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Llandysul

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"LLANDYSSIL (LLAN-DYSUL), a parish, partly in the hundred of TROEDYRAUR, and partly in that of MOYTHEN, county of CARDIGAN, SOUTH WALES, 8 miles (E) from Newcastle Emlyn,on the road to Lampeter, containing 2724 inhabitants. This place derives its name from the dedication of its church to St. Tysilio, an eminent British saint who flourished during the earlier part of the sixth century. It is situated in the southern part of the county, bordering upon Carmarthenshire, and comprises nearly twenty-five thousand acres of land, forming two principal divisions, called respectively Llandyssil Is Cerdin and Llandyssil Uwch Cerdin, of which the former is in the hundred of Troedyraur, and the latter in that of Moythen...." [From Samuel Lewis's A Topographical Dictionary of Wales 1833]

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Biography

Evans, H.R. A Village Worthy Evan Isaac Thomas of Llandysul, His days (1823-1908) and Diary (1876-1885) Ceredigion (Journal of the Cardiganshire Antiquarian Society) Vol. 4 No. 2 (1951). Here is an Index by Mike Thomas . Also, the NLW have digitised the whole article which can be read online

Jones, Francis[Major]. Lloyd of Gilfachwen, Cilgwyn and Coedmore. Ceredigion : Journal of the Cardiganshire Antiquarian Society, Vol VIII, No 1, 1976

Morgan, D.Densil. Christmas Evans a'r Ymneilltuaeth Newydd (Christmas Evans and the New Nonconformity) , Gomer ,1991. In the early pages there is some detail of his family history, he was born at Esgerwen, Llandysul..

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Business & Commerce Records

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

  • Siop y Jones, Llandysul, Records 1823-1862 "Siop y Jones, on the High Street, Llandysul, Cardiganshire, was active during the 19th century..."

Held at the NLW ;

  • The Cilgwyn estate papers of the families of Lloyd, Hall and Fitzwilliams include records for the Llandyssul Market Co., 1834-1900.

Jones, J Tysul. J.D. Lewis [1859-1914] a Hanes Gwasg Gomer. Ceredigion : Journal of the Cardiganshire Antiquarian Society, Vol VIII, No 1, 1976

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Cemeteries

Monumental inscriptions for Llandysul Parish -South (index only) and Llandysul Parish -North (index only) are available on microfiche from Dyfed FHS
South
[Sant Tysul, Bethel, Capel Dewi, Capel Dewi Cofgolofn Rhyfel, Ebeneser, Y Graig, Horeb, Peniel, Seion, Tabernacl, Waunifor, Ysgol Sir Llandysul.]
North
[Carmel, Capel Coffa Llwynrhydowen, Hen Gapel Llwynrhydowen, Pantdefaid, Sant Ioan, Pont-sian, Tregroes]

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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

  • Llandyssul Parish Church "The Parish being near 7 miles long and between 5 and 6 broad, a Cottage lecture is delivered every other Sunday in the evening in a distant part of the Parish. The lecture yesterday was delivered at a place distant about three miles from the Parish Church" Evan Morgan, Vicar

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

  • St Tyssul & St David & St John & St Ffraed
  • Incumbent and Curates; E M Davies (W George)
  • Rural Deanery of Sub Aeron
  • Acreage 17,566 ; Population 2,687

St Ffraid, Tregroes - photograph on Dyfed FHS

St John, Pontsian - photograph on Dyfed FHS

St Tysul - photograph on Dyfed FHS

Various items - on the People's Collection Wales site

  • Bethel Chapel, Capel Dewi, Llandysul   
  • Three quarter view of the church at Llandysul, also showing the graveyard and the river.
  • St David's church, Capel Dewi, Llandysul
  • St John's church, Pontsian, Llandysul (Cer.)
  • RCAHMW colour transparency showing exterior view of Seion Chapel, Llandysul
  • Monuments in the cemetery and Seion Chapel, Llandysul.
  • LLWYNRHYDOWEN, HEN GAPEL, RHYDOWEN c 2004
  • Capel y Graig, Llandysul (Cer.)
  • General view of Capel Pontydefaid (Unit) and the cemetery.
  • Members of Pantydefaid chapel standing outside the chapel.
  • Zion Chapel, Llandysul (Cer)

See Chapels database

Evans, HR. An unusual churchwarden's account book (NLW's site). Ceredigion, Vol II. And; Llandyssul Church: Minute Book of the Vestry and Parish Meetings (NLW's site) Ceredigion, Vol I

Hughes, Ieuan T. and Jenkins, J.Raymond. The Church of St Tysul, Llandysul (NLW's site) Ceredigion (Journal of the Cardiganshire Antiquarian Society) Vol 5 No 4 [ 1967].
"Early in the fifth century there came from the North of Britain a people of thrust and drive, sweeping down as far as the river Teifi. One of these was Ceredig, a member of the Cunedda family, who gave his name to Cardiganshire (Ceredigion).......On a dry patch near a fordable place on the Teifi, the meeting place of a number of tracks, Tysul (462-544) son of Corun, grandson of Ceredig ..... and cousin of David our patron saint, established his Landa. His retreat, and that of his successors was Cwmmeudwy..... The ancient altar with its early Christian incisions is still at this church......It must be regarded as an unique relic of Early Christianity in the country......"

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Church Records

See Notes on Church/Chapel Records page

Parish Register;
Baptisms 1798-1914 . Marriages 1755-1885 . Burials 1799-1925. Facsimile CMB 1722-65 NLW/Cer.RO
Copy typescript PR[extracts] CMB 1727-85 NLW.
PR CMB 1722-65 recorded in 1933 apparently lost. Diocesan records suggest that c.1790 this parish had registers going back to 1680.
Bishop's Transcripts;
1675, 1681-6, 1688-9, 1693, 1705, 1799, 1801-11, 1813-51, 1853-4, 1856-7, 1868-70, 1872-3, 1876-9 NLW

See Bap/Mar/Bur data on FreeReg

IGI has Baptisms 1799-1856. Marriages 1813-1837.

Capel Dewi Chapelry [and modern parish];
Baptisms 1843-1932. Marriages 1843-1971. Burials 1843-1932 NLW/Cer.RO
See Bap/Mar/Bur data on FreeReg

Nonconformist Chapels; see Chapels database

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Description & Travel

The Religious census of 1851 : A Calendar of the returns relating to Wales, Vol 1, South Wales., by Jones, I.G. & Williams, D. UWP, Cardiff, 1976. These statistics for this parish or chapelry are extracted from this book which in turn got them from the 1851 census itself;

  • Llandyssil Parish consisting of Llandyssil-is-Kerdin and Llandyssil-uwch-Kerdin
  • Area 17556 acres; Population 1391 males, 1539 females, total 2930

      Various items  - on the People's Collection Wales site

      • Postcard of Pantteg Cross near Llandysul 
      • Various landscapes

      Llandysul and Pont Tyweli site

      Llandysul - on Wikipedia

      You can see pictures of Llandysul which are provided by:

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      Directories

      Kelly's Directory South Wales 1895 for Llandyssil parish

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      Emigration & Immigration

      Nixon, Laurel Holland. John Rees Davies family, Cardiganshire to New Zealand . Tauranga, N.Z. : 1997. (Refers to the Llandysul area)

      Walters, T Islwyn. American Civil War Diaries of David D Davies, Part 1. Dyfed FHS journal, Vol 7/7, April 2002. David Davies 's family emigrated c 1851 when he was 9 years old from Derlwyn, Llandysul. His diaries were rewritten in Welsh in 1892 and have now been translated by his great grand daughter, Carol Mills of Houston, Texas.

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      Gazetteers

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

      Description of the parish of Llandysul from A Topographical Dictionary of Wales (1833) by Samuel Lewis.

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      Genealogy

      Cardiganshire Families

      WILL of Thomas Thomas of Llandysul 1732 - believed to be the grandfather of the Rev Thomas Thomas 1741- 1826 of Kibworth Harcourt and  Samson Thomas (1739- 1807)  of Tre-lech a'r Bettws - contributed by Jeni Molyneux

      Various items - on the People's Collection Wales site

      • Photographs from the family album of Douglas Davies of Blaenpant Farm, Capel Dewi, Llandysul. Mainly from the 50s  
      • Dr Evans' family, Llandysul (Cer)

      Jones, J Tysul. John David Lewis a Hanes Gwasg Gomer (NLW's site) Ceredigion Vol VIII

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      History

      See Not everyone knows this.. for snippets about this parish

      Various items  - on the People's Collection Wales site

      • Between New Quay and Llandysul [omnibus] nd
      • A group of women and men, together with a horse and cart, standing in a snow-dusted street, Llandysul, Cardiganshire. Photographed by John Thomas. c 1885 
      • A stone arched bridge over the Afon Teifi at Llandysul. A house is visable at the right of the picture. c 1898
      • The railway station and goods yard, Llandysul, with the town visable in the background. Passengers and freight can be seen on the platform, and there is a crane in the yard. nd
      • A general view along Lincoln Street, Llandysul. Some people are standing at the side of the road. nd
      • Cattle on the banks of and in the river Teifi at Llandysul. nd
      • Butter churn,Teifi-side creamery, Capel Dewi, Llandysul nd

      Anon. Ups and downs of Llandysul. Cwrs y Byd, 1893

      Davies, W.J. Hanes Plwyf Llandyssul 1896 [The History of Llandysul], translated by Ivor Griffiths]. [LDS GS 832246]. Here is an Index by Gareth Hicks with a contents listing, and here are snippets from the book

      Hughes, Ieuan T. The background of Llandysul (NLW's site) Ceredigion, Vol III

      Llandysul ddoe [Llandysul yesterday] Llandysul : Gomer, 1992. Photographs of people and places, mostly from c 1900 onwards. Here is an Index by Gareth Hicks

      Martin, Audrey. Hanes Llwynrhydowen, Cardiganshire [The History of Llwynrhydowen, Cardiganshire]. Llandysul, Gomer.

      Meyrick, Sir Samuel Rush.(1783-1848) The History and Antiquities of the county of Cardigan. Collected from the few remaining documents which have escaped the ravages of time, as well as from actual observation. Longman: London ,1810. The history and antiquities of the County of Cardigan ... to which are now added a parliamentary history, list of High Sheriffs, some notes on the present county families, &c., &c. repr. Brecon: 1907. This 1907 print has now been reprinted. The section relating to this parish spans pages 189-200 - apart from a general history of the parish there are sections covering; the Church (the last 3 incumbents were Rev Davies, Rev Thomas, Rev Hector Brown), Castell Hywell, Foeshelyg, Foes Escob, Allt yr Odyn, Cilvachwen Uchaf/Issaf, Panstreimon, Vairdref, Yr Henbant, Dyfryn Llynod, Dinas Cerdyn and Blaen Cerdyn, Wain Ivor, Camnant, Gellyvraith.

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      Land & Property

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

      • Lloyd family of Alltyrodyn "Deeds and documents, 1777-1872, relating mainly to the the Alltyrodyn, and Castell Howell estates [Llandysul], in Cardiganshire"

      Here is a list of farms in Llandysul parish in 1758

      Held at the NLW ;

      • Deeds donated by Sir Joseph Bradney relating to Cardiganshire, C16-C19, including the Alltyrodyn and Castell Howell estates, [and to Glamorganshire].

      Held at Ceredigion Archives;

      • "Jesus College Papers" from the collections of Jesus College, Oxford, including C17,C18 & C19 tittle deeds and correspondence mostly relating to the Llanddewibrewfi area and C20 tithe documents for Llandyssul.
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      Maps

      Tithe map of Llandysul, Cardiganshire  - on the People's Collection Wales site

      Parish map (Kain/Oliver)

      You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SN425455 (Lat/Lon: 52.085493, -4.299817), Llandysul which are provided by:

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      Names, Geographical

      Places, villages, farms etc within Llandysul 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 Gareth Hicks)

      • Llandysul (86); Afon Cerdin; Allt-yr-odyn; Banc-Llanfair; Bargoed; Birdlip Hill Fm.; Blaen-Borthyn; Blaen Cathal; Blaen-Cefel; Blaen-Cerdin-fach; Blaen-cwm; Blaen-Einon; Blaen-y-llyn; Blaen-y-than; Bont; Bryn-Cerdin; Bryn-goleu; Bryn-segur; Camnant; Capel Dewi; Castell; Castell-Howell; Cathal; Cefn-Gwallter; Cefn-Llanfair; Ceginan; Clettwr fawr; Clyn-coch; Coed-foel; Cribor; Croes-lan; Cwm-dyllest; Cwm Einon; Cwm-hyar; Cwm-marsh; Cwm-meudwy; Cwm-ul; Derlwyn; Dinas Cerdin; Dyffryn-llynod; Esgair-ddedwydd; Fairdre-fawr; Fforest-Cerdin; Ffos Esgob; Ffos-helyg; Ffostrasol; Ffynnondu; Ffynnon-Llewelyn; Ffynnon-oer; Fronwen; Gellifaharen; Gilfach-Dafydd; Gilfach-wen; Glan-dwr; Glan-rhyd-pysgod; Glan-rhyd-y-dre; Gorig; Gwar-allt-yr-yn; Gwar-coed-isaf; Gwar-cwm; Gwar-dafolog; Gwar-llwyn-oedos; Gwarallt-y-ferdre; Gyfeile; Henbant Hall; Heol-feinog; Horeb; Iet-wen; Llanfair; Llwyn-rhyd-Owen; Maes-y-mellion; Moel-hedog; Moel y Mor; Nantegryd; Nantremenyn; Nant-y-cwnstabl; Nant-y-gwyddau; Pant-gwyn; Pant-moch; Pant Olwen; Pant-y-defaid; Pant-y-Strimon; Pant-yscawen; Pant-ysguthan; Pen-carnicced; Pen-lan; Pen Moel-hedog; Pen-pontbren; Pen-rhiw; Pen-y-graig; Pen-yr-allt; Pont Shaen; Pren-gwyn; Pyllau'r-bryn; Rhiwlug; Rhyd-cynydd; Rhyd Owen; Rhyd-Sais; Rhyd-y-fodrwy; Saw Mills; Tan-y-coed; Tomen-rhyd-Owen; Tre-groes; Troed-rhiw-ffenyd; Waun-Ifor; Woollen Mills.
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      Occupations

      Various items  - on the People's Collection Wales site

      • Rock Mills. The old mill was built in 1890 by the present owner's great grandfather 
      • Pantolwen Woollen Mill. Llandysul. Cardiganshire West Wales. Opened: 1880, Closed: 1962
      • Special Constabulary group photograph dated October 1940. These men would have volunteered for duties as Special Constable's during the period of the Second world war. Landysul is part of the area policed then by the former Carmarthenshire Constabulary.
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      Public Records

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

      • Llandyssul Parish Council Records 1916-1977
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      Schools

      Here is an extract from The Reports of the Commissioners appointed to enquire into the state of Education in Wales. 1847

      Various items  - on the People's Collection Wales site

      • Llandysul County School, various dates/groups
      • Llandysul County School buildings c1930
      • Llandysul County School Chemistry Laboratory
      • Llandysul County School Hockey Team c.1930
      • Llandysul County School Hockey Team 1931-32
      • Llandysul County School Soccer Team 1929-30
      • Llandysul County School Soccer Team 1932-33

      Held at Ceredigion Archives;

      • Photograph of William Lewis, headmaster of Llandysul County School with his family c 1912 and photographs of school teams Llandysul County School c 1917.
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      Social Life & Customs

      Jenkins, David [Rev.Canon]. Memoirs of a Cardiganshire Boy. Cardiganshire FHS journal, Vol 2/7, Feb 2001.Written by the author who became Vicar of Abergwili, he was born at Cilgraig, Capel Dewi in 1872 and died in 1941. A nice piece of social history.

      Various items  - on the People's Collection Wales site

      • Competitors gathered outside the Wilkes Head Hotel, Pontweli, Llandysul during the Llandysul Carnifal 1925.
      • Two fishermen on the banks of the Afon Teifi at Llandysul.