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Llangynfelyn

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"LLANCYNVELYN (LLAN-GYNVELYN), a parish in the upper division of the hundred of GENEU'R-GLYN, county of CARDIGAN, SOUTH WALES, 9 miles (N. E. by N.) from Aberystwith, on the road to Machynlleth, containing 826 inhabitants. This parish, which abounds in mineral wealth, is situated on the river Dyvi, which is here navigable, and affords a facility for the exportation of lead-ore and bark, which are shipped from this place in great quantities, while timber, coal, and limestone, are imported for the supply of the neighbouring district. Mines of lead and copper are at present in operation, but to a very inconsiderable extent. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the archdeaconry of Cardigan, and diocese of St.David's, and in the patronage of the Chichester family, of the county of Devon. The church, dedicated to St. Cynvelyn, a very ancient structure, and in a very dilapidated condition, was originally erected in the sixth century, and is about to be re-built by voluntary subscription. There are places of worship for Calvinistic and Wesleyan Methodists. Mr. Thomas Owen, in 1731, bequeathed £10, the interest of which is distributed annually among the poor, according to the will of the testator. The average annual expenditure for the support of the poor is £ 112.15." [From Samuel Lewis's A Topographical Dictionary of Wales 1833]

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Census

Plwyf Llangynfelyn site - has transcriptions of all the 1841/1901 census for the parish

The Benjamin Indexes
These are held at Ceredigion Archives who are prepared to carry out a reasonable search , they are transcripts (& indexes ) of the census for Aberystwyth and North Cardiganshire, prepared by the late Mr.Benjamin, and deposited at various locations including that office. They are very good transcripts, and represent a massive amount of work - inevitably there are a few small mistakes, but they are generally useful and accurate. They cover the period 1841-1881 and include the parishes of Llanbadarn Fawr, Llanfihangel y Creuddyn, Llanfihangel Geneu'r-glyn, Llancynfelyn,(bits of ) Llanbadarn y Creuddyn, Lanychaearn, Llanafan and others.
Also, the 1891 census for Aberystwyth only has been transcribed by William Howells, the County Librarian, and is also available at Ceredigion Archives .

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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

  • Llancynfelyn Parish Church                      John Davies, Perpetual Curate

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

  • St Cynfelin
  • Incumbent and Curates; I Edwards
  • Rural Deanery of Llanbadarn Fawr
  • Acreage 5,112; Population 600

St Cynfelyn church - photograph on Dyfed FHS

See Chapels database

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Church Records

See Notes on Church/Chapel Records page

Parish Register;
Baptisms  1770-1861.  Marriages  1754-1970 [Banns 1824-1968]. Burials 1770-1949.  NLW/Cer.RO
Copy ts PR M 1754-1837 with index  NLW/Cer.RO
Bishops Transcripts; 1675, 1678-9, 1681-3, 1687-9, 1691, 1699, 1701-3, 1705, 1803, 1811-53, 1855-63, 1865-71, 1873-80, 1882, 1885-6 NLW

See Bap/Mar/Bur data on FreeReg

I.G.I; Baptisms  1803-1876

Index to Burials from Parish Registers 1813-1837 available for purchase from  Cardiganshire Family History Society
Volume 1: Genau'r Glyn Hundred. Parishes covered: Aberystwyth St Michael, Eglwys Fach, Llanbadarn Fawr, Llanfihangel Genau'r Glyn, Llangynfelyn, Ysbyty Cynfyn

Nonconformist Chapels;  see Chapels database

Plwyf Llangynfelyn site - various parish registers transcriptions

Plwyf Llangynfelyn site - various chapel records transcriptions

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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;

  • Area 6556 acres; Population 474 males, 485 females, total 959

      With the kind permission of the publisher, these extracts are taken from "The History of Cardiganshire" by S R Meyrick, 1810, specifically the reprint of the 1907 imprint published by Stephen Collard in July 2000.

      • "The parish is situated on high ground which juts out into the bog called Gors fochno. It extends from Eurglawdd to the north to Lodge Mill, which is a line of nearly three miles. Its breadth might be nearly the same. It is celebrated as the birth-place of Deio ab Jevan Du, who flourished about the year 1480."
      • "The church is dedicated to Cynvelyn, the son of Bleiddyd ab Meirion ab Tibion ab Cunedda, a saint who founded the church at Welch Pool in Montgomeryshire, about the beginning of the sixth century."
      • "The tithes are held by John Palmer Chichester Esq., who received them from the family of Lord Castlemain to whom they were granted by Henry VIII."
      • "The last three incumbents [of the parish church] were as follow ; - Owen ; Owen Owen ; 1800, Evan Pugh of Pen y graig."
      • "Lodge, now called Lodge Park, though its original name was Bod vrigau. It belongs to the Pryses of Gogerthan.
      • "Dol Cleitor, or Cletwr mead, now the property of Major Gilbertson, who received it by will from his maternal uncle, William Jones."

         Various landscapes - on the People's Collection Wales site

          You can see pictures of Llangynfelyn which are provided by:

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          Gazetteers

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

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          Genealogy

          Plwyf Llangynfelyn site, by Stephen Benham and Nigel Callaghan. This is a truly superb bi-lingual website, with lots of transcriptions of original records  relating to Llangynfelyn including;
          Census returns 1841-1901 , Memorial stones in the cemeteries , Parish registers , Chapel records
          Maps , Electoral rolls , Wills & inventories , Property taxes and estate valuations , The parish schools
          Tithe records , Descriptions and directories , Transport and roads , Periodicals , Parish notables
          The mining industry , Law, crime and punishment , Miscellaneous documents , Taliesin's Grave
          1910 Finance Act Valuation transcript, Gravestones in the old cemetery, the rest of the book 'Hanes Ysgol Llangynfelyn 1876-1976', some Council minutes, Cambrian News extracts for 1938

          Cardiganshire Families

          Kaznowski, Helen. The Hughes Family of Llanfihangel Geneu'Glyn and Llancynfelin. Cardiganshire FHS journal vol 2/5, June 2000.[see also vol 1/1]

          Wood, Juliet. Bedd Taliesin  (NLW's site) Ceredigion Vol VIII

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          History

          Hughes, H Harold.  Some deeds relating to Llanfihangel Genau'r Glyn and Llangynfelin. Arch Camb, 1917

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          Land & Property

          Plwyf Llangynfelyn site - tithe apportionment lists and maps

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

          • Gwynfryn (Llangynfelyn) Estate Records  1600-1920     "Family and estate records of the Jones family of Gwynfryn, in the parish of Llangynfelyn including deeds, 1600-1920; ............... rate books for the parish of Llangynfelyn, 1844-1855"   
          • Ithel W. Jones Collection of Cardiganshire Deeds    "Deeds, 1583-1772, relating to properties in the parishes of Llangynfelyn and ........... "

          Held at the NLW ;

          • Gwynfryn. Records of the estate of of the Jones family of Gwynfryn, Llangynfelyn parish,  1600-1920, including documents relating to William Basil Jones [1822-97], bishop of St David's.
          • Deeds deposited by Ithel W. Jones relating to the parishes of Llangynfelyn, Llanfihangel Genau'r-glyn and Llanbadarn Fawr, Cardiganshire, 1583-1772.
          • Deeds purchased from H.H.G.Vorley relating to the parishes of Llanbadarn Fawr , 1548-97, and Llangynfelyn, 1841-8.
          • Deeds donated by H. Harold Hughes relating to the parishes of Llanfihangel Genau'r-glyn, Llangynfelyn and Llanbadarn Fawr, Cardiganshire, 1577-1852.
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          Maps

          Plwyf Llangynfelyn -  a selection of maps, local, historical, national

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

          Parish map (Kain/Oliver)

          You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SN665925 (Lat/Lon: 52.514153, -3.969284), Llangynfelyn which are provided by:

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          Names, Geographical

          Places, villages, farms etc within Llangynfelyn 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 Lynne Kleingertner)

          • Llancynfelin (1); Afon Clettwr, Cerny, Craig-y-penrhyn, Erglodd, Esgair Foel ddu, Foel Goch, Gland-Dyfi, Glan-morfa, Gwynfryn Hall, Hen- hafod, Llancynfelin, Llwyn-Walter, Lodge Park, Neuadd-yr-ynys, Old Mine, Tan-yr-allt, Tre'r-ddol, Tre-Taliesin, Ty-mawr Mochno, Ynys-Tudur
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          Occupations

          Erglodd Mine, Tre-Taliesin, Llangynfelyn - on the Mindat.org site

          Black and white photograph of Tre'rddol Mill, produced by Arthur Chater, 1970 - on the People's Collection Wales site

          Held at Ceredigion Archives;

          • Documents concerning the Bryn Arian and Pwll Roman silver lead mines near Talybont c 1823-1856, part owned by the Colman [mustard] family of Norwich.

          Jenkins, Gwyn. Hetwyr Llangynfelyn (NLW's site) (Hatters of Llangynfelyn). Ceredigion, x 1 : 18-30 (1984)

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          Schools

          Jones, J. R. (ed). Ysgol Llangynfelyn 1876­1976.  Cyngor Llangynfelyn. 1976.  This is a forty-page edited collection published by Llangynfelyn Parish Council on the occasion of the centenary of the school Most of the content is in Welsh, with a few articles in English . It also has many photos, including of all the children of the school at various times. It also contains articles of more general historical interest to the area such as "Rhai o Enwau Lleoedd Gogledd Ceredigion", which, of course, explains the history of many local names, such as how the village of Taliesin took that name in the mid 1800s after the nearby Bedd Taliesin, in preference to the previous 'Comins Y Dafarn Fach'.

          Various items - on the People's Collection Wales site

          • RCAHMW colour transparency showing exterior view of the former National School, Tre Taliesin 
          • Plant ysgol Llangynfelyn yn cyflwyno'r cyngerdd Nadolig 1986