Merionethshire

Towns & Parishes

Contents

LLANFAWR

"LLANFAWR, (or Llanfor), a parish in the hundred of Penllyn, county Merioneth, 2 miles N.E. of Bala, and 20 from Llangollen. Corwen is its post town. It is situated on the northern bank of the river Dee, in the vicinity of a lake, and includes the townships of Bettws, Garn, Penmaen, and Rhlwaedog. The Welsh, under the aged chief, Llywarch-Hên, had an encounter with the Saxons near this place. The princely bard, having lost most of his friends in the engagement, retired to a hut at Aber-Ciog, now called Dol-Giog, where his harp discoursed mournfully his woes. He died about the year 634, aged nearly 105, and was buried at Llanfawr. The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of St. Asaph, value £224, in the patronage of the bishop. The church is dedicated to St. Deiniol. There are also two district churches, viz: Fron Goch and Trinity, the livings of both perpetual curacies value respectively, £125 and £100, in the patronage of the' bishop. The charities produce altogether about £70 per annum. Fairs are held on the 20th May and 14th August." [From The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) - Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]

• Census
• Church History
• Church Records
• Gazetteers
• Genealogy
• Land and Property
• Maps

Census

• The 1851 Census of Llanfor as enumerated - transcription provided by John and Doreen Jones
• The 1871 Census of Llanfor as enumerated - transcription provided by John and Doreen Jones
• The 1891 Census of Llanfor as enumerated - transcription provided by John and Doreen Jones

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.

Parish statistics; Area 20030 acres; Population 869 males, 850 females, total 1719

• Llanfawr Parish Church          Attendance - morning 35 + 45 scholars, afternoon 30                    "The Parish Church is situated about 8 or 10 miles distant from the majority of the Population and there is a Chapel of Ease, the Holy Trinity, also in the Parish"          Services in Welsh             Thomas Griffiths, Minister
• Trinity Church Chapel of Ease          Consecrated in 1849 as an additional church                  Attendance - morning 25 + 25 scholars, afternoon 35 + 20 scholars, evening 32     Morning and evening services in Welsh, afternoon in English              John Williams, Minister
•  
• Gwige Llanfor, Welsh Calvinistic Methodist          Erected 1843                 Attendance - afternoon 33, evening 34 scholars                 Edward Lancaster, Elder, Painter
• Pantyglas Chapel, Penmaen Township, Calvinistic Methodist                Erected 1836      Attendance - afternoon 72                     William Jones, Superintendant or Steward, Taidraw, Bala
• Llwyneinion Chapel, Welsh Calvinistic Methodist          Erected before 1800          Attendance - morning 58 scholars, afternoon 119, evening 63              Lewis Jones, Minister, Llwyneinion, Bala
• Glan yr Afon Chapel, Calvinistic Methodist               Erected before 1800               Attendance - morning 86, afternoon 123 scholars, evening 105     Henry Davies, Minister
• Rhydwernau, Independents             Erected 1827              Attendance - morning 35, afternoon 39, evening 47             Thomas Jones, Deacon
• Chapel of Tanybont, Independent             Erected 1741                 Attendance - morning 50, afternoon 43, evening 63                Edward Jones, Farmer, Garneddlwyd

LLANFOR, St. Mark, Fron-Goch 1856-1858  - on the Church plans online site

LLAWR-Y-BETTWS, St. James the Great 1860-1864  - on the Church plans online site

Rees, Thomas & John Thomas Hanes Eglwysi Annibynnol Cymru (History of the Welsh Independent Churches), 4 volumes (published 1871+). The Tynybont  section (in Welsh) has been extracted          Also Rhydywernen chapel

Church Records

Joyce Hinde has supplied a list of Parish Registers held at Merioneth Record Office.

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

• Capel Llwyneinion, Llanfor, cofnodion (records)   "Capel Llwyneinion was a Calvinistic Methodist chapel located in Llanfor, near Bala, Merionethshire. The chapel was built before 1800, and closed in about 1967."   "Records include ..... annual reports of Llwyneinion and other local chapels, 1918-1967....."

Gazetteers

• The transcription of the section for Llanfawr from The National Gazetteer (1868) provided by Colin Hinson.
• A Topographical Dictionary of Wales by Samuel Lewis, 1833 - Bettws

Genealogy

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

• Rhiwlas estate papers 1794-1950   "The Price family of Rhiwlas, Llanfor, Merionethshire, claim descent from a distinguished line of uchelwyr who settled in south-west Denbighshire........"  
• E. Wynne Evans, Arthog, papers  "Include ; ....... newspaper cuttings relating to Sarnau, Llanfor, 1877-1890......"

Land and Property

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

• Frongoch Whiskey Distillery, Llanfor, deeds 1889-1900   "In 1889, Edward Charles Nicholls, Esq., of London, purchased land at Frongoch, LLanfor, Merionethshire, from Richard John Lloyd Price of Rhiwlas, with the aim of establishing a distillery called the 'Welsh Whiskey Distillery Co. Ltd....."
• Tan-y-garth Documents c. 1866 - 1908    "The farmhouse known as Tan-y-Garth is located in the parish of Llanfor in Merioneth..."

Maps

Gwynedd Family History Society  have a diagram of the ecclesiastical parishes of Merionethshire (under Publications)  - with some links to photographs of parish churches

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