A brief story today to show that anyone could become a private detective. Robert Guy, who was from the village of Penclawdd on the Gower in South Wales, spent much of his life as a carpenter, working primarily on ships. His father, William, had been a mariner, and Robert was born to William and his wife Mary in 1844. At the age of 19, he married Margaret Sullivan, who was an immigrant from County Cork. The couple relocated to Llanelli, just west of Swansea but over the border into Carmarthenshire, and went on to have 11 children. From his teens until the age of around 50, Robert consistently worked as a carpenter. However, he then, for unknown reasons, switched career. An advert placed by Robert in the Llanelli press from 1896 reads:
'Mr R Guy: money lent. Easy repayments taken; private enquiry agent. Offices: 9 Brynmor Road, Llanelli.'
Robert had no experience as a policeman or a clerk - both common with men who went onto become private detectives. But he had good local contacts, security, and money. He could make financial enquiries, he could report on which locals were reliable and responsible, and which weren't. He could lend money to those he knew could pay it back, thus widening the pool of customers using him beyond those simply needing enquiries making.
Llanelli, home of Robert Guy (image © Nell Darby)
He must have made a relatively decent living in this role, as five years later, in the 1901 census, Robert described himself as a commission agent - another term often used by private detectives with a financial specialism to describe themselves. However, this would be his last job before retiring, and by 1911, he was no longer working. The Welsh private inquiry agent died in Llanelli in 1922. None of his children followed him into this career, instead working as labourers and masons.