Chapter 9: PERCIVAL EDWIN SEVIOUR of ABERGAVENNY
Percival Edwin Seviour served in the army in the First World War. During his service in the trenches in France he contracted chronic asthma. He also served in Africa. Following the War he became a master baker and confectioner. He was later head chef at Pen-y-fal Hospital in Abergavenny. He married Sarah Jane Helena Sutton (see Chapter 10) in Holy Trinity church, Abergavenny on 6 August 1919. There followed two children, Marie Jane and Robert Edwin, in 1921 and 1930 respectively. Percival Edwin lived in Abergavenny until his death in 1971 of chronic bronchitis and prostatic hyperplasia. He died in Nevill Hall Hospital, Abergavenny, but was resident at 14 Llwynu Road. His widow stayed on in Llwynu Road until the late 1970s, when, due to failing health, she moved in with her daughter Marie Jane at 91 Northover Road in Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol. Shortly afterwards she died following a stroke.
Marie Jane married Hugh Llewellyn Davies in St Mary’s, Abergavenny, on 7 August 1948.
Marie Jane Seviour
During the Second World War Hugh Llewellyn served first with the South Wales Borderers then as a captain with the Gurkhas. ‘Gurkha soldiers come from several different ethnic backgrounds within Nepal and have a military tradition dating from the 16th century. Their fame spread throughout the world after they fought the British army in the Anglo-Nepalese War (1814-1816) over Nepal’s southward and Great Britain’s northward expansion in India. Although the British defeated Nepal, they were so impressed by the Gurkha fighters that they enticed them to enter the British (and subsequently, Indian) army. The Gurkhas, known for carrying razor-sharp curved knives called kukris, have fought in nearly all of the world’s major wars and have earned Great Britain’s highest service awards, including the Victoria Cross.’
In the Second World War there were no fewer than 40 Gurkha Battalions, some 112,000 men. Gurkhas fought side-by-side with British and Commonwealth troops in Syria, the Western Desert, Italy, and Greece, from North Malaya to Singapore and from the Siamese border back through Burma to Imphal then forward again to Rangoon. A total of ten Victoria Crosses were awarded to Gurkhas. Hugh Llewellyn left for India from Liverpool in 1945. His time with the Gurkhas is remembered in the name of his present house, Bakloh. Still a garrison town, Bakloh is in the Punjab, on the edge of the Himalayan foothills in the north of India.
Hugh Llewellyn’s father, John Hugh Davies, was chief clerk to Swansea Borough Council Architect's Department during the inter-war years. In the First World War he served in the London unit of the Sanitary Corp being posted to Likovan in Macedonia. He was a staunch member of the Mount Pleasant Baptist church in Swansea. His father had been a provisions merchant’s labourer in Swansea. His mother, Sarah Davies née Bassett was a miner’s daughter. Hugh Llewellyn’s mother, Mary Ethel Davies née Jones was the daughter of William Jones a gentleman’s mercer (tailor) in Swansea. Mary Ethel’s brother Hugh Montague Jones was a chief engineer in the navy during the First World War. He was twice on board torpedoed ships. In the Second World War he was an engineer in Swansea dry docks where he was in charge of fitting guns to merchant vessels. He was killed in 1944 when a steel ingot fell on him as he stepped off a ship at the end of his day’s work.
Marie Jane is an accomplished musician and performed in the Welsh National Opera. She moved to Bristol during the War but soon moved back to Abergavenny where she worked in a shop before taking her Civil Service examinations. After marrying Hugh Llewellyn the couple moved several times with Hugh’s career. They lived for a time in Cardiff, then Melksham, Solihull and Cymbran. Their final move was to Bristol. Marie and Hugh now live in Woodside Grove, Henbury, Bristol. Their children Linda and Sarah were educated in Cymbran and Bristol. When the children were old enough Marie Jane worked again for the Civil Service.
Linda and Sarah are now married and have families of their own. Both live in the London area. Linda is a primary school teacher and is married to Philip Rosser who is a training and development manager with the British Red Cross. Sarah is married to Peter Emeerith, from Mauritius. Sarah and Peter are both qualified nurses. Marie and Hugh’s three grandchildren, Kate, Rosannah and Jonathan, are still at school.
Marie’s brother, Robert Edwin, died in April 1998. He had been a steelworker. He did not marry and died in a nursing home in Newport, Gwent.
Marie and Hugh Davies with their family
(Philip and Linda Rosser, Sarah and Peter Emeerith,
Kate, Rosannah and Jonathan)
Percival Edwin SEVIOUR b.1894 d.1971 m.Sarah Jane Helena SUTTON Chapter 10) Marie Jane SEVIOUR m.Hugh Llewellyn DAVIES (Chapter 12) Linda DAVIES m.Philip ROSSER Kate Jane ROSSER Sarah DAVIES m.Peter EMEERITH Rosannah Marie Savita EMEERITH Jonathan Hugh Vinod EMEERITH Robert Edwin SEVIOUR b.1930 d.1998
E-mail