 18. The wedding took place in Dyfed, Pembrokeshire.
A year later in 1838, their eldest son David Thomas was born, and another son, William was born in 1840. In 1841 Thomas was a farmer living and working in Clydey, Pembrokeshire with Rachel and his 2 young sons.
By 1851 Thomas was working 40 acres of land at a farm called Ty Newydd in Clydey, Pembrokeshire. Ty Newydd Farm was located in the Brecon Beacons near Llangors Lake.
Thomas and Rachel had 5 children by 1851. David and William now had 2 younger sisters – Ann and Jane – and a younger brother called Josiah. 3 further children Jonathan, Rachel and Esther were born during the 1850’s.
Sometime before 1861, Thomas had died leaving Rachel to manage the farm as a widow, with her 5 youngest children.
By 1871 Rachel was only farming 12 acres of land with her son Jonathon (19) and her daughter Jane (24). By 1881 Rachel had handed the farm on to her son Jonathan and his family, and was living elsewhere in Wales. Rachel died in June 1881 aged 72.
The 8 Children of Rachel Bowen Thomas and Thomas Thomas
William Thomas (b.1840)
Ann Thomas Lewis (b.1845) she married a Mr Lewis. By 1891 she was living and working as a domestic servant in the home of her brother Josiah Thomas (See Below).
Jane Thomas (b.1846)
Jonathan Thomas (b.1852 – d.1903) Jonathan was bought up on the family farm at Ty Newydd and after the death of Thomas his father, he helped his widowed mother Rachel to run things. He was married to Jane and eventually took over the farm – working 15 acres of land. By 1891 Jonathan’s wife had died, leaving him a widower with 3 young children – James (b.1878), Rachel Ann (b.1882) and Thomas (b.1885). Jonathan continued to live and work at Ty Newydd up until his death, aged 52, in 1903. His unmarried daughter Rachel then took over the running of the family farm and was living there alone at the time of the 1911 Census.
Esther Thomas (b.1854)
Rachel Thomas (b.1857)
A Taste of Life on a Victorian Farm
