The Phillips Family of Nash and Rogerstone
A potted history
The Philips Family from Nash are the maternal family of our grandmother, Catherine Skinner (n. Phillips). We started researching the family in 1806 with the birth of William Phillips and discovered a farming family with its early roots at various farms around Nash and later in Lliswerry and Rogerstone. The family history provides an interesting example of social mobility in agriculture. Within 100 years the Phillips’ progressed from being a working-class family with children entering service, to one which had family members owning land and employing staff.
William Phillips was the son of farmer Henry Phillips and his wife Ann. He was born in 1806 and baptised on 5th October. He grew up with his family on a farm in Nash where he learnt the family trade, but also acquired the skills of a Cordwainer. This is a skilled shoemaker who makes new shoes from new leather. Nash is a small village that lies about 2 miles to the south of Newport, on the Caldicot levels. The levels are a large area of land reclaimed from the sea and crossed by drainage channels and reens.
On 1st October 1834 William married Rebecca Ashfield at St Mary’s Church in Nash. Rebecca was from Ty-Du Farm in Nash was born in 1812. The couple settled at the Phillips farm and on the 1841 census have three children and are also living with William’s mother Ann, who is now widowed. They remained at the farm for several decades. William divided his time between shoe making and farming the modest 35-acre property. None of the census returns included a name for the property, but as they were neighbours of Burnt House Farm, we believe it may be Old House.
The couple had nine children, and all were baptised in the local church: John 1836, William 1838, Mary 1840, Hannah 1841, Edwin 1844, Ebenezar 1846, Eliza Anne 1849, Rebecca 1852, and Emily 1854. Of the children it was Ebenezer, our 2nd great-grandfather, who continued our family line. When we looked at the lives of the children, we found a pattern of leaving home at a young age to seek work, something that would have been normal in a working-class household.
After William Phillips died in June 1866 Rebecca left the farm and returned to her childhood home, Ty-Du Farm. It was just a short walk from Old House and with the help of her son Edwin and daughter Emily, she farmed the 12 acres until her retirement. By the 1891 census Rebecca was living at Ash Cottage in Nash with her daughter Emily, son-in-law Lewis (a local mason), and their young children. Rebecca died in 1892 and was buried on 17th April in Nash.
After growing up in Nash with his family, Ebenezer married Catherine Alice Mary Williams in 1868. Catherine was born in 1844, the daughter of Lewis Williams of Spitty Farm. The newlyweds set up home at Bryngwyn Farm on Nash Road, just two miles from Nash. It was then a rural area surrounded by countryside and numerous other farms. Today the land where the farmhouse once stood is occupied by Nash College in the built-up area of Lliswerry.
The 1881 census show the couple still at Bryngwyn Farm. The have had four children: Catherine (our great-grandmother) 1871, Susannah 1873, Beatrice 1877, and Ebenezer 1879. Catherine’s father Lewis, aged 76, is also living at the farm. By the 1891 census a final son Charles (also known as Fred) had been born in 1882, and there were three farm workers also living at the farm. Catherine Philips died in September 1896 whilst living at Bryngwyn Fam, she was only 42 years old.
Ebenezer remarried and by 1901 was at Bryngwn Farm with his second wife Kate Phillips from Kent and 19-year-old Fred. Ebenezer died the following year on 26th January 1902, he was aged 56. He lived a life of some controversy but also achieved success and influence. Ebenezer left an estate worth £4359 to John Ford Haine, farmer at Upper Lakes, and Lewis Augustus Williams, his brother-in-law, of Spitty Farm. The legacy was later used to allow his son Charles to run Bryngwyn Farm.
Susannah, the sister of our great-grandmother, died in 1890 aged just 18. Her other siblings all retained close connections with farming. Beatice Phillips married a farmer, Edwin Heckley Hogg, in 1900, and they had a daughter Alice a year later. The couple lived at various places including New House Farm in Caerwent, and by Edwin’s death in January 1946, they were living at Spitty Farm in Newport, close to Beatrice’s childhood home. Beatrice continued to live at Spitty for many years, she died in 1970. Alice married John Waters in 1927 and had two children.
Brother Ebenezer Phillips followed his father and became a farmer. He married Maud Rachel Jane Morgan, the daughter of a grocer in March 1908. He lived at Great Bullmore Farm for many years becoming a Master Farmer. Situated on Bullmore Road in Caerleon, they were close neighbours of the Skinners at Abernant Farm. Their first son was born in 1909 and named Phillip Philllips. Ebeneezer died on 10th February 1961 leaving his estate to his widow.
Youngest brother Charles ran Bryngwyn Farm after the death of his father. He married Rose in 1901 and set up home at the 100-acre farm. They had one daughter. In the 1911 census they are sharing the farm with Lewis A Williams, a farmer who was helping his nephew Charles. This was the same Lewis remembered in Ebeneezer’s will. Charles and Rose were still at Bryngwyn Farm in 1939. Charles died in 1955.
Our great-grandmother Catherine AM Phillips married farmer John R Phillips in 1900 and lived at Cwm Farm in Rogerstone. John had been born in St Brides 1860. Cwm was an historic property and had been a farm since at least 1730. They had two children, John Augustus (known as Gus) in 1903 and then our grandmother Catherine in 1907. Our great-grandmother Catherine died in August 1928 at Byngwyn Nursing Home. She left £2401 to her husband John and son Gus. John died in Jan 1943, they are buried together in Rogerstone.
The tenancy at Cwm Farm passed to Gus shortly after his marriage in 1932 to Olive Amelia Smith. In 1958 Gus was able to purchase Cwm Farm following the dissolution of the Tredegar Estate. They lived at Cwm Farm for the rest of their lives, following their deaths the farm was involved in a notable inheritance tax case.
Our Grandmother lived with Gus at Cwm Farm until 1932 when she married Donald Skinner. The wedding took place on 4 June 1932 in Rogerstone. Our grandparents then lived at Abernant Farm in Kemeys Inferior and had two children, Mary 1934 and Janet (our mother) 1937.
Donald gave up the tenancy at Abernant in 1940 and retired with his family to Langstone. Catherine continued to work and operated the local milk round for Unigate. When their youngest daughter Janet married Bernard in 1964, they purchased the house next door for the newlyweds to live in.
Our Auntie Mary married Raymond Adams in 1955 and they had had four children. Cousin Susan was born in 1962, followed by Paul in 1964, Kathyrn 1967 and Julian in 1969. The family settled in Wolverhampton, Ray worked for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. and Mary was a Physiotherapist.
Our parents, Janet and Bernard, lived at Langstone Cottage and had the three of us: Cathy, Ann-Marie, and Rosie. Our Dad was a steelworker at Llanwern and had a wide circle of friends.
Donald died in 1973 and Catherine in 1995, their ashes are buried at Langstone Church. Our father Bernard also passed away in 1995, he was buried after a packed service at the same church. Our Mum suffered with poor health and died in 2011, she was reunited with Dad in Langstone. The three of us no longer live in the area but regularly visit the church to tend the graves.