Betha Johnes, younger daughter of Judge John Johnes of Dolaucothi was born in 1834. Her mother died when she was quite young, and it was Lady Llanofer who 'brought her out' in London Society. She became very close to Lady Llanofer, and they corresponded regularly.
Betha fell in love with Benjamin Hall's nephew, Arthur Davies Berrington, and Lady Llanofer did her best to bring about a match. Arthur, however, would not agree to Lady Llanofer's plans, and the whole episode ended with great bitterness.
Betha took a very long time to get over her disappointment, and it wasn't until she was over fifty years of age that she married Sir James Hills. He changed his name to Hills-Johnes by Royal Licence, and made his home at Dolaucothi, and they, together with Betha's elder sister Charlotte, the widowed Mrs. Cookman, lived there very happily. Sir James had been born in India in 1833. He served with the Bengal Artillery, and won the Victoria Cross during the Indian Mutiny of 1857. He died at Dolaucothi in 1919.

On the 19th August 1876 Betha's father, John Johnes was brutally murdered and her sister Charlotte seriously injured.

from The Western Mail, Monday August 21st, 1876.
'Mr. John Johnes, formerly judge of the county court for the counties of Carmarthen, Cardigan and Pembroke, chairman of the Carmarthenshire quarter sessions, and recorder of the borough of Carmarthenshire, was assassinated on Saturday at his seat, Dolaucothy, near Llandilo, by his butler, Henry Tremble.
The murder, which appears to have been carried out with the utmost deliberation, took place in the library and in making his escape Tremble shot Mrs. Cookman, the eldest daughter of Mr. Johnes, whose injuries are not, however, likely to prove fatal.  He then proceeded to his cottage, and, after writing a letter to the vicar, in which he is reported to have made a confession, he committed suicide.'

It seems that the relationship between Henry Tremble and his employer had been deteriorating for some time, and the last straw for the increasingly surly butler had been when John Johnes refused his application for the vacant lease of the Dolaucothi Arms. The arguments that followed resulted in Tremble being dismissed from service.

The Dolaucothi Arms

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