Dear Tom,
I visited Tranch in 1998 but unfortunately didn't photograph Ebenezer
Chapel. The relevant RCAHMW's Coflein database entry (NPRN 12947), last
updated this month, states:
----quote----
Ebenezer Independent Chapel was built in 1743, rebuilt in 1824, again in
1848 and improved in 1890. The present chapel, dated 1848, was designed by
architect Thomas Thomas of Landore and built by W.Davies of Rhymney. it is
built in the Vernacular style, with a gable entry plan rendered walls and
flat headed windows.
----------------
An internet search revealed a reference to the Prophet of Pontypool on page
149 of "Poets Pilgrimage" by W H Davies, Jonathan Cape, London, 1927 in the
chapter entitled 'A Valley of Industry':
-----quote---------
I only knew one thing about this town [Pontypool] and that was, that it was
once the home of Edmund Jones, called the Prophet of Pontypool.
He was a quaint old fellow, an Independent minister, and a great friend of
John Wesley. The way he made up for a poor salary was a very sensible and
excellent one. He used to send his servant on market days to market with a
big basket, and she used to stand at die [sic] entrance and cry in a loud
voice, 'Edmund Jones' servant,' Then one by one the good farmers' wives
would give a pat of butter, a Welsh cheese or a few eggs. When the basket
was full, the servant returned to her master. In those days great preachers
did not, as they do so often now, have calls from God to leave a poor flock
and serve a richer one.
----------------------
There is also an even briefer reference in "Witchcraft in C Flintshire" by J
Gwynn Williams, "Journal of Flintshire Historical Society" 1973-74 Vol 26,
pp 16-33:
-----quote----
William Griffith's repeated assertions that he had seen lights and candles
would not have occasioned much surprise in seventeenth-century Wales. In the
same year that Dorothy was suspected of witchcraft John Lewis of Glasgrug,
Cardiganshire, was writing to Richard Baxter, the Presbyterian divine, that
'. . . the strange and usual appearance of lights (called in Welch, dead
men's candles) before mortality, this is ordinary in most of our counties,
that I never scarce heard of any sort, young or old, but this is seen before
death and often observed to part from the very bodies of the persons, all
along the way to the place of burial, and infallibly death will ensue'. In a
further letter he said that 'I scarce know any Gentleman or Minister of
standing, but hath seen them.' In the next century Edmund Jones, 'the old
Prophet', of Pontypool, gave numerous examples of such appearances, of which
one must suffice:
These Corpse-Candles are sometimes seen elsewhere, for I myself saw one in
the Town of Wrexham in Denbighshire before the death of a lad in the
adjoining house where I lodged.
------------------------
Whether these are of any use to you, I don't know. Both sources are
available online.
Kind regards,
John
--------------------
John Ball, Brecon, Mid-Wales, UK
E-mail: john(a)jlb2011.co.uk
Website:
http://www.jlb2011.co.uk/
Images of Wales:
http://www.jlb2011.co.uk/walespic/
Welsh Family History Archive:
http://www.jlb2011.co.uk/wales/
GENUKI Breconshire Maintainer:
http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/wal/BRE/
Administrator - Powys (& BRE/MGY/RAD) RootsWeb mailing lists
Webmaster - Breconshire Local & Family History Society
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wlsblfhs/
-----Original Message-----
From: Thomas Roderick
Sent: Wednesday, August 24, 2011 12:40 PM
To: monmouthshire(a)rootsweb.com
Subject: [MON] Prophet of Pontypool, and Jayne Family
Does anyone know of published books or articles on the life of Edmund Jones,
the Prophet of Pontypool who lived in The Tranch near Pontypool. Any
information on The Tranch would also be very useful to me. He was aided by
John Jayne, a member of my family
His library was extant in the Ebenezer Chapel there about 15 years ago when
I visited, and his grave I recall is there. The Chapel may no longer be in
use, as there were only 6 or so attending service when we were there. The
singing was great!! as well as the hospitality of the minister and other
members of the congregation.
Thank you
Thomas Roderick
Bar Harbor, Maine USA
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