This photo was taken in April this year by Yours Truly from near the Sun Centre showing the scene across the road. The beige-and-cream house at the end of a row was once St Thomas's College, 8 Plastirion Terrace. The 1881 Census shows that David Beatty aged 10, and his brother Charlie aged 11 were scholars there.
David Beatty is a figure of special interest to John Williams of Rhyl
Liberty Players who is in the foreground wearing black hat and
coat. The link between David and John is through John’s mother Cicely Muriel
Beatty. David Beatty's father and Cicily's father were brothers.
David was in the school in Rhyl for a couple of years before moving on
to naval academy and embarking on an extraordinary career in the Royal Navy
that turned him into the formidable character below, Admiral of
the Fleet David Richard Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty GCB, OM, GCVO, DSO, PC.
An account of his adventures can
be found on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Beatty,_1st_Earl_Beatty
At the time of uploading this
post, there is nothing on Internet about the surprising Beatty-Rhyl connection, so we have
a scoop here!
--
--
Incidentally the aforementioned John Williams, pictured below, is still hoping somebody will tell us why the Rhyl streets Patagonia Avenue and Madryn Avenue are named after
places in Argentina.
MON 17th APR 2015 UPDATE: Gareth Morris writes, “Patagonia had a large population of Welsh speakers who emigrated from Wales in the 1860s. Since then there have been many exchanges in both directions including their visit in 1953 to the National Eisteddfod in Rhyl. The streets in question were built in the mid 1950s and may have been named to commemorate that visit."
SAT 9th MAY 2015 UPDATE: Returning to the matter of St. Thomas's College, Rhyl, here from files of the late Glyn Rees is an advert from Rhyl Journal, June 23rd 1883.
Click on it to read the small print:
Click on it to read the small print:
--
