Cinderhill Street was on the Southwest outskirts of Monmouth so they probably lived there because Joseph was an agricultural labourer at one time and it may have been close to where he worked. In 1850 and 1851 the family was living next to Ashfords Buildings in Drybridge Street, Wonastow Road. This is only a few hundred yards from Cinderhill Street which is where most of the family lived until the early part of the twentieth century.
Susan is shown on the census as Susannah and was working as a washerwoman. She was one of many women, (and a few men), who were unable to write, so had to make her mark. The death of Susannah Pyner occurred on the 2nd July 1853 and the death certificate states that the cause of death was 'accidentally run into by the mail cart'. As the death was registered by Thos Hughes, coroner, from Chapel House, Abergavenny there must have been an inquest. As with Joseph's second wife this death certificate also calls him John and his occupation labourer.
The Monmouthshire Beacon of Saturday July 9th 1853 carried quite a long article on the inquest into Susannah's death. On Friday 1st July Susannah walked from Chepstow to Monmouth, a distance of about 16 miles, which was quite an achievement for a 65 year old woman. On the Saturday afternoon she left her home in Over-Monnow between one and two o'clock to go to the market, and walked up Monnow Street but when she reached Mr Dyke's shop she was obliged to step into the road to pass a group of people who were talking and occupying the whole of the pavement. At this moment the mail cart from Abergavenny to the north was passing at a rapid pace and one of the shafts struck Susannah, knocking her to the ground when the cart ran over her. She was taken to the house of Mr Woollett, a local doctor, who attempted to revive her but she died within half an hour.
(There is an alternative version in the Monmouthshire Merlin. It was early evening and Susannah was returning from the Workhouse where she had collected her weekly allowance of 1 shilling. As she walked down Monnow Street she chatted to some friends and dropped a loaf and her allowance when she was struck by the mail cart. She was helped to her feet and assisted towards the house of Mr Woollett but died before she reached there. As she was married I would have expected the Workhouse to have given any allowance to her husband and the Beacon mentions testimony from Mr Woollett stating that he tried to revive her so I am inclined to disbelieve most of what is in this article, which was considerably shorter than the Beacon's.)
By the time of the 1861 census Joseph was married to Mary, (who was born 1785 in Goodrich just over the border in Herefordshire). They were still living in Cinderhill Street in a licensed lodging house, but Joseph died soon after, on 20th March 1862 of Low Fever in Drybridge Street, Monmouth, which is a continuation of Cinderhill Street. The death was registered by Mary Howells of Cinderhill Street and Joseph was working as a General Labourer at the time of his death. The death was certified, but the name of the doctor is not shown on the certificate. Mary died on the 22nd October 1867 of 'Decay of Nature', (i.e. old age), in Cinderhill Street with Charlotte Hatter registering the death of Mary who, strangely, was shown as the widow of John Pyner, not Joseph.
In 1861 Elizabeth was living in the Monmouth Workhouse, Wearhead Street with her children Alfred and Mary, (both born in the Union Workhouse). Elizabeth was not able to sign her name on the birth certificates of her children. Her third child Charles was born on 12th August 1858 in Monmouth Union Workhouse and again there is no name for the father on the certificate. Charles died on 3rd December 1858 of Cough and Rupture and his death was certified, presumably by the Union doctor although this is not stated on the certificate. The death was registered by someone whose name looks like Anne Robyds and it is possible that she was an employee of the workhouse.
Her fortunes seem to have improved after the birth of her fourth illegitimate child, Agnes, on the 20th April 1865 in the workhouse, as she met William Clayton, a gardener. They married in Hereford Register Office on the 31st July 1867 when both were living in Berrington Street near the centre of Hereford. The witnesses were William and Sarah Bond, possibly the husband and wife who lived at 12 West Street, Hereford. This William was a harness maker. William Clayton, son of William - a farm labourer like Elizabeth's father, was only 22 so Elizabeth cut about 10 years off her age so that the marriage certificate showed her as only 28, a fiction she tried, fairly successfully, to maintain for the rest of her life.
Her daughter Agnes stayed with her mother and changed her surname to that of her step-father. In 1871 they were living at Waterloo, Letton, Herefordshire and had two children, Sarah Jane in 1868 and William in late 1870. Elizabeth was working as a char-woman to help supplement the family's income. It is possible that the family had lived, for a brief time, in Monmouth as Sarah Jane may have been born there.
Another son, Albert Edward, was born in the autumn of 1873 when the family was living in Goodrich, Herefordshire, but by 1881 they had moved to Kings Pyon in Herefordshire, presumably so that William could find work as a gardener. However they did not stay in Herefordshire as the next census shows them in Cross Street, Caerleon, but only the youngest son Albert was still living with them. Agnes may had moved to Shrewsbury to become a lady's maid, and William to Trevethin to work as an ostler, but I have not identified where Sarah Jane was.
They remained in Cross Street until at least 1901 with William continuing to work as a gardener, but Albert left home after the 1891 census was taken, possibly to work in Newport as a stableman.
She died on the 13th August 1902 at 9 Cross Street, Caerleon from cirrhosis of the liver. Her husband William registered her death.
Both Margaret and William were unmarried and living in Monmouth according to the certificate of marriage. William's father was also a collier called William. The marriage took place in the Independent Chapel in Monmouth in the presence of Eliza Froen and William Jones. Margaret and the two witnesses made their mark, but William was able to sign his name. The minister was William Morgan Paull and the registrar's name was Benjamin Price.
I believe that Margaret and her husband William were living at 10 Taff Street, Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan in 1881 with their children, (all unmarried), Alfred aged 19, a coal miner like his father; Emma aged 16, no occupation shown; Elizabeth aged 11 and Sarah aged 15 who were both scholars; and Mary aged 3 months. I find it surprising that a 15 year old would still be at school in 1881, and also wonder if the youngest is actually Margaret's daughter, (she may have been a granddaughter).
Both William Henry and Emily's birth certificates show them living in Glendower Street, Monmouth and the census 2 month's later gives Lamb Yard, as the address, with William's occupation as labourer. Lamb Yard was a small yard off Glendower Street. Mary Ann died at Glendower Street on 21st October 1870 of Phthisis, (a wasting disease; tuberculosis, a disease of the throat and lungs), and the death was certified but the doctor's name is not shown on the certificate. Jeremiah Evans of Castle Hill, Monmouth registered the death on the day Mary Ann died. He made his mark on the certificate and was presumably a friend of the family.
In March 1871 William was still at Lamb('s) Yard, Glendower Street Monmouth with his children William Henry and Emily. He was working as a grocer's porter. There was also a housekeeper living in the house, presumably to look after the children. She was Jane Meredith, aged 21, who came from Lydbrook on the edge of the Forest of Dean near the River Wye. Lamb's Yard was demolished in the 1930s as part of the slum clearance. It was a very narrow yard and the residents may not have seen much daylight in their rooms.
William's second wife Mary Roberts worked in the Kings Head Hotel, Agincourt Square in 1871, this was just around the corner from Lamb's Yard. Four other staff were living in the hotel on census night and their places of birth range from Norfolk to Shropshire to Somerset. Mary was born in Clearwell in Gloucestershire, about 5 miles east of Monmouth about 1844 and was the daughter of William Roberts and Hannah Jordan. She married William by certificate in the Independent Chapel, Monmouth on 3rd September 1871 and they had 6, or possibly 7, children. The witnesses to the wedding were Morgan Lloyd, who was illiterate, and Fanny Hooper. Mary was also unable to sign her name so made her mark. (The reason for my uncertainty about the number of children is that it is possible that the birth of my Grandfather, Frederick James Pyner, was registered as Edward James.)
The children were George, born in the second quarter of 1872, Edward James, born 20 Oct 1873 at Lamb's Yard off St Mary's Street, Frederick James born 1874, Mary Elizabeth born second quarter 1876, Hubert Pyner, 1879, Annie, 1882, and the youngest child May born in 1886.
Two years after the birth of Hubert William was working as a shop and auctioneer's porter, according to the 1881 census, and the family were living at 2 Russels Place, Monmouth. George, Frederick James, Mary Elizabeth and Herbert were all noted on the census return at that address. Russels Place was also demolished in the 1930s as part of the slum clearance.
By 1891 they had moved back to Cinderhill Street to live at number 103 and William was then working as a general labourer. Mary Elizabeth, Hubert, Annie and May were still living with their parents.
When the 1901 census was taken William was a general porter, and Hubert, Annie and May were still living at 103 Cinderhill Street, Monmouth. William died on 1st September 1907 of a Cerebral Haemorrhage and Hemiplegia, a paralysis of one side of the body. The doctor who certified the death was Henry C Groves, LRCS. His son Frederick James, living at 87 Cinderhill Street, registered the death and William was living at 103 Cinderhill Street, working as a General Labourer, and apparently aged 75, but this gives the earliest year of birth on any official record and is probably incorrect.
In 1911 the census shows that Mary, and her son Hubert, were living in a three roomed house - 103 Cinderhill Street. Mary was apparently the wife of the head of household, although this was after her husband had died she probably still thought of him as the head.
Mary was still living at 103 Cinderhill Street in 1920 when her son George's widow applied to the army for her husband's campaign medals. She died two years later on the 3rd January 1922 at 64 Cinderhill Street, (possibly the home of her son Frederick). The cause of death was given as senility and cerebral thrombosis by J G Green, MB.
Alfred was born in Monmouth Union Workhouse on 14th January 1849 and his birth was registered by his mother Elizabeth two weeks later. There is no mention of the father's name on the birth certificate. Ten years later Alfred and his mother and sister Mary were either still in the Workhouse, or had been readmitted.
In 1871 he was working as a collier in Bedwellty district and was lodging at 54a Charles Street, Tredegar. The head of the household was another collier called George Rees and George and his wife had seven children so the house must have been very crowded.
He then moved to Northumberland and married Isabella Jane Wandless, the daughter of a shipwright called John Wandless and his wife Charlotte who was born in Bath. John and Charlotte had at least seven children including Isabella and the boys either became shipwrights or seamen. Alfred married Isabella in the autumn of 1874 and they had two children, Charlotte Rosina on the 26th February 1875, and Alfred Austin on the 16th December 1876. Unfortunately Isabella died in the autumn of 1878.
By 1881 Alfred was living at 44 Portland Place, Pegswood, Northumberland, still working as a coal miner but also acting as a lay preacher. To help him with the children he had employed a housekeeper called Elizabeth Henrietta Burns, (possibly related to the great Scottish poet Robbie Burns), and he married Elizabeth in late 1881.
Shortly after Alfred's second marriage the family emigrated to America where he continued lay preaching while studying to become an ordained Minister. At first they lived in Illinois, then moved to Wisconsin and New Mexico before settling in Iowa. He and Elizabeth had five children between 1882 and 1894 - John Robert, Lemuel James, Clement Alexander, Isabella Mary and finally Alice Emily.
Alfred died in 1938 in Mystic, Iowa, seventeen years after his wife Elizabeth died. Lemuel died in the early part of the First World War, before America sent troops to Europe, but the others lived until after the end of the Second World War.
He joined the Royal Engineers on 28th August 1915, probably the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers, which was the regiment based in Monmouth. He embarked for France on 2nd September 1915 to join the British Expeditionary Force and served in France until the 13th March 1917, reaching the rank of Pioneer Lance Corporal, Roadman. George was discharged from the army on 7th May 1917 in accordance with paragraph 392 XVI King's Regulations, as he was no longer physically fit for War Service. His death occurred on 28th August 1917 as a result of pulmonary tuberculosis and the death was registered by Jessie Barrow who was living in the Pyner household at 87 Cinderhill Street. This is curious as his wife seems to have been living at Woodside Cottage, presumably having moved from Chippenham Terrace where they were living when George joined up.
Although George was awarded four campaign medals only one of them could have been received in his lifetime. The medals were the Victory Medal, British War Medal, 1914-1915 Star and the Silver War Badge. The Victory Medal was awarded to eligible personnel who had served in a theatre of war; the British Medal went to army personnel who entered a theatre of war or served overseas during the war; service in France or Flanders between November 1914 and December 1915 resulted in the award of the 14-15 Star; and the War Badge was authorised in 1916 for military personnel discharged as a result of sickness or wounds contracted or received during the war.
In August 1920 Hannah applied to the army for George's campaign medals and on one of the forms stated that none of George's brothers or sisters was still alive. This was untrue since both my grandfather Frederick and his brother Hubert were alive and living in Monmouth, and his sisters may also have been alive.
Hannah died on the fourth of October 1948 of an acute obstruction and carcinoma, she had been offered an operation but had refused. She was living at 2 Hadnock Cottages in Monmouth which are probably along the Hadnock Road which runs alongside the River Wye. Her death was registered by G Thomas whose address was the same as Hannah's, so was probably her lodger. The death certificate shows her as Anna Pyner, and the widow of a general labourer called Frederick Pyner, but I believe that this information is wrong and that she was George's widow.
When he married Alice he was working as an insurance agent and living somewhere in Cinderhill Street, possibly with his parents. Three months later he and Alice were at 87 Cinderhill Street and when his first son was born in November 1901 he was still working in insurance. This did not last as he was a general labourer when his wife died and they had moved to 64 Monnow Street in Monmouth by then (1918). Frederick and Alice had 4 children, the oldest of whom is still living, (January 2004). Their second child was a daughter, Alice, who was born between April and June 1905 and named after her mother. My father, Edwin George, was born on 16th February 1911 and the youngest child, Reginald C, was born in the first quarter of 1915.
In 1911 they were still in Cinderhill Street, this time at number 64 and Frederick was working as a baker. The house was not very big as they were living in four rooms in the house next to the Cherry Tree Inn.
Alice died on the 23rd October 1918 at 64 Monnow Street, Monmouth from syncope and influenza and Frederick died on the 14th September 1932, two years after the only photograph I have of him was taken at the wedding of his daughter Alice.
May was born on the 13th October 1885 at 2 Russell Place, off Monnow Street, Monmouth and her grandmother registered the birth. In 1891 the family had moved to 103 Cinderhill Street where May was recorded as Mary, grand-daughter of William and Mary, in the census, but her mother is not shown in the census. When the 1901 census was taken they were still at 103 Cinderhill Street, but she is now shown as the daughter of William and Mary, and is working as a housemaid. She married Reginald James Tiley on the 2nd August 1909 in the Baptist Chapel, Monmouth. The marriage certificate gives her father as William Pyner, a general labourer who was deceased, and here occupation is housekeeper. Reginald was a fireman from Griffithstown, Monmouth, the son of a fishmonger's salesman. The witnesses were her mother's half sister Sarah Ann Pyner and her husband to be, Charles Richard Price Lewis, who were married just after May.
