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Llansanffraid-ym-Mechain

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"LLANSANTFRAID YN MECHAN (LLAN-SANTFRAID-YN-MECHAIN), a parish partly in the upper division of the hundred of DEYTHUR, and partly in the lower division of the hundred of POOL, county of MONTGOMERY, NORTH WALES, 6 miles (E. by N.) from Llanvyllin, containing 1365 inhabitants, of which number, 808 are in the main body of the parish, on the northern side of the river Vyrnwy, and the remainder in the several townships of Collvryn, Llanerchila, Tredderwen-Vawr, and Trewylan, on the southern side of the same stream : the portions in the several hundreds maintain their poor by a separate assessment. ... The church, which appears to have been built at different periods, is a neat structure, ..." [A Topographical Dictionary of Wales by Samuel Lewis, 1833]

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Census

Victorian Powys for schools site - Census figures for Llansantffraid-ym-Mechain  parish 1841-1901

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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.

Llansaintffraid Parish consisting of Llansaintffraid, Collfryn Township, Llanerchila Township, Tredderwenfawr Township and Trewylan Township - Statistics; Area 6065 acres; Population 613 males, 583 females, total 1196

  • Llansaintffraid    Total population 725
  • Llansaintffraid Parish Church           Attendance - morning 107 + 50 scholars, afternoon 118 + 24 scholars            Services alternately in English and Welsh         R H N Hughes, Vicar
  • Schoolroom, Calvinistic Methodist               Erected 1825         Not used exclusively as a place of worship         Attendance - morning 10 scholars, evening 46          Robert Davids, Minister, Schoolroom House
  • Wesleyan Chapel                       Erected 1843               Attendance - morning 60, afternoon 40, evening 104                 Rich. Richard, Minister
  • Bethesda, Independents               Erected 1827                Attendance - morning 57, afternoon 50 scholars, evening 100      Edward Thynaston, Deacon
  • Bethel, Wesleyan Methodist         Erected 1816                Attendance - morning 30, afternoon 36 scholars, evening 72          Thomas Tannate, Class Leader
  • Penygroes, Independent            Erected 1813         Attendance - morning 35 scholars, afternoon 42 scholars, evening 160                  David Williams, Deacon
  • Salem, Calvinistic Methodists           Erected 1839            Attendance - morning 61, afternoon 57 scholars, evening 70                  Richard Newall, Preacher and Farmer
  • Collfryn Township; Total Population 152
  • No return
  • Llanerchila Township; Total Population 82
  • No return
  • Tredderwenfawr Township ; Total Population 149
  • No return
  • Trewylan Township; Total Population 88
  • Gwernypant, Calvinistic Methodist               Erected 1816      Attendance - morning 35 scholars, afternoon 96                   Samuel Pryce, Deacon, Gwern-y-pant

Church of St Ffraid, Llansantffraid-ym-Mechain on the Montgomeryshire Churches Survey site

Wesleyan churches on the Montgomeryshire Genealogical Society site - Llansantffraid-ym-Mechain

Calvinistic Methodist (Presbyterian) churches on the Montgomeryshire Genealogical Society site - Zion

Bethesda chapel (Cong), Llansanffraid-ym-Mechain - on the People's Collection Wales site

Rees, Thomas & John Thomas. Hanes Eglwysi Annibynnol Cymru (History of the Welsh Independent Churches), 4 volumes (published 1871+). Here is the entry from this book for Penygroes  chapel (in Welsh ) - with translation by Maureen Saycell (Feb 2010)            Also Llansantffraid chapel - with translation by Maureen Saycell (Feb 2010)

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Church Records

Detailed information on deposited registers and transcripts for this parish is given on the Powys Archives page Montgomeryshire parish registers

As a guide only, the principal extant parochial church records for this parish span the dates shown below (as detailed in Parish Registers of Wales, NLW 2000) but exact current holdings should be confirmed with the individual Archives;  

  • Baptisms 1582-1615, 1653-4, 1656, 1665, 1680, 1712-1750, 1757-1911; Marriages 1582-1615, 1674-1750, 1754-1970; Burials 1582-1615, 1666, 1668-1750, 1757-1851, 1898-1993
    Parish Registers, or copies, for all or part of these dates are held at the NLW, SOG and/or Powys Archives.  
    Bishops Transcripts for various periods are held at the NLW, Denbighshire Archives and/or Flintshire Archives  

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

  • Gwern-y-pant Church, Llansanffraid-ym-Mechain, records  1900-2001    "The Calvinistic Methodist cause began in the parish of Llansanffraid-ym-Mechain around 1797. At first, meetings were held at Gwernypant, a dwelling house owned by Thomas Pryce.In 1815 Pryce gave land for the purpose of erecting a meeting house and donated a sum of money towards the building fund. The chapel, incorporating a house which stood on the original site, was erected in 1816. Extensive alterations were made to the building in 1868. Originally a Welsh chapel, Gwern-y-pant became an English cause in 1863. The chapel was closed in June 2001."
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Description & Travel

You can see pictures of Llansanffraid-ym-Mechain which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

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History

Davies' stores, (Llansanffraid-ym-Mechain?) - on the People's Collection Wales site

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Maps

Map of Montgomeryshire parishes on Montgomeryshire Genealogical Society's site - shows dioceses

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SJ220204 (Lat/Lon: 52.77553, -3.157704), Llansanffraid-ym-Mechain which are provided by:

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Social Life & Customs

Llansantffraid-ym-Mechain Women's Institute bulb and handicraft show - on the People's Collection Wales site