Catherine A.M. Phillips
Proud custodian of Cwm Farm
Catherine Alice Mary Phillips (sometimes known as Ann Phillips) was our great-grandmother, she was born at Spitty Farm in Newport in 1871 and baptised 7th December 1872. She was the daughter of Catherine and Ebenezer Phillips, both from large farming families, and grew up at Bryngwyn Farm on Nash Road in Newport.
The farm comprised of a comfortable farmhouse with 28 acres of pastureland and a valuable orchard. It was situated two miles from Nash and three miles from Newport, it was a rural area, and the farm was surrounded by countryside and numerous other farms. Today, the land where the farmhouse once stood is occupied by Nash College in the heavily built-up area of Lliswerry.
Catherine was the first of five children; she was followed by Susannah in 1873, Beatrice 1877, Ebenezer 1879 and finally Charles (known as Fred) in 1882. All of the children grew up at Bryngwyn Farm, it would have been a busy household also providing a home for Lewis Williams (grandfather) until his death, and several farm workers. Childhood may have held some challenges for the Phillips childen. Their father had several brushes with the law, usually for alcohol related issues, and was fined for not ensuring the children went to school.
We curently have no trace of Susannah after 1881, the other four Phillips children all retained close connections with farming. Beatice Phillips married a farmer named Edwin Hogg and they settled at Spitty Farm, where her mother had been born. Ebenezer Phillips married Maud Rachel Jane Morgan and they settled at Great Bullmore Farm in Caerleon. Whilst youngest brother Fred went on to succeed his father at Bryngwyn Farm, where he lived with his wife Rose.
Catherine and her siblings lost their mother in September 1896, she was only 42 years old. She left her husband Ebenezer and five children aged 14–24. Ebenezer then remarried and continued to live at Bryngwyn Farm with his second wife Kate Phillips, before he passed away on 26th January 1902, at the age of 56.
The remarriage of her father coincided with Catherine’s own marriage to John Phillips, a farmer’s son from St Brides. They married in 1900 and settled at Cwm Farm in Rogerstone when John took the tenancy. It was owned by the Tredegar Estates and had been a farm since 1730. When they first arrived at the farm they had a full-time employee Thomas Frook, a Carter, living with them.
John and Catherine had two children, John Augustus, known as Gus, was born in 1903 followed by Catherine in 1907. Catherine was helped with the children by a 14-year-old domestic servant called Elizabath Ainge from Rogerstone. Both Gus and Catherine attended school locally and received a good education. John worked hard on the farm and he achieved great success with his sheep and crops.
John and Catherine were significant figures in the local community. John served on numerous committees and held several important offices including the Chairman of the Monmouthshire Chamber of Agriculture. As a result, Cwm Farm played host to many important meetings and events and Catherine played a key role in ensuring these went well. Photos from the time suggest that Cwm Farm received a regular flow of visitors and always looked immaculate. As was common practice at the time, the front door was reserved for visitors and the family used the back door.
As the 1920s progressed Catherine started to suffer from ill health and was less mobile. Her death certificate shows that Catherine later died of Carcinoma of the Livrer. A private nurse called Mrs Williams, was hired to help with her day-to-day care. Her daughter Catherine took on more duties on the farm and Gus worked full time with his father.
Catherine died on the 4th August 1928 at Byngwyn Nursing Home in Newport, her husband was present when she died. Catherine was only 57, she left an estate worth £2401 to be managed by her husband and son. A death notice appeared in the Western Mail. Catherine was buried at St. John’s Church in Rogerstone, where the Phillips family were regular worshippers.
Her husband John retired two years after his wife’s death, he continued to live at Cwm Farm with his son and daughter-in-law until his own death in 1943. They were then reunited at St John’s Church. Catherine Jr. married in 1932 and left the farm for a new life with her husband Donald Skinner.
Catherine’s son Gus and his and wife Olive spent the rest of their lives at Cwm Farm before their deaths in 2001. They were able to purchase the farm from the Tredegar estates in 1958 which later passed to their daughter Meriol. It was noted that even in their later years, the garden at Cwm Farm was kept in pristine condition, just as Catherine would have wanted.
