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From: "James Evans" <>
Subject: [POWYS] Brynmawr origins of "House of Fraser"
Date: Thu, 3 Jul 2003 20:17:53 +0100


Dear List,

I'm starting to look into my family connection with the now famous chain of shops that is more commonly known as "House of Fraser" aka Howells, Jollies and Dingles etc. Apparently, as my great-grandmother tells me, it was started in the town of Brynmawr (formerly in Breconshire) by one of her maternal cousins. Her mother was Margaret Jane Dobbs nee Morris who was the daughter of Margaret Evans (md. David Morris). The Evans family came from Carmarthenshire in about 1830 and included two brothers, John (bap. 1806) and Evan (bap. 1798) - John was the father of my ancestor Margaret Evans. They lived in Bwlch/Llanfihangel Cwm Du before moving to Beaufort and they also lived in Brynmawr for a time. Evan's son Thomas Evans was born in Beaufort but lived in Brynmawr where his children were born so I would guess that that is where the connection comes in, probably with a descendant called David Evans which is one of the other names in the chain of shops (along with James Howells, ano!
ther possible Welsh connection?). If anyone has any knowledge of the first shop in Brynmawr (pre-amalgamation) I would love to hear from you.

Best wishes
James Phillips-Evans

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