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Pontfaen

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"PONTVAEN (PONT-VAEN), a parish in the hundred of KEMMES, county of PEMBROKE, SOUTH WALES, 5 miles (S.E.) from Fishguard, containing 61 inhabitants. This parish, which is situated on the turnpike road leading from Haverfordwest to Newport, has a diversified surface, enlivened by the river Gwayn which runs through it. Pontvaen House, formerly the residence of the Laugharnes,and now by purchase, together with the estate, including the whole of the parish, the property of Henry Rees, Esq., is a handsome mansion, pleasantly situated, and surrounded with thriving plantations. The neighbourhood is supposed to afford some of the best grouse-shooting in the county. The soil is in general fertile: the substratum is slate, which however has not yet been worked. The living is a discharged rectory, in the archdeaconry of Cardigan, and diocese of St. David's, rated in the king's books at £3. 6. 8., endowed with £1200 royal bounty, and £400 parliamentary grant, and in the patronage of Henry Rees, Esq. The church, dedicated to St. Bernard, is not remarkable for any architectural details of importance. The average annual expenditure for the support of the poor amounts to £24. 15." [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 - 0464343
  • 1851 Census - 0104238
  • 1861 Census - 0543245
  • 1871 Census - 0850858
  • 1881 Census - 1342306
  • 1891 Census - 6099651
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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

  • Pontfaen Parish Church "The Church has been some time in a dilapidated state" Lewis Davies, Perpetual Curate, Temple Druid, Nr Narberth

 

Parish entry for Morvil with Pontfaen and Llanychllwydog from The Welsh Church Year Book, 1929 (Cd by Archive CD Books).

  • St John Baptist & Parish Church (Pontfaen) & St Benno (Llanychllwydog)
  • Incumbent and Curates; M H Jones
  • Rural Deanery of Fishguard
  • Acreage 2,603 & 686 & 2,315; Population 101 & 49 & ---

Eglwys Pontfaen = Pontfaen Church. [Abergwaun?] : [Menter Preseli?], [1996?] 1 sheet : ill ;This project was initiated by local communities in North Pembrokeshire and co-ordinated by Menter Preseli.

Jabez Baptist Chapel, Pontfaen on the People's Collection Wales site

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Church Records

Diocesan records suggest that c1790 this parish had registers going back to 1748

Parish registers; Christenings (1813-1993), Marriages (1815-1971), Burials (1813-1986) at Pem.RO

Bishops' Transcripts, covering the period (1676, 1678-9, 1681-4, 1686, 1800-13, 1815-19, 1821-40, 1845-7, 1850, 1853, 1855) are at the National Library of Wales, and have been microfilmed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - Call Number: 0105200.

See Bap/Mar/Bur data on FreeReg

Nonconformist Chapels: None found

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Description & Travel

You can see pictures of Pontfaen which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

The transcription of the section for Pontfaen from The National Gazetteer (1868) provided by Colin Hinson.

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Land & Property

Pontfaen House - on the geograph.org site

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

  • Pontfaen Estate Records 1394-[19 cent.] "The Vaughan family owned the Pontfaen estate, Pembrokeshire, since at least 1501 until the marriage in 1625 of Francis Laugharne, son of John Laugharne of St. Brydes, Pembrokeshire, and Lettice Vaughan, daughter and heiress of James Vaughan of Pontfaen ................."

Held at the NLW ;

  • Deeds and documents [bequeathed by Henry Owen of Poyston] relating to the Vaughan and Laugharne families of Pontfaen co Pembroke, mainly C16th-C19th.
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Maps

Parish map (Kain/Oliver)

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SN033333 (Lat/Lon: 51.962963, -4.864969), Pontfaen which are provided by:

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Names, Geographical

Places, villages, farms etc within Pontfaen 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)

  • Pontfaen (27); Banc Ty-canol; Pontfaen; Pontfaen Brook; Tre-gate