It seems that there are records of our branch of the Aces in Llangyfelach Church dating back to the 1190's and our family verbal history (based upon research by my father's aunt Bess back in the 1960's) says that the "de l'Ache's" came directly to Gower (13 of them) from Normandy in the 12th century, having been granted monies, lands and the name "of the axe" by a greatful french lord who was rescued from a seige by a peasant who he titled "of the axe"....changing to Ace over a short period of time in the Gower. Then there's a BIG gap!!!!

In the 1800's my great garndfather William Ace married Elizabeth Grove they had seven children:

William - had a daughter Elsie who married a Ben Paton; Nana (Annie) who married a Seacaptain from Mumbles....Captain Gibbs, they had a son, George Ernest Gibbs who married Edith Rowe and they lived in Slade Cross until their deaths in the 1970's (no children);
Ernest - no offspring;
Bess (Elizabeth, mentioned above) - Bess was a nurse with Edith Cavell during WW1, who never married - lived in Slade Cross;
Lilly who married Tom Edwards, a Slade farmer, and is buired in St ??'s Church on Oxwich point - no children;
Albert who had a bicycle shop on the Kingsway roundabout for many years (I think there's a kebab shop there now!), who married Betty Harris, they had a daughter;
Stanley Grove (b 1893) who married Violet and moved to Gorseinon, they had a son Albert, my father, who has two daughters.

The Captain Gibbs I mentioned above disappeared at sea, but a body was discovered in the far north of Canada that was identified as his by a ring, and he was carrying papers that are apparently now at Ottawa Museum that (so the family story goes, though I haven't seen them myself) give some title to lands in Gower!!

That's about it!!!

So.....am I related to anyone out there???

Got your e-mail Rex, but thought I would reply here!

Cathy