The Colourfully Blue Carmarthenshire Ancestors of Paul Daniels..

Guest post by GREG HOWES  a professional genealogist who worked with Paul Daniels and others on the BBC programme "Coming Home"

When we think of Paul Daniels the magician, most of us would think of an entertainer from the North of England, but much of Paul Daniel’s family history resides squarely in the County of Carmarthenshire, as I was about to find out whilst researching as a freelance genealogist for the BBC television programme “Coming home”.

David Daniel - a conventional policeman with a very colourful love life. 
Two of Paul’s direct ancestors were Policemen within the County.  The most recent was Paul’s Great Grandfather -  David Augustus Woozley Daniel 1855-1945.

David Daniel spent most of the early part of his working life in the Police force as Police Constable in Carmarthenshire and his police diaries are housed in Carmarthenshire archives. 

David’s diaries are both legible and concise and give us an insight into the day to day problems he was up against - drunkenness, selling liquor without a licence, stealing and disturbing the peace.  As a Police Constable, David lived and worked at many varying places around the County. Llandeilo (late 1870s), Conwil Elfed (early 1880s), and latterly Ferryside, where his beats included Kidwelly, and Llansaint.

David joined the police force as a “second class Constable”, PC Number 25, on May 19^th, 1877. It says on his record that was aged 24 years and 6 months, but actually he was only 21 and 6 months.

He was described on the “Candidate for the Situation of Police Constable” form, as

Complexion = florid,

Height = 5 feet 81/2 inches

Eyes = Grey

Hair = dark brown

He was single at the time of joining the police force and he described his previous employment as, Fireman and Shoemaking.

One of the three signatures for his recommendation for the police force was from a local Vicar Rev Latimer M Lewis.

The conduct clause these witness signed read as this: -

“He is sober, honest, and of good temper; and that his connexions and associates are respectable”.

David’s only noted, misconduct is in the “Police and defaulters book (box 93), and was entered as follows, “that on the June, 15^th, 1878 he was unable to prove a case of drunkenness at the “Petty Sessions” without consulting his diary, which had to be produced in Court.  He was fined 10 shillings for this misconduct”. 

He continued his roll as a local bobby until he quit the Police force in 13.11.1897 at his wife’s request.  Margaret, his second wife apparently did not want to move to Llanelli so she made him resign from the force.

David’s domestic life was somewhat unconventional and Paul’s Grandfather was born out of wedlock to the older sister of his second wife, who was also the niece of his first wife!

As you can see family history can at times be a very tangled knot indeed.

David Woozley - a less than conventional policeman.
The other policeman in the family was Paul’s Great, Great, Great Grandfather David Woozley,1784-1866.

David Woozley was a very colourful character and we first find him serving in Carmarthenshire Militia in Ireland in 1801-1802. After that he served as a member of the Carmarthenshire “Watch and Ward”, which was like stop gap between the old medieval policing and the police force as we know them today.  David was first noted as being part of this in 1828, eight years before an established Police Force in Carmarthen was created.

Not only was there all of the trouble that came along with Carmarthen having a busy port, there as also regular outbreaks of political violence between the “reds” and the “blues”. The blues were the Tories, and the reds Wigs, both were organised by the counties upper classes.

David Woozley was appointed to the Borough Force in 1836, the year the Carmarthen police force started. Many of the first policemen were ex jailbirds and or drunks, too lazy to do an honest days work.

David died at the ripe old age of 81 while still occupying the role as Police Station house keeper, which he had held for 30 years. Many members of the police force attended as pall-bearers at the funeral which was said to have been the largest and most respectable of its kind ever witnessed in Carmarthen.

David Woozley was directly involved in the Rebecca Riots uprising of 1843, a very turbulent time in the history of Carmarthenshire. Details to follow in a later post.