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True birthplace of Wales's literary hero
Hollywood immortalised Richard Llewellyn's vision of Wales |
A documentary film on the life of one of Wales's most famous literary sons has revealed that his claim to be Welsh-born was false.
Evidence has been unearthed that contradicts a claim by Richard Llewellyn - author of the novel How Green Was My Valley - that he was born in St David's, Pembrokeshire.
The Hollywood film starred Maureen O'Hara and Roddy McDowell |
How Green Was My Valley was published in 1939 and was made into an Oscar-winning film starring Maureen O'Hara and Roddy McDowell. The book has been translated into more than 30 languages.
According to a birth certificate found in an archive of Llewellyn's papers, at the University of Texas, the author was really born in London.
Vivian Lloyd - his real name - was born in the north London suburb of Hendon and was the son of a Welsh publican.
Until his death in 1983 the author of a series of acclaimed novels set among Welsh mining communities, claimed to be the son of a Welsh miner who worked down the pits in Gilfach Goch in the south Wales Valleys.
In fact, the writer first had a job washing dishes at Claridges hotel in London, and his knowledge of mining came from stories he heard from a family who ran a bookshop in the city's Charing Cross Road.
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How Green was my Valley - the movie |
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