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Haverfordwest St Mary

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"The town and county of the town comprise the whole of the parish of St. Mary, and part of the parishes of St. Thomas and St. Martin, together with a very small part of the parish of Prendergast, and a large extra-parochial area called "Poor-field;" the parishes of St. Thomas and St. Martin also comprise divisions respectively called the hamlets of St. Thomas and St. Martin, which are within the hundred of Rhôs . . . The living of St. Mary's is a perpetual curacy, in the archdeaconry and diocese of St. David's . . . The church, situated at the upper end of High-street, is a spacious and venerable structure, in the early style of English architecture, with a low tower, which was anciently surmounted by a spire of elegant proportion. The interior consists of a nave, chancel, and north aisle: the nave is lofty, and ceiled with panelled oak, richly ornamented with carving; it is lighted on each side by a range of clerestory windows, of various character, and is separated from the chancel by a lofty pointed arch, supported by clustered columns, and from the north aisle by a series of similar arches of lower elevation, resting on clustered columns having capitals richly ornamented with sculpture. The east windows of the chancel are lofty, and highly enriched with tracery; and the windows of the north aisle, which are similarly embellished, are of good proportion and elegant design. There are several good monuments, and in the chancel are some of splendid character, to the memory of various members of the family inheriting the neighbouring seat of Picton Castle. . . . " [From A Topographical Dictionary of Wales (S. Lewis, 1833).]

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Census

The 1851 census for this parish has been indexed by Dyfed Family History Society.

Census Returns for this parish have the following LDS Call Numbers:

  • 1841 Census - 0464345
  • 1851 Census - 0104236
  • 1861 Census - 0543244
  • 1871 Census - 0850856
  • 1881 Census - 1342305
  • 1891 Census - 6099646
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Church History

Some church and chapel data from The Religious census of 1851 : A Calendar of the returns relating to Wales, Vol 1, South Wales. Ed. by I.G Jones, & D. Williams. UWP, Cardiff, 1976. The names are those of the informants

  • St Mary Parish Church Tho. Watts, Minister, Goat St

Parish entry from The Welsh Church Year Book, 1929 (Cd by Archive CD Books).

  • St Mary
  • Incumbent and Curates; T O Phillips
  • Rural Deanery of Roose
  • Acreage 32; Population 990

Medieval wood carvings from St Mary's Church, Haverfordwest - on the People's Collection Wales site

'St. Mary's Church, Haverfordwest', artist unknown, etching, engraved and published by Newman &Co., 19th century - on the People's Collection Wales site

Barker, Patricia. A History of St Mary's Parish Church, Haverfordwest in the Nineteenth century. Published by the Friends of St Mary's, 2003. Reviewed by Vera Lowe in Dyfed FHS journal , Vol 8/2 April 2003

Barker, P A. History of St. Mary's Parish Church in the 19th.c

The story of the Church of St Mary the Virgin, Haverfordwest 10th ed. Gloucester: Brt.Publishing Co [1974], 20p

Warren, Fred J. The History and Antiquities of St Mary's Haverfordwest. 1914

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Church Records

Parish registers: Christenings (1602-43, 1678-1725, 1728-1955), Marriages (1600-48, 1686, 1699-1706, 1716-23, 1728-1965) Banns (1754-1967), Burials (1590-1643, 1683-1706, 1716-24, 1728-1966) at Pem.RO. Mf copy (1590-1644, 1713-25) at NLW

Copy ms/ts PR (1590-1812) at NLW

Copy ms/ts PR (1594-1850) incomplete and partly with index, at Pem.RO

Bishops' Transcripts, covering the period (1799-1801, 1804-6, 1808-82) are at the National Library of Wales, and have been microfilmed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - Call Number: 0105104.

See Bap/Mar/Bur data on FreeReg

Held at Pembrokeshire Archives

  • Haverfordwest, St Mary's churchwardens' accounts

Nonconformist Chapels:

  • Ebenezer, Perrot Rd / Northgate/Haverfordwest town [Calvinistic Methodists, 1774]. Records ; 1. Births and baptisms 1837 at PRO RG4/3962, and have been microfilmed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - Call Number: 813551. 2. Trustees minutes and accounts, 1927-60 at Pem RO [DFC/M/9/93] SM9528415893 Built 1817, rebuilt 1844 and 1886 Coflein On Dyfed FHS Ebenezer CM chapel, Perrotts Road, Havefordwest - still open in 2006
  • Perrot Rd Wesleyan Methodists, Perrot Rd / Lower Barn St SM9516815765 Built 1769-72, rebuilt 1865, Sunday School added 1874, modified 1881 Not still open 2000 Coflein [is this same place as on St Martins ?]
  • Meeting House, Prospect Place, Cartlett (No denomination shown) SM9561215833 Coflein [Seems to be within this parish despite Cartlett description - latter being within Uzmaston parish]
  • Mission Room, Cartlett (No denomination shown) SM9578215650 Coflein [Seems to be within this parish despite Cartlett description - latter being within Uzmaston parish]
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Description & Travel

You can see pictures of Haverfordwest St Mary which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

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Maps

Parish map (Kain/Oliver)

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SM952155 (Lat/Lon: 51.800627, -4.971614), Haverfordwest St Mary which are provided by:

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Names, Geographical

Places, villages, farms etc within Haverfordwest St Mary's parish as shown on the online parish map from the CD of Historic Parishes of England and Wales: an Electronic Map of Boundaries before 1850 with a Gazetteer and Metadata [computer file]. (Kain, R.J.P., Oliver, R.R.). (Extracted by Barry Johnson)

  • Haverfordwest St Mary's (87); None shown
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Voting Registers

Voting Registers for this parish have the LDS Call Number: 1818096