              Copyright
Helen Forder
2004
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Betha Johnes, younger daughter of
Judge John Johnes of Dolaucothi was born in 1834. Her mother
died when she was quite young, and it was Lady
Llanofer who 'brought her out' in London Society.
She became very close to Lady Llanofer, and they
corresponded regularly.
Betha fell in love with Benjamin Hall's nephew,
Arthur Davies Berrington, and Lady Llanofer did
her best to bring about a match. Arthur, however,
would not agree to Lady Llanofer's plans, and the
whole episode ended with great bitterness.
Betha took a very long time to get over her
disappointment, and it wasn't until she was over
fifty years of age that she married Sir James
Hills. He changed his name to Hills-Johnes by
Royal Licence, and made his home at Dolaucothi,
and they, together with Betha's elder sister
Charlotte, the widowed Mrs. Cookman, lived there
very happily. Sir James had been born in India in
1833. He served with the Bengal Artillery, and
won the Victoria Cross during the Indian Mutiny
of 1857. He died at Dolaucothi in 1919. |
| On the 19th
August 1876 Betha's father, John Johnes was
brutally murdered and her sister Charlotte
seriously injured. |
from The
Western Mail, Monday August 21st, 1876.
'Mr.
John Johnes, formerly judge of the county court
for the counties of Carmarthen, Cardigan and
Pembroke, chairman of the Carmarthenshire quarter
sessions, and recorder of the borough of
Carmarthenshire, was assassinated on Saturday at
his seat, Dolaucothy, near Llandilo, by his
butler, Henry Tremble.
The murder, which appears to have been carried
out with the utmost deliberation, took place in
the library and in making his escape Tremble shot
Mrs. Cookman, the eldest daughter of Mr. Johnes,
whose injuries are not, however, likely to prove
fatal. He then proceeded to his cottage,
and, after writing a letter to the vicar, in
which he is reported to have made a confession,
he committed suicide.' |
| It
seems that the relationship between Henry Tremble
and his employer had been deteriorating for some
time, and the last straw for the increasingly
surly butler had been when John Johnes refused
his application for the vacant lease of the
Dolaucothi Arms. The arguments that followed
resulted in Tremble being dismissed from service. |
The
Dolaucothi Arms |
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