Jenkin & Martha - the Englefield Davieses (continued) (Return to the Merthyr Mawr Davieses)
In 1886, Jenkin's brother George died; he had remained single and remained at the family farm 
- Candleston, in Merthyr Mawr. Jenkin appears to have been keen to keep the tenancy of Candleston in the family. Adjoining as it did the land of neighbouring Warren Farm and Whitney Farm, both in Davies family hands, he may have had grander long-term plans, but whatever his motivation, it is clear that he tried to manage Candleston remotely from Englefield, placing some of his sons and daughters at Candleston on what seems to have been a sort of rota. Eldest son Ebenezer probably didn't go to Candleston; he was probably already planning his future with his Berkshire fiancée, Bessie Jephcot (#176) whom he married in 1888. Second-eldest son Jenkin certainly spent time there, as did his sisters Anna and Miriam, as these three were at Candleston at the time of the 1891 census (see extract on the right), helped by a number of servants. Third-eldest son William - my grandfather - almost certainly spent time there too - probably relieving his brother Jenkin sometime after mid-1891, because it was here that he must have met his future wife - my grandmother - Sarah Powell, then still living with her parents in Pyle.
- Candleston, in Merthyr Mawr. Jenkin appears to have been keen to keep the tenancy of Candleston in the family. Adjoining as it did the land of neighbouring Warren Farm and Whitney Farm, both in Davies family hands, he may have had grander long-term plans, but whatever his motivation, it is clear that he tried to manage Candleston remotely from Englefield, placing some of his sons and daughters at Candleston on what seems to have been a sort of rota. Eldest son Ebenezer probably didn't go to Candleston; he was probably already planning his future with his Berkshire fiancée, Bessie Jephcot (#176) whom he married in 1888. Second-eldest son Jenkin certainly spent time there, as did his sisters Anna and Miriam, as these three were at Candleston at the time of the 1891 census (see extract on the right), helped by a number of servants. Third-eldest son William - my grandfather - almost certainly spent time there too - probably relieving his brother Jenkin sometime after mid-1891, because it was here that he must have met his future wife - my grandmother - Sarah Powell, then still living with her parents in Pyle. 
Whatever Jenkin's plans may have been for Candleston, or indeed for anything else, they must have been abruptly halted early in 1893 when he suffered a serious attack of rheumatic fever, which weakened his heart, and from which he never fully recovered. At this point in time, it seems, William was recalled from Candleston to run his father's auctioneer's business in Reading and to help his sick father with the running of Wickcroft Farm. The lease of Candleston was surrendered; Evan Jones, who had farmed Morfa Bach in Margam, took over the tenancy of Candleston at the end of March 1893, bringing to an end the Davies era there. A few months later, in September 1893, Jenkin succumbed to an angina attack. He was buried at St.Mark's, Englefield, together with his three children who had died in infancy.Jenkin had somehow managed to juggle a 300-acre farm, an agricultural machinery and auctioneer business, multiple professional and public committee duties, and his county councillor role, in addition to the "normal" paternal responsibilities of a father of twelve. Although he was undoubtedly helped in many of these activities by Martha and by his sons and daughters, the passing of such an active man did not go unnoticed. Indeed, he left a huge void that others must have found extremely difficult to fill - not least of the challenges was at home on the farm - who would run Wickcroft? Ebenezer had left home five years earlier and now had a wife and three young children of his own, so would not have seen this as his challenge. Jenkin (#155), now 35, appears not to have been up to the challenge; whether he had already decided to stay out of farming or whether the decision was thrust upon him is not clear, but by the end of the decade he was working as a market gardener. The other sons were aged respectively 27 (William), 21 (Richard), 17 (George), and 13 (Rhys). Clearly, it was down to William to try to manage the farm and the auctioneer's business, and the administration relating to his father's death and winding up his estate.
We can be sure that young William, no doubt bowing a little under the weight of responsibility for his mother, his six sisters, his three younger brothers, the farm and the business, and probably still reeling emotionally from his first-hand experience of his father's death, would have received guidance and probably direct help from his landlord Richard Benyon M.P. and his estate team. What guidance was provided must be a matter of conjecture, but a shrewd observer, which undoubtedly Richard Benyon was, may have concluded that the Davies family at Wickcroft farm in 1893 was not ideally constituted for operating a 300-acre farm. Consisting for the most part of young ladies of twenty or over (six of them), youngsters under the age of eighteen (three of them) and an ailing 60-year-old widow, the notional head of the household, William and his twenty-one year-old right hand man, Richard (#161) may well have been seen as a little lightweight for the task, given that there was still an auctioneer's business in Reading to be sorted out too. When William's eldest sister, Annie (#156) who must have been a great support to him, announced her intention to marry in 1894, then, early in the following year, Richard (#161), who, at 23, was presumably starting to become a reliable second-in-command to William at Wickcroft, also left to marry local girl Mary Jane Fisher (#844) with whom he was to run the "Royal Oak" in Broad Street, Reading, this must have been the last straw for William and it is probable that, with or without the guidance of his benevolent landlord, he was ready to throw in the towel.
He must have maintained contact with Sarah in Pyle during this time, and somehow the couple must have found a way of maintaining the relationship which had begun in Glamorgan, because in June 1896 they were exchanging wedding vows at St. James Church, Pyle. William's address at the time of marriage was stated on the marriage certificate to be "Englefield, Berkshire", but immediately after his marriage, he and Sarah had a new address in Berkshire -Park Farm, Tilehurst. Also, immediately after William and Sarah's marriage, his mother, Martha, his brother, George, and three of his sisters were living at Park Farm, Clapcot, in the parish of Wallingford St. Mary-le-More, some fifteen miles further north, on the Thames. So it was probably concluded in early 1896, with the help of the landlord, that it was no longer a reasonable proposition for the Davies family to continue the tenancy of Wickcroft Farm. As William was planning to marry, a smaller farm would be found on the Englefield Estate, which could be managed by George, now 23, with the help of his mother and those of his sisters who genuinely wanted to remain in farming, together with paid hands if necessary.
The solution was found at Park Farm, Wallingford, and George and his mother were joined there by Mary, Ellen and Charlotte. Another small farm was found for William and Sarah - Park Farm, Tilehurst - although this does not appear to have had any connection with the Englefield Estate, so it is not clear to what extent William was helped to find this. The others were presumably encouraged to fly off into the world on their own wings. We know that George remained in Wallingford, and remained single, for many years, finally marrying in 1912 and moving to another Englefield Estate farm in Bradfield, very close to his old home. We know also that Pollie (Mary Wiltshire Davies #158) remained single, and remained in Wallingford when George married and moved away, finally dying there at the age of 70 in 1934. Of the other Davies girls, Lottie (Charlotte Wiltshire Davies, #162) did not stay in Wallingford for long; she married farmer Harry Smith (#846), son of her father's friend Henry Smith (#1033); Ellen (#159) married Edward Fairmaner, a shipping clerk and went off to live in London; Miriam (#160) married local farmer Edgar Shorney (#841) and lived at Honey End Farm, Tilehurst, close to William and Sarah. So all the birds had flown.
It was here, in Wallingford-on-Thames, on 5 February 1898, that Martha Wiltshire (officially referred to as "spinster" despite her outstanding performance as Mrs Jenkin Davies of Englefield, mother of fourteen children of her own, and one of her sister's) died in her sleep.
Jenkin had been a larger-than-life character whose life of achievement and public service had resulted in glowing obituaries when he had died five years earlier. But Martha, who had mourned with him and comforted him a lifetime ago in Tythegston, had borne fourteen of his children, been farmer's wife, councillor's wife, and doubtless silent power behind the great man, Martha Wiltshire, spinster of this parish, slipped quietly away unnoticed. And with her, ended an era of the Davies family.