Hi Bryn,
I am sorry to be so slow in replying, I have been travelling for nearly
three weeks and returned home to several 'housekeeping' problems.
Thank you very much for your explanation of the parish & civic boundaries
in the area between Llanrhaeadr ym Mochnant and Pennant Melangell. There
seems to be much confusion about it and I must admit that I am still not
clear about the position of the various parish & civic boundaries and
whether or not they have changed over time.
My OS map shows 'Garthgelynen fawr' as a building located at about
SJ099251. I had presumed this is a farm and now you say it is also the name
of a township in the parish of Pennant Melangell, which my map shows about
5 miles west at SJ024265. My map also shows the name 'Pennant' directly
below the Garthgelynen fawr farm and above the name 'Tanat Valley' which is
superimposed over the river. From what you say, this Pennant must represent
the parish of Pennant Melangell extending eastwards almost up to
Llanrhaeadr ym Mochnant. This explains my ancestor's will : St Asaph
Probate, SA1799/118 : "I Thomas Francis of Cefncoch in the parish of
Pennant do make this my last Will and Testament" My map shows 'Cefn
Coch' at about SJ106263, less than 1 mile west of Llanrhaeadr ym Mochnant
and I couldn't understand how Thomas Francis with all his FRANCIS family
parish register connections in Llanrhaeadr, could make this statement. I
had assumed that Llanrhaeadr, sitting on the border, which follows the
river Rhaeadr between the counties of Denbigh and Montgomery, is a parish
that straddled the county border, lying in both counties. Now I suspect
from what you and the Thomas Francis will says, that the parish of Pennant
(Melangell) reaches right up to the county border at the afon Rhaeadr.
However, because so many Pennant parishioners attended Llanrhaeadr ym
Mochnant parish church, this seems to have given the vague impression of
two parts to the parish of Llanrhaeadr, as for example, on Bill Barker's CD
'Families of Montgomeryshire'.
It's wonderful that the Montgomeryshire Genealogical Society is
transcribing the parish registers for Pennant Melangell. It is my ambition
to visit the area as soon as I can. It was really exciting to see my
ancestor's shaky signature on the Bishop's transcripts. I'd love to get a
photo of it. I wonder if your transcription will become available to the
public or is their sale limited to members? I visited the farm 'Cadnant' a
couple of years ago and was royally entertained by the current residents.
The apparent age of the various farm buildings was mind-boggling. Have
there been studies made of any of these farms? The residents spoke about a
possible connection between Cadnant and some elderly ROBERTS ladies, local
historians, living in Penbontfawr.
Once again, thank you very much for your information about Pennant parish.
Cheers, Tony in White Rock, BC
-------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 26 Oct 2004 19:24:44 +0100
From: Bryn Ellis <Bryn(a)helygain.freeserve.co.uk>
Subject: Re: [POWYS] birthplace - Pennant
X-Mailing-List: <POWYS-L(a)rootsweb.com> archive/latest/14047
Garthgelynen Fawr was a township within the parish of Pennant [Melangell].
It was however geographically located much nearer the church at
Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochant and many/most would go there rather than the
considerable distance to Pennant [Melangell] Church which is in a very
remote (and beautiful) valley to the west. There is only one Pennant, a
sprawling scattered parish [I am part of a team transcribing its registers
for publication by the Montgomeryshire Genealogical Society]. The confusion
about there being two arises I think from the building of a second church
[St. Thomas] within Garthgelynen Fawr, at the village of Penybontfawr in the
1850s - to serve these folk rather than have them going to Llanrhaeadr. Both
the farms of Cadnant and Garthgelynen fawr are about half a mile to the
north and north-east respectively of St. Thomas' Church.
Hope this helps!
Bryn Ellis