Dr. H.R. Stubbins

Haydn Rees Stubbins was primarily known for his work as Medical Officer of Health in Neath and the Swansea valleys.

He was a son of coal miner John James Stubbins and his wife Margaret, née Rees, both parents were Aberdare born and bred. The family were originally living at 34 Gadlys Street, but soon afterwards made their long-term family home at 34 Tudor Terrace. There were three sons, two girls and one child who died in infancy. Two of the girls and one of the boys, Thomas Rees Stubbins¹ were teachers. All family members were bilingual, and active members of Bethel Welsh Independent Chapel, Railway St², Gadlys.

Haydn Rees Stubbins arrived at Aberdare County School in 1912 having attended Park School, and one year at the Higher Standard School, (Gadlys), previously. He took his CWB certificate in 1915, with 4 distinctions, and Senior Certificate in 1916, becoming a Bursar, (teacher training at the school). However, in August 1917 he signed up to join the Royal Navy, and was assigned to HMS Victory VI, a navy training establishment in south London.

After the war, he was admitted to Edinburgh University to study medicine. In 1924 he graduated M.B., Ch.B.

He began as a doctor in Brynamman, but by 1928 he was living and practising medicine in Ystalyfera, and it was in this year he married Gladys Mary Jones of Trevor Street, Foundry Town. She was a teacher at the Town Council Girls School in Clifton Street. The marriage took place at St Martin-in-the-Fields Church, Trafalgar Square, London.

In 1933, Haydn submitted a thesis³ to Edinburgh University, with the title “Pneumoconiosis in The South Wales Anthracite Coalfield.” This resulted in the award of the M.D. degree.

His first appointment in the public sector came in 1935 when he was appointed Medical Officer at the Pontardawe Public Assistance Institution. This was followed by appointments as MoH at Ystradgynlais, 1937, and Pontardawe 1939. In November 1939 he was successful in gaining his Diploma in Public Health⁴ from the University of Wales. During all this time he was a resident of Ystalyfera.

Then, in 1940, he was appointed MoH for the Rural District Council at Neath, a post which he held for 25 years until his retirement in 1965. During this long period he was frequently in the news in connection with a range of health and safety issues.

He died⁵ suddenly in April 1971 at his home in Llewellyn Avenue in Neath aged 71. He was survived by his wife Gladys, and his son Dr. John Haydn Stubbins.⁵

Footnotes

1. Thomas Rees Stubbins also attended the Boys’s County School, 1904–10. After attending a teacher training college in Bristol, he taught in an elementary school at Nantymoel. In the First World War he fought with the Welsh Regiment, but sadly died 8th October 1918 in Salonica, Greece. His name is on the school WWI commemoration plaque.
2. Railway Street extends for about 100 yards, (28 metres) from the top of Tudor Terrace, past Gadlys Chapel, to Hirwaun Road, that ran behind the school.
3. Haydn’s thesis can be read online at
   https://era.ed.ac.uk/server/api/core/bitstreams/4b2bfbcd-5a95-4428-925c-2039837fe914/content
4. When Haydn gained his DPH, so did another Aberdare doctor, namely Dr Beryl Badham, MRCS (Eng.), MRCP (Lond.). Beryl was brought up in Cwmaman, but later her family lived in Pendarren Street. She attended Aberdare Girls’ Intermediate School, and Cardiff University. Beryl, as Dr Beryl Bevan, later lived in the West Midlands.
5. Dr. J.H. Stubbins followed his father into the field of community health in the Neath area.

Acknowledgements

1. Articles in archived copies of The Aberdare Leader and The Neath Guardian.

CR, November 2026