Catherine Dorothy Thomas

Place of birth: Crai, Sennybridge

Service: Girl

Death: 1918-11-28, Influenza / Y Ffliw

Notes: Dorothy was the second to youngest of 8 children. Her mother died in 1912. The story goes that the family were struck by the great flu after WWI. Dorothy who was 21 years old at the time she looked after the family and nursed them back to health but in 1918 she succumbed and died that year on the 28th of November.' Catrin Edwards

Reference: WaW0105

Catherine Dorothy Thomas c.1912

Catherine Dorothy ‘Dollis’ Thomas, aged about 14. She seems to be wearing mourning, so it may have been taken in 1912 when her mother died.

Celia Janet (standing) and Polly Thomas, c.1912

Celia Janet (‘Sis’) Thomas and her older sister Polly. They seem to be wearing mourning, so it may have been taken in 1912 when their mother died.

Amy Laura Whitcombe

Place of birth: Hengoed

Service: Worker, QMAAC

Death: 1918-11-03, S C Convalescent Hospital, Plymouth, Influenza / Y Ffliw

Memorial: War memorial, Ystrad Mynach and Hengoed, Glamorgan

Notes: aged 24.

Reference: WaW0063

Ystrad Mynach War Memorial

Name of Amy Whitcombe on Ystrad Mynach War Memorial

Grave record

Grave record for Amy Whitcombe

Ada Doris Maud Lesser (Radcliffe)

Place of birth: Nova Scotia

Service: Worker, QMAAC

Death: 1918/12/04, Tidsworth Military Hospital, Wiltshire, Influenza / y ffliw

Memorial: Danygraig, Swansea, Glamorgan

Notes: Born c.1879, Ada moved with her parents to Swansea. She married Arthur Charles Lesser in December 1899. The inscription on her grave says she was 36 when she died, but she was probably older. Thanks to Diana Morgan

Reference: WaW0190

Grave of Ada Lesser

Grave with the name of Ada Lesser, QMAAC

Gwynedd Violet Llewellyn

Place of birth: Bewdley, Worcestershire

Service: Nurse, VAD

Death: 1918/11/03, Rouen, France, Influenza / Y Ffliw

Notes: Gwynedd Violet Llewellyn’s name appears on the Welsh book of Remembrance. Unfortunately, despite her name, she appears to have no connection with Wales. Her family connections were with Worcestershire and Somerset

Reference: WaW0214

Welsh Book of Remembrance

Gwynedd Violet Llewellyn’s name in the Welsh Book of Remembrance.

Lily Jenkins

Place of birth: Coity ?

Service: Nurse

Death: 1918/11/28, Esat Hampstead, Influenza / Y Ffliw

Notes: Little is known of Lily Jenkins, who had been a nurse at Bracknell Infirmary, East Hampstead, for four years. She was 21 when she died.

Reference: WaW0348

Newspaper report

Report of the death and funeral of Nurse Lily Jenkins. Glamorgan Gazette 20th December 1918.

Violet Pearce

Place of birth: Swansea

Service: Booking clerk, NWR

Death: November 1918, Swansea, Influenza / y ffliw

Notes: Violet Pearce was a booking clerk at Swansea Victoria Station when she died of Spanish Influenza in early November 1918.

Reference: WaW0373

Newspaper report

Report of the death of Violet Pearce. Cambrian Daily Leader 5th November 1918.

Kate Hopkins

Place of birth: Ystradgynlais

Service: Nurse, Not known / anhysbys, 1915 - 1918

Death: 1918/10/26, London, Influenza / y ffliw

Notes: Kate Hopkins had been a promising teacher, having trained in Stafford with a scholarship from Glamorgan. She began nursing in at the Great Western Hospital in London in 1915, and died there of Spanish flu aged 34.

Reference: WaW0406

Newspaper report

Report of the death of Kate Hopkins. Llais Llafur 2nd November 1918

Emily May Thomas (née Matthews)

Place of birth: Carmarthen

Service: Teacher

Death: November /1918 / Tac, Carmarthen, Influenza / y ffliw

Notes: Emily was educated at the County Girls’ School Carmarthen, and matriculated at the early age of 16. She became a teacher at the Model (Church) School in Carmarthen. In February 1918 She married Lieutenant Richard Thomas of the Machine Gun Corps, also a teacher. He was wounded in October 1918. In November, just after he came home from hospital, Emily contracted influenza and died.

Reference: WaW0423

Newspaper report

Report of Emily Matthews’s matriculation success. Carmarthen Weekly Reporter 9th September 1910.

Newspaper report

Report of Emily Matthews marriage to Richard Thomas. Carmarthen Weekly Reporter 15th February 1918.

Newspaper report

Report of Lieutenant Thomas’s wounding. Cambria Daily Leader 4th October 1918.

Newspaper report

Report of Emily Thomas’s death. Carmarthen Journal 22nd November 1918.

Ida Williams

Place of birth: Llangammarch Wells

Service: Teachers

Death: August / 1918 / Awst, Llangammarch Wells, Influenza / y ffliw

Notes: Ida Williams was a graduate of University College, Aberystwyth. She taught at intermediate schools in Aberystwyth, Cardiff, Bargoed and finally London, where her health broke down about a year before her death. She seems to have been musical, and to have written for publications including Y Cymro.

Reference: WaW0422

Newspaper report

Report of the death and funeral of Miss Ida Williams BA. Brecon County Times 8th August 1918.

Megan Davies

Place of birth: Aberdare

Service: Singer, bank clerk

Death: 1919/03/25, Aberdare, Influenza / y ffliw

Notes: Megan Davies was a well-known contralto soloist in the Aberdare area, and performed in several War Heroes concerts. She worked in Barclay’s Bank, Merthyr.

Reference: WaW0421

Newspaper report

Newspaper report of a War Heroes Concert, naming Megan Davies. Aberdare Leader 5th January 1918.

Newspaper report

Report of the death from influenza of Megan Davies, aged 29. Aberdare Leader 29th March 1919