David Thomas was the youngest son of William Webster Thomas (known as Will) and Hannah Victoria Myra Thomas, née Bott.

Scroll down to see picture galleries and biographical information for:

Will Thomas (grandad)

Hannah Bott (grandma)

Hannah, Will & children (family photos)

Will’s family (Will’s parents & siblings)

Hannah’s family (Hannah’s parents & siblings)

Click on the photos in each gallery for larger images.

Will Thomas

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William Webster Thomas was born on 27th February 1901 at 5 Chapel Street, Pontlottyn, in the Rhymney Valley. He was the eldest of the 12 children of coal miner Lewis Thomas and his wife Catherine, née Edmunds. (See the section below on Will’s family.)

He started work for the Tredegar Iron & Coal Company on 1st February 1915 – not quite aged 14 – and was there for just over two years before leaving to work at somewhere called Tynewydd.

Known to family as Will, he joined the Royal Artillery on 19th February 2019 – enlisting at Cardiff just before his 18th birthday.

He spent six years “under colours” as a member of the regular army, including serving in Palestine and reaching the rank of Lance Bombardier. (See the Hannah, Will & children section below regarding married life.)

Will left the regular Army on 18th February 1925 and was transferred to the Army Reserve, of which he was a member until his discharge on 18th February 1931 (a few days before his 30th birthday).

Shortly after leaving the regular Army (22nd June 1925), Will joined the Metropolitan Police with the warrant number 113921. He stayed in the force for the rest of his life and at the time of his death was stationed at Deptford as a PC in M Division.

PC357 Will Thomas died at Farnborough Hospital on 18th November 1939, aged just 38. His funeral was held at Shooters Hill (see newspaper cutting in images above) and he was buried in Greenwich Cemetery in grave number 1358.

How he came to die so young is uncertain. My memory (of stories told by my father and others) is that Will was hit on the head by an intruder while investigating reports of a burglary and died some time after as a result.

However, my eldest sister thought he died as the result of heart problems (which caused my own dad to panic when he was diagnosed with heart failure). I’ve also seen a story that Will’s death came after he tried to jump over some railings while chasing a suspect but his wedding ring caught on a spike and he was injured in a fall.

Hannah Bott

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Hannah Victoria Myra Bott was born on 8th February 1901 at Woolwich, London. She was the fifth of the six daughters of Frederick Bott and Frances Evans.

Although born in London, it appears Hannah spent some of childhood at Ogmore Vale, north of Bridgend, in South Wales (see school picture below). Her uncle Benjamin (Frances Bott’s brother) lived in Ogmore Vale, with his wife Harriet, so it seems likely this is who she lived with during some of her childhood.

However, the 1911 census shows her living in Plumstead, and she was at school here until leaving aged 14. Hannah’s school report highlights the fact that she was elected head prefect following a school vote.

She continued to live in Woolwich after her marriage to Will – census record show two addresses in Westhorne Avenue, with an address in Middle Park Avenue in between.

Hannah was widowed in 1939, at the age of 38, after nearly 16 years of marriage. She remarried on 11th February 1961 at Greenwich to Niels Magnus Anderson (1884-1972) – who I vaguely remember being called ‘Uncle Andy’. (My sister Megan recalls him as ‘Grandad Andy’ and says he was a neighbour of the Thomases for many years.)

Hannah died at Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup, on 10th October 1973. She was 72.

Hannah, Will & children

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On 5th January 1924, “bachelor soldier” William Webster Thomas married Hannah Victoria Myra Bott at All Saints Church in Shooters Hill, London.

Their first child, Gwenda Frances Ceridwen, was born in 1924, followed by sons Lewis Webster in 1926, Ivor Evans in 1930 and David William in 1935.

Will’s family

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William Webster Thomas was the son of Lewis John Thomas, who was born at the Rhymney Inn, “Llechrhyd” on 26th December 1878. (The hamlet of Llechryd is on the Heads of the Valleys road just north of Rhymney.)

Lewis John Thomas (1878-1932) was the son of Lewis Thomas (1845-1881), also a coal miner, and Elizabeth ‘Eliza’ Webster (1847-1916) – who married in the parish church at Bedwellty on 22nd April 1867.

Lewis John Thomas married Catherine Edmunds (1882-1958), the eldest of two daughters of William Edmunds (1850-1856) and Catherine Rist (1857-1932).

William Webster was their first child and was followed by Margaret May (15th May 1902 – 15th February 1911), Eliza Jane (born 4th February 1904) and Catherine ‘Cassie’ (born 8th February 1906).

Next came Bronwen (1908-1987), Thomas ‘Tom’ (1910-1975), Lewis ‘Ron’ (1912-2001), David ‘Dorrian’ (1915-1991), Mary ‘Nancy’ (b1917), Myrddyn (1920-1995), Olive (1923-2017) and Rita (1926-1979).

Hannah’s family

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FRED BOTT

Hannah’s father, Frederick ‘Fred’ Bott, was born in March 1867 at Naseby, Northamptonshire.

He was the son of farm labourer Shadrach Bott – who was also known as Bodfish (see below) and Hannah Cornish (1831-1920), who married in the parish church at Naseby in 1848.

Fred was the eighth of ten children (three daughters and seven sons) born to Shadrach and Hannah between 1849 and 1873. (The five eldest surviving children all appear to have been christened together on 30th March 1862 in Naseby.)

Fred Bott first appears in the 1871 census in Naseby – when he was four years old and listed as “scholar”. In the 1881 census he appears as ‘Fredk Bott’, a “servant” living with a Naseby family called Haddon (who had a 130 acre farm).

At some stage he moved to London – the 1891 census lists him as a groom and gardener, living at “The Orchard” in Lewisham.

On 10th October that year, aged 26, he married Frances Evans in Naseby parish church. The register lists Fred as a gardener living in Blackheath.

Frances gave her age as 28, although she was actually 30, and her place of residence as Naseby. There are a couple of photos (see below) of Frances as a young woman taken at a studio in Leicester, which was about 20 miles away, so it’s probable she was working in service in the Naseby area.

The couple’s first daughter, Asenath Frances, was born in 1892, followed by Catherine Maud (1895), Evelina Florence (1898), Myra (1900 – died in infancy), Hannah Victoria Myra (1901) and Olive (1902).

By 1901 the family were living in Plumstead, with Fred working as a gardener. By 1911 the census has him listed as a “servant” employed by the Royal Military Academy – presumably at their then base in Woolwich, less than two miles away.

But although the family home was in London, part of their time was obviously spent in Wales. The place of birth for the two older girls is listed as Pembrokeshire and neither Evelina or Hannah are listed as being with their parents in the 1901 census.

Fred died in September 1938, aged 71, at Eglinton Road, Woolwich.

FRANCES EVANS

Frances Ceridwen Evans, born 26th March 1861 at St Issells in Saundersfoot, Pembrokeshire, was the 11th of 16 children by Keziah Morris (1824-1888) and farm labourer Walter Evans (1820-1893).

Walter was the son of Josiah Evans (1773-1872) and Rahamach Williams (1787-1880) of Llanboidy, Carmarthenshire. Keziah’s parents were Thomas and Sarah Morris. Walter and Keziah married in 1844.

Their other children (many of whom died in infancy) were: Sarah (born 1844), Elizabeth (1845), Acenath (1847-1881), Hannah (1849), David (1850), Catherine (1853), Mary (1855), Martha (1857), Benjamin (1858-1908), Ann (1860), Walter (1864), Thomas (1865), John (1867), Keziah (1869) and Edith (1871).

Frances was known as Fanny and the 1881 census shows that at the age of 20 she was working as a servant at No 6. The Esplanade, Tenby, with her sister Anne.

As a young woman Fanny appears to have been very sensitive about her age. The 1891 census lists her working as a parlourmaid in Marylebone, London, aged 26 rather than 30. Another 10 years on, now married to 34-year-old Fred Bott, she claimed to be 33 instead of 40.

She also appears to have lied about her age on the marriage register and described her father as a “miller”, although he’s listed as a farm labourer on cenus reports up until he reached the age of 70!

However, in the 1911 census she is correctly listed as being 50.

Frances Bott died in January 1943, aged 81. She was buried at Greenwich Cemetery on 28th January.