Timothy Morgan Owen Shelby
Timothy Morgan Owen Shelby, John and Sarah Shelby's seventh child, was born in Bersham near Wrexham [Wrexham 1869, 1st qt]. A newspaper
report in
The Wrexham Advertiser etc., 5 Feb 1887 indicates that he trained as a pupil-teacher at the Boys' National School, Wrexham (1886-7). In 1898 Timothy was one of several of the Owen, extended family to attend the
Llanidloes Christmas Party.
Reports in the The Wrexham Advertiser etc. show that, with his brother Thomas, he played cricket for St James's Cricket Club (he appears to have been an all-rounder) and that he played as a forward for Wrexam Gymnasium Football Team.
He was still teaching at Wrexham National School in 1892 when he was elected Honorary Treasurer of the Wrexham branch of the National Union of Teachers [The Wrexham Advertiser etc., 17 Dec 1892 (view)]. That same journal (11 Mar 1893) reported that Timothy, by then assistant master at the school, had been appointed Master of Brymbo National Schools and, the following week, that: "Mr T M O Shelby commenced duty as head master at Brymbo Church School on Monday." (Brymbo lies just northwest of Wrexham and Brymbo National School had become Brymbo Church School in 1872 but was known by both names). In the 1901 census he was an "elementary school teacher" living in the schoolhouse in Brymbo. He would be a headmaster at Brymbo for over forty years. An account of these years, based on the School Log Books which were written by Timothy, appears here. The logs show that both Timothy's future wife and his niece, Charlotte Miriam Labron, taught with him. Charlotte was a Supplementary Teacher (an untrained teacher, approved by H.M.I.), who joined Timothy's staff when a major confrontation between the LEA and the Church had led to his school being short-staffed and had forced it into temporary accommodation. (Events are described here).
For at least forty-five years Timothy was a prominent churchman at St. Mary's Church, Brymbo; he was a member of the choir and read the lessons. A local newspaper article in September, 1893, commented that Timothy's "style of reading was greatly admired" when he read the lesson at the local church. These reports concern aspects of Timothy's association with St Mary's Church. Another report in the local journal (14 Apr 1894) quotes the comments of the Diocesan Inspector following his examination of Timothy's school: "This is an exceedingly good school, and passed an examination bordering upon the excellent throughout. I was much pleased with the results. The repetition was extremely good throughout." >