GENUKI : Abergele, St. Michael

Abergele

"A market town and parish in the Union of St. Asaph, hundred of Isdulas, county of Denbigh; 12 miles (NW) from Denbigh, 20 miles (NW) from Ruthin, and 209 miles (NW) from London. ..... The town is delightfully situated in a pleasant valley, watered by the river Gele, and within half a mile of the Irish Sea, which forms the northern boundary of the parish. The coast, in some parts, is terminated by sandy cliffs, impending over the sea, which, according to tradition, has made considerable encroachment upon the land. ..... The environs abound with picturesque and strikingly bold scenery, and afford various pleasing and interesting excursions."
[ A Topographical Dictionary of Wales, 1833 & 1849, Samuel Lewis]

The ancient parish of Abergele was extensive, covering approximately 9000 acres. It comprised the townships of Abergele, (or Tre'r Dre), Towyn Uchaf, Towyn Isaf, Bodoryn, Bodtegwal, Hendregyda, Dolganed, Serior, Brynffanigl, Nant Dinhengroen, Garthgogo, Gwrych, and Penrhyn Dulas.

Church History
Church Records
Civil Registration

Population
Statistics

Church History

Ordnance Survey reference SH 945776.
The church, dedicated to St. Michael, was extensively restored in 1878, at a cost of £3000.

The Clwyd FHS website has a photograph of the church.

Nonconformist Churches "Welsh Church Commission - County of Denbigh - The Statistics of the Nonconformist Churches for 1905"lists the following nonconformist places of worship in the Civilparish of "Abergele Urban" :

Name of Chapel	Denomination	Number of "adherents"
Not Named	Baptists	160
Mynydd Seion and Pensarn (worked jointly)	Calvinistic Methodists	500
Pensarn	Calvinistic Methodists (English language)	130
Christ Church	Congregationalists	178
St. Paul's	Wesleyans	410

"Welsh Church Commission - County of Denbigh - The Statistics of the Nonconformist Churches for 1905" lists the following nonconformist places of worship in the Civil parish of "Abergele Rural" :

Name of Chapel	Denomination	Number of "adherents"
Morfa	Calvinistic Methodists	62
Towyn	Calvinistic Methodists	160
Bodoryn	Congregationalists	48
Moelfre	Congregationalists	90

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Church Records

Parish Registers

The following Parish Registers have been deposited in the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth.
They may be viewed on microfilm at the Denbighshire and Flintshire Record Offices, and at the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth.
These microfilms are not available elsewhere.

Baptisms	Marriages	Burials
1647 - 1889	1659 - 1928	1647 - 1904

Clwyd FHS has published full transcriptions of the registers (complete with indexes) for the following years :

Baptisms	Marriages	Burials
1647 - 1812	1659 - 1812	1647 - 1812

Bishop's Transcripts

Bishop's Transcripts for the years shown below have been deposited in the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth.
Around the year 1951, most of the Bishop's Transcripts which had been deposited at that time were microfilmed by the LDS; and the films are available on request at Family History Centres of the LDS.
The films may also be viewed at the Denbighshire and Flintshire Record Offices, and at the National Library of Wales.
In general, the Bishop's Transcripts are less complete than the parish registers.

Deposited at the National Library of Wales	Microfilmed copies
1665 - 1851	1783 - 1851

I.G.I.

There are no official I.G.I. entries for St. Michael's, Abergele.

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Civil Registration

When Civil Registration was introduced (on 1 July 1837), the parish of Abergele was assigned to the No. 2 ("Abergele") sub-district of the St. Asaph Registration District, which was co-extensive with the St. Asaph poor law Union.

In the GRO indexes to civil registration, entries for Abergele are in the format :

Years 1837 - 1851: St. Asaph XXVII. nnn
Years 1851 - 1930: St. Asaph 11b. nnn

(GRO index references have no relevance at the local Superintendent Registrar's Office)

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Population

In 1831- the population was 2506.
In 1901- the population was 2720.
[ Royal Commission on the Welsh Church - October 1907]

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Statistics

Archdeacon Thomas gives the area of the parish as approximately 9000 acres.
[ The History of the Diocese of St. Asaph , 1908-1913, Ven. D.R. Thomas]

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Last Updated 22 Nov 2009 - Gareth Hicks