Mountain Ash in the Parishes of Llanwonno and Aberdare

• Mountain Ash Library

Knight Street
Mountain Ash
CF45 3EY

References to the town of Mountain Ash at

• The National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth

An online index to the book Providence - United Reformed Church [Formerly English Congregational] 1869 - 1987, the history of a Nonconformist Church in Mountain Ash, by Alan Vernon Jones [1987] has been compiled by Martin Adlam

An online index to the book Mountain Ash and Penrhiwceiber Remembered in Pictures by Bernard Baldwin [1986] has been provided by Jill Smith

History of Mountain Ash by William Bevan 1896. A Translation from the Welsh with additional notes and illustrations by Alan Vernon Jones A.R.I.C.S. 1990. Here is an index by Martin Adlam

For full and up-to-date details of their holdings see the sites of Glamorgan Record Office and/or West Glamorgan Archives

The church is dedicated to St. Margaret, is in the Benefice of Mountain Ash and Miskin, and the diocese of Llandaff. Details of the present incumbent of this benefice can be found at the Church in Wales website. The church can be located at grid reference ST048994.

GRO - Glamorgan Record Office, Cardiff
NLW - National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth
WGRO - West Glamorgan Record Office, Swansea

The following Religious Institutions are covered in the Mormon International Genealogical Index (IGI) :-

• Mountain Ash, St. Margaret - Christenings (BT's), 1859-1874

Mountain Ash on the Aberdare online site

Mountain Ash - on the Rhondda Cynon Taf Libraries Heritage Trail site

Various landscapes - on the People's Collection Wales site

• Geograph
• Flickr

From Kelly's South Wales Directory 1923 (ArchiveCDBooks) - transcribed by Gareth Hicks

• "MOUNTAIN ASH is a town and parish, formed from the civil parishes of Aberdare and Llanwonno in 1863, and is 4 miles south-east from Aberdare, 18 north-east from Cardiff and 178 from London by road and 163 by the Great Western railway, in the Aberdare division of the parliamentary borough of Merthyr Tydfil, hundred of Miskin, petty sessional division of Higher Miskin, Merthyr Tydfil union, county court district and rural deanery of Aberdare, and archdeaconry and diocese of Llandaff. The town was governed by a Local Board from 1867 until the “Local Government Act, 1894,' established the present Urban District Council; it is in the Aberdare valley and is environed on both sides by the mountains, which rise to a considerable height and afford fine views of the valley and surrounding country. There are two stations, one on the Aberdare branch and the other on the Pontypool and Swansea branch of the Great Western railway. The town is supplied with water from works at Clydach Valley and Darranlas, the property of the Urban District Council; there are two reservoirs of 12,000,000 and 3,000,000 gallons respectively. The gas works are situated at Penrhiwceiber; they were erected in 1887 and are the property of the Urban District Council. The church of St. Margaret, erected in 1862, chiefly at the expense of the late John Bruce-Pryce esq. of Duffryn, Cardiff, at a cost of about £4500 is a building of stone in the Gothic style, ... an Organ was erected in January, 1875, at a cost of £300; in 1884 the church was enlarged at a cost of £1000, and in 1898 further enlarged at a cost of £3000; there are 900 sittings. The register dates from the year 1862. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £290 with residence, in the gift of the Bishop of Llandaff and the Board of Patronage, ... St. Dyfrig's mission church, at Newtown, was built in 1887, at a cost of £510, and affords 240 sittings. St. Illtyd's mission church, at Cefn-pennar, was built in 1904, at a cost of £900, and has 240 sittings; attached is a reading room. ... "

The transcription of the section for Mountain Ash from The National Gazetteer (1868) provided by Colin Hinson.

• Ask for a calculation of the distance from Mountain Ash in the Parishes of Llanwonno and Aberdare to another place.

Various items - on the People's Collection Wales site

• A newspaper article covering the opening of the Mountain Ash Working Men's Hall and Institute.
• Mountain Ash and Taff Vale, Aberdare, 24 January 1865

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference ST048994 (Lat/Lon: 51.68526, -3.378486), Mountain Ash in the Parishes of Llanwonno and Aberdare which are provided by:

• OpenStreetMap
• Google Maps
• StreetMap (Current Ordnance Survey maps)
• OpenStreetMap Cymru (Welsh counties only)
• Bing (was Multimap)
• Old Maps Online
• National Library of Scotland (Old Ordnance Survey maps)
• Vision of Britain (Click "Historical units & statistics" for administrative areas.)
• Magic (Geographic information) (Click + on map if it doesn't show)
• GeoHack (Links to on-line maps and location specific services.)

• All places within the same township/parish shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby townships/parishes shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby places shown on an Openstreetmap map.

Various items - on the People's Collection Wales site

• Mountain Ash War Memorial
• Soldiers standing on the platform at Mountain Ash train station c1914-1919

• Nixon's Navigation Colliery, Mountain Ash on the Welsh Coal Mines site

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

• Nixons Workmen's Hall and Institute 1908-64 "Nixons Workmen's Hall and Institute was situated in Mountain Ash. .The miners' institutes and halls developed from the latter part of the nineteenth century. This coincided with the development of the coalfield when a great influx in population created new demands for self-education and a need for meeting places for both lodge business, evening classes and community recreation. The institutes strongly reflected the role of the community and as a result they became focal points for the mining village and its locality.
  The institutes were largely financed by the miners themselves through weekly deductions from each miner's wages at the local colliery, although sometimes coal-owners made contributions. In 1920 under the 1920 Mining Industry Act, the Miners' Welfare Fund was set up to be administered by the Miners' Welfare Commission. The fund provided amenities for the miners, including welfare halls and institutes, pit-baths and scholarships. ......................................"

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

• Mountain Ash Local Board of Health 1867-1919
• Mountain Ash Urban District Council records 1894-1974
• Mountain Ash and Penrhiwceiber Hospital "Financial records 1925-1948."

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

• Aberdare (and Mountain Ash) Division Primary/Elementary school records 19th century-20th century "Aberdare (and Mountain Ash) Division Primary/Elementary school records including log books and admission records relating to Aberaman schools, 1866-1939; Caradog Town school, 1921-1964; Aberdare Higher Standard school, 1890-1932; Aberdare Juvenile Unemployment Centre, 1927-1941; Open Air school for Physically and Mentally Disabled Children, 1914-1950; St. Fagans National school Trecynon, 1863-1963; Aberdare Town schools, 1875-1963; Duke street and Cwmdare Infants schools, 1869-1883; Abernant schools, 1892-1967; Aman schools, 1894-1960; Blaengwawr school, 1880-1969; Capcoch schools, 1872-1938; Cwmaman and Hirwaun War Nursery, 1943-1944; Cwmaman and Glynhafod schools, 1869-1987; Cwm-bach schools, 1868-1950; Cwmdare schools, 1864-1949; Hirwaun school, 1876-1949; Llwydcoed school, 1878-1934; Parc schools, 1865-1951; Pen-y-waun schools, 1897-1983; Robertstown school, 1972-1929; Ynyslwyd school, 1904-1953"
• Bryngolwg County Secondary School, Mountain Ash records "........ comprising of logbooks, 1953-1988; admissions registers, 1953-1979"
• Mountain Ash Division Elementary/Primary schools records " ...... including log books and admission registers relating to Abercynon Navigation school, 1875-1966; Abercynon Relief school, 1902-1904; Abertaf school, 1904-1966; Carnetown school, 1904-1970; Caegarw school, 1906-1954; Cefnpennar school, 1895-1936; Cwmpennar British school, 1874-1962; Darren-las school, 1907-1941; Dyffryn Board schools, 1893-1961; Miskin/Gwernifor school, 1872-1983; York Street Seniors Mountain Ash,1915-1952; Mountain Ash Mixed Higher/Central school, 1911-1966; Newtown school, 1871-1961; Pengeulan school, 1906-1939; Clarence Street Special school, 1907-1939; Penrhiwceibr school, 1879-1981; Ynys-boeth Board school, 1899-1947; Ynys-y-bwl British school, 1868-1911; Mountain Ash Roman Catholic school, 1906-1942"
• Mountain Ash Intermediate/Grammar/Comprehensive school records " ........ comprising of minute books, 1913-1951; registers, 1907-1947; school logbooks, 1904-1988; accounts, 1937-1941; entry papers and marks returns, 1908-1971; reports and inspections, 1913-1974; examination papers, 1933-1935; Oxford Colleges admissions, 1969-1973; miscellaneous papers, 1936-1973; photographs, c1890-1965"
• Mountain Ash Lower Comprehensive school records " ....... comrpising of log-book, 1983-1988"

Various items - on the People's Collection Wales site

• Cover page of the Mountain Ash male chorus American Tour guide, 1910-11
• Announcement of a banquet for the Mountain Ash Male Chorus, held in San Francisco, 1912