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A message from Alwyn Griffiths of Celticos Tours:-

Celticos are progressing very nicely in creating the AmeriCymru trail tour and finding some interesting links and stories but are finding difficulties in finding any connections with one particular topic. This relates to the copper minning industry on Anglesey, please visit http://www.celticos.com/content/anglesey-copper-kingdom-trail

They are looking for any information about anybody who was involved or working in this industry who then emigrated to North America, please contact us if you have any information.

Hwyl

Alwyn

If you have any info please comment below or contact Alwyn Griffiths at Celticos Tours

Diolch

" Jack stood in the sparsely populated supermarket cafeteria contemplating the best way to kill his mother. He eventually settled on a stake through the heart
swiftly followed by a generous sprinkling of holy water. Rose would happily
minister the water, holy or otherwise. "

It turned out Jack was a movie producer, semi-retired. We traded a few names. He thought hed met Hugo, probably at an awards evening. Adrienne had moved over to the glass wall, leaning against it, staring out into the colonnaded terrace. She turned, aware that I was watching her, catching my eye and smiling.
And Jimbo? Jack said. Jimbo Johnson? I shook my head.
I dont think so.
A legend, Jack said. You should look him up, tell him I sent you. He gestured at Adrienne and she refilled our glasses. Come to that, Ill be talking to him this week, I could ask him down, the two of you could meet.
Im going to fuck your wife, I said to Jack, breathing the words into the rim of my glass, the champagne effervescing under my nose like the onset of laughter.
chris keil 2013

When I read this I wanted to know what happened next. Then I wished I'd written it myself! I did ask Chris if I could use it the next time I went to my local pub. He graciously consented. I did explain I would have to substitute 'semi retired hobbler' for 'movie producer' and 'lager' for 'chamapagne' as well as make bloody sure the hobbler in question didn't hear me!

Born on this day 1752  in Lambeth, London (to Welsh parents originating from Carmarthen)

John Nash - who is one of Britain's most famous architects.  Examples of his work include the state rooms and western front of Buckingham Palace, Regents Park, Marble Arch, Trafalgar Square, Brighton's Royal pavilion, the Gaol's of Carmarthen, Cardigan and Hereford, Old College (Aberystwyth University) and repairs to St Davids cathedral.

Nash established his own architectural practice in 1777 but was declared bankrupt in 1783.   Following this, he moved to Carmarthen and seems initially to have been a supplier of building materials before becoming a prolific architect, building contractor and landscape garden designer in the South Wales area.  In 1797, he returned to London and soon came to the attention of the Prince Regent (later King GeorgeIV), who became an admirer of his neo-classical style and appointed him Surveyor General of Woods, Forests, Parks and Chases in 1806.  His contributions to the face of London are considered immense and it was said of him that "every part of the city was touched by his hand"  

Dolwyddelan Castle (Castell Dolwyddelan) is located near the village of Dolwyddelan in Conwy, between Blaenau Ffestiniog and Betws y Coed. It was built by Llywelyn ap Iorwerth (Llywelyn the Great) in the 13th century as a Snowdonian stronghold guarding one the main routes through North Wales. 

On 18th January 1283, it was captured by the forces of Edward I of England during his conquest of Wales.  After which it was modified and strengthened and a second tower added.  It remained occupied by an English garrison until 1290, when because of their inaccessibility by sea, inland castles such as Dolwyddelan became obsolete.

On January 18th 1486, the Royal Houses of Lancaster and York were united by the marriage of Henry VII to Elizabeth of York, the eldest daughter of Edward IV, thus ending the divisive War of the Roses. The unification of the houses of York and Lancaster by this marriage was symbolized by the heraldic emblem of the Tudor Rose, which combined the white rose of York and the red rose of Lancaster.

Henry was born at Pembroke Castle in 1457 and had a tenuous claim to English throne, as his mother, Margaret Beaufort was a great, great-granddaughter of King Edward III. During Henry's early years, the War of the Roses was ongoing and when Edward IV, a Yorkist became King of England in 1461, Henry although only four years old was seen as a rival claimant from the House of Lancaster and therefore in danger of his life. He was taken to Brittany by his uncle Jasper Tudor to seek refuge and remained there until 1485 when he returned to claim the throne from the then king Richard III. He landed at Dale in Pembrokeshire and made capital out of his Welsh ancestry by marching under the Red Dragon banner of Cadwaladr, attracting military support as he marched through Wales on his way to the Battle of Bosworth, at which on August 22nd 1485, he defeated Richard and seized the crown.

After the political upheavals of the Wars of the Roses, Welsh people hoped that Henry's reign would put an end to the oppression that they had suffered for centuries, but historians are divided on the actual impact his reign had on Wales as he is not reported to have set foot in Wales after his coronation.

Born on this day 1752 in Hawarden, Flintshire.

Josiah Boydell - publisher and painter, who established the Boydell Shakespeare Gallery,  a project that illustrated Shakespeare's plays and showcased the talents of British painters and engravers.

Boydell moved to London at the age of 14, where he learned painting from Benjamin West and mezzotint engraving from Richard Earlom.  He exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1772 and 1779 and one of his major early tasks was to draw the picture collection of Sir Robert Walpole prior to the export of the pictures to Catherine the Great of Russia. 

Born on this day 1809 in Swansea 

John Gwyn Jeffreys - conchologist (the study of mollusc shells) and malacologist (the study of molluscs).  He was the author of a number of books and articles on conchology and the mechanics of sea dredging. 

 Jeffreys was educated in Swansea at the Bishop Gore School (Swansea Grammar School), before going to London, where he qualified as a barrister but his greater passion was for conchology, becoming a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1840.  On his retirement in 1856, he began a series of dredging and deep sea expeditions to the seas around Britain, Ireland, Greenland, America and Norway, discovering ten new species of mollusc.  Later in life, he became  J.P. for Hertford and High Sheriff of Herefordshire for 1877.

On 18th January 1884, Dr William Price was arrested for attempting to cremate his dead baby son, Iesu Grist, at Llantrisant.  he was later tried at Cardiff Assizes but acquitted on the grounds that cremation was not contrary to law, he was, therefore, able to carry out the ceremony on 14th March.

Born on this day 1920 in Cardiff 

Paul Dickson - award winning   director in film, television and advertising.

Dickson is best remembered for two remarkable postwar documentaries, The Undefeated (1950) and David (1951, the Welsh contribution to the Festival of Britain).  The Avengers and Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) were among his best-known television credits.

Born on this day 1863 in Chorlton on Medlock, Manchester (of Welsh parents) 

David Lloyd George 

Born David George, his father William George was a  schoolmaster who died when David was three, so his mother Elizabeth took him and his brother Richard  to her native Llanystumdwy, Caernarfonshire, where he was strongly influenced by his uncle Richard Lloyd, a minister and political activist in North Wales, David later adding his uncle's surname to his own, to become David Lloyd George.  

Lloyd George became a solicitor, in 1884 and also took an active part in local politics, he was a lifelong Welsh nationalist and joined the Liberal Party, who after being  badly defeated in 1886, were looking for a new generation of young enthusiastic politicians, Lloyd George fitted the bill and rose rapidly through the ranks, firstly becoming the Liberal MP for Carnarvon Boroughs in 1890, before being made chancellor of the exchequer by Herbert Asquith in 1908.  The following year he introduced his famous "Peoples Budget" imposing increased taxes on the nation's rich landowners, who were well represented in the House of Lords and vetoed the budget.  The budget eventually passed, which resulted in the House of Lords losing their power of veto.

During the early stages of World War One, Lloyd George was put in charge of the  Ministry of Munitions then made secretary for war and finally prime minister at the head of a coalition government with the Conservatives and after the successful conclusion of the war, famously became known as "the man who won the war".  He was politically untouchable, even though he was a Liberal leading a predominantly Conservative party.  From 1919 to 1922, however, his government steadily weakened and there was increased conservative hostility towards Lloyd George personally who they accused of arrogance and disliked his strong support of Irish Home Rule, however, the botched Chanak Crisis of 1922 was the final straw and the Conservatives revolted, forcing Lloyd George to resign.

During World War Two, he twice turned down offers from Churchill to join the wartime cabinet and became alienated because of his support for the policy of appeasement with Germany.  

He married Margaret (Maggie) Owen, a local farmer's daughter, in 1888 who refused to live in London preferring to live in Criccieth and raise their five children.  Lloyd George's affairs with other women were notorious, including his London secretary Frances Stevenson who he married in 1943, two years after Margaret's death.  He was made Earl Lloyd George of Dwyfor in 1944 and died on 26th March 1945, 

Although he is remembered mostly for his contribution to winning the First World War, he is also regarded as one of the great reforming British chancellors of the 20th century and his legacy includes, laying the foundation of the welfare state, increasing council house building, improving pensions and raising the school leaving to 14.  Lloyd George possessed eloquence; extraordinary charm and persuasiveness and was a revered and well-respected opponent in the Houses of Parliament where he was nicknamed the "Welsh Wizard".  

Following the death of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd in 1282, Wales was annexed by King Edward I of England and in 1293, Sir Roger de Puleston was appointed High Sheriff of Anglesey, tasked with imposing new English taxes (one fifteenth of all moveables).  These were unsurprisingly unpopular with the Welsh and led to discontent.  On 17th January 1294 following a raid on Caernarvon borough by de Puleston, a riot ensued during which de Puleston was seized and put to death.  

On 17th January 1941, 58 people were killed in air raids on Swansea. 

Born on this day 1940 in Ynysybwl.

Leighton Rees -  the first ever World Professional Darts Champion and also a member of the inaugural World Darts Cup winning team in 1977.  

The Blizzard of 1881 (17–18 January 1881) was one of the most severe blizzards ever to hit Wales.  At least five people froze to death and all transport and industry came to a standstill.

A low-pressure system rapidly developed in the English Channel, causing snowfalls and as the system deepened and moved through the Channel, gale force easterly winds caused blizzards and drifts of snow, tens of feet high.

Born on this day 1909 in Abertillery.

Sandy Griffiths - football referee who was the first Welshman to referee, an international at Wembley,  an FA Cup Final, (the 1953 FA Cup Final, otherwise known as the Matthews Final) and to appear in a World Cup final ( as a linesman, when West Germany beat Hungary in the 1954 final)  

On 17th January 1920, in a 19-5 win over England, Jerry Shea achieved the first international scoring "Full House"; try, penalty goal, conversion and drop goal.

Shea, born in Newport (12 August 1892 – 30 June 1947) was a Welsh international dual-code rugby centre, who was also an accomplished swimmer and professional boxer.

Buried in the tax law changes just recently passed by Congress is the reinstatement for 2013 only of a provision that benefits taxpayers age 70 and older who have IRA money. Normally, all withdrawals from an IRA are taxed as ordinary income. This not only increases your tax bill but also increases your AGI (Adjusted Gross Income) which sometimes causes other tax increases.

Charitable contributions can be deducted on Schedule A if the total of itemized deductions exceeds the standard deduction. Many older persons find they save money with the standard deduction as they don't have state income taxes, mortgage interest, etc.

This means charitable contributions don't reduce tax bills. Every person's individual situation is different. This article is NOT intended to provide tax advice which you should obtain from your tax advisor. It is intended to get you to focus on this special break for 2013 and discuss it with your tax advisor.

To take advantage of this, you must notify your IRA custodian that you want to make a withdrawal and have it payable to a charity, such as the Meriwether Lewis Memorial Eisteddfod Foundation (MLMEF http://www.mlmef.org/ ) or the Welsh North American Association (WNAA www.nafow.org ). That withdrawal does count toward your RMD (Required Minimum Distribution) but will NOT be included in your AGI. Thus, you get the benefit of a tax deduction without having to itemize. Your AGI is also lower than it would otherwise be which may benefit you.

To make a contribution to the MLMEF, contact Ceri Shaw via Americymru or at americymru@gmail.com.

Contributions to the WNAA should be made payable to the WNAA and sent to PO Box 1054 Trumansburg, NY 14886. Please send a separate letter to the WNAA telling us what you are doing. You should indicate whether you want your contribution used for expenses related to this year's Festival to be held in Toronto or as an addition to our Endowment Fund. If you would like your contribution to be used for a specific sponsorship (Eisteddfod prize, seminar, etc.) please call our Executive Secretary, Dr. Megan Williams, at 607-279-7402 to discuss sponsorship opportunities.

Thank you for your continued support of your Welsh organizations!

On 16th January 1840, John Frost, Zephaniah Williams and William Jones were all found guilty of high treason for taking part in the Newport Chartists Riot and sentenced to hanging, drawing and quartering, the last time such a sentence was issued in the UK.  The severity of the sentences shocked many people and protests led to it being commuted to transportation for life.

When they received a total pardon in 1856. Jones stayed in Australia as a watchmaker and Williams stayed in Tasmania, where he subsequently made his fortune discovering coal.   However, John Frost, who had worked as a school teacher in Tasmania, returned to Britain, where he received a triumphant welcome in Newport and by the time of his death in 1877, the majority the reforms for which the Chartists had campaigned were enshrined in law.  

Cymru Fydd

After years of dormancy Welsh nationalism began to re-emerge in the second half of the nineteenth century and there were calls from Liberals and Welsh Nationalists for specific bills of Parliament for Wales and especially Home Rule.  The Cymru Fydd movement was founded in 1886 by some prominent London Welsh, including J. E. Lloyd, O. M. Edwards, T. E. Ellis, Beriah Gwynfe Evans and Alfred Thomas, with the main objective of self-government for Wales.

 It also became the vehicle for the political ambition of Lloyd George but collapsed after an unsuccessful attempt by him to merge with the South Wales Liberal Federation on 16th January 1896 in Newport, at which he was howled down and refused permission to speak.  After the collapse, Lloyd George became disillusioned and switched his attention to the British matters and as T.E. Ellis had already joined the Government, Cymru Fydd lost most of its impetus.   

Born on this day 1958 in Pill, Newport.

Tony Pulis former professional soccer player, but best known as a manager. Pulis has a reputation for the long ball style of play and achieving results on small budgets. He is best known for taking Stoke City to the Premier League in the 2007–08 season and is currently the head coach of West Bromwich Albion.  

Born on this day 1929 in Brecon 

Walley Barnes - former Welsh soccer international and manager 

Barnes played his club football mainly for Arsenal and was part of their Championship-winning side in 1947-48 and FA Cup winning side in 1949-50.  After retiring from playing, Barnes worked as a presenter for the BBC, covering FA Cup finals and along with Kenneth Wolstenholme in 1964, was one of the commentators for Match of the Day.  He also provided expert opinion to Wolstenholme during the famous live commentary to the 1996 World Cup final of England versus Germany.  

Born on this day 1741 in Bodvel, Caernarvonshire

Hester Thrale - a prolific and versatile writer, remembered primarily for being a biographer and friend of the famous writer Samuel Johnson and Brecon-born actress Sarah Siddons.  She was also the author of works on English grammar and European history,  one of the first women to attempt these genres, 

Hester who was descended from Henry VII was described as being only 4 feet, 11 inches tall, with an animated face, touched with rouge.   She was clever, vivacious, independent, with a sensitive nature and a good horsewoman.  Her handwriting was delicate and was skilled in languages reading Latin, French, Italian, and Spanish.  In 1763, she married a wealthy brewer named Henry Thrale and was able to enter London society and as a result became celebrated for her connections with eminent men including Samuel Johnson, becoming closest friend and confidante.  Johnson visited Wales in Thrale's company on several occasions.  In 1781 Thrale died, and his wife was left a wealthy widow. To Johnson's dismay, she married Gabriel Piozzi, an Italian singer and composer and set off for Italy.  Johnson openly disapproved and the resulting estrangement saddened his last months of life.

Born on this day 1862 in St Pancras, London (of Welsh parents)  

Leifchild Stratten Leif-Jones, 1st Baron Rhayader - MP and member of the Privy Council, best remembered as a temperance leader and as such he was often  referred to as 'Tea-leaf Jones'. He was President of the United Kingdom Alliance (UKA), the leading British prohibitionist organisation, between 1906 and 1932.

     

On 16th January 1909 Tannatt Edgeworth David led the first expedition which successfully reached the Magnetic South Pole.  David, who was born at St. Fagan’s rectory, near Cardiff in 1858 was also a geologist noted for his monumental study of the geology of Australia.

The WBU Green Pointed Simultaneous Pairs events are held twice a year, in Spring and Autumn. This event has been expanded to a full five days, with different hands each day so players can play every day if they wish! Commentaries and travellers are sent out to the participating clubs as normal - the WBU is fortunate to have some very good volunteer commentators who write these for your interest and enjoyment !

The top award is 1 Green (or Red, depending on which country you are in) point and 600 local points - the Green points go to the top 10% and the local points to the top 1/3rd of the field. Of course the top awards will have the local points reduced slightly by the green point award, so the winners will get 1 GP and 500 LPs. The top 2.5% of the field will get 1 Green point, the next 2.5% will be 0.75, for the next 2.5% it goes to 0.5 and the final 2.5% get .25 - the black awards will be reduced by 100, 75, 50, and 25 respectively.

The funds raised from the Autumn Pairs will help support the Wales Air Ambulance and the WBU and its work with the development of bridge in Wales, and the funds from the Spring Pairs are used to help with the administration of the WBU and to support its work in Wales.

The WBU hopes that as many clubs as possible will join them for these events, which are to help raise funds for the Union - they are sure you will appreciate that as a small organisation, it is a case of "every little helps" !

The events are not restricted to Welsh clubs - all are welcome to join in and play these events.

Please click here Ecats Bridge to view contact details if you wish to participate, giving your name, your club name and (if you think you are not already on our database) your full contact details. Do join us for these fun events if you can!

If you want more information about the Welsh Bridge Union, please have a look at their Website Welsh Bridge Union

Born on this day 1893 in Cardiff

David Ivor Davies, who was better known as Ivor Novello - composer, singer and actor who was one of the 20th century's most popular entertainers.

 The songs that he is best remembered for, are "Keep the Home Fires Burning", enormously popular during the First World War and ‘ We'll gather lilacs’, written as World War II drew to its close.

After the war, Novello wrote music for several successful musical comedies and briefly went to Hollywood, but after falling out with the director, D.W Griffith, he returned to Britain where his success continued, with him writing his own West End musicals.

Novello died in 1951 and the Ivor Novello Awards for songwriting were established in 1955 in his memory.  In St Paul's, Covent Garden, known as the actors' church, a panel was installed to commemorate him and to mark the 21st anniversary of his death, a memorial stone was unveiled in St Paul's Cathedral.  

Born on this day 1810 in Brecon  

John Evan Thomas,  sculptor, notable for his sculpture in Brecknock Museum of the Death of Tewdrig, which is associated with the Welsh national revival of the 1830s and 1840s and  depicts the dying fifth-century king Tewdrig, saint of Glamorgan and for his two bronze statues in the House of Lords, of Henry de Loundres and William, Earl of Pembroke, both signees of Magna Carta. 

Thomas studied in London and Europe, before returning to Brecon and becoming High Sheriff of Brecknockshire, his many works include those in Wales, such as the Duke of Wellington in the centre of Brecon, his statuary in Brecon Cathedral, Sir Charles Morgan at Newport, the John Henry Vivian at Swansea, the 1865 Prince Consort on Castle Heights, Tenby and the Second Marquess of Bute in Cardiff city centre.  

In January 1870, Francis Kilvert began his famous diary, 

Francis Kilvert was an English clergyman, who became a rural curate in Langley Burrell, Wiltshire and Clyro, Radnorshire, before becoming Vicar of St Harmon, Radnorshire and Bredwardine, Herefordshire.  During this time he kept a diary, which when published over fifty years after his death, give an enchanting portrait of rural Britain in the 19th century.

There is now a Francis Kilvert Society, which visits places mentioned in the diaries and also places where he lived.  A John Betjeman BBC television documentary on Kilvert, called Vicar of this Parish, was shown in 1976 and led to Kilvert's Diary being dramatised on British television between 1977 and 1978.  

Born on this day 1918 in Newport

Billy Lucas - Welsh international football player in the late 1940s and 1950s, who made in excess of 400 appearances for Swindon Town, Swansea Town and Newport County.  After his retirement from playing, he managed both Newport County and Swansea Town.  

Born on this day 1946 in Cardiff.

Roger Davis - county cricketer who played for Glamorgan for 13 years as an all-rounder, scoring over 7,000 runs and taking 241 wickets in first-class cricket. In 1968, at Swansea, he fell over the boundary rope, whilst catching the ball, during Gary Sober's breaking  six sixes in one over and became headline news in 1971 when he survived being hit on the head by a ball, which caused his heart and breathing to stop.

HOT NEWS!

Flirting at the Funeral (Cillian Press) by Chris Keil is now available in Kindle edition on amazon worldwide!

But the paperback is a beautiful object - you have to have that too!

And dont forget to check out: