Having lived in the village of Bronllys for over twenty years and in neighbouring Talgarth for many years before that, I have passed the ‘Royston Memorial Hall’ countless times. I had often wondered as to whom this building was named after.
I had been told as a boy that it was named after a Miss Royston, a wealthy lady who had provided the money to have it built in 1924. I always made the assumption that this Miss Royston was probably from Pontywal Mansion which later became part of Bronllys Sanatorium hospital; how wrong assumptions can be……
Moving on to the present day and with the advantage of the internet to hand, I decided to find out a little more.
The first surprise was to discover that there were actually two ‘Miss Roystons’ living in Bronllys; two spinster sisters living together along with a domestic servant. The second surprise was to find that they were not originally from this area and did not move to Bronllys until the 1890’s.
Mary Elizabeth Royston was born in Whitwell, Derbyshire in 1849. She was christened on the 5th August 1849.
Her sister, Sarah Ann, was born in January 1856 and she was christened on the 6th April 1856.
Their father, John Royston was a doctor. Indeed, the 1851 census for Whitwell gives his occupation as ‘Member of The Royal College of Surgeons & Licentiate of Apothecaries Hall, London. He was born in 1820. At this time the family were living in Welbeck Road, Whitwell. Here the family employed a ‘General Servant’.
By 1861 the family had moved to the High Street, Whitwell and Mary was attending a small boarding school in Worksop, Nottinghamshire. Whilst at the High Street, the family employed a House Maid and a Groom.
Things had taken a downward turn by the 1871 census, as John Royston had recently died. His wife, Sarah then aged 55, describes her occupation as ‘Retired, Widow’. Both of the daughters then aged 22 and 16, where still living with their mother but neither of them had an occupation. The family were living in Newbold by this time and still employing a ‘Girl Servant’.
In 1881 the girls were still at home with their mother who was aged 66. She described herself as ‘Doctor’s Wife, Retired’. The girls now aged 31 and 26 had no occupation and were still unmarried. They were living at HollyBank, Staveley and still employed a ‘Girl Servant’.
By 1891 the two spinsters are still living at HollyBank, but their mother is no longer with them, having died in1890.
They are still employing a young girl as a General Servant, Domestic’.
By 1901 the ladies have moved from Derbyshire to Wales and are now living at ‘The Villa’ in the village of Bronllys in the County of Breconshire, now Powys. They are now aged 52 and 45 and have an ‘Adopted Niece’ Miss Agnes M Timmins living with them. They also employ a boy as ‘Groom Domestic’ servant.
The house had been previously occupied from 1894 to 1896 by a Captain Watkins and his wife, so it was sometime between 1896 and 1901 that the Royston sisters moved to Bronllys.
Whilst the information gleaned from the 1901 census seemed quite straight forward, it caused a small problem when viewed over a century later. There is no house called ‘The Villa’ in the village of Bronllys today.
In the 1901 census, the location of The Villa is near the Post Office, Glynhelig and the Cock Inn, right in the middle of the village. Over a century later, Glynhelig and The Cock are still standing, as is the Postoffice, although this is now renamed Bronllys House and is a private dwelling.
There is however another large property which dominates this central location of the village; a large Victorian property called ‘The Laurels’.
Whilst it was definitely there in 1901, there is no mention of a house by that name in the census. There is an account of a William Parry living at The Villa, Bronllys in 1888. He had moved there from a house in Brecon called The Laurels. Did he unofficially bring the name with him?
Anyway, a look at the 1911 census confirmed my suspicions that The Villa and The Laurels are one and the same, as by then the house in which the Royston sisters were living was referred to as The Laurels; although confusingly it was still being referred to as The Villa in some local newspaper reports several years later!
Interestingly, this house was recently offered for sale and was described as being a ‘villa type’ property.
They continued to live here until their deaths in 1918, Mary Elizabeth in March and Sarah Ann in August of that year.
During their time in the village, they were great supporters of the local day school and provided prizes and games for the children on many occasions. The Brecon County Times for Christmas 1913 reports that the Misses Royston, along with other village dignitaries, had subscribed to providing presents for the children on the school breaking up for Christmas.
At Easter 1916, the newspaper reported that the ladies had made a surprise visit to the school and presented each pupil with a game of Shuttlecock and Battledore, or Badminton as we know it today. The game was new to the children of Bronllys, but had been a popular game in the North of England. They also gave each child an orange as they left for the Easter holiday.
The sisters were also regular attendants at St Mary’s church, and again the Brecon County Times gives accounts of them providing decorations and helping to decorate the church for the Harvest Festival in 1915 and 1916.
The sisters died within five months of each other in 1918 and following services at St Mary’s church Bronllys, they were interred in Hay cemetery. They were aged 69 and 62 respectively.
So what of the memorial hall which still bears their name? They of course never saw it as it was constructed six years after their passing. Ninety years after its construction the hall is still in use as a meeting place and venue for village activities, although there is now some concern regarding its long term future due to the discovery of dry rot in the timberwork. Hopefully this can be remedied, and the building will continue as a useful asset to the community and as a reminder of the two sisters from Derbyshire, who gave so much to the village of Bronllys during their time here many years ago.
Graham Howland. January 2015.