The Caswell Children Story
The five Caswell children Fay, Patricia, Margaret, Marlene and Harry the brother, all emigrated to the USA between 1947 and 1969.All had lived at 2 High Street with their parents, Charlie and Ellenor Caswell. The exodus started when Fay married an American serviceman after the war and encouraged the rest of the family to join her. My father was well known in the village due to the fact he was the ambulance driver for the then Empire Colliery.
Harry and his wife Sheila, a Penywaun native, opened a British Store in 1997 to supply the wants of the local British residents. Sheila was struck down with multiple cancers in 2000 and passed away in October of that year. So Harry continued the American dream and expanded the business onto the internet through our website Wise Choice British Foods, Gifts & Candies in 2003. This development has turned the business into an international retail business with shipments being sent around the world, even back to Britain.
The link below to our website will show you video's of Harry presenting his store products on a local television program that highlights local businesses. The show is Living Dayton from WDTN-Dayton Channel 2. Please take a moment to view our website and click on the ABOUT US button to read our story here in the States.
Extract from 'About Us' on the website:
Sheila and I had had the American dream of owing our own business from the first day we landed in Detroit on August 19, 1969. We had emigrated with our two children Sian & Rans from a small coal mining village in S.Wales, U.K. called Cwmgwrach ( Valley of the Witches ) Our stay in Detroit was short lived, as my job as a cutting tool salesman brought me to Huber Heights, Ohio in 1971.
