GENUKI : Betws-yn-Rhos, St. Michael's

Betws-yn-Rhos

"A parish in the Union of St. Asaph, hundred of Isdulas, four miles (SSW) from Abergele, containing 912 inhabitants. The village is pleasantly situated at the base of a lofty mountain, by which it is sheltered on one side, and has a fine opening towards the north, commanding a full view of the Irish Sea."
[ A Topographical Dictionary of Wales, 1833 & 1849, Samuel Lewis]

The ancient parish comprised the townships of Peniarth, Bodlyman, Maesegwig, Tre'rllan, Trofarth, and part of Cilcen.

Bibliography
Church History
Church Records
Civil Registration

Description and Travel
Maps
Population

Bibliography

Owens, Miriam. Dathlu canmlwyddiant Capel Hyfrydle, Betws yn Rhos, 1898-1998 1998.
Wheway, J. Alan. Betws-yn-Rhos (1989 with additions during 2000-2008) [Betws-yn-Rhos : John Wheway, 2009]

Church History

Church and chapel data from The Religious census of 1851 : A Calendar of the returns relating to Wales, Vol 11, North Wales. Ed. by Ieuan Gwynedd Jones, UWP, 1981. The names given towards the end of each entry are those of the informants.

Bettws-yn-Rhos Parish, Statistics; Area 6262 acres; Population 472 males, 423 females, total 895

No return for parish church. New church erected in 1839 ( Lewis 1849)
Horeb, Wesleyan Methodists Erected 1833 Attendance - morning 20 scholars, afternoon 60 + 20 scholars, evening 69 + 17 scholars William Henry Waylett, Steward, Cefn Isas near Coed Coch, Abergele
Salem, Wesleyan Methodist Erected 1825 Attendance - morning 55 scholars, afternoon 122, evening 142 Robert Hughes, Steward
Sion, Calvinistic Methodist Erected 1819 Attendance - morning 83, afternoon 52 scholars, evening 88 John Roberts, Manager and Calvinistic Preacher, Shopkeeper
Tabernacle, Baptist Erected 1831, attached to a house Attendance - average - general congregation 100, scholars 35 Hugh Williams, Deacon, Carpenter

Ordnance Survey reference SH 907735.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Michael, was mentioned in the Norwich Taxation of 1254, as being part of the parish of Abergele, but it is distinct from Abergele in the Lincoln Taxation of 1254.
The old church was demolished in 1838; and the foundation stone of the present building was laid on 19 July 1838.

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 Betws-yn-Rhos :

Name of Chapel	Denomination	Number of "adherents"
Coda	Baptists	88
Hyfrydle	Calvinistic Methodists	156
Sion	Congregationalists	41
Not named	Wesleyans	97
Salem, Rhydyfoel	Wesleyans	215

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Church Records

Parish Registers

The following Parish Registers have been deposited at the Denbighshire Record Office, Ruthin.
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
1705 - 1992	1705 - 1989	1705 - 1992

Clwyd FHS has published full transcriptions of the Registers / Bishop's Transcripts (complete with indexes) for the following years :

Baptisms	Marriages	Burials
1663 - 1812	1663 - 1812	1663 - 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
1663 - 1833	1663 - 1833

I.G.I.

There are no official I.G.I. entries for St. Michael's, Betws-yn-Rhos.

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Civil Registration

When Civil Registration was introduced (on 1 July 1837), the parish of Betws-yn-Rhos 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 Betws-yn-Rhos 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)

Description and Travel

Betws yn Rhos - on wikipedia

Betws yn Rhos - on the Welsh Icons site

Maps

View maps covering the area of this parish and places within its boundaries

On Clwyd FHS's site there is a diagram showing parish names/positions with links to pages for the parish church

Kain, R.J.P., Oliver, R.R., Historic Parishes of England and Wales: an Electronic Map of Boundaries before 1850 with a Gazetteer and Metadata [computer file]. Colchester, Essex: History Data Service, UK Data Archive [distributor], 17 May 2001. SN: 4348. Here is a gazetteer/finding aid plus a set of overview maps to accurately identify the position of parishes within the county

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Population

In 1831- the population was 912.
In 1901- the population was 459.
[ Royal Commission on the Welsh Church - October 1907]

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Last Updated 8 August 2011- Gareth Hicks