GENUKI: St Thomas

HAVERFORDWEST: ST THOMAS

Parish based
sketch map
of the
hundred

"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. Thomas' is a rectory not in charge, in the archdeaconry and diocese of St. David's, and in the patronage of the King, as Prince of Wales. The church is situated on the summit of a hill, and in the centre of an extensive cemetery, overlooking the ruins of the priory: according to some records preserved at St. David's, it appears to have been built in the year 1225; but these most probably refer to the ancient church of the priory, which was also dedicated to St. Thomas, for there is nothing in the style of architecture which corroborates that testimony: it is a plain building, with a square tower crowned with a projecting battlement . . . " [From A Topographical Dictionary of Wales (S. Lewis, 1833).]

Census
Church History
Church Records
Description and Travel
Genealogy
History
Maps

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 - 6099646/7

Church History

HAVERFORDWEST, St. Thomas 1819-1820 -on the Church plans online site

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 Thomas Parish Church Joseph Tombs, Minister, Hill St
Macpelah Baptist Erected in 1842 David Davies, Minister
Albany Chapel - Before it was rebuilt in the year 1841 called The Green Meeting House Independent Erected before 1800. Originally used as a place of Public Worship since 1720 (Built about 1701 - crossed out) James Williams, Minister
Moravian chapel, St Thomas Green The United Brethren Henry O Essex, Minister, St Thomas Green
St Thomas Name=None Denomination=Mixed Erected in 1838 "4 Clergy man attend one each Sunday - Wesleyan, Baptist, Presbatarian, Independent. No Chaplain being appointed to the Workhouse" William Thompson, Master of the Workhouse

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

St Thomas
Incumbent and Curates; W J Williams
Rural Deanery of Roose
Acreage 1,024; Population 1,691

Church Records

Parish registers: Christenings (1714-1962), Marriages (1714-1952), Burials (1710-1901) at Pem.RO

Copy ts PR [extracts] C (1716-1907) M (1713-1892) B (1712-1879) at NLW and Pem.RO

Bishops' Transcripts, covering the period (1813-18, 1823, 1825-73) are at the National Library of Wales, and have been microfilmed by the LDS - Call Number: 0105143.

See Bap/Mar/Bur data on FreeReg

Nonconformist Chapels:

MacPelah [Baptists, 1842], Albert St, Albert Town Records ; See Bethesda SM9425815320 Built 1834, modified in 1842 Not still open 1994 Coflein
Baptist College, St Thomas' Green / Hill St SM9519915338 Coflein
Capel Albany [or The Green], Hill St, Haverfordwest town [Independents, 1691]. Records ; 1. Church books and baptismal register, 1705-1836, at PRO RG4/3914 and RG4/4040, and have been microfilmed by the LDS - Call Number: 813551, IGI. 2. Baptisms, 1705-1847, 1872-1928, 1951-58 ; Marriages, 1874-1907, 1951-58 ; Deaths, 1665-1743, 1827-1929 ; membership, register 1655-1900, all at Pem RO. SM9524415317 Built 1655 or 1681, modified, altered or rebuilt 1701, 1841 and 1890 Coflein On Dyfed FHS
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 this chapel (in Welsh ) with translation by Maureen Saycell (April 2008)
Dredgeman's Hill Congregational chapel On Dyfed FHS
Moravian [Moravian, 1743], St Thomas' Green / Rosemary Lane Records ; 1. Births and baptisms, 1763-1837; Burials, 1764-1837, at PRO RG4/4076, and have been microfilmed by the LDS - Call Number: 813551, IGI. 2. Microfilm copies of extant records for this chapel dating from 1763-1957. Included are diaries of this congregation, 1763-1828, 1850-99, 1913-57 ; Minute books of Elder's Conference, 1764-75, 1832-1942. A volume entitled Catalogue of Members 1763-1911. A register of births, bapts and burials, 1763-1956 ; plus other records including membership rolls, accounts and Sunday school attendance rolls , dating mainly in the late C19 to early C20, at NLW. 3. Typescript copy of an account of the awakening in Pembrokeshire especially in Haverfordwest, 1739-67. This pertains to the Moravian Movement in the county, NLW Ms 9673. SM9527115370 Built 1773 Coflein

Dyfed FHS have published a series of indexes of baptisms, marriages and burials from Pembrokeshire hundreds for various periods.

Description and Travel

Places, villages, farms etc within Haverfordwest St Thomas 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 Thomas (88A); Albert Town, Priory (ancient remains).
Hamlet of St Thomas (88B); Dredgman Hill, Merlin's Brook.
Furzy Park & Portfield (163); Enfield, Portfield Gate, Scarrowscant, South Cuckoo.
Shown separately on the Cd, possibly extra parochial but shown as part of St Thomas's parish on the Dyfed FHS parish map.