There Was A Man In South Wales - The Life and Ministry Of Harold Emanuel Griffiths Part 10

I am taking a brief break from following the chronological order of Harold's life.
If this is the first post you are reading about Harold Griffiths, or if you want to remind yourself about his life and ministry up to and through World War 2, then please take the time to read these older blogs. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8 and Part 9
An earlier post also provides a music sheet for hymn music he re-wrote and published.

The reason I'm breaking with chronology is because the other week someone left a comment on a blog post from three or four years ago. It read as follows:

"Dear Michael. I have a friend who attends the Penralt Baptist Church in Bangor. I have just listened to a sermon(preached on Sunday 28th January) by a man called Donald Poirot who attends that church. In his sermon he mentions your relative Harold and that as a baby Harold took Donald in his arms and blessed him. You can listen to the sermon for yourself. Jan Kelson-Martin ( Hanford, Stoke-on-Trent)"

This is a major reason I am a big proponent of family history blogging. It brings in comments by all kinds of people, from all kinds of places. These comments then lead to information that would otherwise be lost.

I responded to the comment, but also did a search for the church and sermon in question. Sure enough, the sermon is online and Harold's story appears from 11 minutes and 32 seconds, continuing to 14 minutes and 30 seconds.

I've transcribed it in case the link is moved in the future.

There was a man in south Wales. He was a miner. Big fellow. He’d come home and he’d be covered in coal dust, and he found the LORD for himself, this big burly man. He found the Lord. And fell in love with Him. This big man when he got over his shifts he wanted to go to the meetings, and if his shifts didn’t coincide just right he’d be seen at the back of the church before he would have taken his shower, because he didn’t want to dirty anywhere up. He wanted, he wanted to serve the LORD and understand about the Lord. He witnessed at work, and the men would scoff at him. They would often actually physically hurt him. On one occasion they pinned him down and they wanted to make him swear. But he just loved the LORD. Years later he went into ministry. He went from village green to village green. And then he had a building he found. He just loved to preach. He loved to sing, and he sang at the piano and I was thinking about him the other day, and there was a chorus that was around at that time. And he penned another tune to it. And it’s absolutely lovely, and he composed this tune, it goes like this.

“I fell in love with the Nazarene, the beautiful Nazarene, who’s face with glory was alight, the fairest I’ve ever seen. Near his side I would abide, when ne’er a vale between. Since I fell so deep in love with Jesus the Nazarene.”

Can you imagine a coal miner, singing that and loving that. You know in 1947 a couple, a christian couple brought their little baby to him to be dedicated. And his name was Harold and he held this baby and he prayed for this baby and he said, “Lord would you bless this baby, we thank you for the life of this baby. We pray that in the years to come he will fall in love with Jesus too. That baby is me. Me. Me. And it’s so lovely to tell you I love Jesus Christ.”

-- Donald Poirot, speaking at Penrallt Baptist Church, Bangor on Sunday 28th January 2018. -- 

The church contact information was present on the website, so I emailed to see if they could put me in contact with Donald. It appeared that he knew something of my great grandfathers ministry and I wanted to know more. The church responded and forwarded my request to Donald. Donald emailed me with the following response:

"As a miner he was persecuted for his faith - verbally and I believe physically. There was one man - a fellow miner who particularly hated him.
One day there was a serious roof collapse down in the mine. This miner was trapped and they could only shout through to him. He shouted back fetch Harold! Harold was called and this man asked Harold to pray for him - amazing. I can’t remember the outcome of that story.

You already know that in 1947 I was born and was dedicated to the Lord by my parents. They took me to Bethel in Milton where Harold Griffiths prayed for me. When my mum had come to Christ through the ministry of one of the Jeffreys brothers (Stoke-On-Trent Town Hall.) she had been introduced to Harold Griffiths. My mum came to Christ as a teenager. Harold Griffiths encouraged my mum in the things of God and asked her to speak. He advertised something along the lines - come and hear this teenage preacher! My mum would tell me stories of Harold’s evangelical work - village green services - a caravan. She told me of his zeal and love for the Lord. It was my mum who often sang the chorus you heard me sing. (In fact my mum went on to be an Assemblies of God minister - which was unusual in those days for a woman.) So we would often visit Harold in Milton and his assembly.

One incident which has stuck in my mind - the date I’m not so sure. I think I would be around 11 - so that would be approx 1958. We had been visiting Harold Griffiths and was staying for the evening service. As I climbed the steps to go into the building I started with a nose bleed. Harold who arrived ready to take the service - immediately stopped and bent down to me and prayed for me. He had the responsibility of the service ahead of him - but all that was put aside in that moment as he prayed for me.

Years later I found the Lord for myself and I wanted to tell him. I was going out with a young lady called Glenys - she found the Lord at the same time as me.(We married and Glenys is by my side right now - we both love the Lord.) I told her about Harold Griffiths and we went to visit him and his wife several times. He was then living at Woodhead Road not far from Milton. It was a retirement bungalow which looked over trees and green grass - a lovely outlook. (It actually was and still is Carmountside Cemetery & Crematorium.) He would laugh and smile with us and said jokingly - they have put us here so that they can cut down on the expense of funeral travel costs when we die. This would be in the mid sixties.

I ask myself if this email can also be a vehicle for greater blessing to you and your family. It would be my prayer that the life, testimony, and voice of Harold Griffiths reached over to you and your family and all who consider this man Harold Griffiths to see that his heart was for the Lord. Harold’s message was simply put. If Harold would speak to you right now I believe this is what he would say to you:

The Bible is the Word of God.
We are all sinners.
There is eternal judgement coming for all who reject Christ.
There is eternal bliss in heaven for those who put their trust in Christ.
That Christ died on the cross and shed his blood for our sins - for my sins.
That Christ rose the 3rd day from the dead & he lives for evermore.

The Bible message has not changed - man cannot save himself.

Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

God bless you Michael - you have a pedigree second to none!

Donald. 7th. February 2018"

----

I have just a couple of observations from this.

1. The story of the roof collapse is something I had never heard before, and fascinating. It's one of those things that would be lost to history if not for the recollection of someone who had heard it told.

2. I've already documented how the Assemblies of God in the U.K gave opportunities for women to preach and lead churches. I am gratified to find that my great-grandfather was one of those who encouraged a woman to preach and advertised it. That she then went on to become an Assemblies of God minister is very encouraging. 

3. The story of the nosebleed and the comments he made while in the retirement bungalow are yet more tidbits that I could not have known without contacting Donald. They are once again those stories which give more insight into his character and condition. 

4. It's reminded me once again to contact the gentlemen in my grandfather's old bowling league who knew him, and see if there's still any chance he might email me the testimonial he had considered writing. 

That's all for now, and I'll continue Harold's story again in the next blog. 

The Healing Of Annie Griffiths Part 2

Part 1 of this series was first jotted down several years ago. I am not sure why I never completed part 2. Originally I was going to share Roy's annotations on the comments made about this event in my great grandfather Price Davies' written testimony, made shortly before he died.

In the previous post I mentioned that Roy had informed me, "The Western Mail', 'South Wales Echo', 'South Wales Daily News', 'Merthyr Express', and the Welsh language newspaper 'Tarian Y Gweithwyr' printed accounts of the event."

I still haven't found these accounts, but I did find one from the Weekly Mail, on Page 1, 23rd September 1905.

Front page of the day the article is mentioned. 

The Weekly Mail circulated in the counties of Glamorgan, Monmouthshire, Brecknock, Radnor, Carmathen, Pembroke, Cardigan, Herefore, Gloucester and Worcester. The article in question is right there on the front page in the very center at the top.

Transcribed below

MODERN MIRACLE AT MERTHYR. 

REMARKABLE CURE OF A YOUNG WOMAN. An unusual occurrence has taken place at Penydarren, near Merthyr. A young lady, 24 years of age, named Annie Griffiths, living with her Parents, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Griffiths, at 74, Brynhvfryd-stfeet, who had been laid up with an affection of the hip for some weeks, and who it was thought would not recover the use of her limbs without the aid of crutches, got up completely cured as the result, it is claimed of faith-healing. Two ministers, the Revs Mr. Owen, of Elim Baptist Chapel, and Mr Francis, Aberdu, Cardiganshire, prayed earnestly for her recovery on the Saturday evening, and shortly afterwards she got up, dressed her- self without assistance and came downstairs. The following day she took part in all the chapel services, and is evidently completely cured, for she can walk about the neighbour- hood, to the astonishment of the residents, without assistance and looks in better health than ever. She is a young lady of a religious turn of mind, and regards her recovery as having been brought about by the interference of the Divine Will, and says it was due entirely to her undoubted faith, which was strengthened owing to the reading in a pam- phlet of a similar recovery. Miss Griffiths, although deeply interested in the revival, did not take an unusually prominent part, but in the course of the year her interest in religious matters had become more intense, and her pastor had been much distressed at the fact that she was so very ill.

There are still several original articles to discover, but at least I now have this. There are just a couple of other specific things I want to mention about the article.

1. It confirms my great grandmothers address at age 24, as 74 Brynhvfryd Street. I had this already from the previous article in part 1, but it is always good to have a second confirmation. It should make the 1901 census much easier to read and confirm, assuming they are still living at the same place. 

2. It also mentions, 'the revival' which is a reference to the Welsh Revival in which many miracles were documented in both religious and none religious newspapers like the two I have shared. It made the news in Wales frequently for many reasons, not least of which that it led to whole mining communities being transformed rather suddenly, with pubs being empty while churches were filled. It is also claimed as the beginning of many pentecostal denominations. For my own family it is significant because one set of great grandparents were much changed by it, and another were converted and called to ministry by those changed during this time. 

That's all for now, I'll keep searching for those other original articles. 

Lampeter War Memorial - Contribution To The Honor Roll Project

I recently visited Lampeter, Wales. It's just a small town so when I saw a local war memorial I took some photographs so I could add it to the Honor Roll Project in time for Nov 11th (Remembrance Day/Veterans Day) I wanted to make sure that in the future these people could be easily found by all.

The site is well looked after, but it was difficult to get a picture of the whole thing due to the angle and the direction the road took in front of it. This is a view of the main obelisk.

There is a small plaque just as you enter the site, with an explanation of how it was first created and who it was for. Since the town is in Wales, the words are in both Welsh and English.

An overview reads:

"To the immortal memory of the men of Lampeter and of nurse Richards who died in the Great War 1914-1919. Nobly they did their duty and sacrificed their lives defending their homes and the honour of their country.

Mewn angof ni chant fod."  (We will not forget them.) 

Each side of the obelisk then has a list of names. I have provided a picture and transcribed them as best as I can. The last few names on the last image have faded somewhat. I have put a ? where something was too difficult to translate perfectly.

Rsm Watkin Llewelyn Evans - Kings Royal Rifle Corps
Lieut. Denis Noel Tyrrell Creen - Royal Sussex Regiment
Lieut. John Henry Harford - South wales Borderers
A.B Seaman Lewis James Herbert - S.S. Arab
Pte Jenkin Oliver Howells - Machine Gun Corps
Sub Lieut. John Henry Howell - Royal Naval Reserve
Naval-Cadet John Stanley Jenkins - Anson Battalion Royal Naval Division
Cpl David Robert Jones - Pembroke Imperial Yeomanry
Pte James Mayberry Jones - South Wales Borderers
2nd Lieut. John Lewis Jones - Welch Regiment
Pte James John Simon Jones - Manchester Regiment
Cunner Leon Jones - Cardigan Sattery Royal Field Artillery
Pte Thomas Lloyd Jones - Royal welch Fusiliers
Pte William Alfred Jones - South Wales Borderers
Cpl David Lloyd - Royal Field Artillery

A.B Seaman Richard Cray Morgan - Mercantile Marine Reserve
Gunner Arthur Oakes - Royal Field Artillery
Cpe James Pocock - Welch Regiment
Pte Timothy Richards - Lincolnshire Regiment
Pte Thomas Cyril Roberts - Welch Regiment
Gunner David Sturdy - Royal Garrison Artillery
Sgt Harry Sturdy - South Wales Borderers
Pte David Roderick Thomas - Royal Army Service Corps
Pte Evan David Williams - Welch Regiment
Pte Evan Davies Williams - Royal Army Medical Corps
Gunner Rhys Rees - Royal Garrison Artillery

Nurse Ella Richards - ? British Red Cross Society
Sgt Major Anelay - 9th Lancers
Cap/Sgt David John Rees Davies - Australian Expeditionary Force
Pte David Rees Hanlyn Davies - Royal Welch Fusiliers
Pte John Davies - Gloucestershire Regiment
2nd Lieut John Charles Edmunds Davies - Royal Welch Fusiliers
Sapper John Worthington Davies - Royal Engineers
Pte Nathaniel Davies - Welch Regiment
Pte Tom Davies - Welch Regiment
Sgt? - Watkin Jones-Davies - Pembroke Imperial Yeomanry
? William John Davies - Welch Guards
? Mechanic David Clarence - Royal Air Force
Sgt Benjamin Evans - Welch Regiment
? Evan Charles Evans - Welch Regiment
Pte John Walter Evans - Royal Welch Fusiliers

It is my hope that we'll see more blogs about memorials throughout small towns in Britain.

Reunions and Discoveries in Britain:

I just returned from a nearly two week trip to Wales and England. I went for my brothers wedding, but it also turned into an opportunity to do a little family history. I already knew we'd spend a couple of days with my Uncle Michael who has done a lot of research on his side of the family. I went armed with questions and a camera.

The first pleasant surprise is that my Dad carved time into one of our trips through Wales to look for the grave of his grand father and grand mother.

Now, my dad's cousin had previously sent us a picture of the grave. 

When we visited we saw that it was definitely in some disrepair, which we had figured out from Roy's earlier pictures.

Wendy Thomas (nee Davies), Me, Dad (Merthyn Davies.)

Wendy is my Dad's sister, and she had actually helped at Price and Annie's house when Annie passed away, but in Wales tradition said that women were not to go to the grave site for the funeral. It's a tradition still held to in some parts of Wales today. So Wendy had never seen the grave, I am glad we could take her with us. 

While there we raised one of the side stones which had collapsed and we discovered one other thing. There was one line missing from the inscription Roy sent me. This is because it was carved on the tail end of the grave and not on the headstone.

In Welsh it simply reads:

"Gwyn eu byd y rhai addfwyn."

Translated it reads as:

"Blessed are the meek."

On my last full day in England we also visited my grandparents and great grandparents graves on my mothers side.

Mum (Christine Davies), Kathleen Hobbs (Nana's cousin who grew up with her), me.

Christine Davies (nee Hilton), me, Dad (Merthyn Davies.)

A sapling has grown up between my grandparents grave and the one behind. We didn't want to remove it in case it had been planted purposefully, or in case it disturbed the earth around the two graves. This made it a little difficult to take a photograph. We took Auntie Kathleen with us, who was my Nana's cousin.

The inscription for this and my great grandparents grave can be found here.

Dad and Mum (Merthyn and Christine Davies.)

I'm glad that we visited.

Now, in between the grave visits we stayed with my Uncle. As a result of that trip I now have:

1. 14 more photographs of Nana and Grandad together.

Just one of the photographs - Grandad receiving a gift from the British
Post Office upon his retirement. Nana caught the camera and smiled.

2. 1 more photograph of grandad alone, he is playing the accordion. 

Incidentally, this means I now know we had accordion players on both sides of the family tree.

3. Pictures of Grandad's war medals. ( I will go into more details about the medals in a future post.)

4. Memorial from Grandad's funeral.

5. 4 Letters written to Nana when her eldest was born. (Since he is still alive I may not blog these transcriptions in their entirety for a while.)

6. A photograph from Victory in Japan Day.

Grandad is front row second from the right, in uniform.

7. Great Grandad Wright's National  ID card and 3 medals from WW1 and 3 from WW2

8. A newspaper article on John Hobbs (My Auntie Kathleen's father.)

9. A newspaper article on Herbert Wright. (My Great grandfather's brother.)

10. Potentially a gedcom file with all my Uncle's research. (Depends if he can figure out how to send it to me.)

11. A photograph of my great great grandmother Hannah Elizabeth Westerman.

Add caption

12. Some information about Sarah Sharratt (My 2x Great Gradmother.)

13. Some information on George Hilton (My 4x Great Grandfather.)

Of course, this is a lot of information, and considering I've hardly started blogging about all the research I discovered from my Dad's side of the family, it may be a while before you read it all here. So stay tuned, there's a long road ahead!