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Joseph Diamond

This map shows where Joseph junior moved to at 58 Tram Rd. (Later renamed 169 Broadway).It also shows his mom and dads location(Joseph and Elizabeth) at Graig Alfa. .

In 1891 Joseph junior had married Emma Fussell and moved out of his mom and dads house at Graig Alfa.

This is the Marriage Certificate of Joseph Diamond to Emma Fussell on 22 March 1891.
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Emma Fussell

photo courtesy of

Emma Baldwin

Although this picture is not of Josephs & Emma's wedding, it does show St Marys Church he was married at. This picture is of a wedding around 1900 and clearly they were a community event!

This is the 1891 Census of George and Alice Fussell showing their newly acquired son in law Joseph.

 

George's occupation is listed as Sawyer. It is interesting to see Josephs occupation 10 years later as being a Timberman underground. Maybe his Father in law taught him how to work with wood!

 

The Fussells were originally from Weston in Somerset going back many generations. They firstly moved to Cardiff, then settled in Methyr Tydfil before moving to Pontypridd.

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 George and Alice Fussell (Gullick), both were from long lines of Somerset families.
In 1865 they were married in Notting Hill, London. Eventually returning back to Weston to start a family.
1871 Census showing George and Alice Fussell age 26, at 12 Collets building, Weston. Shortly after their son John was born.
After John was born they moved to South Wales. Emma was born in 1874 in Alice Street, Cardiff. 
 By the 1881 Census they'd moved to Merthyr Tydfil. Emma was now 7.
On 10th July 1892, Joseph and Emma had a baby girl and named her Alice Elizabeth Diamond.  I came across her school record of 1902. She went to Trefforest Board/Wood road school until 1906. Her younger sister Sarah born in 1895 is also on the record below..
More about Alice later...
Sarah Matilda Diamond

When Sarah Matilda was 17 she went on to marry William Ware in 1912. They had 3 children...Rose (1914-1989) married Stanley Morton 1939, Louisa(1915-2006) married William Lilwall 1935 and Stanley(1919-1996) married Ena Sullivan 1963....

This is the 1921 Census when they were living in Treforest..

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This Parish record of the Banns for Sarah & William suggests they got married on Christmas day 1912 at 10am...

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Trouble for Stanley...

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Obituary of Williams mother Louisa

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Below is the 1939 record of William and Sarah at 186 Broadway. They had moved in with Sarahs uncle, John Fussell, after her Nan (Alice Fussell) passed in 1925.. ..Sarahs occupation is down as incapacitated!
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John Fussell passed away in 1940 and up until 1953, Sarah and William resided at 186 Broadway, Treforest then in 1954 moved to Sycamore Street, Rhydyfelin....
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The Obituary of 
William Ware
March 19 1960
(
Sarah was known as Sally!)
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Sarah Matilda passed in the summer of 1971
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Pontypridd Observer

Friday August 13th, 1971

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By the 1901 Census, Emma's Parents had moved out leaving Joseph (29) and Emma (27) to raise a family.

 

They had only moved up the road to No 75 Tram Road. Alice was staying with them at the time of the Census..

 

My Grandad John Diamond was born in 1900 and is 1yr old on this record. At that time he had 2 older sisters on the Census, Sarah 5 and Emma 3. 

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Joe Diamond
Although I cant verify it, It is
very likely that my Grandad
John went to the school
across the Road from where
he lived. It was called Park
School - today its called
Park Lewis. On 20th April
2016, I went to Glamorgan
Records office to look for lot
of different records
including Grandads school
records. Unfortunately, the
registers no longer exist only the log book from 1909 upwards. The log book was like a diary kept by the Head Teacher. Things like repairs, or deliveries or staff issues were recorded. Only the odd entry was about pupils. While I never found anything on Grandad I did find an entry about his younger brother Joe. Dad recalls his Uncle Joe and said he used to have a horse and cart delivering fruit and veg. And on one occassion Dad helped him when he went to Senghenydd.

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Clearly Joe was not the academic type, or perhaps he just wasn't interested. His entry is also listed over the next few years after this one. And around 1917 his brother George is listed similarly.(more on George below)
 
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Article from Pontypridd Observer 28 Nov 1914 with Joseph in trouble for stealing
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19 Jan 1929


Joe went on to marry Frances Louisa Powell in Sept 1926. They lived at 24 Francis Street until 1939, then 18 Cypress St, Rhydyfelin..
 
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1935

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1939

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1939 Register
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6 December 1941

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13 sept 1947

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5 sept 1953

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Joe passed away April 29 1974 age 70. Frances passed away 31st Jan 1981 aged 76. They are buried at Glyntaff. Plot:Ea 75.
On a visit on Wednesday 21st September 2016, we found their grave. Unfortunately their was not a headstone only a flower jar with Dad and Mam inscribed.
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9 March 1957

Pontypridd Observer 10 May 1974

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13 Feb 1981
George Diamond and Florence Winifred Holman..
Florence was born in Exeter on 25th March 1907 to Henry James Holman(1881-1925) & Laura Coombe Wright (1882-1953)..
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When the 1st world war broke out in 1914, Florence's dad, Henry enlisted in the army. ( 77th Glam. BN Welsh Regiment).....He rose to the rank of  Sargent Major in 1915... Unfortunately he lost his life in 1917 as is documented on his enlistment papers below...

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Florence was 13 on the above British Army WW1 Pension Records 1914-1920.....so clearly provisions were made for the family after Henrys death...

George went on to marry Florence Holman in 1928.

​

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Pontypridd &
Llanstrisant 
Observer
Sat 8 Sept 1928
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George and Florence lived at 33 Francis Street
Rhydyfelin before moving to 55 Wood Road, Treforest..
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May 1929

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55 Wood Road

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1931

George and Florence went on to have 2 children: Alice Doreen(1929) & Cyril (1936)
..they also had 4 Grandchildren..(Doreen married Alfred Noras in 1948 and had 
Jeff and Jill) .
Cyril married Isobel Harris in 1958 and had 2 children
The 1939 register for George and Florence. It was the year before he passed away.
They were now living at 48 Wood Road....
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​

​

There was another child but Florence miscarried near the end of the pregnancy. The events are truly tragic. 

​

George had complained of having a bad stomach, but it was so bad he couldn't walk. So Florence called for a Doctor. The Doctor apparently was smelling of Alcohol when he turned up and fell up the stairs. He diagnosed George as having a bout of Gastro enteritis/ Indigestion.

​

But the next day George had a raging fever and was vomiting Green Bile. The following day he was in and out of consciousness and totally incoherent. Florence rang the doctor again and was this time seen by a different physician.

This time the Doctor diagnosed Appendicitis and arranged for him to be taken to Pontypridd Cottage Hospital. Florence was told not to go with him, but to ring the following day.

​

There was only 1 phone in the street where she lived, so Florence went to the neighbour and asked them to ring the hospital saying she would pay for the call. Florence did not know how to even make a call!.....

​

So they rang the hospital and asked about the condition of George Diamond, and passed the receiver to Florence.

Whoever was on the other end of the receiver didn't have the common sense to cover the mouthpiece and turned to someone else in the office and said

...." They are asking about a George Diamond - Isn't that the young man that Died in the night and is now in the Morgue?".......

​

Florence fainted and they put her on the settee until she came to....then they saw her back to her house.

She then walked up to the hospital, where she identified his body. The hospital had not called anybody else about this tragedy, so Florence then walked back to her Mother-in-law's house(Emma Diamond) to tell her that her son had died.

​

She then went back to her house in time for her daughter Doreen to get home from school.(Cyril was in boarding school)......after giving her her tea, Florence then went on to do her cleaning job at the school!

​

Afterwards she collected Doreen and took her to her sisters house, going on to another job working in a fish shop til midnight!

​

2 days later after 9 months gestation, on the back of all her unbelievable tragedy, she lost her baby too......

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details sent by Emma Baldwin

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Pontypridd Observer 21st December 1940

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Pontypridd Observer
18th May 1979
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1979 probate record showing Florence's address, date of her death and money left.....
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This is the 1911 Census and it was written by Joseph himself!  My Grandad John is now 11 yrs old. He was always called Jack and his dad has written him down as this here.

Joseph was now 39 and Emma 38, the record shows all the children they had had up till then. They had been married 20yrs. George Fussell was now living at 35 Tram Road and their Grandaughter Alice Diamond, now 18, was there too! (The number is an error as it is 75 Tram Road as the 1910 Electoral Register shows)

1910 Electoral Register. George is living at 75 Tram Road...

1913 Electoral Register. George is living at the same place, but the road was undergoing reconstruction so it has been re-numbered 186 Tram Road...eventually becoming The Broadway...

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The 1st World War was just around the corner and many from the valleys joined up, including Emma's brother George...sadly he lost his life in 1916..
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George Fussell's
enlistment record 1897..
for the Pembroke
Artillery...he was 20 at the time..
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Pontypridd Observer

29 November 1919

His name has been immortalised on the memorial in Ynysangharad Park

George Fussell 1877-1916
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Drink and Belligerence seemed to stalk the Fussells as some of these articles show....no wonder Emma was a force to be reckoned with!....

Pontypridd Observer 16 August 1913

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Caerphilly Journal 9 April 1914

Pontypridd Observer 20 April 1912

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23 Dec 1922

Emma's Dad (like her brother)sadly passed away in 1916.

 

Emma had made provisions for a 4 person grave at Glyn Taff..

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This is the 1921 Census for Emma's mother Alice Fussell. She was living with her son John at 186 Broadway..and continued until she passed in 1925..Shortly after Johns mom passed, Sarah Matilda (Diamond) Ware and her family moved in with him..
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Emma's mother passed away in 1925 and was buried with her dad George....

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Alice Elizabeth Diamond and Ewart Walters..
Baptism Record of Ewart Walters
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 Alice went on to marry Ewert Walters on 5th April  1915. 
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Ewart, Alice and Leonard

Their daughter Grace Maud was born on 29th January 1915.. Gwendoline in 1919. Roy 1921,  Gladys 1923, Leonard 1929

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Gladys                       Len                        Grace                 Gwendoline

 Here is his enlistment papers with Alice shown and the address as 186 Tram Road. It also shows their daughter Gracie Maud
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Up until 1919, Alice and Ewart lived at 186 Broadway. They then moved to 5a West Street (see pic).

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Spring 1919

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Winter 1919 Electoral Register for Ewart & Alice
at West Street, here its in Welsh!
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They Lived in this house!...
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1921 Census, (Ewart it says "is out of normal employment")
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Gracie Maud married Charles Frederick (Dinky)Wilton in the 2nd quarter of 1935 in Fulham, London..

Living at 18 Munden st..

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Caerphilly Journal
16 January 1937

The Obituary of
Ewart Walters...
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grace and charles in london1938 heading_
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In 1938 they lived at Sutton Way, London before returning to Pontypridd...

Alice on the 1939 register, Grace is back in Pontypridd ...
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In 1939, Alices youngest daughter Gladys, is housemaid at Tonteg/Church Village Isolation Hospital
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*
A very happy occasion for Alice with the wedding of her 2nd daughter Gwendoline, to Henry Thomas Hunt....
...Pontypridd Observer
28 September 1940..
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The next year, 1941, Alice had a tragedy when her son Roy was killed

in WW2...this is an entry in the UK, Commonwealth War Graves.......

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his name is on the War Memorial in Yngsangharad Park

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In May 1943 Gladys Walters marries Geoffrey Sharp...
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Gladys Walters

Gladys Mary

(Walters) Sharp in her latter years..

​

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She passed in 2020..

The following are various articles in Pontypridd Observer about the Walters Children

Trouble for young Leonard Walters Glamorgan Advertiser 23 Aug 1946

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Gracie's Grievance
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Leonard Walters gets Married 14 Aug 1954
A Lucky escape for Alice's Son in Law,
Charles Frederick Wilton in 1955
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Len and Betty Walters
Happier times with Gracies daughter Shirley marrying William H Williams, Pontypridd 1955...
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Gwen

Len (holding Bobby Sharp)

Gladys

Gracie

Jennifer & Viv Sharp

Possibly Annie May 

Baldwin

Gwen(walters)Hunt

Obituary 26 April 1958

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Gwen Hunt Probate record

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26 December 1929

Alice, Ewart and Gracie  & Charles are all buried at Glyntaff...
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Pontypridd Observer 24th December 1949
Alice passed away on 13th December 1949. She was 57.
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On 6th January 2022, the 1921 census was finally released. This is the Census for Joe
and Emma's household where my Grandad was now 20. He was working at the Great Western Colliery at Hopkinstown, northwest Pontypridd along with his dad.

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Grandads House

Great Western Colliery

One of the Trams that came down the Tram Road

TramRoad as it was in 1900. The Tram lines can just be seen. It was renamed the Broadway because of how wide the road and tramway together were.

Same view 2010

It appears from these Electoral Registers for Joseph, that between 1911 and 1912, Tram road had been expanded or reconfigured as the house number changes from 58 Tram Road to 169 Tram Road...This was eventually renamed The Broadway..

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Looking opposite direction up the Broadway (2015). Joseph and Emma's house is the last gate to the right. The red building is the old Dan-Y-Graig Arms, which Emma apparently used to frequent. She was quite a tough lady and would regularly be taken by Police to Pontypridd Lock up!

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Dad relays a story he was told about when Emma was carrying my Grandad (John). Apparently she'd had a fall out locally, which led to her being chased by a Policeman. She ran up the Broadway, hid behind the mens toilet, and punched the Policeman! It then took a few of them to restrain her, put her on a tram to Pontypridd lockup!

If this story is accurate, then the Policemen in the picture would have known her!

To attempt to veryfy the story we visited Pontypridd Library on 2nd November 2015. We looked at the newpaper of the day called the Pontypridd Observer. And in the January 20th 1900 edition I found this entry.

Its interesting that the name is Emily Dymond, and the Baptism records below confirm that she was known by that name.  This incident definately happened in the right place, along the Tram Road where Emma and Joseph lived. Also it appears that another family relation Miriam was disorderly in the same week. I found her in many editions of the paper in 1900.

THIS WAS A FEW WEEKS BEFORE MY GRANDAD WAS BORN!

Old Pontypridd Police station.1965

The old DAN-Y-GRAIG Pub now the gift shop GROGGS

Emma wouldve been charged in the Police Court building on the right.

Sadly in 1908 Joseph and Emma had a child who survived only a few months, they named him James....a year later they had another son and named him James Enoch...

They also had a little girl in 1916 who sadly also only survived a few months..they named her Polly..
In the article below about Joseph and Emma's Golden Wedding it states they had 13 children in total unfortunately only 11 are recorded, which suggests that 2 may have been 'stillborn'..
Below are the baptism records of Emma's 2 youngest boys; James Enoch and William. These records confirm that Emma was also known as EMILY!
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courtesy of Emma Baldwin

William(left) &
James Enoch
Diamond

William Diamond, stayed at home all his life.. his nickname was "Nuckin" because he 

courtesy of Emma Baldwin

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 had a

speech problem and couldn't say

Nothing!

His dad Joseph hated that he could

not speak properly.

James Enoch Diamond 

was nicknamed Miffy! 

James Enoch Diamond & Phyllis Isaac
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Phyllis was born on the 21st of May 1917 and baptised in the September..
On the 1939 Register she is staying at the Anchor Head Hotel, Weston -Super-Mare
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...meanwhile James Enoch was working as a Public Works Contractor in Chichester....

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In April of 1940 James Enoch married Phyllis and they moved into number 20 Egypt Street, not far from his mom and dad's

Their son James William was born 15 May 1941. He lived til he was 68 passing away on 19 July 2009. They also had another son Victor J. born in 2nd quarter of 1945..

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Electoral Register from the 1940s showing both James and his brother William.....

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20 Egypt St, Treforest

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James used to pop over to see his sister Annie May every week and she used to give him £5 to put away for her funeral. He also used to visit the local pub for a pint! As he was her 'next of kin' it was him who sorted her funeral expenses when she passed.

Emma Baldwins parents remember him visiting Annie Mays house when she passed and taking lots of her belongings including some 1930s stickers belonging to William!

courtesy of Emma Baldwin

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After a few years of living at Egypt Street, James and Phyllis moved to 4 Heol Nant, Church Village and stayed for the remainder of their lives..

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James Enoch Diamond passed away in 1999...his wife Phyllis passed away 17 february 2006 aged 89 years...
Clearly Emma was quite the character as these next newspaper clips shows..
My Aunty Kate said that when she used to visit them at Senghenydd they used to say 'Look out here comes Granny Diamond'...
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courtesy of Emma Baldwin

Emma Diamond
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Joseph & Emma Diamond

courtesy of Emma Baldwin

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As this article from 17 June 1939 shows...it appears that Emma was knocked over by a car!...

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In 1939 at the eve of World War 2, a register was taken for the whole country, around 41 million people. Everyone's details were taken.This included name, address, date of birth, occupation. In November 2015, these records were released to the general public. Unfortunately because of the 100 yr secrecy law, not all names have been released. Here are Joseph and Emma's details and the few households nearby including The Danygraig Pub! Grandads youngest brother William was still living with them.

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One interesting detail of the 1939 register is they give the date of birth. 

These are sometimes very difficult to find on the Ancestry sites without

obtaining a copy of their Birth Certificate.

Joseph being born on 8th August 1871 and

Emma 27th February 1874

And also it shows that he was a Pensioner!

Emma Diamond

photo courtesy

of Emma Baldwin

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Emma Diamond
Dads Nan Emma always told him that her daughter, (his Aunt Emma) lived just a few doors down from her. She did at 152 Broadway..She was the 3rd daughter of Joseph and Emma, born on 26 December 1897....
She married
Harold Bidwell in 1914.
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 Here she is on the 1939 record. 
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Emma (Diamond) Bidwell (far left)
with sister

Annie May (Diamond) Baldwin(far right)

18 Jan 1941

Emma and Harold Very Sadly lost their Grandaughter...

Sylvia...

Emma worked in Parc Lewis school as a dinner lady!

Emma & Harold had 3 children. Joseph (who they called Harold), Emmy and Winnie.

​

Winnie married Henry Jeffrey and had a son called Ray and a daughter Sylvia who sadly passed away around 9 ( see obituary). They moved to London, but returned during the war and moved back in with Emma and Harold...Eventually Winnie moved back up to London but its unclear whether her son went with her.

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Death

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Death

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Emma passed away on May 11th 1983...

Pontypridd Observer 17th June 1983

Pontypridd Observer

27th May 1983

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Pontypridd Observer
25 Feb 1950

Harold's Obituary
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After more than 70 yrs, Dad 90 (Dilwyn Diamond) stands outside what he thought was his Grandparents house Joe and Emma Diamond, at 168 Broadway, Pontypridd. Dad was partially sighted!  They actually lived next door at No 169!

Here he is with Grandaughter Steph, Daughter Beryl and son Malcolm on 24th June 2015.

Back in 2019 when i was tending to Joe and Emma's grave, I decided to go to the house where they lived on The Broadway. While I was outside I decided to go and knock on the door and explain what I was doing there. A very kind Lady (Edwina Smart)came to the door and invited me in. She showed me round the main room which they were restoring back to how it would have been when Joseph and Emma owned it.. 2 walls had been taken back to the original stonework, exposing a large fireplace and Bread Oven.

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As we chatted, Edwina said that their neighbours, a few doors down had connection with the Diamonds and so went round and brought the neighbour (Karon Baldwin) back....after a chat, she confirmed that her husband was a decendant of the Diamond line.. So I said if she had any photos or details, could she get back in touch with me.

 

Well fast forward to August 2023 and my daughter Kayleigh said that one Emma Baldwin had been in touch with her about the family tree. She introduced herself as the Great Grandaughter of Annie May Diamond , who was my Grandads younger sister....Emma is the daughter of the neighbour I spoke to above!

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Emma has kindly provided photos and details of  Grandads other siblings and it is to her I am deeply indebited.

Annie May Diamond & William Baldwin

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Feb25 1972

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Annie May was born on the 26th July 1902, she married William Baldwin from Northern Ireland and both  followed Catholicism. They had 2 children: Cornelius who was born 28th January 1922 and William James, (Emma's Grandad), who was born 12th August 1923. They also had a girl that sadly passed away shortly after her birth.

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Sadly Cornelius was killed during WW2, when the ship he was serving on HMS Neptune went into an unchartered minefield near Tripoli. This was on 19th December 1941...His name is on a memorial at  Ynysangharad War Memorial Park in Pontypridd....

 

William James,(known as Jimmy), married Elizabeth Kate Cameron(known as Kitty). They had 2 children, Michael and Stephen(Emma's Dad). Michaels family include 2 daughters Sharon and Michelle and a number of Grand children.

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Emma's Dad, Stephen married

Karon Lloyd on 8th March 1980

and had 4 children: Chris, Andrew,

Emma and Martyn. with

Grandchildren Josh, Imogen

and Emma's son Charlie.

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Emma's parents: Stephen & Karon
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Emma and her son 
Charlie
Emma's brothers
Andrew & Chris
Uncle Mike
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Emma's Niece & Nephew
Josh & Imogen
27 March 1969
The Obituary of 

William Baldwin
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Pontypridd Observer

20 May 1977

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14.1.1950

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The 1922 Electoral Register for The Broadway.. At 169 are Joe and Emma William and Annie and my Grandad John Diamond!

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It seems quite remarkable that the home of Joseph and Emma, 169 Broadway, Pontypridd  should stay in the family for the best part of 100 years...Annie May and her Brother William Diamond were the last of them to live there...and they had been there since they were both born!!

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William passed in April 1976....and Annie passed almost a decade later in 1985!...

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1974
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After much exhaustive research to find the Obituary for Annie May, it seems that the British Newspaper Archives do not hold copies of The Pontypridd Observer for the years 1984-1985.... so I was unable to find it..

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The only article I did find was the Acknowledgement  from January 1986..

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No headstone on William's  and Annies grave at Glyn taff, just a flower pot...
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Annie May's Death Certificate...
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& Williams obituary in the Pontypridd Observer 25 June 1976...
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William Diamond

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After living at the Broadway for more than 50 years, Joseph passed away at home, on 25th June 1944 at the age of 72. He had kidney issues. The cause is down as Uraemia, retention of Urine and enlarged Prostate.
Emma passed away 2 years later (almost to the day) on the 23rd June 1946. She had circulatory issues. Causes of Death, Cerebral Thrombosis, Arterio Sclerosis and Senility.



Both deaths were registered by their son
William who was living at home.
Dad remembers attending his Nan's funerals (Emma), when he was 22. He relays the story that because Emma was well known to the local Police, that they were in attendance and acted as Pallbearers for her coffin.
I tried on numerous occasions to find reports in the local newspapers of the day about it, but without success. I finally found
Emma's Obituary below. It shows many people but does not mention the Police. It could be they attended without uniforms as they were off duty...

           Saturday July 8th 1944                                         Saturday July 6 1946

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6 july 1946

They are both buried in the same grave as her parents George (1916 age 70), and Alice Fussell (1925 age 81).

They are buried at Glyn Taf Cemetery, Pontypridd.

Grave ref no: T177.

The owner is still registered as Emma Diamond!

FRONT ENTRANCE

This is the Plot plan at Glyntaff Cemetery. Both Joseph and Emma Dimond and Ernest and Mary Jane Sandiford are buried in Plot T!

Strangely enough even though they were all buried at different times, their graves are only a row away from each other!

8th September 2015

This is grave Plot T177, Joseph and Emma Diamond and George and Alice Fussel. Probably due to poor income, there is not a grave stone.

Looking the otherway to the next row.

This is Plot T221 for

Ernest Stanley and Mary Jane Sandiford.

(not the grave with the pot but the grass in front!)

 

Again probably due to being poor there is no grave stone!

It is interesting to note how close

the graves are to each other

even though they were all buried at different times!

When I first found the graves above, I felt very saddened to find them without headstones. It felt like they had nothing to show for the life they lived. It felt they were very unacknowledged. I wanted to rectify that. So I made Cross memorials for them.
On Wednesday 21st September 2016, we finally went back to Pontypridd to place them on the Graves.
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100 years after they were first dug, there is finally a memorial on their Graves.
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...Over the years the crosses lost their crisp newness and

 

 

the paint work started to peel and look shabby.

 

 

So in 2019 I re-made them using more weather proof paint and plaques etc..

 

 

And on the 9th of September 2019

 

 

 

we returned to Glyntaf and replaced them...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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