Hi again Ray, The Oxford Dictionary suggests that it was a person who fastened coal trucks together for movement within mines, latch was the name given to the connecting links between trucks, hence the slang name latcher. Best wishes, Jon

G'day List and particularly Jon and Mike Thanks for the swift response to my inquiry. From both of your replies, my great uncle could have been either. of the two. However, I think it's more likely that he was someone who hitched the trams together. rather than a mine surveyor's assistant. I'll put that down as one of his various occupations My interest in Octavius Jones lies in the plaque which commemorates him on the Pontypool Park Memorial Gates (if they are still there) where he is, as far as I know, the only one from Pontypool killed whilst serving as a member of the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps at Gallipoli. Seeing that 2015 marks the centenary of the Gallipoli campaign, I wondered if the Torfaen Council might like to commemorate the occasion in some small way. Regards Ray On 3/02/2012 8:19 PM, Jon's FH wrote: > Hi again Ray, > > > > The Oxford Dictionary suggests that it was a person who fastened coal trucks together<snipped>

G'day List I am stuck again. Have used the Archives Wales site to search for Pontypool school registers for the years 1885 - 1892 when I could reasonably expect my late grandfather to have attended school there. No luck, even though I tried a variety of search strategies.. Let me explain and tell you what I know. On the 1891 Census Hector Lewis is shown as living at 8 Upper Bridge Street and he is shown as scholar. He was born in 1878 so I took a stab at 1887 for a reasonable chance that he would be a pupil at one of the local schools. I realise that Pontypool has changed somewhat from that period but is there someone on the list who might know what school(s) he could have attended. That way I might perhaps narrow my search and strike gold. Of course, the school registers for Pontypool may not have survived from that period. If this is the case, I'd still like to know so that I can stop what will be a fruitless search. Thanks in anticipation Ray Lewis Hazelmere Western Australia