Dear Jim,
From the online catalogue of the National Library (give it a go at
llgc.org.uk):
NLW MS 371-B.
Register of Mynyddbach Chapel, Llandilo. (Capel Isaac written in pencil)
Williams MS 573. Paper. 204 x 154. 142 pp. Calf. 18th cent. Welsh and
English.
The first 38 pages of this MS were apparently written by various members of
the Christmas family. On p. 9 we find David Christmas his Book July 21,
1822. Bout at Llandilo 1822, on p, 27, David Christmas was married with
Jemeima his wife on the first day of June, it was on Wednesday 1808; then
follow the names of their children. The rest of the MS is the Register of
Mynydd-bach Chapel, and possibly the first 38 pages were sewn with the
latter portion when the book came into the possession of D. Christmas. The
Register is a valuable document, and is numbered in folios.
f. 1. A Form of Testimonial written by John Harries in 1737. f. 2. Enweu
rhai o aulodeu Eglwys Jesu Grist, oedd yn cyfaneddu yn agos i Mynydd bach,
ymhlwydd Llandilo a Llanvynyth yn amser turnasssiad Charles r Ail, o
boitur flwyddyn o oidran ein Harglwydd 1650, ac yn cyfarfod y addoli Duw yn
nhy William Phillip y gôf, ymhlwydd Llandilo lle a elwyr y (bryn melin).
f. 2b. A similar list for 1715, when the book was commenced. The names of
the members in the parishes of Llandilo, Llanfynydd, Llangathen,
Llanddeusant, Llansawel and Llanfihangel Rhos y Corn are given separately.
f. 5. Names of infants baptized from April 3rd, 1715.
f. 6b. Names of the members received at Mynydd bach and Abergorlech, since
1724 by Rev. John Harries.
f. 10. Names of Members at Mynydd bach and Abergorlech and date of their
respective deaths from 1721.
f. 14. Infants baptized by J. Harries.
f. 17. The Proffession of Thomas William, dated Aug. 1, 1735. f. 18b. The
Proffesion of faith that John Harries made and delivered upon his ordination
at Pant Teg.
f. 21b. The names of Revolters that revolted from ye Church of Christ
ordinarily meeting at Mynydd Bach and Abergorlech.
f. 24. A true account of money collected at Mynydd Bach and Abergorlech
towards ye relief of poor and indigent persons, &c.
f. 27b. An account of Christmas David who died July 3, 1742.
f. 30-32b. Baptisms.
f. 33-35. Deaths.
I am not at all sure if the above are "yours" but it goes to show how the
surname "Christmas" in a later generation was from an antecedent called
"Christmas David". Have you read any articles on the way Welsh surnames
developed? This is a South Wales Christmas family, btw.
If it proves difficult to find Christmas in the censuses available online,
you might try his children. Walter being a relatively rare name might be
one to try.
You might flick through search engines like Denbighshire Record Office and
Gwynedd Archives available online (Google them!).
Ian
Kennington
London UK
Hello Ian and Jim
Thank you for this interesting email, Ian.
I'm beginning to wish that Christmas Griffiths was mine, but I'm stuck with
the JONESes!
I've been looking at all the censuses for Christmas and last night found 34
GRIFFITHS persons with the forename or second name of Christmas all over
Wales and England. I was wondering if it was actually a name that people of
GRIFFITHS surname had adopted as theirs. A lot of the females in the
families seem to have the initial C for their middle name also. I have
noticed it is common in Wales to give females 'apparantly male' middle
names. My family are a mixture of JONES and ELLIS and a lot of the females
have Ellis as a middle name.
Anyway, good luck to Jim with the Christmas name.
Lorna.
-----Original Message-----
From: I Thompson [mailto:joscyn@hotmail.com]
Sent: Monday, 31 October 2005 2:31 AM
To: WLS-GWYNEDD-L(a)rootsweb.com
Subject: [GWYNEDD] Christmas Griffiths
Dear Jim,
>From the online catalogue of the National Library (give it a go at
llgc.org.uk):
...