Rees Thomas was appointed Clerk of Talyllyn Parish in May 1835. It is not known whether it was at the time of his appointment or later that the family moved to a house abutting Talyllyn churchyard; but it seems reasonable to suppose that it was in 1835 that the Thomas family left Maesygorwyr.
Tan'r Ewan (Under the Yew), later known as Tyriwen, one of two houses that backed onto the churchyard at Talyllyn. Jenny Jones, whose romantic, adventurous and ultimately sad life is given in the Talyllyn Church pamphlet and whose grave is marked by a fine if mysterious edifice, also lived for a time at Tan'r Ewan with her then husband David Griffiths. Having survived the Battle of Waterloo David Griffiths was tragically killed in the slate quarry in 1837.
1841 census shows Rhys Thomas, age: 45, born: Merionethshire, Wales. A tailor, living at Tan'r Ewan, in the township of Corris, parish Talyllyn with family below. Undoubtably there were older children, but have not been picked up because the 1841 census is the earliest census. By the time "children" got to 15 they were working down the mines or away as servants.
1851 census Rees Thomas age: 58, born: Talyllyn, Merionethshire, Wales living at Corris with his wife Elizabeth Thomas 53. There is no one else in the household at Tan'r Ewan on this date. He is listed as "tailor & parish clerk". The children had dispersed.; Jane, although still living with her parents, was visiting her uncle David Thomas at Tynyberth in Upper Corris. It may well be that Jane was combining family duties with her courtship by Evan Pugh!
1853 his daughterJane Thomas marries (marriage cert). 6 August 1853 at Talyllyn Parish Church Evan Pugh age 26 a miner from Craig y fachddn, son of Richard Pugh, labourer marries Jane Thomas age 20 from Tan y Ewan, daughter of Rhys Thomas, a parish clerk.
1855. Following David Thomas's death in 1855 aged 76, Rees Thomas and Elizabeth moved from Tan'r Ewan in Talyllyn to Fron Yw in Dolgellau.
There is now no trace of the pair of houses that were known as Tan'r Ewan.