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THE DEAD HOUSE
Beaumaris became one of the three most important Saxon ports in the UK and the port of registration for all vessels in North West Wales covering not only every harbour on Anglesey but all the ports of North West Wales from from Conway to Pwllheli. Shipbuilding was a major industry in Beaumaris. This was centred on Gallows Point, a nearby spit of land extending into the Menai Straits about a mile west of the town. Gallows Point had originally been called "Osmund's Eyre" but was renamed when the town gallows were erected there, along with a "Dead House" for the corpses of criminals dispatched in public executions. Later, hangings were carried out at the town gaol and the bodies buried in a lime-pit within the curtilage of gaol. One of the last prisoners to hang at Beaumaris issued a curse before he died - decreeing that if he was innocent the four faces of the church clock would never show the same time. Since that day - it's claimed - they never have.
And from Merthyr Tydfil:
Cefn-Ffrwd is the largest Cemetery in the Borough with approximately 40 acres. In the nineteenth century burial was a huge problem here. In a hundred years Merthyr Tydfil grew from a Parish of just over 500 persons to the only large town in Wales with a population of over 50, 000 in 1850. During the 1849 cholera outbreak there were over 1,000 deaths in one month alone. Infant mortality was high and other diseases such as smallpox and TB were rife. Not all the chapels and churches had their own burial ground and the responsibility for burial lay with the Parish Authorities. In 1850 there were three Merthyr Tydfil Parish Burial Grounds, the Graveyard around St. Tydfil's Church, the Cemetery in Twynrodyn and the new so called 'cholera' Cemetery in Thomastown. Dowlais had two Parish cemeteries, St John's Church and a small cholera cemetery near the Works. This was a time when cremation was unheard of, and these soon became inadequate. The Board of Health, founded in 1850,
took advantage of a new Act of 1852, which empowered them to set up Cemeteries and leased land in Breconshire to set up a new Cemetery. The Cemetery was managed by the Burial Board. The first burial took place on the 16th April 1859. The Ffrwd portion of the Cemetery was added in 1905, the first burial being on November 20th, 1905. Average burials in the nineteenth century were around 400 annually. In 1878 the son of one of the gravediggers set fire to the 'dead-house/ of the Cefn Cemetery and a report of the 21st of December 1878 described the 'unseemly behaviour' of children frequently climbing about the monuments of the Cemetery. In 1902 when the road to Cardiff was widened a large section of the St Tydfil Graveyard was removed and the 'remains' were moved to Cefn Coed Cemetery. Those reburied included Charles Wood, who erected the first furnaces at Cyfarthfa.
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| Author: Mona Everett |
Contributed by admin on 4th, Apr, 2008
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Hearth Tax
The first Act imposing 'Hearth Money' came into force on 19 May, 1662, and the first collection was made at the following Michaelmas. It was managed by county and county borough authorities, and only taxable hearths were listed. The tax was levied upon all houses 'which are not worth in yearly value below Twenty Shillings and are not inhabited by Almsmen', and was two shillings per annum for each hearth or stove, collected in half-yearly instalments at Michaelmas and Lady Day. Persons exempted were: those who paid neither Church nor Poor Rate; those inhabiting a house worth less than £1 per year, if they did not have any other property exceeding that value, nor an annual income of more than £10; charitable institutions, e.g. hospitals, almshouses and free schools; and industrial hearths, except for bakers' ovens and smiths' forges. The tax was payable by the occupier, not the landlord, and was assessed on the occupier's ability to pay. Attempted evasion of payment was punished by a prison sentence of up to one month.
In 1663 The First Revising Act of July laid down that from Michaelmas all hearths were to be included in the returns, including those that were exempt from the tax.
In 1664 the Ladyday assessment contains more non-chargeable hearths than those of other dates and years.
By the Second Revising Act, of May all who had more than two chimneys had to pay the tax. Landlords with poor tenants had to pay their tax for them. If a stopped-up chimney was discovered, it was charged double. From Michaelmas 1664 until Michaelmas 1665 the collection was managed by Receivers appointed by the Treasury.
In 1666 the collection of the Lady Day assessment was made by sub-farmers acting as Receivers. From Michaelmas the tax was farmed on contract
1669 The Treasury Receivers took over again. Most Receivers managed two or three counties.
1674-84 The collection was farmed out again.
1684-89 Collection was managed by a Commission appointed by the Treasury.
1689 The tax was abolished by William III as 'a great oppression to the poorer sort', and also because it allowed every man's house to be entered and searched by persons unknown. Also, the tax had never raised as much revenue as had been estimated.
The last collection was for Lady Day of 1689.
The Hearth Tax Records consist of: the original Assessments, of which very few survive; the Payment Accounts from the collection areas; the Exchequer Duplicates of the assessments, more complete and legible than the originals and the most useful source; the Schedules of Arrears; Exemption Certificates and Miscellaneous Others.
Some county record offices, including Devon, Kent, Essex, Lancashire, Lincolnshire (Kesteven and Lincoln only), Middlesex, Warwickshire and Westmorland, have Class I (Assessments), and some of the other Classes. Classes 2-6 are among the Exchequer Records at the Public Record Office. The payment accounts are under reference E 360 but do not contain names. The other records are under reference E 179. During the farmed periods of 1666-9 and 167484, and the Commission of 1684-9, no lists of names were returned to the government, so Hearth Tax lists in the PRO exist only for Michaelmas 1662 to Ladv Day 1666 and Michaelmas 1669 to Ladv Day 1674. Of these, the one for Lady Day 1664, is considered the fullest. The lists provide a useful location record for the whereabouts of families within a county during the region of Charles 11. Printed lists are available for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Dorset, Essex, Isle of Wight, Norfolk, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Shropshire, Somerset, Staffordshire, Suffolk, Surrey and Warwickshire.
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| Author: Site Admin |
Contributed by admin on 4th, Apr, 2008
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Methodists
The Methodist movement began in 1738, when John and Charles Wesley set out to revive a sense of spirituality and inner holiness in worship. At first, they preached to church congregations and religious societies; then their followers formed themselves into 'societies' and met at members' houses. In 1739, George Whitefield, an associate of the Wesley brothers when they were at Oxford, began to preach in the open air, and the Wesley’s followed his example. They accepted the nickname 'Methodist', which had been mockingly bestowed upon them at Oxford. Although they remained members of the established church, they built supplementary preaching-houses (Wesley) and tabernacles (Whitefield), and these became grouped into Circuits under a Circuit Chapel.
In 1741 the followers of Whitefield, who were Calvinists and believed in predestination to heaven or hell, separated from those of the Wesley’s, who were Arminian and held that salvation was open to all true believers. During the eighteenth century both sects continued to be called Methodists. Wesley travelled the whole country and his following grew greatly. In 1778, Wesley's Chapel in City Road, London, was founded, with its own graveyard and burial register. By 1784, Methodist clergy were being barred from Anglican churches, so they invoked the Toleration Act and became, officially, Dissenters. From then on they took less care to arrange their meetings at times that did not conflict with Church of England services, but the baptisms of their children were still performed and registered in church.
Charles Wesley died in 1788 and John Wesley in 1791. The movement continued to grow but, in the following decades, it was subject to an almost constant state of change, as a succession of sub-denominations developed and split off from the main body. In 1797 a sect called the Methodist New Connexion was founded. It gave its laity more control over its affairs, and by 1837 it had thirty circuits, each with its own register.
In 1807, a small group called the Independent, or Quaker, Methodists left the main body, and in the following year the followers of Hugh Bourne were expelled from the Burslem Circuit and built their first chapel at Tunstall. In 1812 they adopted the name of Primitive Methodists and expanded, especially in the industrial towns of the north. Three years later, the Bible Christians (O'Bryanites) broke away in the southwestern area of England. In 1818 a Metropolitan Wesleyan Registry of Births and Baptisms was begun in London, from duplicate certificates sent in by the circuits.
The movement continued to divide. In 1827 the Protestant Methodists became a separate body, wanting more rights for ordinary members against the Annual Methodist Conference. In 1833, the Independent Methodists took the name of the United Churches of Christ, and in 1836 the Wesleyan Methodist Association was formed, with the same aim of lay members' rights.
In 1837, the Methodists obeyed the call to deposit their registers with the General Registrar. They sent 856, of which the oldest is one of 1738 in London. However, a higher proportion of Methodist registers escaped deposit than was the case with other denominations, though some have since gone to county record offices.
1932 saw the Wesleyan Methodists, Primitive Methodists and the United Methodist Church combined to form the Methodist Church.
Baptismal registers belonged to circuits and were originally stored in the circuit chapel, but circuits sometimes altered their borders, so a genealogist should be ready to search neighbouring circuits' registers. Also, the circuit boundaries of the various sects were not the same. Burial registers are rare, and membership rolls are scattered among various collections. From 1778 onward, the various sects issued magazines which contain biographies, death notices and obituaries. An index to those of 1778-1839 has been published in Volume 9 of the Proceedings of the Wesley History Society (founded 1897).
The largest deposits of registers are at the Public Record Office and can be viewed on microfilm at the Family Records Centre under references RG 4/4677-80, RG 5/162-207, and RG 8; others are in county record offices. The Methodist Archives and Research Centre, John Rylands Library, Deansgate, Manchester M3 3EH, have much other historical material, including the Minutes of Conference containing biographies of ministers. The Superintendent ministers of Circuits still have a number of registers and some eighteenth-century membership rolls, but sometimes depute local ministers to house them.
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| Author: Site Admin |
Contributed by admin on 4th, Apr, 2008
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Llantwit Road Neath
A feasstive tea was heldat llantwit Road Neath, on Saturday last. The proceedings were opened by Alderman Len Burton. J.P. and Mrs Burton. The adults recieved their tea following the childrenand the fare provided was first class .
Mrs Len Burton was presented by one of the oldest residents Mrs Scott who also presented Mrs Morgan, the oldest resident with a bouquet. Mrs Morgan is 82 years of age. The festive cake given by Mrs davies , 2 Llantwit Road was cut by Mrs Morgan. The street carnival was most attractive and everyone entered into the spirit of the ceklebration. It was headed by Resolven Girls Gipsy band Followed by the Ex Servicens band.
The festival Queen was Jean Tooze, and her attendants were Anita John, Ann Shute, Mair Payne and Valerie Bromage. The fairy Queen was Mairwen Thomas and her attendants, Maureen Jones, Loraine Hughes, Pat Pearn and Rita Clark.
An excellent program was given including fine Welsh singing and dancing, until midnight. The compere for the evening was Mr T. Thomas, Llantwit Road. The street was decorated and flood lit. The organisers were Mrs Broom Glebe House; Mrs Haberfield, Mrs Shute, Mrs morgan, and a willing band of helpers. All surplus funds were shared between the children for a treat at Neath Fair
Neath Guardian Sept 14 1951
I remember this carnaval aged 5 dressed up as Little Bo Peep and following a lorry which they sat me on half way around the prossesinal walk . The things which stick in my mind of that day was Mrs Tooze being dressed up as Wee Willy Winky in a long white gown with a pointed hat and carrying a chamber pot. and seeing men dressed up in white as the ku Klux Clan on horse back. but i dont remember eating the tea !! My father was compere for the night.
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| Author: Althea John |
Contributed by admin on 4th, Apr, 2008
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