Pembrokeshire Contents

NEWPORT [TREFDRAETH]

Parish based sketch map of the hundred

"NEWPORT, a sea-port, market town, and parish, in the hundred of KEMMES, county of PEMBROKE, SOUTH WALES, 19 1/2 miles (N.E. by N.) from Haverfordwest, and 242 (W. by N.) from London, containing 1798 inhabitants. . . It stands on the high road from Cardigan to Fishguard, and is pleasantly situated at the mouth of the river Nevern . . . it consists of numerous small streets irregularly formed, neither lighted nor paved, but naturally well supplied with excellent water. The houses, with some few exceptions, are indifferently built, but, from intermixture of numerous trees with the buildings, the town has, at a small distance, a pleasingly rural appearance; and the surrounding scenery, in which its venerable church and the picturesque remains of its ancient castle form prominent and interesting features, renders the distant view of it strikingly beautiful. The trade principally carried on is the working of some extensive quarries of slate, with which the neighbouring coast abounds, and of which great quantities are shipped to various places . . . The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is an ancient and venerable cruciform structure, partly in the early style of English architecture, with a square tower at the west end . . . There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, and Calvinistic Methodists. A school conducted on the National system is supported here on the foundation of the late Mrs. Bevan, for the gratuitous instruction of poor children . . ." [From A Topographical Dictionary of Wales (S. Lewis, 1833).]

• Census
• Church History
• Church Records
• Description and Travel
• Directories
• Emigration and Immigration
• Genealogy
• History
• Maps
• Public Records
• Schools
• Social Life and Customs

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 - 0464343
• 1851 Census - 0104239
• 1861 Census - 0543245
• 1871 Census - 0850859
• 1881 Census - 1342307
• 1891 Census - 6099652

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

• Newport, St Mary's Parish Church            Llewelyn Lloyd Thomas, Rector
• Bethlehem   Particular Baptist                 Erected before 1770       David Owen, Informant, Market St     with an apparently duplicate return submitted by the assumed same David Owen, Secretary, Saddler etc, Newport  with remarks;-   "Erected before 1800.  There is upwards of 350 members belonging to this Chapel. Great part of them is off on sea and other places. Having no stated minister at present, but are supplied by the ministers of the neighbroad in rotation"
• Tabernacle    Welsh CM      Erected in 1815, rebuilt in 1837           "The Welsh Calvinistic Methodists have no stated ministers, their system being Presbyterian, they are supplied regularly by their own County Ministers in rotation, and also at times from the neighbouring counties of Cardigan and Carmarthen"                John Harries, Secretary
• Ebenezer     Independents or Congregationalists          Erected before 1800, rebuilt in 1844       "The attendance at Ebenezer on March the 30th 1851 was about 100 or 150 less than usual on account of illness and other causes"    Samuel Thomas, Independent Minister, Ebeneyzer

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

• St Mary
• Incumbent and Curates; D G Phillips
• Rural Deanery of Kemes
• Acreage 4,494 ; Population 1,292

 

Ladd-Lewis, H. and Daniels, A. Braslun o hanes Eglwys y Bedyddwyr Bethlehem Trefdraeth 1795-1995, Trefdraeth, Eglwys y Bedyddwyr, Bethlehem, Newport (1995) 16 p

Church Records

PR CMB (1741-62) recorded in 1831 apparently lost

Parish registers: Christenings (1765-71, 1799-1800, 1807-71), Marriages (1765-1940) Banns (1824-1962), Burials (1765-71, 1799-1800, 1805-1930) at Pem.RO

Copy ms/ts PR C (1765-1812) M (1778-1895) B (1766-1847) at NLW

Bishops' Transcripts, covering the period (1674-6, 1680-2, 1684-9, 1699, 1702-3, 1800, 1806-73, 1875) are at the National Library of Wales, and have been microfilmed by the LDS - Call Number: 0105194.

See Bap/Mar/Bur data on  FreeReg

Nonconformist Chapels:

• Bethlehem, in Newport town [Baptists, 1760]. Records ; See Llangloffan and Cilfowyr                     On Dyfed FHS
• Baptistry, Mill Lane, Newport                   SN05613884                   Coflein 
•  
• Tabernacle, in Newport town  [Calvinistic Methodists, 1815]. Records ;  1. Births and bapts, 1814-37, at PRO RG4/3853, and have been microfilmed by the LDS - Call Number: 819966, IGI.   2. Account book, 1839-47, at NLW CMA 40.     3. Early society accounts for this chapel. Transcribed in The Journal of the Historical Society of the Presbyterian Church of Wales, Vol 51 , 1966.            On Dyfed FHS                     Tabernacl  CM chapel  Y Stryd Hir, Trefdraeth   - still open in 2006
•  
• Capel y Mynydd (Ind), Newport               On Dyfed FHS
• Ebenezer, in Newport town [Independents, c 1740]. Records ; births and bapts, 1783-1837, at PRO RG4/4072, and have been microfilmed by the LDS - Call Number: 813551, IGI.     On Dyfed FHS                 Shown as still open on the Union of Welsh Independents site (Dec 2006)
   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 (Jan 2009)

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 Newport 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 Tony Morris)

• Newport (23); Aber Fforest; Aber Rhigian; Brithdu-mawr; Carn Edward; Carn-ingli Common; Carnedd Fychan; Castle Hill; Cat Rock; Cerig; Dol-rhangol; Gweunydd; Holm House; Llanerch; Mynydd Caregog; Mynydd Carn-ingli; New England; Newport; Newport Sands; Parc Mawr; Pen-rhiw; Pen-rhiw fach; Tre-cad-Ifor; Ty-canol; Waun; Waun-oerfa 

Newport - on Wikipedia 

Browne, David M. Newport Castle (Pembrokeshire) : an architectural study / Aberystwyth : Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales, 1992. 32p

Miles, Dillwyn.   Newport in Pembrokeshire. Official Guide.

Directories

Transcript of complete entry in Lewis' Topographical Dictionary of Wales of 1833.

Pigot & Co. South Wales Directory for 1830. Here are Extracts for Newport

Pigot & Co. South Wales Directory for 1844. Here are Extracts for Newport

Emigration and Immigration

Taylor, Robert. GRONO of Newport. Dyfed FHS journal. Vol 6/26.This relates the life of John Grono (1766-1847) as a boatswain in the Royal Navy and then settling in New South Wales as a shipbuilder.

Genealogy

Held at the NLW ;

• Records of the family of Havard of Newport and Milford, co Pembroke, 1760-1914, including records of ship-building and shipping

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

• Dillwyn Miles Papers 1880-2000   "Dillwyn Miles (b. 1916) was born in Newport, Pembrokeshire. After military service, he became involved in local government, and became a county, district and parish councillor. He served as mayor of Newport on four occasions, and mayor, and later sheriff, of the Town and County of Haverfordwest. He was a member of the Board of the Gorsedd of Bards for fifty years, Great Swordbearer, and then Herald Bard from 1966 to 1996.............."
• Havard family, papers    1760-1914     "The Havard family came from Milford and Newport, Pembrokeshire. Dr David Havard of Newport was the District Medical Officer of the Cardigan Poor Law Union, and Levi Havard of Milford was a shipbuilder.."

History

Newport War Memorial - on the Roll of Honour site

Newport Castle  - on Castle Wales     "....but twice in the 13th century the castle at Newport was destroyed by the Welsh. The present castle was probably built after these destructions.........."

Aerial photograph of Castell Henllys Iron Age hillfort, Newport, 1999  -  on the People's Collection Wales site

Aerial photograph of Carn Ingli Iron Age hillfort, Newport, 1991 -  on the People's Collection Walessite

 

Charles, B G. The Records of the Borough of Newport in Pembrokeshire. National Library of Wales journal, Vol VII/1, Summer 1951

Fenna, John. Time immemorial : ever since history began, man has been living in Newport [Dyfed] .Camping and Walking 32/2 (1992), p. 32-3

Jones, Evan. A historical sketch of Newport, Pembrokeshire : including the church, castle, town and corporation, antiquities, &c. Solva : Printed by M. W. Williams, 1890. 80p

Lewis, Martin. Newport Pem and Fishguard .Chalford ,1996. 128p The archive photographs series

Miles, Dillwyn.  The Ancient Borough of Newport in Pembrokeshire.

Wallace-Hadrill, F. G. The Parish of St. Mary, Newport, Pembrokeshire.St. Mary, Newport, 1989. 28p

Maps

Public Records

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

• HM Coastguard Records     Include "......... records of Newport Coastguard Station, Pembrokeshire, 1876-1929........... "

Schools

Madam Bevan's School, Newport, c 1885 - on the People's Collection Wales site

Social Life and Customs

John, Brian. Beneath the mountain : tales and traditions of Newport and Nevern Newport,Greencroft Books, c1998. 48 p

John, Brian. The Angel Mountain Saga are all concerned with Newport and the surrounding area.  There are five volumes so far:  "On Angel Mountain", "House of Angels", "Dark Angel" and "Rebecca and the Angels".  In 2005 the last of the series, entitled "Flying with Angels", was published.  There is also a companion volume called "Martha Morgan's Little World" which has a lot about folk tales, social customs, economic circumstances of the day, etc etc. The stories are set in the period 1796-1855, which was a fascinating period in local history, covering both the French Invasion and the Rebecca Riots.   The books are novels, but the author says he has  tried to give them a strong "sense of place", and they are full of insights into the social history of the time.

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[Gareth Hicks: 27 Dec 2012]

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