(449) Bath of Alltyferin

Bath of Alltyferin

This family was long settled in Cornwall, but owed their wealth and gentry status to Henry Bath (1776-1844), whose entrepreneurial skills took him from being the clerk to his father's building and joinery firm in Falmouth to being the biggest copper merchant in south Wales. The firm he founded, Henry Bath & Son, is still in business, although it has not been in family control for more than a century, and is no longer principally a metal brokerage. Soon after his marriage in 1796, Henry became a member of the Religious Society of Friends (the Quakers), and it seems likely that the early steps of his rise to affluence were materially assisted by the Fox family of Falmouth, who were leading lights of the movement. When Henry relocated to Swansea in 1816, his membership of the Friends ensured there was an active community to welcome him and his family, and the reputation of the Friends for sober industriousness and close attention to business was no doubt helpful to him as he worked to establish his business as both an agent for the copper miners across the UK and Ireland and as a supplier for south Wales copper smelting industry.

As early as 1818, Henry was joined in his business by his elder son, also Henry Bath (1797-1864), who seems to have possessed as least as much business acumen and energy as his father. He helped to develop the business by first building up a fleet of sailing vessels to import copper from more international sources, and then establishing a close working relationship with Charles Lambert, whose mining operations in Chile supplied a steady increasing proportion of Henry Bath & Son customers, and made him a millionaire. Both Henry Bath senior and Henry Bath junior were made wealthy by their business dealings, but their wealth at death was materially reduced by the philanthropy for which they were noted. Both men were content to live in large houses in essentially suburban situations close to their place of business, and did not seek to acquire a landed estate. Henry junior's eldest son, Henry James Bath (1821-75), however, had different ideas, and he and his brother obtained a grant of arms. In the year of his father's death he bought the Alltyferin estate at Llanegwad, deep in rural Carmarthenshire, and here he proceeded to build a mansion on a new site away from the old Georgian farmhouse. He also made gardens, and began the construction of a new church (completed by his widow) on a site convenient to the house. He and his younger brother, Edward Bath (1824-75) married two of the daughters of  Charles Lambert, but whereas Edward and his wife produced twelve children, Henry James and his wife had none to inherit either the business or the estate. Henry James therefore left the business to his younger brother Charles Bath (1826-88) and the estate to his widow for life and then to his nephew, Edward Henry Bath (1851-1908). His widow lived until 1902, but in about 1890 she moved to Oxford and handed Alltyferin over to E.H. Bath, who moved here from Swansea at that time.

Several of Edward Bath's twelve children had sufficiently adventurous, and even scandalous, lives to furnish the plot for a family saga, but Edward Henry Bath (1851-1908) was as upright and charitable as his predecessors. He was a partner in Henry Bath & Son, and became the senior partner after his uncle Charles' death in 1888. Like his uncle Charles (who had stood unsuccessfully for Parliament in 1874), he was a Conservative, and he was a member of Swansea Borough Council for many years before coming into possession of Alltyferin. In 1892 he was High Sheriff of Carmarthenshire, and he also became a JP and Deputy Lieutenant for the county. He and his wife produced one son and three daughters, and at his death the firm  passed to the control of his son, Henry Bath (1875-1921). It was converted into a limited company in 1920 and passed out of family control on Henry's death the following year. Edward Henry's widow lived on at Alltyferin until about 1918, when 'the financial implications' of the First World War caused it to be let to a London draper, Timothy Davies (1857-1951), who had been MP for Fulham (London) and later for Louth (Lincs). He bought the freehold in 1923, whereupon the Bath family ceased to be landed gentry. 

Alltyferin, Llanegwad, Carmarthenshire

A solid Victorian stone house, built on a low ridge above the River Cothi in 1865-69 by David Brandon and H.T. Freshwater for Henry James Bath (1821-75). The north-facing entrance front had a five-bay neo-Jacobean elevation, with mullioned and transomed windows, shallow projecting wings with gables at either end, and a central Gothic porch. On the more elaborate Gothic garden front there was a balustraded Gothic screen between two-storey canted bows. A T-shaped service wing projected to the east of the house, crowned by a low tower with a steep two-stage pyramidal roof incorporating a bell turret. On the south side, the service wing was fronted by two further bays of the arcade between the wings, but here shorn of almost all ornament. 

Alltyferin, Llanegwad: the garden front of the house soon after the initial construction was completed, c.1870. 

Alterations of 1910 by Glendinning Moxham for Henry Bath (1875-1921) included glazing in the arcade between the wings on the garden front, adding a large glazed conservatory to the west end, and extending the service block to the north with an irregular semi-timbered wing. Inside the house there were quite lavish interiors, including a carved wooden chimneypiece with two ancient Britons as supporters, which was later moved to a nearby café, from which it was stolen in the 1980s. The house was sold by the family in 1923 and ceased to be a private residence in 1939. It operated as a guest house for some years after the Second World War, but a sale of fixtures and fittings was held in 1955 and the shell was finally pulled down in about 1960.

Alltyferin, Llanegwad: the entrance front c.1950, from a postcard issued when the house was a guest house. 

The stable court, rebuilt in 1892 by Wilson & Glendinning Moxham after a fire had destroyed its predecessor in 1891, survived the demolition of the rest of the house. The grounds were quite elaborately laid out, and included a wide lawn below the south front, a thatched octagonal summerhouse surrounded by a veranda sited on a former castle mound, and a maze in the woodland to the east of the house.

Descent:  built c.1865-69 for Henry James Bath (1821-75); to widow, Margarita Bath (d. 1902), who handed it over c.1890 to their nephew, Edward Henry Bath (1851-1908); to widow, Esther Bath (1852-1924), who sold in 1923 to the tenant, Timothy Davies MP; sold 1927 to David Daniel (d. 1937); to widow, Maud Daniel; sold after 1941 to Mr & Mrs L.G. Gaze; demolished c.1955-60.

Bath family of Alltyferin

Henry Bath (1776-1844)

Bath, Henry (1776-1844). Only son of Henry Bath (1738-1809) of Constantine (Cornw.) and his wife Ruth (d. 1829), daughter of Philip Cragoe of Kea (Cornw.), born 24 January and baptised at Falmouth, 28 February 1776. He appears to have worked in his father's joinery and building business in Falmouth by 1794, where he perhaps managed the accounts. After joining the Society of Friends in Falmouth, he was appointed in 1800 to be an accountant in the Fox family's counting house at Portreath, where he would have learned the operation of the copper trade, as Portreath was a major centre for the export of Cornish copper to the smelting works near Swansea, and for the return cargoes of coal which was used to power steam engines to pump out the Cornish mines. He began investing in the coastal shipping which carried the ore from Cornwall to Swansea, and by 1815 was a mine agent. In 1816 he moved to Swansea and established his own wharf and storage yard with smelting facilities; his business grew quickly and he became the sole agent for copper mines in the UK and Ireland outside Cornwall. Later the firm diversified into shipping the ores on its own fleet of sailing vessels. From 1826-37 he was in partnership with R.J. Nevill in the Landore Copper Smelting Works. He joined the Society of Friends in 1799. He married, 7 November 1796, Elizabeth (d. 1844), daughter of Edward Paddy, and had issue:

(1) Henry Bath (1797-1864) (q.v.);

(2) Elizabeth Bath (1798-1870), born 26 December 1798; educated at Sidcot school; married 1st, 22 October 1818 at Neath (Glam.), Thomas Birchall (1790-1829), grocer, son of James Birchall of Windle (Lancs), and had issue three sons and three daughters; married 2nd, 13 October 1842 at Swansea, William Sibbering (d. 1851), grocer, and had issue one son; died 20 April 1870 and was buried at Swansea; her will was proved 25 May 1870 (effects under £5,000);

(3) Mary Bath (1801-72), baptised at Illogan, 27 February 1801; a patient at York Retreat Asylum, 1846-72; died unmarried, 12 February 1872; administration of her goods granted 3 May 1872 (effects under £2,000);

(4) Edward Paddy Bath (1803-45), baptised at Illogan (Cornw.), 1 January 1803; educated at Sidcot School; in the 1820s he went to India, but returned by 1839; married Sarah (c.1815-93), daughter of [forename unknown] Askew and widow of [forename unknown] Brown; died 10 May 1845 and was buried in the Swansea Quaker Burial Ground.

He lived at Falmouth and later at Rose Hill, Mumbles, Oystermouth (Glam.)

He died 29 May 1844 and was buried in Swansea Quaker Burial Ground; his will was proved 10 December 1844. His widow died 25 October 1844 and was buried in Swansea Quaker Burial Ground;.

Henry Bath (1797-1864) 

Bath, Henry (1797-1864). Elder son of Henry Bath (1776-1844) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Edward Paddy, born 15 August 1797. A carpenter in Birmingham before joining his father's business as a merchant and commission agent in Swansea in 1818; he developed the firm's own fleet of sailing barques, vessels designed for the importation of large cargoes of copper ore, and became the senior partner on this father's death in 1844. Under his management, the firm became increasingly reliant on importing high grade copper ores from Chile, much of it mined by the Chilean copper millionaire, Charles Lambert, to whom he was introduced in 1840 and into whose family three of his children married. He was brought up as a Quaker but was disowned after his marriage outside the sect in 1821, and though subsequently reconciled when his wife became a Quaker, he resigned finally after his second marriage and joined the Anglican church. He was Chairman of the Swansea Paving & Lighting Commission from 1847 and a Swansea Harbour Trustee by 1851. He was recognised for his wide-ranging charitable works, was a keen photographer and had literary interests. He married 1st, 22 March 1821 at St Mary, Swansea, Susan (1798-1861), daughter of James Madge of Swansea and 2nd, 27 November 1862 at Truro (Cornw.), Marianne (d. 1915), daughter of Edward Osler of Truro, and had issue:

(1.1) Henry James Bath (1821-75) (q.v.);

(1.2) Eliza Ann Bath (1823-81), born 29 January 1823; married, 13 September 1854 at St James, Swansea, John Frederick Spencer (1825-1915) of London, engineer (who m2, 30 August 1883 at Christ Church & St Paul, Forest Hill (Surrey) Florence Scott (b. 1861), daughter of Henry Smith, merchant), son of William Spencer, surgeon, and had issue one son and four daughters; died 9 January 1881 at Fern Cottage, Hampstead Heath (Middx); administration of goods granted to her husband, 17 February 1881 (effects under £800);

(1.3) Edward Bath (1824-85) (q.v.);

(1.4) Catherine Bath (1826-44), born 9 September 1826; died unmarried, 9 April 1844 and was buried in Swansea Quaker Burial Ground;

(1.5) Susan Bath (1828-98), born 9 July 1828; married, 21 September 1847 at St Mary, Swansea, Charles Joseph Lambert (1826-88), mining engineer, of Coquimbo (Chile), son of Charles Lambert, and had five sons and five daughters; lived at the Manor House, Long Wittenham (Berks) and in London; died 7 August 1898; will proved 8 September 1898 (estate £150,480);

(1.6) Elizabeth Bath (1830-46), born 1 March 1830; died unmarried, 6 March, and was buried in Swansea Quaker Burial Ground, 10 March 1846;

(1.7) Charles Bath (1832-88), born 15 January 1832; he was brought up a Quaker but baptised into Church of England at St Mary, Swansea, 8 August 1856; he became a partner in Henry Bath & Son, and was the senior partner, 1875-88; a Conservative in politics, he was a long-serving member of Swansea Borough Council (Mayor, 1864) and stood unsuccessfully for Parliament in Swansea in 1874; JP for Glamorganshire and Swansea; a trustee of the Swansea Harbour Trust; a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries; Consul for Italy and Vice-Consul for Brazil in Swansea, in recognition of which he was made a knight of the Sardinian Order of St. Maurice & St. Lazarus; he was a prominent freemason and founded the Talbot Lodge, Swansea; he lived at Ffynone House, Swansea; married, 12 August 1856, Emily Elizabeth (d. 1896), daughter of John Lucas Popkin of Llandilo, solicitor, but had no issue; died 26 December 1888; will proved 8 August 1889 (effects £18,595);

(1.8) Mary Bath (1833-53), born 25 December 1833; died unmarried, 30 July and was buried in Swansea Quaker Burial Ground, 7 August 1853;

(1.9) Aurelia Bath (1836-1906), born 24 February 1836; married,  25 June 1856 at St. James, Swansea, Washington Hamilton Brown (1826-96), solicitor, son of William Brown, gent., and had issue eight sons and five daughters; after her husband was bankrupted in 1881, they emigrated to Australia; she died at Penguin, Tasmania (Australia), 27 December 1906;

(1.10) twin, Emily Bath (b. & d. 1838), born 14 February 1838; died in infancy, July 1838 and was buried in Swansea Quaker Burial Ground;

(1.11) twin, Ellen Osler Bath (b. & d. 1838), born 14 February 1838; died in infancy, July 1838, and was buried in Swansea Quaker Burial Ground;

(1.12) Margarita Lambert Bath (1840-54), born 13 November 1840; died young, 18 December 1854, and was buried in Swansea Quaker Burial Ground;

(2.1) Percy Atkinson Bath (1864-1949), born 22 April and baptised at Sketty (Glam), 10 June 1864; emigrated to Canada with his mother and stepfather; lived at Oakville, Toronto (Canada); married, 28 April 1886, Alice Ruth (1863-1928), daughter of Nathaniel Stevens Whitney and had issue three sons and one daughter; died 16 December 1949 and was buried at St Jude's Cemetery, Hamilton, Ontario (Canada).

From 1854 he lived at Longlands, Swansea.

He died of a heart attack while on holiday in Falmouth (Cornw.), 13 October 1864 and was buried in Swansea Quaker Burial Ground; his will was proved 1 December 1864 (effects under £14,000). His first wife died 12 January 1861 and was buried in Swansea Quaker Burial Ground. His widow married 2nd, 14 November 1867 at St James, Swansea, George Grant Francis (d. 1907), second son of Col. George Grant Francis FSA, emigrated to Canada, and died 27 April 1915.

Bath, Henry James (1821-75). Eldest son of Henry Bath (1797-1864) and his first wife, Susan, daughter of James Madge of Swansea, born 17 December 1821. Educated at Sidcot School. He joined Henry Bath & Son in 1839 and became the senior partner in the firm on his father's death in 1864. JP for Carmarthenshire and Glamorganshire; High Sheriff of Carmarthenshire, 1869. In addition to building the mansion of Allyferin, he began construction of Pont-ar-Cothi church (completed by his widow) to the designs of Benjamin Bucknall, and was a significant benefactor to Llanegwad church too. He married, 4 August 1846 at St Mary, Swansea, Margarita Spears (1827-1902), fourth daughter of Charles Lambert* of Coquimbo (Chile), but had no issue.

He purchased the Alltyferin estate in about 1864, and built the mansion house there in 1865-69. At his death, it passed to his widow for life and then to his nephew, Edward Henry Bath (1851-1908). His widow made the estate over to E.H. Bath in about 1890 and lived latterly in Oxford.

He died following a stroke while returning home from Chile, 15 September, and was buried at Llanegwad, 21 September 1875; his will was proved 24 December 1875 (effects under £35,000). His widow died in Oxford, 4 April 1902; her will was proved 1 July 1902 (estate £36.195).

* Charles Lambert died while staying at Alltyferin in 1876; his effects were valued at £900,000.

Bath, Edward (1824-85). Second son of Henry Bath (1797-1864) and his first wife, Susan, daughter of James Madge of Swansea, born 29 September 1824. Operations manager for Henry Bath & Son, in Chile for some years. When the firm decided to sell its fleet of ships in favour of chartering vessels as required, he was one of the consortium of Swansea merchants which bought them. Later he became managing partner in Lambert's Copper Works, Port Tennant, Swansea. He was a Conservative in politics and was a JP for Glamorganshire, Vice-Chairman of Swansea Board of Guardians; a member of the Swansea Harbour Trust; and a member of Swansea Borough Council. He married, 22 June 1848 at Oystermouth (Glam.), Eugenie (1831-96), second daughter of Charles Lambert of Coquimbo (Chile) and Oystermouth, and had issue:

(1) Edward Henry Bath (1851-1908) (q.v.);

(2) Janet Lambert Bath (1852-1904), born at Coquimbo, 11 July 1852; married, 2 August 1876 at St James, Swansea, Frederic Charles Milford (1852-1920), metal broker, son of Jonah Jenkin Milford of Truro (Cornw.) and had issue two sons and two daughters; died in Florence (Italy), 22 April 1904, and was buried in the Protestant Cemetery there;

(3) Susan Bath (1853-1928), born at Coquimbo, 19 September 1853; married, 8 August 1877 at St James, Swansea, Charles Campbell Chambers (1850-1906), son of William Chambers of Llanelli House (Carms.) and later Hafod (Cards.), and had issue three sons; died in Kensington (Middx), 3 June and was buried at Hanwell Cemetery (Middx), 7 June 1928; will proved 5 July 1928 (estate £8,692);

(4) Eugenie Lambert Bath (1855-1921), born at Coquimbo, 13 July 1855; married, 20 April 1877 at St James, Swansea, Ronald Edward Bill (1851-1927) of Ealing (Middx), secretary to Free & Open Church Association, son of John Bill of Kenilworth (Warks), silk broker, and had issue three sons and five daughters; died 28 November 1921; administration of her goods granted to her husband, 20 March 1922 (estate £69);

(5) Charles Lambert Bath (1858-99), born at Coquimbo, 3 January 1858; educated at Eton; succeeded his father as manager of Lambert's Copper Works, Swansea, 1885; a trustee of the Swansea Harbour Board; married, 13 May 1893 in Toronto (Canada), Marian Georgina (1871-1931) (who m2, 19 July 1902 in York, Ontario (Canada), Henry Campbell Osborne (1874-1949)), daughter of George Grant Francis, and had issue one son and one daughter; he may also have been the father of the illegitimate son produced in 1880 by his younger siblings' governess, Louisa Kultschar (b. c.1858; fl. 1927); he committed suicide, 2 November 1899; administration granted to his widow, 16 May 1900 (estate £16,847);

(6) Robert Lambert Bath (1860-71), born 22 June and baptised at St Mary, Swansea, 28 November 1860; died young, 26 August and was buried at Swansea Cemetery, 30 August 1871;

(7) Margaret Spears Lambert Bath (1862-1927), baptised at Llanegwad, 13 August 1862; married 1st, 16 April 1884 at St James, Swansea (div. 1907 on the grounds of her adultery with Frederick Graham Andrews), William Lynch Cox (1849-1934) of Swansea, solicitor, son of William Cox, governor of Swansea Gaol, and had issue two sons; married 2nd, 3 November 1908 at Abingdon Registry Office (annulled 1913 on the grounds of his impotence), Lionel John Theobald (1870-1938) of River Cottage, Sutton Courtenay (Berks), gent.; died 2 April 1927; will proved 15 July 1927  (estate £182);

(8) Catherine Lambert Bath (1864-1928), born 26 December 1864 and baptised at St Mary, Swansea, 23 August 1865; married, 14 November 1883 at St David's R.C. Church, Swansea, Walter Lovelace Clifford (1852-1944), from 1938 4th bt., of Flaxbourne (New Zealand), civil engineer, son of Sir Charles Clifford (1818-93), 1st bt. of Hatherton Hall (Staffs), and had issue one son and three daughters; died at Motueka, Nelson (New Zealand), 24 May 1928; administration of her goods granted 24 September 1928 (effects in England £296);

(9) Henry James Bath (1867-1944), born 24 May and baptised at St James, Swansea, 26 June 1867; educated at Cheltenham College; manager of Lambert's Copper Works; later consulting engineer and director of Sunbeam Motor Car Co., Wolverhampton (Staffs); lived at The Folly, Ackleton (Shrops.); married, 26 August 1890 at St James, Swansea, Olive Mary (1869-1945), daughter of Dr. Thomas Dryslwyn Griffiths MD MRCS, president of the British Medical Association, 1904, and had issue one son and one daughter; died 12 April 1944; will proved 7 July 1944 (estate £35,640);

(10) Hilda Lambert Bath (1869-84), born 13 September and baptised at St James, Swansea, 28 October 1869; died young and was buried at Swansea Cemetery, 5 December 1884;

(11) Kenneth Lambert Bath (1871-1916), born 22 December 1871 and baptised at Llanegwad, 27 August 1872; an officer in the Royal Glamorgan Artillery Militia (2nd Lt., 1890; Lt., 1891; Capt. 1897) and Royal Regiment of Artillery (2nd Lt., 1900; retired, 1904); lived at Oldfields, Horley (Surrey) and Nun's Acre, Goring (Oxon); married, 24 February 1904 at St Marylebone (Middx), Nina (1879-1953), daughter of Sorab Bisney, an Indian property broker, and had issue one son (who died in infancy) and one daughter; died 26 August 1916; will proved 28 March 1917 (estate £17,730);

(12) Geoffrey Lambert Bath (1873-80), born 15 July and baptised at St. James, Swansea, 2 October 1873; died young, 20 May, and was buried at Swansea Cemetery, 22 May 1880.

He lived at Brynymor, Swansea.

He died suddenly, while making a speech at the Town Hall in Swansea, 23 October, and was buried at Swansea New Cemetery, 26 October 1885; administration of his goods was granted 3 December 1885 (effects £23,230). His widow died 19 January and was buried at Swansea, 21 January 1896; administration of her goods was granted 19 March 1896 (effects £9,011).

Bath, Edward Henry (1851-1908). Eldest son of Edward Bath (1824-85) and his wife Eugenie, second daughter of Charles Lambert of Coquimbo (Chile), born in Chile, 3 February 1851. Partner in Henry Bath & Son, metal and copper ore merchants of Swansea, London and Liverpool from 1872-1908 and senior partner from 1888. JP and DL for Carmarthenshire and JP for Swansea; High Sheriff of Carmarthenshire, 1892. He was a Conservative in politics, and was a member of Swansea Borough Council for some years and one of the Swansea Harbour Trustees. After moving to Alltyferin he interested himself particularly in church and agricultural matters. Towards the end of his life, he published An account of the family of Bath (1905). He married, 12 August 1874 at St James, Swansea, Esther (1852-1924), daughter of John William James of Brynbriallu, Swansea, and had issue:

(1) Henry Bath (1875-1921) (q.v.);

(2) Esther Frances Bath (1880-1959), born 22 February and baptised at Holy Trinity, Swansea, 23 March 1880; married 1st, 7 June 1900 at Llanegwad (Carms), Graham Stokes (1858-1921) of Blackheath (Kent), solicitor, son of Henry Graham Stokes of Blackheath, solicitor, and had issue two sons and two daughters; married 2nd, 11 June 1925, Maj. Francis Arthur Magniac (1875-1951), second son of Maj-Gen. Francis Lane Magniac of Northdown House, Bideford (Devon); died 7 March 1959; will proved 22 June 1959 (estate £25,225);

(3) Katherine Edith Bath (1881-1908), born 29 September 1881; married, 18 August 1903 at Llanegwad, Rowland Henry Berkeley (1873-1957), of Blackheath, solicitor, son of Maurice Henry Berkeley, underwriter, but had no issue; died 24 July 1908; administration of goods granted to her husband, 16 October 1908 (estate £136);

(4) Janet Lambert Bath (1885-1965), born 8 April and baptised at Holy Trinity, Swansea, 16 May 1885; married 1st, 24 September 1906 at Alton Register Office and again, 4 June 1907 at Llanegwad (div. 1911 on grounds of her adultery), Lt-Col. David Henry Leslie (1883-1931), son of Henry David Leslie of Bryntanat, Oswestry (Shrops), and had issue one son; married 2nd, Jan-Mar 1912, Norman Stanley Cuthbertson (1876-1916), racehorse owner and trainer, who was cited as co-respondent in her divorce proceedings; married 3rd, 13 February 1918 at Kensington Register Office (sep. 1932; div. 1935 on grounds of his adultery), George Joseph William Leeson (b. 1894) of The Thatched House, Kilsby (Northants), and had issue one daughter; died 20 December 1965; will proved 20 April 1966 (estate £17,870).

He lived in Swansea. He inherited the Alltyferin estate from his uncle, Henry James Bath, in 1875, and moved there about 1890. His widow let the estate by 1919 and sold the freehold in 1923 'due to the financial implications of the [First World] War'. She lived subsequently at Glen Cottage, Buckland Brewer (Devon).

He died 18 May 1908 and was buried at Llanegwad; his will was proved 21 October 1908 (estate £44,109). His widow died 23 March 1924; her will was proved 24 July 1924 (estate £6,139).

Bath, Henry (1875-1921). Only son of Edward Henry Bath (1851-1908) and his wife Esther, daughter of John William James of Brynbriallu, Swansea, born 18 December 1875 and baptised at St James, Swansea, 17 January 1876. Educated at Eton. Metal broker; partner in Henry Bath & Son from 1897; the firm was incorporated in 1920 and family involvement ceased on Henry's death soon afterwards. An officer in the Carmarthen Artillery Militia (Lt.) and Queen's Royal West Surrey Regiment; served in First World War with Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve. He married, 5 April 1899 at Llandilofawr (Carms), Kathleen Mary O'Callaghan (1875-1940), daughter of Wyndham Pryse Lloyd of Glansevin, Llangadock (Carmas.), civil engineer, and had issue:

(1) Kathleen Margaret Eileen Gwyn Bath (1900-53), born 10 January and baptised at Christ Church, Swansea, 31 January 1900; married, 20 December 1919 at Greenwich Register Office (div. 1944), Maj. John William Gaisford (1894-1968), elder son of Lt-Col. Douglas John Gaisford of Dolly's Grove, Dunboyne (Co. Meath) and had issue five sons; lived latterly at Perranporth (Cornw.); died 27 December 1953; administration of goods granted 3 July 1954 (estate £4,981);

(2) Sioned Cordelia Gladys Bath (1901-62), born 16 August 1901; married, 20 December 1919 at Greenwich Register Office (div. 1932 on grounds of her desertion and adultery), George Arthur Oscar Champion de Crespigny (1894-1962), only son of Lt-Col. George Harrison Champion de Crespigny CBE, and had issue three sons; died 28 December 1962;

(3) Henry Bath (1904-70), born 20 March 1904; educated at Lancing College; lived at 7 The Paragon, Blackheath and later at Mansel Villa, Burry Port (Carms.); married, 29 June 1927, Julia Long (1910-97), daughter of Rev. John Price, vicar of Talley (Carms.), and had issue four sons; died 15 August 1970; administration of his goods granted 12 December 1970 (estate under £4,500).

He lived in Swansea and later at 7 The Paragon, Blackheath (Kent) and The Cottage, Lynmouth (Devon). He inherited the Alltyferin estate from his father in 1908. It was sold after his death, in 1923.

He died 19 April 1921 and was buried at Oare (Som.); his will was proved 23 July 1921 (estate £24,062). His widow died 22 May 1940; her will was proved 29 January 1941 (estate £484).

Principal sources

Burke's Landed Gentry, 1972, pp. 47-48; T. Lloyd, The lost houses of Wales, 2nd edn., 1989, pp. 57, 121; T. Lloyd, J. Orbach & R. Scourfield, The buildings of Wales: Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion, 2006, p. 274; F. Jones, Historic Carmarthenshire Homes and their families, 2006, pp. 5-6;  http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~bathonia/genealogy/Contents.htm;  http://www.henrybath.com/assets/downloads/Complete%20Henry%20Bath%20History.pdf

Location of archives

Henry Bath & Son, Swansea: business records and accounts, c.1860-1950 [Private Collection: contact The National Archives for further information], but see also  http://www.henrybath.com/assets/downloads/Complete%20Henry%20Bath%20History.pdf.

No significant collection of family papers is known to survive.

Coat of arms

Gules, a chevron paly of six, argent and or between three plates, on a chief of the third three wolves' heads erased sable.

Can you help?

• I should be most grateful if anyone can provide photographs or portraits of people whose names appear in bold above, and who are not already illustrated. 
• Any additions or corrections to the text above will be gratefully received and incorporated. I am always particularly pleased to hear from descendants of the family who can supply information from their own research for inclusion.

Revision and acknowledgements

This post was first published 5 March 2021 and was updated 27 November 2022.