One hundred years ago this month a Pembrokeshire harbour town played host to a celebrity wedding.
Cheering residents lined the streets of Fishguard when one of their own married the younger brother of the country’s then Chancellor of the Exchequer, and soon to be Prime Minister, David Lloyd George.
Lloyd George himself attended the celebrations, which were reported to be the area’s most exciting event since the last invasion of Britain in 1797!
Now 100 years after William George married Anita Williams, an exhibition of photographs and newspaper cuttings marking their big day is to go on display in the town’s library.
The pictures have been donated by family members still living in the town, including John Williams, a great nephew of Anita.
“It was a huge wedding for the time when as the newspaper cuttings reported ‘Parisian hats mingled with the cloth caps of the peasantry’,” said Rev Williams.
“I’m really pleased that people will be given the chance to remember a big day in their history and also the day a Prime Minister-to-be came to town.”
The bride Anita Williams was born and bred in Fishguard living first in the Tower Hill area and then later at the historic farm of Cefn-y-Dre at the top of town.
A feisty young woman for the times, she trained as a private nurse and was well travelled, voyaging as far as Egypt on one assignment.
She was a staunch member of Hermon Chapel in High Street, where the wedding took place, playing the organ and teaching in the Sunday School.
Anita was a cousin of her bridegroom William George – and met him through family connections. The George family originally came from Pembrokeshire through William and David’s father, William.
“The bridegroom was a solicitor in Criccieth, who worked in partnership with David Lloyd George and helped finance him in his early days as an MP,” said Rev Williams.
“It was a rather formal courtship and engagement and they were both relatively old when they got married. He was in his forties and she was around 38/39.”
The wedding took place at Hermon Chapel on July 23rd 1910.
“Lloyd George’s train from London was late and he missed the actual service although he did attend the reception at Cefn-y-Dre where he was said to have made a very witty speech,” said Rev Williams.”
“Unfortunately there was also a tragic aspect to the story. When Anita returned to the town a year later with her twin sons, one of them died of diphtheria and she is said to have returned to Criccieth with one baby and one small coffin.”
The wedding exhibition goes on display at Fishguard Library from July 5th and will remain throughout the month.
“We’re very pleased to put these pictures on show,” said Wendy Davies, Cultural Manager at Fishguard Library. “It was one of the biggest celebrations that Fishguard had ever seen and although it was only 100 years ago the difference between the rich visitors and the poor residents was extraordinary.
“And yet although it’s a poignant reminder of times gone by, it’s also curiously similar to many of the celebrity weddings of today.”
Fishguard Library is located at the Town Hall and is open from 9.30am to 5pm Monday to Saturday and until 6.30pm on Thursday.
