Player

Gwilym Michael - Lock

Swansea
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Gwilym Michael
Place Of BirthPontardawe
ClubsSwansea, Pontardawe
HonoursWales, England / Wales
Gwilym Morgan Michael.
Caps: 3.
Position: Forward.
Games Played: 1923 v E,S,F.
Born: 8/7/1892 Pontardawe, near Swansea.
Died: 24/5/1941 Pontardawe, near Swansea.
Main club: Swansea.
Gwilym Michael scored a debut try against England at Twickenham when Tommy Johnson sent him clear, but Wales lost 7-3. He had played for his home village of Pontardawe before joining Swansea pre-war and also appeared for the combined England-Wales team against Scotland-Ireland in the 1923 Centenary match at Rugby School. In WWar1 he served in Palestine and Mesopotamia and in WWar2 he commanded a Home Guard signals detachment. A manager of a tinplate company and a member of Pontardawe Golf Club, he was a cousin of Brinley Lewis (2 caps, 1912-13). Gwilym died at the age of 48 when he collapsed on the pavement near his home in Brecon Road. It came shortly after the dismissal of a parade at the Recreation Ground in connection with Pontardawe War weapons week. He had marched with his unit from Clydach to Pontardawe. Gwilym was the fourth child of Llewellyn and Mary Michael of Herbert Street, Pontardawe. His father came from Ystalyfera and was a roll turner in a tinworks. In 1939 Gwilym and his wife Linda (born 1899) lived at 5 Mendwy Avenue in Pontardawe when Gwilym described himself as the chief clerk at a tinplate works.
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