Thomas R. Phillips
Successful architect of valleys life
Thomas Richards Phillips was our 2nd great-uncle and an elder brother of our great-grandfather John Phillips. Thomas was born in St Brides on the 8th January 1858, the third child of Phillip and Mary, owners of Greenmoor Farm on the Gwent Levels. He was followed by five further children: John 1860 (our great-grandfather), William 1861, David 1863, Mary 1865, and Rees 1867.
Altthough attendance at school wasn’t yet compulsory, Thomas and his siblings were all well educated at the mixed St Brides Board School. Thomas was a bright pupil and after school he combined helping on the family farm with studying architecture. He appears on both the 1861 and 1871 census living at home with his family.
The 1881 census showed that Thomas has embarked on a career outside of farming, he is still living at Greenmoor Farm but working as an Architect’s Assistant. Just five years later Thomas opened his own architect practice in Pontypridd. It was based at the Old Bank Chambers on Market Street, a bustling location in the heart of the town. We don’t know why Thomas choose to practice in Pontypridd, some 30 miles from home, but records show that he retained the address for 50 years.
On the 1891 census Thomas was living alone at a villa in Llanwonno, an isolated rural hamlet situated high in the hills above Pontypridd. It is situated between the historic mining valleys of the Rhondda and the Cynon. There was little there, except a pub, church, a few scattered farms, and outstanding views of valleys below; but we don’t think it was the views that attracted Thomas to Llanwonno. He was courting Annie Llewellyn, a local girl from a prominent family.
Annie was the daughter of David Llewellyn, a Gentleman Farmer, and Justice of the Peace who owned Darwonno Farm, located deep in the surrounding woods. On 22nd October 1891 Thomas married Annie Llewellyn at St Gwynno’s Church in Llanwonno, his younger brother Rees was a witness at the ceremony. Shortly after the marriage the newlyweds moved to Whitchurch in Cardiff and took a short term tenancy at Ty-Clyd Farm, which was facing future redevelopment. Unusually, Thomas decided to combine the duties of farming with practicing as an architect in Pontypridd.
Their first son Thomas Glyn Llewellyn Phillips, known as Glyn, was born at the farm in 1894. For the baptism on 10th July they returned to St Gwynno’s Church in Llanwonno. Three further children followed; Enid Ann Phillips 1896, Olive May Phillips 1900, and David Evan Llewellyn Phillips in 1901, all three were born at the farm and baptised at the parish church in Whitchurch. On the 1901 census Thomas and Annie are running Ty-Clyd Farm with the assistance of five members of staff including a cook, nurse, housemaid and two farmworkers.
In August 1889 part of the Velindre Estate was offered to Cardiff Council as a site for a proposed new Lunatic Asylum, as they when then called. The 120 acre site included Ty-Clyd Farm as well as Llwyn Farm and an old mansion house. Construction took place between 1902-1908 to the designs of G. H. Oatley and W. S. Skinner. It was a vast and labyrinthine complex spread over 120 acres of land between the Taff Vale Railway and the Glamorgan Canal.
The hospital was dominated by a tall water tower and chimney tower, topped by a loggia with a copper dome. Ty-Clyd farmhouse and some of the farmland was retained and operated as an asylum farm, providing a vital source of therapy for the patients until a change in national policy in 1954.
The Phillips family left the farm when construction started and moved to 45 Park Place, a desirable property in the centre of Cardiff. Thomas was now concentrating fully on his thriving architect practice. The 1911 census shows the family settled at their new home. Thomas is 56 and Annie 48 years old. Gyn is boarding at the private Malvern College in Worcestershire and Enid is also away studying, the two younger children are at school locally. Sisters Hannah and Lizzie Daniel are working at Park Place as cook and general servant.
On 26th March 1917 tragedy hit the Phillips household when their eldest son Glyn was killed in the war. Following his education at Malvern, Glyn studied at the School of Mines in Treforest and secured an apprenticeship with D. Hannah, a mining engineer for Ferndale Collieries. Glyn also enlisted as a Mining Engineer in the 5th Battalion, Welsh Regiment, a territorial force based in Pontypridd. When WWI broke out Glyn was mobilised and served as a 2nd Lieutenant and later as a Captain in the Middle East.
Captain Thomas ‘Glyn’ Phillips of the Welsh Regiment was killed in action whilst leading his men at the Battle of Gaza, Palestine on the 26th March 1917. He was 23 years of age. Letters of commiseration from comrades following his death spoke volumes about the brave young man from Cardiff. His family ensued his sacrifice wouldn’t be forgotten and arranged for a plaque and stained glass windows to be added to their local church. Read more about the story of Glyn’s life here.
By the time of the 1921 census Thomas was 63 but still working full time as a successful architect and surveyor from his practice in Pontypridd. Daughters Edid 25 and Olive 21 were both unmarried and helping with home duties. David was 19 and now working as a clerk for At P Samuel & Co Shipowners Docks in Cardiff. Sisters Hannah and Elizabeth Daniel were still working for the family and lived with them at 45 Park Place. The census also recorded that both Thomas and Annie were Welsh speakers.
Just two years after the census Annie Pillips died on 7TH July 1923, she was 60 years of age. Following a large funeral service she was buried at Cathays Cemetery in an impressive marble grave. The cemetery is only one mile from Park Place. At 110 acres it is the third largest cemetery in the United Kingdom and is listed on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales. Thomas continued to live in the home they had shared, he was supported by household staff and in his later years a chauffeur.
Thomas worked as an architect for many years trading as T.R. Phillips, he focussed mainly on projects in the Welsh valleys. Some of the original plans drawn up by Thomas are held by the Glamorgan Archives Service. In Stanleytown he worked on 80 iconic linear terraced houses which were erected by the Stanley Building-club in 1895. He also worked with WH Jenkins on a chapel for Penryhs Cemetery. However, he was mainly known for designing large hotels and pubs. Amongst his projects were the Duke of York Hotel in Tylorstown, Commercial Hotel in Cilfynydd, and Castle Ivor in Hopkinstown.
Thomas also had wider business interests, for 50 years he was the secretary and surveyor to the Welsh Economic Building Society and also served as a director. Other appointments included director of the Ely Brewing Company, the Cardiff Malting Company, and the Pontypridd Freehold Land and Building Company. Thomas Phillips was also a Past-Master of the Merlin and the Hendre Lodges of Freemasons. We also found a record of Thomas purchasing property at auction including three houses on Danygraig Street in Pontypridd during 1902.
The three surviving children of Thomas and Annie all went on to have long and fulfilling lives. David remained living at Park Place with his father and trained as Chartered Accountant. After qualifying he spent his working life as a respected accountant for some of Cardiff’s largest businesses. He never married and later lived at 33 Heol-y-Forlan, Whitchurch. David died in 1974, aged 72 and was buried at Cathays Cemetery with his parents.
Eldest daughter Enid married engineer William Brynmor Davies in 1924. They spent their lives at Severn Road in the seaside town of Porthcawl and raised a daughter, named Georgia Mary Davies. William later served as a Justice of the Peace, as his father had before him. Enid died in 1970 age 74 and is buried in the town.
Finally we have Olive who married Mechanical Engineer Harold John Allcock in 1926. Harold enjoyed a successful career and wrote a book called ‘The Nomogram’. They lived in London near Regents Park where they had a daughter named Joan. Following Harold’s premature death in 1947, Olive moved to an apartment in Chelsea where she spent her later years. She died in 1970 aged 69. All three of the Phillips children left sizeable estates.
Thomas Richards Phillips died on 24th January 1941 in Cardiff, he was 84. Probate was issued 3rd June 1941 and covered an estate worth around £2.4 million today. With many of the buildings he designed still in use, Thomas left an indelible mark on the landscapes of the Valleys. The chief mourners at his funeral included his son and daughters and their spouses and two of his surviving brothers, Rees and David Phillips. Amongst the many floral tributes were ones from the Ely Brewery Company and Cardiff Malting Company.
He was buried with Annie at Cathays Cemetery, the grave reads: In Loving Memory of Annie, Beloved wife of Thomas Richards Phillip 45 Park Place, Cardiff, Who died July 7th 1923, in her 61st year. Also Thomas Richards Phillips Who died Jan. 24th 1941, in his 84th year.
