1.JohnJosephCollins, born 10 Mar 1895 in Barry, Glamorgan, South Wales.; died 18 Apr 1987 in St Winifred's Nursing Home, Cardiff, Glamorgan, South Wales. (age 92). He was the son of 2. ThomasFrancisCollins and 3. MargaretMcAuliffe. He married (1) KathleenMaryFarr 13 Dec 1918 in Barry, Glamorgan, South Wales.. She was born 24 Jun 1897 in Barry, Glamorgan, South Wales., and died 05 Jan 1980 in 13 Treharne Road, Barry, Glamorgan, South Wales. (age 82). She was the daughter of William Alfred James Farr and Margaret Leahy.
Notes for John Joseph Collins:
John, also known as Jack was born at 13 Treharne Road, Barry on Sunday 10th March 1895.
He was baptised by Reverend Hulst at St Helens RC Church, Barry on the 24th March 1895. The Godparents were James McAuliffe and Catherine Collins.
Jack probably chose his middle name Joseph at his confirmation.
There is some confusion as to Jack's actual birth date. His birth was registered by his sister, Catherine Collins as being the 10th March. His baptism certificate had his birth date as being the 1st March.
Jack was left handed.
1901 British Census
PRO REF RG 13/4993
13 Treharne Road, Cadoxton, Barry, Glamorgan.
Thomas Collins, head, married, age 45, plasterer, born Glamorgan.
Margaret Collins, wife, married, age 41, born Glamorgan.
Thomas Collins, son, unmarried, age 21, born Glamorgan.
Daniel Collins, son, unmarried, age 16, born Glamorgan.
Margaret Collins, daughter, age 14, born Glamorgan.
Hannah Collins, daughter, age 12, born Glamorgan.
Ellen Collins, daughter, age 7, born Glamorgan.
John Collins, son, age 6, born Glamorgan.
Jack had to be up early every morning to feed and clean out the pigs at his father's allotment before going to St Helens School. When Jack left school he worked on a farm at Coldbrook, Barry. He lived in the loft of the barn. Jack also used to labour for his father, Thomas Collins. Tom was a plasterer and he did a lot of the plastering at Duffryn House. Jack would leave home early in the morning whilst still dark and walk across the fields to Duffryn arriving at daybreak to start work.
WW1 was sixteen weeks old and a campaign was undertaken throughout Cardiff and nearby districts to raise the required thousand men. Tactics for drawing the crowds included the use of open-air concerts by military bands and appeals at football matches, music halls and places of work. The target was achieved in eight weeks. The men were attested and enrolled at the Custom House in Cardiff and became The 16th (Service) Battalion, (Cardiff City). The 16th were attached to the 130th Brigade, 43rd Division, Welsh Regiment until 28th April 1915 when the formation became the 115th Brigade, 38th Division, Welsh Regiment. Jack, at the age of 19 enlisted as a private on the 28th November 1914, regiment numbers 23071 and 47447.
The men travelled by train to Porthcawl where they went into billets.
At the end of December 1914 the battalion moved from Porthcawl to Colwyn Bay, breaking it's journey at Cardiff to parade through it's home city, with some of the recruits wearing the Welsh grey cloth uniform.
South Wales Echo - Tuesday, 29th December 1914
"Cardiff's Own"
LEAVE FOR COLWYN BAY TOMORROW
Tomorrow (Wednesday) morning the men enlisted for the Cardiff City Battalion will leave Porthcawl for Colwyn Bay. They are due to arrive at Cardiff shortly after 10 o'clock, and will march to the City Hall, where they will be inspected by the Lord Mayor. The band of the 3rd Welsh Regiment will play them from the railway station to the City Hall and back to the station, which they are timed to leave for Colwyn Bay at 11.10 a.m.
As this will be the first opportunity the citizens will have had of seeing the recruits from the Cardiff Battalion on the march, it is expected that there will be a large concourse in the streets tomorrow morning.
The following eight months were spent in Colwyn Bay, North Wales before moving to Winchester during August 1915 with the other units of the 38th (Welsh) Division. In late November the 16th Battalion visited Cardiff before they embarked on the 4th December 1915 for France.
South Wales Echo - Sunday, 28th November 1915
CARDIFF BATTALION
STIRRING DEPARTURE SCENES
MIGHTY FAREWELL CHEER
The farewell taken of the Cardiff City Battalion yesterday was notable for its spontaneity, its enthusiasm, and more for its exemplification of the affection with which the battalion is regarded by Cardiff.
An enormous crowd assembled in Cathays Park and along the route to the Great Western Railway Station, and the final march of the battalion through the streets was a triumphal progress. The space in the main avenue between the City Hall and the Law Courts, where the battalion assembled, was barricaded from the general public. The battalion assembled shortly after 4 o'clock, and at 4.30 the Lord Mayor (Dr. R.J. Smith) accompanied by the members of the Corporation in their robes, appeared from the western entrance of the City Hall.
LORD MAYOR'S GOD SPEED
The Lord Mayor addressed the men as follows:-
Citizen soldiers of Cardiff! Your leave, much too short so far as you are concerned, and much too short for our purpose, is nearly expired. I have come to say just one or two words to you before you embark upon the great mission which lies before you. I said yesterday that we are proud of the citizen soldiers of Cardiff men animated by the noblest sentiment that ever found place in the human breast, which has made you leave your cheerful firesides, your happy homes, and your peaceful occupations in order that you might join the great army and find a place in the vanguard in defence of the liberties of Europe. (Hear, Hear).
We are satisfied that you will be worthy of the splendid traditions of a great race. Col. Gaskell, wherever in the far-flung battlefield your soldiers are ordered, believe me, the best wishes of the citizens as a whole will go out to you and to your men, and we shall follow with the liveliest possible interest the welfare of your men, knowing that they are going to realise all that we are expecting from them.
Recollections of John Collins as told to Diane Brook on the 26th October 1982.
I signed up under age. (he was actually 19) Joined the 1st & 2nd Welsh Regiment. The 38th Division 16th Battalion, Cardiff City.
After training we spent 1 year and 6 months in the French trenches. We were gassed with Lachrymal Gas (mustard gas) Our eyes would stream. We had celluloid goggles.
We never had bread in the trenches only biscuits. We would put the biscuits in the dish with water. Soup, soup, soup day after day. There were no cooks. The kitchen was pulled by mules, ovens were dropped in the wagons until they were worn out. The officers were alright they had their own cook. We sometimes used to steal eggs when billeted in France because we were half starved.
French women had to run their farms when the husband and sons were conscripted. A French soldier could get cheap red wine because they only earned 1 franc a day.
We earned 5 francs a day. Some went to my mum and some was kept for after the war.
I used the tuck which I kept in my kit bag, corn beef, biscuits, tin with a bit of tea and showering kit. The biscuits went blue with the paint from the tin. The water was undrinkable.
We had a mascot, a goat. The goat would go for you. Being Corporal of the goats was not a bad job.
The runner was found drunk by our Sergeant, he knew where the service rum was kept, (small spoonful each morning) he opened a tin and was unconscious when found. "Private Collins, want a job as a Captain's runner". "Aye I'd love it"
We spent 4 days in the trenches and we were lucky if we spent 4 days out. We had to memorise the village layouts because we only came out of the trenches at night. There were only flares.
Went to the barns set out in court yards.
Runner at Captain's H.Q.
When at ease
"Collins"
"Yes Sir"
"Go and see if you can get us some drink or fags"
I had to go, there was some crude alcohol sold and I had to stop the troops from drinking it.
On the Somme there was a farmhouse nearby where an old lady sold champagne for 5fr a bottle, we bought it.
The best bath I ever had was in a village in France. The river running over us we all undressed, it made the women laugh.
R.A.M.C. Royal Army Medical Corps were known as 'Rob All My Comrades'
Battle of Albert. (Mametz Wood)
Step to fire from at dawn. Whizzbangs came over (a whizzbang was the allied description of a light shell that was fired from a small field artillery gun. The term was applied to the explosion owing to the short range and low trajectory, whizz's arrived as soon if not sooner than anyone heard them).
Most casualties there. There were a couple of regiments behind us but they never reached us. I had the boots of a dead man. Permit for dead men's boots to be mended by the Army cobblers was from the Captain.
1070 men - 4 Battalions to a division.
In France, Mametz Wood I was wounded in my elbow. We had taken a trench. My Captain sent me with a message over to the Woods. I delivered the message, never got back. I went into a big shell hole. It was dark when I got out. They bandaged my arm and I had to find my own way back. A horse stepped on my toe. "Good thing an Army boot". Soon found my way down to Boulogne and off to England.
End of Diane's notes.
I can only assume that Jack was sent back to the trenches after his recovery because he had said at the beginning of his interview that he had spent 18 months in the trenches. The battle for Mametz Wood was in July 1916, and Jack had been in the trenches for 7 months up until then.
Jack was posted to Salonika.
''I spent 16 months in Macedonia, Greece, near the Strymon River.''
He contracted malaria. One day up in the mountains Jack was so ill with malaria his fellow army mates put him on a mule which found its way down the mountain and back to base. Jack suffered with recurrent malaria for many years.
Jack was awarded 3 campaign medals. The Victory Medal and The British War Medal (National ArchivesWO329/1314) and The 1914 - 1915 Star (National Archives WO329/2739)
Jack married Kathleen Farr on Friday, 13th December 1918 at St Helens RC Church, Barry.
After the war Jack worked at Rank's Mills, Barry Docks, where he used to bag the flour. He became seriously ill with pneumonia following an ulcer operation. Kathleen nursed him back to health, without her he may have died. He went to Miskin Manor, Vale Of Glamorgan, to recuperate. After this illness Jack couldn't go back to bagging the flour and he became a night watchman at the mill. He worked 12 hour night shifts. He was a union man and ran the Tontine (the mill workers sickness kitty).
Jack worked at the mill for about 47 years apart from the time the mill workers were on strike and he went to work for Vickery's the builders, building the shelters on the seafront at Barry Island. Jack gave up smoking when he retired and then took snuff.
He would go to his Army reunion every year in Cardiff and come home whistling after having a few too many drinks. He rarely drank alcohol until his son in laws started to take him to The King William public house, (The Billy), Bridge Street. One night Ken Marley took him for a drink, Jack was sick outside and he lost his false teeth. Later in life Jack enjoyed his tot of Dimple Whisky.
He had an allotment which he enjoyed very much. He kept chickens in the back garden which provided fresh eggs daily and he would kill a cockerel for Christmas dinner.
Jack was completely spoilt by Kathleen, he couldn't do a lot for himself. He even burnt a saucepan whilst boiling an egg. At the age of 89 he fell in the back garden and broke his hip resulting in a hip replacement operation.
Jack died at the age of 92, on Saturday 18th April 1987 at St Winifred's Nursing Home, Romilly Crescent, Cardiff of 1a] Bronchopneumonia, 1b0 Senile Myocardial Degeneration. Jack's son, Michael registered the death.
Jack had joined the Transport and General Worker's Union on the 9th February 1935 which entitled him to funeral benefits.
Jack was buried at Merthyr Dyfan Cemetery, Barry, Grave Space A1196. He was put in the grave with his sister Mary and her husband William Treharne.
Notes for Kathleen Mary Farr:
Kathleen was born at 16 Regent Street, Barry on Thursday, 24th June 1897.
She was baptised at St Helens RC Church by Reverend James Byrne on the 11th July 1897. Her Godparents were Thomas Clancy (uncle) and Mary Catherine Bourke. Kathleen has the name Catherine on her baptism certifcate.
Kathleen's father died when she was less than three months old. Her mother couldn't look after Kathleen and her elder sister, Gertrude so Kathleen went to live with her mother's sister, (Johanna Riley nee Leahy), at 48 George Street, Barry. Kathleen didn't know Johanna was her auntie until she was about fourteen years of age.
1901 British Census
Pro Ref RG13, piece 4993, folio, 72 page 12 & 13.
48 George Street, Barry, South Glamorgan.
John O'Reilly, head, married, age 41, coal trimmer, worker, born Cardiff, South Glamorgan.
Johanna O'Reilly, wife, married, age 38, born Penarth, South Glamorgan.
Michael O'Reilly, son, age 13, telegraph messenger, worker, born Penarth, South Glamorgan.
Dora O'Reilly, daughter, age 9, born Penarth, Glamorgan.
Kathleen Farr, niece, age 3, born Barry, South Glamorgan.
Johanna Leahy, mother in law, widow, age 64, born Ireland.
John Leahy, brother in law, single, age 40, coal trimmer, worker, born Cardiff, South Glamorgan.
Kathleen attended St Helens RC School, Barry.
She went on to work at Rees & Warren's Chemist (corner of Morel Street and Holton Road, Barry), where she learnt how to make and dispense medicines.
During W.W.1 Kathleen was a Red Cross nurse at the Sea View Labour Club, Dock View Road, Barry, attending to the wounded soldiers.
During the war Kathleen was engaged to be married but her fiance was killed. She then went on to marry Jack Collins on the 13th December 1918. She had known Jack from their school and church.
Following Kathleen and Jack's marriage they lived at 48 George Street, Barry with Johanna and Michael Riley.
Circa 1928 - 1931 they moved to a house at Hywel Crescent, Barry. The house had gas, a toilet, a bathroom, lights and a cooker, very modern for that time. Jack's father, (Thomas Collins) died September 1927 and so Kath, Jack and family went to live at 13 Treharne Road to look after Jack's mother (Margaret Collins nee Mcauliffe), who was registered blind. The house had no bathroom, the toilet was in the back garden, it had only one cold water tap which wasn't by the sink and had oil lamps. Kath and Jack took care of Margaret until her death in 1936. The couple lived at Treharne Road for the rest of their lives.
During W.W.2 Kathleen was an air raid warden. She wore a tin hat and carried a whistle. There was a search light at Pencoedtre Field, which was quite near to her house. The search light was a target for the bombers. There were some large holes made by the bombs but the searchlight was never hit. One day she was hit on the head by shrapnel.
She worked at Ocean Salts during the war getting salt out of the mud. She also worked at the ammunitions factory, Bridgend. After the war she nursed at Sully Hospital. Kathleen enjoyed taking day trips, and would suddenly be off for the day at the drop of a hat.
Kathleen died at home on the 5th January 1980 and was cremated at Coychurch Crematorium, Bridgend, following a funeral service at St Helens RC Church. She is remembered on her husbands headstone.
Marriage Notes for John Collins and Kathleen Farr:
Kathleen and Jack were due to be married, but unfortunately Jack was ill in bed with malaria. Jack's sister, Helen, known as Nelly was supposed to go and tell Kathleen, but she didn't and Kath was left waiting at the church. The couple married at the second attempt by Licence at St. Helens RC Church, Barry on Friday 13th December 1918. The Priest was M. J. Richardson, the Registrar was A. Scollock. The witnesses at the wedding were Michael and Dora Riley (Kathleen's cousins, although they were more like brother and sister to Kathleen).
Jack's marriage certificate details:-
Age --23.
Condition -- Bachelor.
Profession -- Private, Welsh Regiment (47447) also Dock Labourer.
Residence -- 13 Treharne Road, Barry.
Father's Name -- Thomas Collins.
Father's Profession -- Plasterer.
Kathleen's marriage certificate details:-
Age -- 21.
Condition -- Spinster.
Residence -- 48 George Street, Barry.
Father's Name -- William Farr (deceased).
Father's Profession -- Coal Trimmer.
Barry Dock News, Friday December 20th 1918.
COLLINS - FARR On Friday December 13th, at St Helens RC Church, Barry Docks by the Rev Father Richardson, Private John Joseph Collins, to Miss Kathleen Farr, both of Barry Docks. By special licence.
A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE BARRY CATHOLIC MISSION.
After the reformation in the 16th century, Catholic worship disappeared from the Vale of Glamorgan. In 1846 there occurred the great famine in Ireland, forcing thousands of Irish to seek refuge in other lands. Many came to the Barry area and found work as agricultural labourers and domestic servants and they brought with them the traditions and practice of the Old Faith. There was no Catholic Church and no resident priest for them. The brave and fit would walk to Cardiff for Sunday Mass.
It was in 1862 that the first visiting priest came down from Cardiff to say Mass and administer the sacraments. It was in the early 1880's that the situation was transformed following the decision to build a dock in competition with Cardiff and Penarth for the export of their coal.
The rate of growth in the population was incredible. The 1881 census had shown a population of just 85 persons in Barry and 305 in Cadoxton, sixteen years later there were 28,000 inhabitants. Thousands had flooded in to work on the construction of the docks and the building of the town itself, and many of these were Irish immigrant labourers.
In 1886 a young Irish Catholic doctor, P.J. O'Donnell arrived in Barry and was to play a vital part in the development of the Catholic parish. Mass was said in his house at Robin's Lane but it was obvious the town could not be served indefinitely by the travelling Cardiff and Penarth priests. In 1888 Dr O'Donnell drafted a letter of petition to Bishop Hedley setting out the reasons why Barry should have its own resident priest. The petition was supported by about 450 signatures collected in the Barry area. The result was a success. The bishop wrote back in the October of 1888 promising that Father Hyland would be installed as a parish priest as soon as it could be arranged.
The bishop in his letter to Dr O'Donnell went on to emphasise that the next task was the provision of a Catholic school. Father Hyland arrived at the end of 1889 and went to live in Beatrice Road. He later lived in a cottage in Holton Road and by 1892 he was in Guthrie Street. But there was still no church and so mass was said in a room at the Wenvoe Arms Hotel (later renamed The Admiral), Vere Street.
An acre of land was acquired and the St Helens School-Chapel was built at the cost of £1700 having its ceremonial opening by Bishop Hedley on Monday 9th May 1892. The doors opened to pupils on Tuesday 10th May. There was accommodation for 240 pupils during the week and a fair size congregation on Sundays.
Father Hyland left Barry in 1894 having been transferred to Neath. Father D. Hulst was in charge from 1895 - 1897 and was in turn followed by Father James Byrne. He was to remain in Barry for eighteen years and it was in this time that the old infants school building was put up (in two stages, 1st part, two classrooms in1898 and 2nd part, two rooms in 1912). St Helens Church followed, the foundation stone being laid on the 14th September 1906 by Edaliza S. Leonard and the building was completed in about seven months at the cost of £1150. Bishop Hedley presided at the opening ceremony on the 28th April 1907. The church is 92 feet long and 42 feet wide and holds 400 people. A year after the church was completed, Father Byrne had the presbytery built.
