JUST A HOUSEKEEPER?
MARTYN J GRIFFITHS
Standing to the front of St. Catwg’s church, between the entrance and the car park, is a substantial pillar type gravestone with a crumbling and almost indecipherable inscription. What draws one’s attention to it is the name MIERS.
The Miers family were industrialists who came to the Neath area in about 1736, eventually settling at Cadoxton Lodge where they stayed until it was sold to George Tennant in 1823. In Cadoxton they had interests in the Ynysygerwen Tinplate Works and perhaps the best-known family member was Molly (Mary) who married the last of the Mackworth family of the Gnoll Estate and then, after his premature death, Capel Hanbury Leigh of Pontypool Park. She owned Neath Castle and the land on which the Friends Meeting House was built.
The gravestone was erected by Capel Miers and it is a memorial, not to a family member, but to a housekeeper, Millicent Mildred Bailey.
She had most likely been housekeeper at Ynysygerwn and was still with the family in 1841 at Ynyspenllwch, which house was later converted into a convent and is today Manor Park in Clydach. She must have been very important to the family to merit such a grand memorial.
The housekeeper was, with the butler, one of the most senior members of the household. She ruled the roost over the female members of staff and was in charge of household accounts. Her role was relatively well-paid, she had her own rooms and there were other benefits such as tips from guests and free food which meant that most of her income could be saved. The wages varied, depending on the size of the mansion and the wealth of the employer but typically would have been about 16 guineas a year.
Very little is known about Millicent Bailey. She was 61 years of age when she died and was buried 29th April 1843, but where she was born remains a mystery. At the time of her death she was living in Ynyspenllwch.
Apart from the grand design of her memorial, her will (PROB 11/1980/254) also leaves many questions. She made her will in 1828 and at that time was living in Bridgend. For a lady of seemingly limited income, she left bequests to more than twenty people including the housekeepers for Capel Hanbury Leigh, Anthony Hills (Merthyr Plymouth Works) and John Miers. The only family member named is a step-mother living in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire.
A few years after her death Capel Miers (then of Drymma) was sorting out the will of his late brother, John Nathaniel Miers and that included a debt of £2,270 owing to his housekeeper Millicent Bailey. (NLW. Ref. GB 210 40) That is today’s equivalent of about £240,000. She didn’t save that on 16 guineas a year!!
There is one more clue as to Millicent’s origins. When she made her will, the solicitor she engaged was Henry Mostyn of Usk. Were there family links in that area? Perhaps her wealth came from the Bailey family who owned the Nantyglo ironworks.
Perhaps we will never know for certain. The grave remains a mystery for now.
