When Noah Morgan Griffiths was born, his family in Wales joined a rare and privileged group of five generations. Celebrations continued when his great-great-grandmother Brenda Morgan turned 100 at home in Cardiff in July. The family marked it with a party with representatives from all five generations present.
Her granddaughter Helen Bricknell said: "We are extremely lucky to have a large family that can share so many stories and for my nan to reach a huge milestone is amazing."
A Family Spanning Generations
Born Brenda Stapleton in Barry in 1926, Brenda went on to marry childhood sweetheart Vaughan Morgan. Together they had six children, 12 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren and now one great-great-grandchild Noah - aged 19 months. Noah is Brenda's great-granddaughter Eve's son. Eve is the daughter of Helen Bricknell, Brenda's granddaughter, who is the daughter of Brenda's daughter Yvonne, who is deceased.
Brenda, who now lives in Nazareth House care home in Cardiff, lost her husband Vaughan - "the best man in Cardiff" - several years ago. She has happy memories of their wedding day at St Catherine's in Canton during World War Two before Vaughan, then aged 19, was sent off to serve a few days later, not to return for two years.
A Century of Change
Brenda met Vaughan when she moved with her family to Smeaton Street in Cardiff aged 12 just before the outbreak of WW2. Vaughan was a neighbour and with just one year between them they were soon friends. After the war Brenda and Vaughan moved to what were then new build houses in Gabalfa off Western Avenue and in the 1950s they bought their first house there for £3,000.
In a life spanning 100 years in the 20th and 21st centuries Brenda has seen not only property prices rocket but also five monarchs on the throne and 25 prime ministers. She and her family have survived war, the bombing of Cardiff, the Covid pandemic and witnessed historic milestones such as the launch of the NHS, abdication of King Edward and the coronation and funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, who was three months younger than Brenda.
War Memories and Celebrations
Brenda admits she didn't like Churchill as much as local MP James Callaghan, who she recalls seeing in Cardiff when he was PM. "I liked Jim Callaghan, I saw him in the streets, he was a nice man. I liked Ronald Reagan as a film star too. I would not go mad about Winston Churchill."
When she danced with friends outside Cardiff City Hall on VE Day in 1945, little could Brenda have imagined she would one day head five generations or how different the city and world would look for little Noah. Her 100th birthday celebrations were captured by her descendants on their mobile phones but Brenda grew up in a childhood home with neither a landline phone nor a television.
Sitting with some of her family around her, Brenda describes happy times that even the war couldn't dampen. "During the war we lived in Smeaton Street. During the bombing we evacuated and went to the church hall I was about 17 or 18," she recalled. "I would not go down into the shelters if an air raid struck. If I was going to go I wanted to go on top, not the bottom. We just had to get on with it."
Brenda's brother survived serving in the Mercant Navy through WW2 and her sister-in-law Edith dated and then married a GI, stationed with US troops in Cardiff. He sometimes brought them much longed for ration-scarce stockings and food.
Some of that food helped make her wedding day special, but four days later Brenda and Vaughan were separated by war. "We got married in 1945 and they put Vaughan on HMS Truelove four days after we were married. We had butter and ham and bread and all sorts after the wedding and a honeymoon in Guildford for four days with his sister-in-law's parents before that. My husband was away for two and a half years in Gibraltar and Malta. He sent postcards when he could and a record with a message on it. I was so pleased to see him come back, he was the best man in Cardiff. On VE Day we sang like demons outside City Hall."
Proud Family Legacy
City Hall is one of the buildings that is still the same, but Brenda says Cardiff has changed a lot. She thinks they should bring back national service to help young people avoid crime and unemployment. She is "very proud" of all her family, among them her six children Kevin, Alan, Susan, Vaughan, Yvonne and Martin - sadly Martin passed away as a baby and Yvonne is also deceased.
Her happiest times were with her husband, who ran his own carpentry business, and any time spent with him and their family. Christmas saw a huge party and when Brenda and Vaughan were younger they would go dancing at Bindles in Barry where they won gold medals for their efforts. Holidays were in Tenby, Blackpool and Cornwall. Brenda first went abroad on her first foreign holiday to Spain in the 1970s. The price for the trip was £56, a milestone so significant she remembers it.
Brenda left Ninian Park Primary School aged 14 in the days before compulsory school age was extended, and went on to work in a food factory on Penarth Road and for the football pools in St Mary Street. She can't recall what food was made in the factory, but says the food in her younger years was better, apart from during war rationing. "We ate homegrown food and I never smoked. We ate homegrown food like potatoes and beans. Junk food is terrible. I don't buy junk food, but I do I like fish and chips."
Brenda also has a link to WalesOnline's sister publication the South Wales Echo. Her father-in-law (also called Vaughan Morgan) worked in the print press there and took on his other son, Brenda's brother-in-law Jimmy Morgan, as an apprentice there. Now she wants to share her story with her family - a unique five generations. "I am very proud of all of them," she beams.
