was just seven years old. He was raised by his mother, Mary Ann Davies, who worked at Caerleon Iron Works. W.
H., who had learned to read at the age of five, received his education in elementary schools until he was fourteen years old, when he went to work for a carpenter named John Williams in Wales. The job involved drilling holes in wood for windows and doors, and he earned ten shillings (about $1) per day. After eight months, Williams took him on as an apprentice, and when he turned sixteen he earned six shillings (about 75 cents) per day.
By that time his mother had remarried, and she encouraged W. H. to pursue what he loved best—reading.
He began by borrowing books from the local library in New Tredegar, where he worked in the evenings after school hours were over at the iron works. When he turned eighteen years old W. H., who had learned to write while working under Williams, became secretary of the local YMCA and worked there for four years before going into business for himself with a partner named John Jones from Caerleon Iron Works.
The company did well enough that it expanded into a larger office building just outside of Newport. W. H., however, did not do so well financially and had to close up shop due to a lack of capital after only a year or two in business.
Eventually he found work as a bookkeeper with a firm in London called Maberly & Co., which did contracting work with the British government during World War I before going into business for himself again with another partner named William Rees from Cardiff named "Wm Rees & Son." In 1919 Wm Rees & Son dissolved from business when its assets were seized under the Trading With The Enemy Act during World War I, after which time Wm Rees & Son became an official government contractor under the auspices of the Ministry of Munitions, where Wm Rees & Son immediately began work on a massive ship repair project on behalf of Great Britain's Ministry of Munitions during World War I known as "The Repair Project."
Wm Rees & Son eventually expanded into "Wm Rees & Sons" Ltd., which then became officially incorporated as "Prices Brothers" Ltd.—a company that both
