Lunchtime Meeting - 12.45pm - Speaker Dr Stan Moore

Dr Moore began by telling us that there have been Welsh people emigrating to the USA for at least 400 years, with a number fleeing the religious intolerance which followed Charles II's accession to the throne in 1660, but it is possible that the first may have arrived much earlier.

A Welsh poem of the 15th century tells how Prince Madoc sailed away in 10 ships and discovered America in 1170! The account of the discovery of America by a Welsh prince, whether truth or myth, was apparently used by Queen Elizabeth I as evidence to the British claim to America during its territorial struggles with Spain. What is more certain, however, is that Welsh Quakers settled in Virginia in 1682 closely followed by Baptists in 1683, who headed for Philadelphia.

One of the most famous Welsh sons has to be Thomas Jefferson, whose family hailed from Snowdonia. He was the 3rd president of America, the first to live in Washington and the main author of the Declaration of Independence. In between he found time to father 6 children of 1 of his slaves!

Another famous political figure who can trace her ancestry back to Wales is Hillary Clinton who is in good company as Abraham Lincoln (16th president of the USA) best known for presiding over the abolition of slavery, also boasts Welsh ancestry. Remember Richard (tricky Dicky) Nixon? Him too...

Outside of politics, actress Myrna Loy aka "the Queen of Hollywood" also had Welsh heritage, as did Daniel Boone (pioneer and hunter), Rachel Paynter Davies (poet and preacher) and John Thomas Evans (adventurer and map-maker) who went to America to find the ancient Mandan tribe whom he had reason to believe were Welsh-speaking - they weren't, sadly for him!

One of the 'bad' characters was gangster Llewelyn Morris Humphreys aka "Murray the Hump" who lived in Chicago 1899-1965 - he was involved with Al Capone and helped plan what became known as The St Valentine's Day Massacre in 1929. When Al Capone died he inherited the dubious title of Public Enemy Number One! The 19th century desperado and bank-robber Jesse James also had Welsh ancestry - his great-grandfather came from Pembrokeshire.

Add to these George Jones, the founder of the New York Times, Thomas Dow Jones, sculptor and famous 20th century architect Frank Lloyd Wright, whose masterpiece Fallingwater broke the mould for innovation, and you have a very varied and celebrated group indeed.

Everyone present enjoyed Dr Moore's presentation and he was thanked in the usual way with a prolonged round of applause.

Jayne Middleton