Dear List, I'm interested in any references to the name HIGHLEY or HILEY in Glamorgan. I have been researching the ancestry of David HILEY who was born circa 1800 in Kidwelly, Carmarthenshire. He later moved with his family to Clydach in Breconshire, where his father was a refiner at the ironworks. However, they appear to have lived in Glamorgan in between because his sister Emi [sic - Emma] was baptised at the Wesleyan Methodist chapel in Merthyr Tydfil in 1817. Their parents were William Hiley and Emy [sic - Emma] Daniel who were married in Pembrey (Carms. in 1799). William was a forgeman of Kidwelly. I have found a marriage bond (1748) for William Highley, a forgeman of Aberavon who wished to married Ann Hopkins of Pyle & Kenfig. His name and the occupation suggests a link with the later William of Kidwelly, perhaps his father or grandfather. The Highley/Hiley family is said to be of German origin. They were allegedly brought over to England for their skills in metalworking, first at the Tintern wire works in the mid-17th century, but this is unconfirmed. However, most of the Highleys/Hileys were forgemen and refiners, even including some Highleys I have found in the Forest of Dean in the mid-18th century. Thanks, James