Thank you, Clive, for your excellent idea and clear instructions! I was
able to see "smithy" on the map - which I assume was where Evan JONES
had his smithy. (today there is nothing there, but it does look like
there are old foundations there.
It would be interesting to know when the PO was set up in Bettws near
the smithy. If it was in the 1870s, then this could certainly have been
the (Red) Lion.
In his will Evan JONES left the public house and smithy to his wife for
her lifetime and then to his son John JONES in Australia on the
condition that he returned from Australia (I don't know if it did, but I
presume not) If he didn't return, then it was to go to the grandson
Thomas MORGAN. Evan's wife Mary JONES died in 1873 (being an 80-year-old
blind innkeeper in the 1871 census) - so the 1886 map was not much later
at all.
In the 1881 census in Bettws, the buildings/addresses in one part =
...White House, National School being built, Bettws Hall, Blacksmiths
House, Post Office, New Inn, Malthouse Cottage.... Interestingly, the
Blacksmiths House was uninhabited, seeming to confirm that John JONES
did not return from Australia.
regards, Pamela
On 25/02/2013 4:25 p.m., Clive Gardener wrote:
Hi Pamela
If you go to Old Maps:
http://www.old-maps.co.uk/maps.html and put
'Bettws' into the search box, this will take you to a list, where you should
select 'Bettws Cedewain, Montogomeryshire' (sic - sp: Montgomeryshire and
'Cedewain' is spelt 'Caedewen' on the actual map). If you then select
the
1886 1:2,500 Montgomeryshire Ordnance Survey map (centre on 'Bettws Bridge'
for the clearest coverage), you should be able to find the Post Office and
Smithy marked in close proximity to each other. Then I would suggest calling
up a modern map via Google maps to make a current comparison.
Later maps show the Post Office further away - at or by the Talbot P.H.. The
Smithy also changes position on subsequent maps. However, 1886 is not too
far away from when the will was made and because of the close proximity of
the two properties I should think that these are the actual ones referred to
in the will.
If you centre the map to the northwest of the village, halfway towards
Tregynon, then you should be able to pick up 'Ffridd-wen'. Could this be the
farm 'Freed'?
Having said all this, there may well be other people on the Powys list who
actually know the village through their own research and can tell you a
little more. The odds are there won't be anyone around locally who actually
knows what the place looked like during the mid-19th century, because of the
way people move around these days - losing the connection with past
generations.
Best regards
Clive Gardener
www.secret-bottletop.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Pamela Griffiths" <pamelag(a)orcon.net.nz>
To: <powys(a)rootsweb.com>
Sent: Sunday, February 24, 2013 10:40 PM
Subject: [POWYS] MGY Red Lion Inn at Bettws Cedewain
> Hi
>
> I'd like help in locating the Red Lion inn in Bettws village. I know
> it's not still operating but is the building still standing? I read an
> undated article that said it became the post office and general store -
> but I don't know if that is current now, and I also don't know where the
> PO is. I'd like to be able to locate it and see it on google maps.
>
> In the will of Evan JONES, blacksmith and innkeeper, (written 1864,
> d.1866) it says "...all that my Public House called the Red Lion with
> the Smithy, Stabling, and appurtenances thereto belonging situate in the
> Village of Bettws..." Was the smithy attached/next to the inn? I see
> there is a building called "Old Smithy" in Bettws village, would this
> have been his smithy?
>
> regards, Pamela
> ===================
> Visit the Powys Mailing List webpage at:
www.jlb2011.co.uk/powyslist.htm
>
> -------------------------------
> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to
> POWYS-request(a)rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes
> in the subject and the body of the message
===================
Visit the Powys Mailing List webpage at:
www.jlb2011.co.uk/powyslist.htm
-------------------------------
To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to POWYS-request(a)rootsweb.com with the
word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message