28 May 2025

I wrote to Steve Veysey on Facebook today. He runs the Risca Past & Present Facebook group and has also written a book The Fallen of Risca Parish in WW1 which details the soldiers born in Risca who died in the Great War.

I’ve been part of the Risca Past and Present group for a few months now and it’s been such a helpful and friendly resource. Thank you for the time you put into it.

One of my ancestors was a victim of the 1880 North Risca Colliery Disaster. I saw an old message where you mentioned that you had images from an book written by George Hayes that contained descriptions of the victims and I wondered if you were able to check whether my ancestor was included.

His name was Joseph Hemmings, although in some newspaper reports his name is erroneously given as “J. Hemmi”. Joseph’s body was one of the first brought to the surface and was discovered on the roadway of No. 2 level. He apparently showed signs of scorching around the head and face, and was covered in dust, making identification challenging and it had to be performed by a man named Moses Thomas rather than his widow Bridget. He was buried in St. Mary’s Church, although both he and his wife were Roman Catholic. His son was Frank Hemmings, who I believe you wrote about in your book, died during WW1 in 1916.

I am trying to trace as much as possible about Joseph because it turns out that his name was actually Joseph Ximenes or Jimenes and he was of Mexican and Portuguese origin. I still haven’t found his precise origins but DNA evidence points to Mexico, the Azores and Cape Verde. Cape Verde had quite strong links with Newport since there was a British refueling depot there and coal was shipped from Risca among several other places. This is perhaps how Joseph arrived in Risca by 1872.

I would be very grateful if you were able to check the disaster identification book, of if you had any thoughts about where I could find more clues about Joseph’s movements in the Newport and Risca area.