The Life of May Gwenllian Firbank by Robert Ashton.

The Newport Branch held its first meeting with a live speaker in over two years. Robert Ashton, a Newportonian now living in Shrewsbury, gave a very interesting talk on his grand mother May Gwenllian Firbank. She was a member of the Firbank family who became a leading family in Newport- particularly in the St Julians area. Her husband was a great nephew of Joseph Firbank, who made a fortune by the development of the railway system.

The talk was broadcast live using the Zoom system thanks to our new hosts, the Church of Latter Day Saints. This is, of course, useful for members who are unable to attend but they did miss out on the opportunity of thumbing through and examining the diaries and books the speaker brought with him. Members should be aware that it is intended that the recordings should be made available in the Members’ Section of this web site. The recording from our January meeting (the Zoom Broadcast by Paul Nixon of ‘Find My Past’ on the 1921 Census) is already available.