The Inner Temple Yearbook 2021–2022
A Reflection Upon the Case of Keziah Lewis
A REFLECTION UPON THE CASE OF KEZIAH LEWIS By Master Rhys Taylor
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The County Court of Pontypridd
I recently came into possession of a newspaper report of a court case in 1934. It concerns a Keziah Lewis. Keziah was my great-great-grandmother. The newspaper report is from the Welsh newspaper of record, the Western Mail. It was dated 28 March 1934. Keziah was defending an action brought by her second husband, William Lewis (her first husband, a stonemason, having pre-deceased her), for the transfer of her properties over to him and the delivery of money invested by her in war loans and various banks. The case proceeded in the Bridgend County Court. It was heard by His Honour Judge Rowland Rowlands. I am not only interested in this from a personal family history point of view but also because I am a barrister who practises in the field of family law. It has touched me. I am a member of the Wales and Chester Circuit and have spent many years plying my trade in the courts of south Wales, including, prior to its closure, the Bridgend County Court.
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The reporting of the proceedings is also of note, given that family proceedings in the modern age have largely been heard in private. The debate about privacy verses transparency is extremely important and goes to the heart of justice being seen to be done. Well-intentioned privacy concerns have often been the handmaiden for the jibe of there being a ‘secret’ family court. Not so in 1934, when a local newspaper reporter was available to be present in a small court centre in south Wales to take a note of proceedings and record it for posterity. Keziah was the daughter of Catherine Lewis. Although unmarried and the mother of five illegitimate children, Catherine was canny and became prosperous. Catherine had started life as a furniture polisher but is noted in later census records as being the proprietor of a furniture store. Keziah’s capital was most probably derived from inheritance via Catherine.
