LONDON — As an adult, Owen Williams had long stopped believing in Santa Claus. But this week he regaled Twitter with the tale of a secret Santa in Wales: a neighbor who left Mr. Williams’s young daughter 14 years of Christmas gifts.

The neighbor, Ken Watson, was a widower and Renaissance man who had become fond of Mr. Williams’s 2½-year-old daughter, Cadi. He died recently in his 80s.

It’s not clear why Mr. Watson chose to give Cadi 14 years’ worth of Christmas presents, but her parents told the BBC that he had “doted” on her. Mr. Watson had two children of his own but no grandchildren, and he showed grandfatherly love to the children of his neighborhood in Barry, in southern Wales, including by spoiling them with gifts, the news site WalesOnline reported.

Mr. Watson, a former carpenter, baker, salvage diver, competitive parachute jumper and accordion player, had been writing a novel before he died, according to Mr. Williams, the head of social media for BBC One and BBC Wales.