Doctor Owen

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Bu pump cenhedlaeth o’r un teulu yn gwasanaethu cymdeithas ardal Abergwaun ac Wdig fel meddygon. Yr un a gofir heddiw yw Dr David Owen a welir yn y llun cyntaf, ond, rhaid mynd yn ôl yn bell i ddechre’r stori hon!

Graddiodd Dr William Owen o Drellys-y-coed, Tremarchog yn 1815 wedi astudio yn Yspyty Guy’s yn Llundain. Gosododd ef batrwm gan mai yn yr un ysbyty yr astudiodd pob un o’i ddisgynyddion. Bu farw Dr William yn 70 oed yn 1875.

Yr oedd ei fab, Dr John Owen wedi graddio yn 1855, ac fe benderfynodd symud o Drellys-y-coed i mewn i’r dre. Yn Park St y sefydlodd ei hun i ddechre, wedyn i Castle Hill, ac yn olaf, i Bryn-y-môr lle yr oedd yn cynnal syrjeri ac yn gwneud llawdriniaethau.

Dilynwyd Dr John yn 1882 gan ei fab, Dr Morgan Owen. Bu ef yn trin cleifion Abergwaun ym Mryn-y-môr nes ei farwolaeth yn 73 oed yn 1932. Bu Dr Morgan yn cyfrannu at sefydlu ysbyty fach, chwe gwely yn Abergwaun  lle y gwahoddwyd Mary Evans (mam Miss Mali Evans) i fod yn Matron yno. Dr Morgan oedd ymhlith y cyntaf yn Abergwaun i berchen car yn 1904.

Graddiodd Dr Howard Owen, mab Dr Morgan o Guy’s yn 1911. Cafodd ei glwyfo yn ystod y Rhyfel Mawr, felly dim ond yn 1920 y llwyddodd i ddechrau arfer ei sgiliau meddygol. Roedd ganddo ddiddordeb mawr yn y dechneg o neud profion Pelydr X. Buddsoddodd yn yr offer er mwyn defnyddio’r dechnoleg a byddai doctoriaid eraill y cylch yn anfon eu cleifion i gael profion Pelydr X ym Mryn-y-môr hefyd. Yn dilyn hyn, ac oherwydd ei brofiad o ddefnyddio’r system, gofynwyd iddo osod offer tebyg yn yr ysbyty yn ardal St Thomas, Hwlffordd. Wedi’r brwydo yn ystod y Rhyfel Mawr, roedd yr ysbyty fach a fu yno wedi cael ei ehangu. Cafodd ei ailenwi’n ‘Ysbyty’r Cofio’.

We gyda Mr a Mrs Benny Harries, Nevern House, fusnes ceir – h.y. Mr Harries yn neud ‘servicing’ yn y garej, ti ôl i’r tŷ yn High Street, a Mrs Harries yn rhedeg tacsi. We Dr Howard Owen, (tad Dr David Owen) yn berchen ar gar Talbot Sunbeam, ac wedd e’n mynd ag e at Benny Harries ar gyfer cael gwaith arno. Wedd e’n gar o safon, yn ddigon ffansi i grwt bach freuddwydio cael un tebyg rhyw ddydd!

We Dr Howard Owen yn mynd bob dydd, haf a gaeaf, i’r Parrog yn Wdig i wmolch. Pan wedd e’n mynd i ymweld â chleifion yn eu cartrefi, we ddim rhaid iddo gloi’r Sunbeam. Na, oherwydd we ganddo gi bach swnllyd, we’n ishte ar y sedd ar ei bwys ym mlân y car. Wedi i’r doctor fynd i’r tŷ, fe fydde’r ci yn ishte tan i’w feistir ddwad nôl, a meiddie neb a chyffwrdd yn y car.

Ymunodd Dr David Owen gyda’i dad yn 1952, wedi dwy flynedd gyda R.A.M.C. Yr oedd ganddo ddiddordeb mewn obstetreg ac anaestheteg  ac yr oedd hefyd yn meddu ar drwydded i fod yn beilot awyren. Yr oedd yn dal i fyw ym Mryn-y-môr gyda’i wraig, Helen, a’u dwy ferch. Ymddeolodd Dr David yn 1992.

Mae cerrig coffa y teulu, sydd ym mynwent Penygroes, yn adrodd peth o’u hanes, ac eraill ohonynt ym mynwent Farnowen. Mae angen mwy o waith ymchwil er mwyn canfod yn gywir sut mae’r darnau jigso yn ffitio……. (gwelwch y cofnodion o dan y paragraffau Saesneg). Mae llun o William Owen, mab i Dr John Owen i’w gweld fan hyn.

Five generations of the same family have served the Fishguard and Goodwick communities as ‘General Practitioners . The one who is remembered today is Dr David Owen seen in the first photograph above, but we have to go back a long way to the beginning of this story!

Dr William Owen of Trellys-y-coed, St Nicholas, graduated in 1815 having studied at Guy’s Hospital in London. Here, he set a pattern, as it was at the same hospital that all of his descendants studied. Dr William died aged 70 in 1875.

His son, Dr John Owen, had graduated in 1855, and he decided to move from Trellys-y-coed into Fishguard town. He first established himself in Park St, then moved to Castle Hill, and finally to Bryn-y-môr where he had his surgery and performed operations.

Dr John was followed in 1882 by his son, Dr Morgan Owen. He treated the patients of Fishguard in Bryn-y-môr until his death aged 73 in 1932. Dr Morgan contributed to the establishment of a small, six-bed hospital in Fishguard where Mary Evans (mother of Miss Mali Evans) was invited to be Matron. Dr Morgan was among the first in Fishguard to own a car in 1904.

Dr Howard Owen, son of Dr Morgan, graduated from Guy’s in 1911. He was wounded during the Great War, so it was only in 1920 that he was able to start practicing his medical skills. He was very interested in the technique of carrying out X-Ray tests. He invested in the equipment in order to use the technology and other doctors in the area would send their patients to have X-Ray tests in Bryn-y-môr as well. Following this, and because of his experience in using the system, he was asked to install similar equipment in the hospital in the St Thomas area of Haverfordwest. After the Great War, the small hospital that had been there was expanded. It was renamed ‘St Thomas Memorial Hospital’.

Mr and Mrs Benny Harries, of Nevern House, High Street had a car business – i.e. Mr Harries doing ‘servicing’ in the garage, at the back of the house in High Street, and Mrs Harries running a taxi. Dr Howard Owen, owned a Talbot Sunbeam car, and would take it to Benny Harries’ for repair work. It was a quality car, fancy enough for a small boy to dream of having one like it one day!

Dr Howard Owen would go every day, summer and winter, to the Parrog in Goodwick to swim. Whenever he would make home visits to patients he wouldn’t need to lock the Sunbeam. No, he had a noisy little dog, sitting on the passenger seat of the car. As the doctor entered the house, the dog would start his duty as watchdog for his master. No one would dare touch the car.

Dr David Owen  joined his father in 1952, after two years with R.A.M.C. He was interested in obstetrics and anaesthetics and he also had a license to be an airplane pilot. He was still living and continued to hold a surgery in Bryn-y-môr till the new surgery was built near Lota Park. He and his wife, Helen, had two daughters. Dr David retired in 1992.

Family’s memorial stones, at St Mary’s new cemetery and Manorowen churchyard tell more of the Owen family story. More research is needed to find exactly how the jigsaw pieces fit together……. A photograph of one young man,  William Owen, son of Dr John Owen, can be seen here.

Capt Norman Howell Owen, 5th Rifles, died in Sheerness Military Hospital, 1st March, 1919 aged 30 years.

Margaret Elizabeth Owen, the dearly beloved wife of John Morgan Owen of Brynymôr, Fishguard, died 25th March, 1921 aged 62 years.

Lionel Everard Owen, Physician & Surgeon, died 23rd March 1940, aged 50 yrs.

In loving memory of John Howard Owen M.D. of Trellys, Fishguard who died June 20th 1970 in his 85th year. Life’s race well run, Life’s work well done. Life’s victory won, Now cometh rest. Also his dear wife, Mary Evelyn Francis, who died November 27th 1996, in her 96th year.