Good on you, gramps! Ruth’s relative was an NHS pioneer

GAVIN & Stacey star Ruth Jones has discovered her grandad was a leading figure in the Medical Aid Societies of Wales, a forerunner of the NHS.

Appearing on the BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are? the actor and writer said she would love to know more about her two grandfathers, who died before she was born.

Talking about growing up in Porthcawl, South Wales, Ruth said: “My grandmothers both lived around the corner and were involved in bringing me up, but I never knew my grandfathers.

“It feels like there is a missing piece because they have been these elusive figures in our family for so long.”

On her father’s side, she learned that Henry Richard Jones, born in 1897, attended to those injured in the Navy before returning to work for the Neath and District Medical Aid association and then South Wales and Monmouthshire Alliance of Medical Aid Societies.

They provided free treatment to workers and families for a small subscription and were the forerunner to the NHS.

Henry lobbied Minister of Health Aneurin “Nye” Bevan – a fellow Welshman who became known as the father of the NHS – to hold talks about the formation of the service. When it was created in 1948, the Aid Societies were no longer needed. Henry applied to work at the NHS but was rejected.

Ruth, 54, said: “I find that really sad because he was really fighting for everybody and kept persisting, had that brilliant

Ruth Jones is proud of her grandpa

CV and they say ‘ No sorry, no room at the inn’.

“Even though my grandfather did not then get a job with the new NHS, his work helped influence the development of the National Health Service.”

Ruth’s grandad was remembered for his devotion caring for his fellow men and women and an obituary in a regional newspaper described him as “a legend in his own lifetime” in medical circles.

Ruth added: “Good on you, Grandfather. You gave back to life and you helped a lot of people. And that’s pretty good going.”

Who Do You Think You Are? with Ruth Jones is next Monday at 9pm on BBC One.

Richard Jones cared for those injured in the Navy