Swansea Family History

  The May/June edition of  bay  featured Brynmill Lodge on the front cover, so I thought this month we’d have a look at the history of the property and the people who have lived there. Brynmill Lodge  stands at the junction of  Mumbles Road  and  Brynmill Lane  and is unlike any of the other properties that are situated around Singleton Park, the former home of the  Vivians .  Brynmill Lodge  has three floors and one room per floor. The architect of the property was  Henry Woodyer , who also design-ed other buildings for  John Henry Vivian . These buildings included St Paul’s Church, Sketty; Stewart Hall; and the alteration to Parc Wern. All these buildings were built around the same time during the 1850s. So, what makes  Brynmill Lodge  special, compared to any of the other lodges? It was suggested that the original scheme also included a second lodge, which was going to be built on the east side. However, this wasn’t the case, as the surviving plans show no matching tower, but they d

  James Bond celebrates his 70th anniversary this year, as the first novel  Casino Royale  was published in 1953. This May, the latest novel, the 42nd “ On His Majesty’s Secret Service ” written by  Charlie Higson  was published.  The synopsis is: 4th May, two days before the Coronation of Charles III, Bond, is sent at the last minute to thwart an attempt to disrupt the Coronation by the wealthy, eccentric and self-styled Athelstan of Wessex, who is on a deadly mission of his own to teach the United Kingdom a lesson. Can Bond stop these plans and defeat his privately hired team of mercenaries?…………. If you want to find out what happens you must buy/borrow the book. So, this article will be looking at the connections between Bond and Swansea. Ian Fleming (far left) , wrote 14 James Bond novels, the first being,  Casino Royale , and the  Octopussy/The Living Daylights , posthumously published, June 1966.     Ian Fleming  was born in 1908, the son of  Valentine Fleming  and  Evelyn Rose .

  Battle of Waterloo Lloyd Webber The new series of  Who Do You Think You Are  started at the end of May, and the person tracing their ancestry was  Andrew Lloyd Webber (right) . He found out that his 4x great uncle was  Peregrine Maitland (below) . The program mentioned that  Maitland  was at the Battle of Waterloo, in 1815.  At the battle’s climax,  Wellington  called to  Maitland  who was the Major General of 1st (Guards) Brigade “ Now, Maitland! Now’s your time !”. This was certainly  Maitland’s  time. This is where the program left  Maitland , but in this article, we will see what became of the man. After the battle,  Maitland  was Lieutenant General of Nova Scotia from 1828, a position that lasted until 1834 when  Maitland  returned to England.  Maitland  was also a first-class cricketer, playing for both Surrey and Hampshire. In 1854,  Maitland  died at his residence in Eaton Place, London. However, it wouldn’t be London where he was buried but in the village of Tongham in Surre