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Aber-Nant

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"ABERNANT (ABER-NANT), a parish, in the union of CARMARTHEN, higher division of the hundred of ELVET . . . 5 miles (W.N.W.) from Carmarthen; containing 890 inhabitants. The village, which is pleasantly situated on the banks of the river Cowin, about two miles westward of the road leading from Carmarthen to Newcastle and Cardigan, was formerly much frequented at the time of the Carmarthen races, which for many years took place within this parish . . . The living is a discharged vicarage, with the perpetual curacy of Convil in Elvet annexed . . The church, dedicated to St Lucia, is a small neat building, pleasantly situated in a small neat building, in a quiet and retired spot. There is a place for worship for Independents. About 60 children are instructed in a day school at the expense of their parents; and there are two Sunday schools, one of which is supported by the vicar. . . " [From A Topographical Dictionary of Wales (S. Lewis, 1844).]

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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

  • Abernant Parish Church          "On account of some peculiar local circumstances the attendance on the 30th March was unusually small"               Henry Jones Davis, Curate
  • Bethania  Baptist               Erected in 1839           Thomas Thomas, Secretary, Talog, Nr Carmarthen
  • Aber   Ind           Erected in 1839        Thomas Jones, Superintendent of Sunday school, Pantyhendyisaf, Abernant
  • Bwlchnewydd  Ind       Erected 1746, re-built 1808, enlarged 1832          " As is the case frequently in Wales, the chapel is so crammed occasionally, that many more attend than are able to find room to sit and are consequently forced to stand"             *Michael D Jones, Minister

Parish entry for Abernant with Conwil Elvet from The Welsh Church Year Book, 1929 (Cd by (Archive CD Books).

  • St Lucia & St Cynwyl (Conwil Elvet) & Cwmduad St Alban
  • Incumbent and Curates; D Evans (P Jones)
  • Rural Deanery of  Carmarthen
  • Acreage 6,458 & 13,100 ; Population 1,772

  *Michael D Jones was also the founder of the Welsh colony in Patagonia.  
   For a full history of Bwlchnewydd, see "Hanes Eglwys Annibynnol Bwlchnewydd" by Glyn Davies

Griffiths, G. Milwyn. A Visitation of the Archdeaconry of Carmarthen, 1710   National Library of Wales journal. 1974, Summer Vol XVIII/3. Includes the parish of Aber-Nant

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    Church Records

    Dyfed FHS have photographs and data relating to various churches and chapels on their site

    Parish registers: Christenings, Marriages and Burials (1763-1812) are held at the National Library of Wales; Christenings (1764-1993) Marriages (1754-1965)  and Burials (1813-1993) at the Carmarthenshire Record Office.

    An index to Christenings (1813-65), Marriages (1754-1875), and Burials (1813-75), is available on microfiche from DFHS.

    Bishops' Transcripts, covering the period (1672, 1675-7, 1679, 1681-4, 1686-7, 1690-1, 1693-5, 1697-9, 1701, 1703-4, 1707-11, 1717, 1721, 1724-40, 1742-6, 1748-68, 1770, 1773, 1775, 1778-9, 1781-5, 1800, 1802, 1804-64) are at the National Library of Wales, and have been microfilmed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

    Marriage index for this parish - see Dyfed Marriages, 1813-1837, Vol. 15 - Elvet Hundred (Dyfed Family History Society, c1989).

    See Bap/Mar/Bur data on FreeReg

    Nonconformist Chapels:

    • Bethania (Baptist, c1835) - records with those of Tabernacle Chapel, Carmarthen      In Talog  SN32642517     Cause established ca. 1835 and chapel built 1839. Rebuilt/modified 1895
      Status (1998): in chapel use    Coflein
    • Capel Cendy (Independent, 1833) - records with those of Bwlchnewydd Chapel, Newchurch    SN34272269     Cause established in 1833, schoolroom built 1838 & chapel in 1839; rebuilt in 1866. Status (1998): in chapel use   Coflein                   Shown as still open on the Union of Welsh Independents site (Dec 2006)
    • Bwlchnewydd (Independent, bef 1715): baptisms (1805-41) PRO RG4/4123; burials (1855-57) PRO RG4/3816 LDS 828109 IGI; baptisms (1841-50) with Bwlchnewydd secretary      SN36862491    Chapel built in 1746, rebuilt 1808; enlarged 1832/3 & rebuilt/modified 1859. Status (1998): in chapel use.  Coflein                Photograph etc on Dyfed FHS       Ind chapel, Bwlchnewydd (no parish) - 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 Gareth Hicks (Jan 2009)
    • Bethel Ind Sunday School, Abernant (near Talog)           SN32452528               Chapel built 1896-7   Coflein

    MacDonald, R W. The Parish Registers of Wales, National Library of Wales journal. 1976, Winter. Volume XIX/4. Here is an extract relating to this parish;
    "There was a fine of £5 for not complying with the Act by burying the corpse in linen or material other than wool. One half of the fine went to the poor of the parish and the other half to the person who provided the information relating to the non-compliance with the law. The Act was not repealed until 1814 but it appears to have been generally disregarded long before then. In the register of Abernant, co. Carmarthen, however, the following memorandum was written in August 1800:
    - 'An Oath was made before me that the two last were buried in Flannel according to an Act of 30 C 2 Ch 3. But notwithstanding the party belonging to the Burial of Jane W. of Joel David of Pantyllyn have been frequently admonished by me, they totally disregarded my admonition & neglected to comply with the above mentioned Act.' "     Dd. Lewis Vr. of Abernant.

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      Description & Travel

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

      • Area 6321 acres; Population 416 males, 453 females, total 869
          You can see pictures of Aber-Nant which are provided by:

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          Gazetteers

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

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          Genealogy

          Carmarthenshire Families

          James Howell 1594-1666 Writer, Historian, Traveller and Historiographer to King Charles 11 - Contributed by Jeni Molyneux

          Historic information relating to various memorial tablets in St Lucia's Church, Aber-Nant

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          History

          Lloyd, Sir John E., (Ed.). A History of Carmarthenshire (2 vols.), Cardiff, London Carmarthenshire Society (1935, 1939). Extracts from this book can be accessed on some parish pages
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          Maps

          Plan of the parish of Abernant in the County of Carmarthen  - on the People's Collection Wales site

          Parish map (Kain/Oliver)

          You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SN340263 (Lat/Lon: 51.910023, -4.414101), Aber-Nant which are provided by:

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          Names, Geographical

          Places, villages, farms etc within Aber-Nant 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 Merv Thomas)

          • Abernant [42]; Abernant, Blaen-afon, Blaen-dyfod, Blaen-y-bryn, Blaen-y-waun, Bryn-meini, Cil-crug, Cilwen, Clyn-pur-faith, Crynfryn, Cwm-cest, Esgeirfa, Glasfryn, Lan, Maen-Ieuan, Melin Newydd, Nant-glas, Pant-y-cendy, Pant-y-llyn, Pen-allt-fangor, Penrhiw-las, Pen-y-coed, Pen-yr-allt-trawscoed, Post-du-isaf, Post-du-uchaf, Pwll-dyfarch, Rhyd-y-gareg-ddu, Sychpant, Talog, Tal-y-fan-isaf, Tal-y-fan-uchaf, Troed-y-rhiw-march, Ty-rhas, Waun-gochan
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            Public Records

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

            • Abernant Parish Council Records 1738-1960 (accumulated 1894-1960)
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            Schools

            Abernant Primary School  - on the People's Collection Wales site