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Troed-yr-aur

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"TROEDYRAUR (TROED-YR-AUR), a parish composed of the Upper and Lower divisions, in the upper division of the hundred of TROEDYRAUR, county of CARDIGAN, SOUTH WALES, 4 miles (N.N. E.) from Newcastle-Emlyn, containing 1064 inhabitants, of which number, 603 are in the Upper, and 461 in the Lower, division. The ancient name of this place was Llanvihangel Trêv-Deyrn and was derived from the dedication of its church to St. Michael, and from its having been the residence of some royal personage, perhaps a prince of Ceredigion. Its present name of Troedyraur signifying " the foot of gold," originated in an opinion that gold was formerly procured at the foot of the eminence on which the church is situated...."
[From Samuel Lewis's A Topographical Dictionary of Wales 1833]

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Cemeteries

Monumental inscriptions for Troed-yr-aur: [Sant Mihangel, Hawen Rhydlewis, Salem Brongest, Twrgwyn Rhydlewis] (index only) are available on microfiche from Dyfed FHS

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Church History

Some church and chapel data from The Religious census of 1851 : A Calendar of the returns relating to Wales, Vol 1, South Wales. Ed. by I.G Jones, & D. Williams. UWP, Cardiff, 1976. The names are those of the informants

  • Troedyraur Parish Church "The church has been taken down for the sake of rebuilding it since last May. The new church is not yet finished , so I can not say how many sittings it will contain" H L Davies, Curate
  • see Chapels database

Parish entry for Troedyraur from The Welsh Church Year Book, 1929 (Cd by Archive CD Books).

  • St Michael
  • Incumbent and Curates; E Richards
  • Rural Deanery of Sub Aeron
  • Acreage 4,583 ; Population 735

St Michael - photograph on Dyfed FHS

Various items  - on the People's Collection Wales site

  • A boy with a horse and cart outside Hawen Chapel and cemetery.
  • Salem chapel (CM), Brongest, Troed-yr-aur
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Church Records

See Notes on Church/Chapel Records page

Parish Register;
Baptisms 1655-1990. Marriages 1655-1966 [Banns 1823-1967]. Burials 1655-1875 NLW/Cer.RO
Copy manuscripts PR[extracts] C 1814-75 NLW
Bishops Transcripts;
1674, 1678-81, 1683-9, 1702-3, 1705, 1799, 1801-53, 1855-83 NLW

See Bap/Mar/Bur data on FreeReg

I.G.I; Baptisms 1799-1875

Nonconformist Chapels; see Chapels database

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Description & Travel

The Religious census of 1851 : A Calendar of the returns relating to Wales, Vol 1, South Wales., by Jones, I.G. & Williams, D. UWP, Cardiff, 1976. These statistics for this parish or chapelry are extracted from this book which in turn got them from the 1851 census itself;

  • Area 4660 acres; Population 466 males, 554 females, total 1020
You can see pictures of Troed-yr-aur which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

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Genealogy

Abel J Jones - on Wikipedia "Abel John Jones was born in Troedyraur on the 26th May, 1878. His parents, David Rees Jones and Hannah Jones (nee Evans)....................."

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History

Davies, Mair. Mudiad y Temlwyr da in mhlwyf Troed-yr-aur (NLW's site) Ceredigion XIV

Davies, S. Gwilly. Dyffryn Troed-yr-aur ; gan gynnwys ardal Rhydlewis a'r cyffiniau ar lannau afon Ceri yng ngodre Ceredigion . 1976

Meyrick, Sir Samuel Rush.(1783-1848) The History and Antiquities of the county of Cardigan. Collected from the few remaining documents which have escaped the ravages of time, as well as from actual observation. Longman: London ,1810. The history and antiquities of the County of Cardigan ... to which are now added a parliamentary history, list of High Sheriffs, some notes on the present county families, &c., &c. repr. Brecon: 1907. This 1907 print has now been reprinted. The section relating to this parish is on pages 203/4; the church is a rectory, the last 2 incumbents were Rev Mr Tudor Brigstocke and Rev Mr Tho Bowen. Also mention of Gwernant, Troedyrawr, and Pant Rodyn.

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Maps

Second class map of the parish of Troed yr Aur, Cardiganshire  - on the People's Collection Wales site

Parish map (Kain/Oliver)

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SN336468 (Lat/Lon: 52.094633, -4.430581), Troed-yr-aur which are provided by:

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Names, Geographical

Places, villages, farms etc within Troed-yr-Aur as shown on the online parish map from the CD of Historic Parishes of England and Wales: an Electronic Map of Boundaries before 1850 with a Gazetteer and Metadata [computer file]. (Kain, R.J.P., Oliver, R.R.). (Extracted by Gareth Hicks)

  • Troed-yr-Aur (91); Afon Ceri; Bedd-Geraint; Beulah; Blaen-afon; Blaen-Gwenllian; Brongest; Bryn Hawen; Caerau; Cefn-maes-bach; Clawdd-melyn; Crug-y-Balog; Crymant; Cwm-Barre; Cwm-bychan; Dol-glan; Felin Wnda; Ffos-y-beili; Gwar-Llwyn; Gwern-nant-isaf; Hawen; Pant-yr-odyn; Parc-mawr; Pen-allt-y-gwin; Pen-gelli; Pen-rhiw-fach; Pen-rhiw-pal; Pen-y-banc; Pen-y-gaer; Plas-y-Gwernant; Rhyd-Lewis; Rhyd-pentre; Talgarth; Tanglwst; Troedyraur (village); Troedyraur Ho.;
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Occupations

Davies, Dan / Hughes, William. Atgofion Dau Grefftwr. Cymdeithas Lyfrau Ceredigion, 1963. Welsh text. Reminiscences of two craftsmen--A Rhydlewis tailor and a carpenter from Hafod. One of a series of 8 Cardiganshire reminiscences.

Jenkins, David. The Agricultural Community in South-West Wales at the turn of the Twentieth Century. Univ.Wales Press: 1971.
An edited description of this book from Cardiganshire FHS Journal Vol 2~No 6, Oct 2000. ; " Despite the title, a significant amount of the content concentrates on a limited geographical area, centred around Troedyraur in South Cardiganshire. It describes how the rural society came to terms with the increased use of mechanisation, and how these changes affected the way the people associated with one another in their leisure and their worship. Farm practice and social structure are described along with the relationship with the gentry.Cottage and farmhouse layouts as well as household organisation are illustrated, together with social customs and religious activity."

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Public Records

Details of extant records on Archives Network Wales for the following;

  • Troedyraur Parish Council and Community Council Records 1936-1986
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Schools

Held at Ceredigion Archives;

  • Brongest C P School admissions register 1898-1987.

Harris, John. Dafydd Lanlas: The schoolboy at Rhydlewis (NLW's site) Ceredigion X

Here is an extract from The Reports of the Commissioners appointed to enquire into the state of Education in Wales. 1847

This page has been partly compiled from material previously published in their journal
by kind permission of Cardiganshire Family History Society