Llanharan

Here is a substantial reading list of books which relate to Glamorgan, either county or parish.

References to Llanharan in the British Library

• Ely Tinplate Company Limited
  1872-1943: documents book, inventory
  [British Steel Records Centre, Shotton, Shotton Works, Deeside CH5 2NH - Reference: HMC list]
• Ely Valley Railway Company
  1857-1903: minutes and parliamentary papers
  [Public Record Office, Kew, London - Reference: RAIL 195, 1057]

The Glamorgan Family History Society have produced a set of microfiche containing Monumental Inscriptions for the following burial grounds :-

• Parish Church of St. Julius & St. Aaron
• Bethlehem Congregational

Chapels Database - a list of all known non-conformist chapels or other non-Anglican religions in the parish

St Julius and Aarons Church (Audio Trail) - on the People's Collection Wales site

For full and up-to-date details of their holdings see the sites of Glamorgan Record Office and/or West Glamorgan Archives

See Bap/Mar/Bur data on  FreeReg

The church is dedicated to St. Julius and St. Aaron, is in the Benefice of Llanharan with Peterston-super-Montem (or Brynna), and the diocese of Llandaff. Details of the present incumbent of this benefice can be found at the Church in Wales website. The church can be located at grid reference ST002832.

A transcription of the registers is available from the Glamorgan Family History Society for the years: Baptisms, 1615-1901, Marriages, 1721-1838, Burials, 1641-1900.

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

• Llanharan Ecclesiastical Parish records      " ....... including registers of baptisms, 1615-1984; marriages, 1754-1967; burials, 1641-1943; licences, 1902; churchwardens accounts, 1899-1930; miscellaneous papers, 1964-1967"

GRO - Glamorgan Record Office, Cardiff
PRO - Public Record Office, London
NLW - National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth
WGAS - West Glamorgan Archice Service 

The following Religious Institutions are covered in the Mormon International Genealogical Index (IGI) :-

• Llanharan, St. Julius & St. Aaron - Christenings, 1813-1876
• Llanharan, Bethlehem Independent - Christenings, 1777-1837

Various landscapes - on the People's Collection Wales site

• Geograph
• Flickr

Llanharan from Kelly's Directory of Monmouthshire & South Wales, 1895

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

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

• Ask for a calculation of the distance from Llanharan to another place.

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

• Richards family of Hendre Owen, estate papers      "The Richards family were farmers at Hendre Owen (or Hendreowen), Llanharan, Glamorgan, in the 18th and 19th centuries. Walter Richards, active in the late 18th century, was a herbalist who developed recipes for the treatment of illnesses in animals."  
  "Walter Richard's copy books (containing medicinal recipes), 1782-1799; notebook (with Freemasonry procedure in Welsh), 1841; proposals for leasing mineral rights under Hendreowen estate, [c. 1850]; deeds and documents relating to property in Glamorgan, 1742-1953; residual accounts, 1866-1883; and insurance certificates, 1866-1893."

Some of the hamlets, towns and villages within this parish

You can see the administrative areas in which Llanharan has been placed at times in the past. Select one to see a link to a map of that particular area.

Various items - on the People's Collection Wales site

• Llanharan Railway Station, circa 1900. Train pulling in to station in the distance.
• Llanharan Audio History Trail

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

• Blandy-Jenkins of Llanharan, Estate collection    "The Powells of Maesteg arrived in Llanharan, Glamorgan, in about 1700 ....................................."   
  "Estate and family papers including deeds of the Llanharan estate, Glamorgan, 1557-1929; deeds relating to the purchase of the Llanharan estate by Richard Hoare Jenkins, 1806-1810; estate papers, 1625-1913, including rentals and accounts, [c. 1737]-1909; family papers, 1536-1911, including wills and related papers, 1536-1911, marriage settlements, 1601-1897, correspondence, 1758-1917, household papers, 1705-[c. 1900]; legal papers in Blandy Jenkins v Dunraven, 1343-1875; ...................................."  
• Llanharan Estate, records          " ... including correspondence to Mrs Blandy Jenkins, 1862-1880; particulars of repair requirements for tenants, 1882; and particulars of bills, 1885"

This diagram shows the position of this parish within the county of Glamorgan - click on this to see a full size diagram of the county

Parish map (Kain/Oliver)

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference ST009836 (Lat/Lon: 51.542701, -3.429838), Llanharan which are provided by:

• OpenStreetMap
• Google Maps
• StreetMap (Current Ordnance Survey maps)
• OpenStreetMap Cymru (Welsh counties only)
• Bing (was Multimap)
• Old Maps Online
• National Library of Scotland (Old Ordnance Survey maps)
• Vision of Britain (Click "Historical units & statistics" for administrative areas.)
• Magic (Geographic information) (Click + on map if it doesn't show)
• GeoHack (Links to on-line maps and location specific services.)

• All places within the same township/parish shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby townships/parishes shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby places shown on an Openstreetmap map.

Llanharan War Memorial - on the People's Collection Wales site

Places, villages, farms etc within Llanharan 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 Glenys Travis)

• Llanharan [84]; - Bedw bach, Bryn y cae, Coedcae, Colliery (by Afon Clun), Craig melyn, Dolau, Ffynnon Maelwg, Garth, Graig Fatho, Graig lwyd, Hendre-Owen, Lanelay Ho, Llanharan Ho, Lodge, Meiros Colliery, Meiros, Mynydd Garth Maelwg, Mynydd Hywel Dic, Mynydd Meiros, Pen y parc, Rhyd y Gofor, The Beacons, Tre-nos ganol, Tre-nos uchaf, Wern ddu, Whitehill, Ynys Maerdy, Ynys y Plwm.

• Blandy-Jenkins family of Llanharan
  1343-1929: deeds 1557-1929, estate papers 1625-1913, legal papers 1343-1911, family papers 1536-1911, household papers 1705-c1900
  [Glamorgan Archive Service, Cardiff - Reference: D/DBJ]
• Powell family of Llanharan
  18th cent: account books
  [National Library of Wales, Department of Manuscripts and Records]

There are many references to this area in the 15 million Welsh and English language articles from Welsh newspapers transcribed by the NLW and viewable on Welsh Newspapers Online
Below are English language articles that have been re-transcribed and extracted randomly to illustrate what is available, there are many that are not extracted here that include names of local people

• From the Evening Express (Third Edition) 14th November 1905

LLANHARAN FATALITY  At the Meiros Colliery, Llanharan, on Monday Edward Hughes was instantly killed by a stone falling from the roof. Deceased was 26 years of age, and leaves a widowed mother.

• From the Evening Express (First Edition) 14th June 1905

LLANHARAN. EIGHT MALE VOICE PARTIES COMPETE. The thirteenth annual eisteddfod at Llanharan on Tuesday proved as great a success as any of its predecessors, and attracted a crowd of about 2,500 visitors ..... (part extract).....

•  From the Evening Express (First Edition) 7th November 1893

LLANHARAN LONG BOOK. Mr. Blandy Jenkins Makes an Interesting Discovery. "Morien" writes:—All Cambro-British antiquarians in all parts of the world will rejoice to learn that the Llyvr Hir Llanharan" (the Llanharan Long Book) has been discovered in the library there by Mr. Blandy Jenkins, the present owner of the Llanharan Estates. It is a book of MSS., containing] about 500 leaves, written in the ancient engrossing style, and very difficult to read, unless one is well versed in the peculiar orthography of the days of Shakspeare, in which the book was written. This great and most important book was originally discovered in the Llanharan House library, early in the present century, .... (part extract).....

• From the Evening Express (Extra Special Edition) 21st August 1907

LLANHARAN CLUB RAIDED. Inspector Benjamin Evans and some constables on Monday night raided the Llanharan ConstitutionaJ Club, seized the books and documents, and took the names of between twenty and thirty men found on the premises.

•  From the Evening Express (First Edition) 3rd August 1904

LLANHARAN FLOWER SHOW The second annual Llanharan Flower Show was held in delightful weather in Llanharan Park an Tuesday, when the exhibits and attendance were all that could be desired. The principal awards were as follow:-   .... (part extract).....

• From the Evening Express (Fourth Edition) 17th September 1906

LLANHARAN PIT MISHAP. A mishap occurred at the Meiros Colliery, Llanharian, on Saturday afternoon. About half-past one the shaft of the winding engine broke and rendered the cage useless. There were about 200 men in the pit at the time, and they had to be brought up through the airway. The process of raising the men in buckets, two or three at a time, was a tedious one, and it was nearly ten o'clock when the last man was brought up. It is expected that the pit will be stopped for two or three days.

South Rhondda Colliery, Llanbad (near Llanharan) on the Welsh Coal Mines site

Llanharan coal mining history (Audio Trail) - on the People's Collection Wales site

The Population of Llanharan was as follows, and a more detailed breakdown is available.

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

• Llanharan Civil Parish records               " ....... comprising tithe plan and apportionment, 1846; overseer's account book, 1832-1869; churchwarden's rate book, 1841-1866; highway surveyor's rate book, 1830-1856; church rate assessment, 1842; churchwardens' accounts, 1885-1900"

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

• Llanharan School Board records    " ....... comprising of minute books, 1890-1903; ledger, 1891-1903"

Old Llanharan Primary School (Audio Trail) - on the People's Collection Wales site

• Oddfellows: Llanharan Lodge
  1861: rule book
  [Glamorgan Archive Service, Cardiff]