GENUKI : Ruabon, St. Mary

Ruabon / Rhiwabon

"A parish in the Union of Wrexham, hundred of Bromfield, county of Denbigh; 5 miles (SW by S) from Wrexham; containing, in 1841, 11292 inhabitants. ..... The parish is situated in a picturesque part of the county, within three miles of the great Holyhead road, and is bounded on the south by the river Dee. The village ..... seems to have been indebted for its original prosperity to the noble mansion of Wynnstay, in the immediate vicinity, and to owe its present importance chiefly to the mines of ironstone and coal which abound, especially in the southern and western parts of the parish. ..... The parish comprises an important part of the Denbighshire coal tract, of which the principal seam is here nine feet thick; and its mineral wealth in coal and iron ore, particularly in the southern and western parts of it, has caused the establishment of numerous works. The whole give employment to from 1400 to 1500 men and boys. ..... Offa's Dyke and Wat's Dyke both intersect the parish, and in their courses approach within a quarter of a mile of each other, near the village, but diverge as they are traced either northward or southward, so as shortly to leave an interval of several miles."
[A Topographical Dictionary of Wales, 1833 & 1849, Samuel Lewis]

The ancient parish of Ruabon comprised the townships of Belan, Bodylltyn, Cristionydd Cynrig (or Y Dref Fawr), Coed Cristionydd, Cristionydd Fechan (or Y Dref Fechan, or Dynhinlle Uchaf), Dinhinlle Isaf, Hafod (or Hafod y Gallor), Moreton Anglicorum (or Moreton Above), Moreton Wallichorum (or Moreton Below) (where Above and Below refer to Offa's Dyke), Rhuddallt, and Tref Robert Llwyd.

On 24 May 1844, Coed Cristionydd and part of Cristionydd Cynrig went to the new parish of Rhosymedre.
On 3 September 1844, Cristionydd Fechan went to the new parish of Rhosllanerchrugog.
On 28 October 1879, Moreton Above and the remainder of Cristionydd Cynrig went to the new parish of Penycae.

Church History
Church Records

Civil Registration
Population

Church History

Ordnance Survey reference SJ 303437.
The first church at Ruabon is believed to have been established by St. Mabon, during the sixth century. It was mentioned in the Norwich Taxation of 1254, when the dedication was to St. Collen.
The present church, which is dedicated to St. Mary, dates from the late thirteenth century. It was extensively "restored" in 1870.

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 Civil parish of Ruabon :

Name of Chapel Denomination Number of "adherents"

Bethania Baptists 90

Presbyterian Calvinistic Methodists (English language) 120

Providence Calvinistic Methodists 170

Not named Congregationalists (English language) 154

Not named Wesleyans (English language) 130

Plas Benion Wesleyans 60

Not named Primitive Methodists (English language) 270

Name of Chapel	Denomination	Number of "adherents"
Bethania	Baptists	90
Presbyterian	Calvinistic Methodists (English language)	120
Providence	Calvinistic Methodists	170
Not named	Congregationalists (English language)	154
Not named	Wesleyans (English language)	130
Plas Benion	Wesleyans	60
Not named	Primitive Methodists (English language)	270

Return to top of page

Church Records

Parish Registers

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

Baptisms Marriages Burials

1559 - 1945 1599 - 1964 1559 - 1963

Baptisms	Marriages	Burials
1559 - 1945	1599 - 1964	1559 - 1963

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

Baptisms Marriages Burials

1559 - 1853 1599 - 1843 1599 - 1847

Baptisms	Marriages	Burials
1559 - 1853	1599 - 1843	1599 - 1847

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

1663 - 1867 1663 - 1861

Deposited at the National Library of Wales	Microfilmed copies
1663 - 1867	1663 - 1861

I.G.I.

There are no official I.G.I. entries for St. Mary's, Ruabon.

Return to top of page

Civil Registration

When Civil Registration was introduced (on 1 July 1837), the parish of Ruabon was assigned to the No. 3 ("Ruabon") sub-district of the Wrexham Registration District; which, initially, was co-extensive with the Wrexham poor law Union.

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

Years 1837 - 1851: Wrexham XXVII.nnn
Years 1851 - 1930: Wrexham 11b.nnn

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

Return to top of page

Population

In 1831- the population was 8353.
In 1901- the population was 3483.
[Royal Commission on the Welsh Church - October 1907]

Return to top of page

Find help, report problems, and contribute information.

Note: The information provided by GENUKI must not be used for commercial purposes; and all specific restrictions concerning usage, copyright notices, etc., that are to be found on individual information pages within GENUKI must be strictly adhered to. Violation of these rules could gravely harm the cooperation that GENUKI is obtaining from many information providers, and hence threaten its whole future.

Last Updated 5 May 2004 - Vic Roberts