JEFFREYS, THOMAS TWYNOG (1844 - 1911), poet

Born at Tal-sarn, Llanddeusant, Carmarthenshire, 25 February 1844. From the village school he went, at about 14, to work on a family farm, Pwllygerwyn. In 1864, he became a shop-assistant at Aberdare, and became active in the literary and religious life of that town. In 1869 he married Ellen, daughter of John Evans (known as Cymro Du), an official in the Aber-nant iron-works; and when Evans moved to another of the Fothergill concerns, at Pen-y-darren (Merthyr Tydfil), Jeffreys accompanied him; but in 1875 he removed to Rhymney and opened a boot-shop. At Rhymney he was the pivot of cultural activities. His health broke down c. 1892 - he was arthritic, and though he took to commercial-travelling in the hope that an outdoor life would benefit him, the hope proved vain, and he was confined to his house for more than fifteen years before his death, on his birthday, in 1911. He published in 1904 a small volume of his poetry, Tannau Tuynog; and in 1911 a memorial volume appeared, edited by Dyfed (Evan Rees).

Author

• Emeritus Professor Robert Thomas Jenkins, (1881 - 1969)

Published date: 1959

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