Poor Abel Green

Meliden has many tales but this one is pertinent to attitudes that we strive to eliminate from our lives, even today.

You see the donkey-cart in front of the gate? That’s Abel Green. He’s in the graveyard now but you’ll never find his grave because he was a pauper. He was an object of hatred and fun—I’ll tell you why later.

Abel lived in abject poverty with his parents at 5, Cement Terrace which was off what is now Caradoc Road in Prestatyn. Conditions were bad—they drew their water from the Prestatyn Gutter which also received their all their waste.

He first fell foul of the law in 1876 and was fined 2s. 6d. with costs for cruelty to animals. Three years later he appeared at the Petty Sessions again for allowing two donkeys to stray on the road when he was fined 2s. with 8s. costs. (10s. would be worth about £45 now)

In 1881 the St Asaph Board of Guardians (The Workhouse) summoned his brothers Richard and John to explain why they had not not been contributing towards their father’s maintenance. Brother Richard failed to appear but he was made to pay 1s. a week (£4.50 now). John sent his wife to plead poverty. She claimed that they only earned 30s. a week and had seven children but failed to mention that she owned a small shop! The Court was not deceived and ordered 1s. a week.

Abel offended again in 1885. P.C. Edward Jones arrested him for allowing his donkey-cart to obstruct the road near Mount Pleasant while he was across the road drinking cwrwr (beer) in the King’s Head. He was fined 3s. (£15 now)

At the end of 1885, the eldest brother, Evan, complained to the Board of Guardians that while he was compelled to support his father, two of his brothers, who earned more, had not been contributing anything. The Clerk of the Court agreed but couldn’t get the money. Brother Richard, the captain of a tugboat sold his boat for £45 (£4,400) so the court could not take possession. Brother John and his wife both drank and lived in squallor, nevertheless, a warrant had been issued but John went into hiding.

The Court thought that the brothers should be imprisoned but the law left them powerless. Evan was told that his contributions must continue. Brother Abel was left alone because he was a pauper.

He was a familiar sight as he struggled to make ends meet with his donkey-cart. In July,1886 he was passing Meliden Church, just like the photo, when his 80-year-old passenger was struck on the face by a stone. A local good-for-nothing called Edward Williams was charged and found guilty of the assault. It seems that he was aiming for Abel Green and told the magistrates that ‘They always threw gravel at Abel Green to tease him.’

Abel never married and after his father’s death in 1886 he and his mother left the dreadful Cement Terrace and moved to 6, By Church, Meliden which was just out of sight to the left in the photo. It was part of the Tai Cochion Terrace which was demolished in the 1930s and is now the Red Lion car park. They had moved from the worst place in Prestatyn to an even worse place in Meliden—it belonged to the Vicar!

Abel Green’s last court appearance was in 1895. He had been seen by P.C. Gabriel on Rhyl High Street with a donkey in bad condition. The animal had a wound of three or four inches beneath the saddle and was so poorly that the R.S.P.C.A. bought the animal for 5s. and had it destroyed. Abel was fined 5s with 7s costs. (£62 now)

His mother died at the age of 86 in 1896 and Abel died in the workhouse two years later—he was just 52. And what had Abel done to deserve the general hatred and merciless fun made of him? It was simple—one of his legs waPoors 3 inches longer than the other.