GENUKI : Ysbyty Ifan , St. John the Baptist

Ysbyty Ifan

"A parish, composed of the townships of Tir-Evan and Trebrys, in the hundred of Isaled, county of Denbigh, and the township of Eidda, which is partly in the above-named hundred and county, and partly in the hundred of Nant Conway, county of Carnarvon; 3 miles (SW) from Pentrevoelas, and containing 847 inhabitants. This parish, which is intersected by the river Conway, a few miles below its source, derives its name from a preceptory belonging to the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, founded by Ivan ab Rhys, about the year 1189, which continued to flourish with the suppression of that order, affording a sanctuary to travellers and others during the period of the conflicts between the English and the Welsh: this privilege continuing with the lords of the manor, after the abolition, and the place being exempted from all civil jurisdiction, rendered it an asylum for robbers and other malefactors, who became the pest of the surrounding country until the reign of Henry VII, when they were extirpated by the courage and firmness of Meredydd ab Ievan: the site of the hospital, or preceptory, is now occupied by the parish church, and there is not a single vestige of the buildings."
[ A Topographical Dictionary of Wales, 1833 & 1849, Samuel Lewis]

The parish consists of the township of Tir Eidda (in Caernarfonshire); Tir Ifan, Trebrys and Prys Ucha (in Denbighshire); and Gwernihowell (in Merionethshire) which was transferred from the parish of Corwen (in Merionethshire) during the late nineteenth century.

Bibliography
Church History
Church Records
Civil Registration

Description and Travel
Population
Statistics

Bibliography

Dathlu canrif a hanner : [Ysbyty Ifan] : Ysgol Ysbyty Ifan, 2007.
Davies, Edward J. J. The Church of St. John the Baptist, Ysbyty Ifan Transactions (Caernarvonshire Historical Society), Vol. 56 (1995), p. 37-46.
Owen, Huw Selwyn. Y bwrdd bwyd yn Ysbyty Ifan Llafar Gwlad 27 (1990), p. 6-8
Roberts, Dewi. Ysbyty Ifan Country Quest. (November 2004), 36-37

Church History

Ordnance Survey reference SH 843489.
There has been a church on the same site since the 12th Century, and perhaps earlier. The church was partly rebuilt in 1790/1791. It was taken down in 1858, and the present church was opened in 1861.

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 Civiladministrative district of Tir Ifan :

Name of Chapel	Denomination	Number of "adherents"
Seion	Calvinistic Methodists	320

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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
1732 - 1855	1732 - 1968	1732 - 1958

A curious feature of these registers is that the marriages from 1837 to 1842 have been recorded twice - illegally, in the old-style book (which should have been discontinued after 1 July 1837); and correctly, in the new-style book.

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

Baptisms	Marriages	Burials
1662 - 1812	1662 - 1812	1662 - 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
1677 - 1851	1677 - 1851

I.G.I.

There are no official I.G.I. entries for St. John's, Ysbyty Ifan.

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Civil Registration

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

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

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

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

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Description and Travel

Ysbyty Ifan - on wikipedia

Ysbyty Ifan Community site

Ysbyty Ifan photographs - on geograph.org.uk

Population

In 1831- the population was 847.
In 1901- the population was 663.
[ Royal Commission on the Welsh Church - October 1907]

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Statistics

Archdeacon Thomas gives the area of the parish as 9514 acres.
[ The History of the Diocese of St. Asaph , 1908-1913, Ven. D.R. Thomas]

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Last Updated 9 Jan 2013 - Gareth Hicks