Swansea Family History

  Following on from last month’s article about the 40 th  anniversary of the pound coin, this short article is about the history of the piggy bank. The term, “ Piggy Bank”  was first citied in the Oxford English Dictionary in 1913. Notably piggy banks are either made from porcelain or ceramics and one of the earliest ones  dates from around the 2 nd  century BC was found in the Greek city of Priene, which is shaped like a Greek temple with a slit in the pediment. The earliest example shaped like a pig was discovered on the island Indonesian island of Java and dates from about the 12 century. In the 15 th  century, people would use household equipment, such as plates and pots in order to store what little money they had.  These utensils were made from cheap clay, known as  pygg .  Words over time have changed and their pronunciation likewise,  pygg  changed to  pug , and then this would have changed to  pig . As the word changed, potters began shaping the  pygg  pots to resemble pigs, s

  This month’s article looks outside of Swansea at a headstone and some interesting blue plaques situated in Llanelli and Pembrey. Our first stop is  St Illtyd’s Church  (top right) in Pembrey, a village situated between Burry Port and Kidwelly. The nave and chancel at  St Illtyds  date from the 13th century, with some additional building works being carried out during the 14 th  and 15 th  centuries. In 1856, the church was restored in the Tudor-Gothic style that we see today. The stained-glass window in the east wall which depicts  The Adoration of the Shepherds and the Magi , (right) is by Celtic Studios of Swansea. Celtic Studios was situated at 5 Prospect Place and was established during 1946 by  Howard Martin  and his cousin  Hubert Thomas . The two men had founded an earlier business located in Morriston during 1933. Most of their work was stained glass windows in churches around South Wales,  with some of their best works being exported to Canada. The firm ceased trading in 199