The Abergwyngregyn Parish Records

In the course of my research I've gone through a lot of parish records, and recently I found myself looking at the records for Abergwyngregyn, a little out of my area, but still of interest. Those making the entries in the Aber parish records seem to have been unusually diligent through the centuries, noting down numbers of deaths and even causes.

 

 

Rhaeadr Fawr, above Aber. Although Aber was a historically important location, with its own mediaeval motte, and sitting at one end of the pass across Bwlch y Ddeufaen and facing Beaumaris across the Menai Straits, most modern visitors come to see the falls.

 

 

The first thing that struck me when looking at these records was that there are pages of attestations that the deceased have been buried in wool. I’ve looked at the Caerhun and Llanbedr y Cennin parish records in detail, and skimmed what remains of the Llangelynin records, and the Trefriw and Llanrhychwyn records, but previously I’ve only come across mentions of being ‘buried in woollen’ in the Llanfairfechan records, which I haven’t looked at in detail. In the Llanfairfechan records these are only brief sentences, and in other records it can be marked with the words ‘affidavit made’, but the Aber records contain half-page attestations.

One of the many attestations to being buried in woollen, from 1678.

The Burying in Woollen Acts 1666–80 were acts brought in under Charles II and were ‘intended for the lessening the Importation of Linnen from beyond the Seas and the Encouragement of the Wollen and Paper Manufactures of this Kingdome’. Basically, it was to bolster up the wool trade at home in the United Kingdom, which was threatened by foreign imports and new fashions for linen or silk. The penalty for burying in cloths other than woollen was £5, a sum worth almost £600 today, or, in 1670, six stone of wool or 71 days wages for a skilled tradesman. The fact that, to be precise, £568.89 of today’s money would pay for 71 days of skilled labour in 1670 is fascinating, but a topic for another day. It does, however, show the difficulty of translating the worth of money from one time to another.

Incidentally, it seems that people who died of the plague were exempt from this law. I don’t know how much a woollen shroud would have cost, and how this law affected the poor, but it seemed that if one was too poor the burial entry could be marked ‘naked’. It’s stated here that rich people often ignored the law and paid the fine instead. A useful incentive for informing on those flouting the law was that half the fine was paid to the informant, and the rest to the poor.

I don’t know why the Caerhun and Llanbedr records escape these annotations to affirm burying in woollen. It’s worth noting that the entries themselves in the Aber records don’t seem to carry a note about being buried in woollen, and the affidavits are on separate pages, so perhaps Caerhun and Llanbedr did the same, and the affidavits have been either lost, or just not included in the records I have access to.

An example of the Aber attestation, usually made by a relative, reads:

William Rowland of the parish of Aber in the County of Carnarvon made Oath that Rowland William of Aber & County of Carnrvon aforesd lately deceased was not put in wrapt or wound up, or buryed in any shirt shift sheet shrowd or any thing what soever, made or mingled wth flax hemp silke haire gold or silver, or in any stuffe or thing, other then what is made of sheep’s wool onely nor in any Coffin lined or faced wth any cloth, stuffe or any other thing whatsoever made or mingled wth flax, hemp, silke, haire, gold or silver or any other material by sheep’s wool onely: Dated the ffive & twentieth day of October in the Thirtieth yeare of the Reigne of our Sovereigne Lord Charles the second Kind of England, Scotland, France & Ireland &c Annog Doni 1678

Sealed & Subscribed by us who were present wittnesses to the swearing of the above said Affidavit

John Morris

Anne Pierce

 It’s also signed by Richard Gruffith of Llanfair, Esq, justice of the peace.

How much this might have bolstered the wool trade is shown in the lists of deaths kept for the parish of Aber during this period. At one point a list is made of ‘the Burials in the Parish of Aber For 58 years’, between 1682 and 1744. The total, if I’ve added correctly, is 510, which is an average of just over 8 deaths a year. The highest figure in one year is 27 deaths. The caveat with this is some of the entries are noted as ‘besides children’, so the true figure may be higher.

 

'Died of a Dafadan Wyllt or Canker in the Face & Throat'

Some of the later deaths have causes added in the margin, and Aber record keepers are quite diligent with this, off and on, right through into the twentieth century. Fever is very common in the entries around the eighteenth century, including ‘fever of the pleuritick kind’, ‘fever, nervous and malignant,’ and a ‘nervous fever wth a very bad & nearly malignant swelling in ye throat & scrotum very rife and epidemick, w^ch swelling carried off y^e Malignancy for that year’. 1739 death causes listed include 6 infants, 1 astmha [asthma?] & dropsy, 1 consumption, and 1 feminine obstructions & dropsy. Other years mention consumption, ague, childbirth, palsy, diarrhea, decay, mortification in bowels, bloody flux taken at Leverpool, and old age. 1746 sees ‘died of a Dafadan wyllt [literally wild sheep] or canker in the Face & Throat’. Morris Owen was buried on 19^th March, 1740 [1741] after ‘a lingring Diarrhea for several years & died of it at last ab^t 70 years old’. In 1742 two strangers died of ‘accidental & Sudden Death’, but no more details are given.

Amongst all of these grave and solemn entries an element of whimsy enters the records at points. It seems as if a child got hold of the book at some point, and made the most of the writing paper, alongside asides by adults, perhaps. Thus we find aphorisms such as ‘A Rich man Saddleth a poor mans back’ as well as ‘Hugh Wms his hand aged 10 years’ ‘Hugh Williams his hand AD 1748 ye October 2 aged ten years’. At one point the writer became more bold and wrote a crude rhyme: 

Hogy pogy nasty swine

I draw for my valentine

but if you take it a punt

Pray rue you[r] choice and - 

This last line has been crossed out, but beneath the smearing appears to read ‘shew your cunt’.

 

A crude rhyme.

There are also various doodles on the pages, a lovely human addition which, along with the other scribbles, show the fun and reality of those living in this time.

A bird. Beside this someone is practicising writing 'fornication'.

A person, and perhaps a rabbit or hare?

 

Two heads. Is the first wearing an over-the-top wig, perhaps?

A Welsh rhyme, perhaps, possibly by the child Hugh William, aged 10.

These entries by Hugh William are interesting for what they show us about this ten year old boy. The page holds entries for 1743. It's impossible to know whether the additions were written at this time or added later, but at any rate it shows a young child who is literate in both English and Welsh, with access to the book, pen, and ink. Perhaps he was the child of one of the church officials, the vicar or church wardens. We can only speculate on what happened when his writings were discovered, and why people through the ages haven't learnt not to sign their name to their illegitimate writings.

On the subject of illegitimacy, this is prevalent through the Aber records, as it is in all of the local parish records. It seems that historically the Welsh have always been rather kinder to illegitimate children than the English. Illegitimate children were allowed to inherit, for example, under the old laws. A number of children are listed as being born to 'concubines' - presumably the produce of unmarried partners rather than one off liasons. Legal marriage, too, was not always chosen. Marriages could be clandestine or informal to avoid the reading of the banns or parents finding out, and an easy separation if things did not work out (see Howell, David W. The Rural Poor in Eighteenth-Century Wales, University of Wales Press, Cardiff, 2000). Perhaps being a concubine would, at least, help avoid the dreaded need to resort to the poor rate. Illegitimacy would have led to the need for the parish to support the child, never a popular option. Perhaps this is why a note after an illegitimate baptism entry of 1720 reads ‘Pro superos! quantum mortalia Pectora Noctis habent’, which seems to be a quote from Ovid’s Metamorphoses: Pro superi, quantum mortalia pectora caecae noctis habent! – Great gods! What darkness fills the human heart! 

More serious would have been another entry from 1743, reading 'Margaret y^e illegittimate & incestuous Daughter of M^r Stafford Wynne by his Own Niece Mr^s Ann Wynne (his Brother’s Daughter) was baptiz’d – April 17^th'. It's to be assumed that Stafford Wynne was a man of some standing, since he's accorded the title 'Mr'. 

In 1730 another illegitimate birth is recorded: 'Joseph, the illegitimate Son of Joseph Hodson a Lancashire man & Anne Jones of Trefriw was born at Bodsilin (the mother being deliver’d there in her way to Anglesey as she pretended) & baptiz’d in y^e Parish church of Aber Dec^r 27^th 1730.' Why was Anne Jones, heavily pregnant, making her way from Trefriw to Anglesey, presumably over Bwlch y Ddeufaen? How did she meet Joseph Hodson, of Lancashire? Why add the words 'as she pretended', as if she may not have been intending to go to Anglesey after all?

 

The fatal Traeth Lafan (image by Reading Tom, on Flickr, used under CC BY 2.0 Deed)

Back to deaths, and this historical crossing place between the mainland and Anglesey can be seen in all of its danger. Traeth Lafan could have been used as a crossing place by the brave, while the tide was out, but was also probably used by locals picking shellfish. Entries involving this dangerous area include, in 1769, 'Hugh Evans of Llanbed [probably Llanbedr y Cennin], found drown’d in Lavan Sands, buried 30^th October'; in 1797, 'William Lewis, and William Thomas two Mariners belonging to the Brig Sandwich of Amlwch, who were drowned on the Lavan Sands, and likewise Gwen Timothy, a Paſsenger on Board the same were buried. Octr 16^th'; in 1817, '‘Three Unfortunate People drowned on the Lavan Sands April 21 1817. Ellen Roberts, Crymlyn, April 24^th, age 56. Catherine Roberts, Crymlyn, April 24, aged 24. Sarah Williams, Crymlyn, April 26, aged 9.' It seems likely these would have been three generations of the same family, or a mother and two sisters far apart in age. A year later in 1818 there was 'Richard Hughes of Red Wharf whose Body was Discovered on the Lavan Sands, February 1^st'; in 1819 there was 'November 12, a young Man unknown who was drowned on the Sands opposite to Beaumaris'.

Drownings were not confined to the sands. In 1722 the burial is recorded of Jane ’vch Sion Prees of Henfaes, who was drowned in Ogwen River. In 1767 William Morgan, 'a stranger', was buried, having been found drowned in Aber river. An alternative record describes him as 'Man that Drop down in the River January the 4 1767'. Other deaths, presumably not involving drowning, include a harper from the Alms House (1769), Jane William Probert, a butcher woman (1725), and a seven month old 'infant and stranger' who was 'found on Wellington Field' (1818). 

Accidents caused a number of deaths, including Rowland Williams who fell from the shaft of a cart aged 23 in 1822; William Thomas, Ty’n y gerddi, ‘killed by the accidental Rolling of a Stone fro the Hill above Henffordd’ in 1825; Charlotte Kelly, 19, killed by the accidental discharge of a gun in 1826; Mary Griffith of Priddbwll, aged 50, burnt to death in 1862.

On 28^th April, 1884, Elias Roberts of Cwrtiau, aged 35, was buried, having fallen off the church tower at Penmaenmawr. The Carnarvon and Denbigh Herald for 2nd May is more forthcoming on this accident, telling us that Roberts was a stone-cutter working on the new tower being ercted at Penmaenmawr's St Seiriol's church. He suffered a scalp wound, spinal damage, and considerable bruising. He never regained consciousness, and died two days later. A single man, he was brought to his mother's home in Aber, from where he was buried.

 

The tower of St Seiriol's Church, Penmaenmawr (Photo by Meirion on Wikimedia, used under Creative Commons Attribution Share-alike license 2.0)

The building of the North Wales railway line brought a new kind of peril. This was built in the late 1840s to connect London to Holyhead, and so Dublin, and must have felt like a sea-change for life on the North Wales coast. The first death recorded in association with the railway was, tragically, a three and a half year old boy, Thomas Williams, of the Lon Pentre Du Crossing, who was ‘Knocked on the head by a passing Goods Train’ in 1875. This was followed by the death of Evan Jones of Bryn Gwylan in 1880.

In 1908 John Parry Jones of Henfaes Cottage, died aged 15, having jumped from a train. The Welsh Coast Pioneer and Review for North Cambria for 30th July tells us that the lad was a porter for the London and North-Western Railway Company, the son of a labourer. The train was scheduled to stop at Aber, but failed to make its stop. John Parry Jones opened the door and jumped out before others in the compartment realised what he was doing. One witness said that he seemed to hesitate for a second, and then slip. The communication cord was pulled but the train did not stop until it was near Tal y Bont, near Bangor, and no search was made for the victim. The inquest decided that he had been pulled from the train, travelling between 35-40 mph, by the suction of the wind, and 'a vote of sympathy was passed with the family.' The boy's body was not found until about half an hour after the accident, but it seems likely he would have died quickly, as 'one of the legs had been severed from the body. The right leg was cut off entirely above the knee, and he sustained other terrible injuries'.

Pentre Du Crossing was the locus for another series of interesting deaths with no clear explanation. The diligent record makers for Aber parish often noticed when the deceased were family, even with deaths some years apart, and the below list of siblings is rather fascinating for the young age of death with no other apparent connection.

1920: Gwyneth Roberts, Pentre Du Crossing, buried August 30^th, aged 20

1929: Ceinwen Roberts, Pentre Du Crossing, October 21^st, 1929, aged 21

1931: Emrys Charles Roberts, Pentre Du Crossing, May 28^th, 1931, aged 20

1931: Eluned Roberts, Pentre Du Crossing, September 10^th, 1931, aged 25

1932: Nellie Blodwen Jones, 3 Bron Cae, Llanfairfechan, buried January 6^th, 1932, aged 34

1933: Menai Vaughan, Pentre Du Crossing, buried July 25^th, 1933, aged 24.

It's unknown whether there was anything else to connect these sibling deaths, which must have been devastating for the family.

Other causes of death listed in the records include deaths on the mountain, and an outbreak of typhoid fever between 1866 and 1868 which killed nine in 1866, three in 1867, and two in 1868. Three people also died of cholera in 1866. Grace Rowlands died in 1829 of 'inflammation of the womb', aged 35. 1823 saw deaths from 'stone' and 'gravel'.

A few happier entries of interest are intermingled with the deaths. 1739 sees the marriage of Richard Hughes and Ann Roger. When Richard Hughes died in 1776 it was noted that, if he had lived until the 7th of June next, 'they would have lived together in the State of matrimoney for the Share of 37 years'. Anne Thomas of Ty'n Glon is also singled out for comment. She was born in December, 1696, and was found to be with child in November 1744, at 48 years of age. In 1738 it's noted that Hugh, the son of William Hughes, parish clerk, and Lowry his wife, was baptised. Lowry was 47 at the time, and her last child 15 years old. Hugh must have been quite a surprise after all that time.

All of these records are fascinating for showing us the perils and illnesses which threatened lives through the centuries, many of which are quite alien to our modern life. Other things persist; cancers, drownings, accidents on the railway. A number of Aber residents were buried from Denbigh Asylum, and although we may be more aware and tolerant of mental illness today, the resources for treatment are simply not present in the way we would like them to be. We can live much fuller lives today, thanks to vaccination, better hygiene, better safety regulations, and a socialist method of goverment, but ultimately there are some things we can't escape.