An Inheritance in Llandovery.

One of the intriguing aspects of William Price Tyllwyn's will is the revelation that he owned property in Llandovery. This is almost certainly what qualified him as a freeholder and the style Gent. and hence to have the right to vote.

A detailed history of many of the properties in Llandovery town was written and published by the Llandovery Civic Trust as “Pages from the history of Llandovery” by Alfred Theodore Arber-Cooke in two volumes (1975 and reprint 1994). Arber-Cooke was the town clerk of Llandovery and had access to many historical records. This source, particularly Vol. 2, proved invaluable in many respects. The Appendix Notes of Vol. 2 actually contains a pedigree for William Price (although not correct in every detail). Mr. Arber-Cooke's detailed descriptions and histories of several Llandovery properties were particularly revealing. In the following paragraphs and subsequent posts I have quoted from Vol.2

Arber-Cooke's Pedigree of William Price

In his notes with reference to the Half Moon in Stone St., A-C writes “A pedigree of this branch of the Price family is printed here. It does not show how David Price of Glasallt was related to this family - he may have been another son of William Price of Tynyllwyn but was not baptised at Myddfai with the rest of William's children.”  (PFHL Vol2 p. 451)

(In fact A-C is correct that David Price of Glasallt does not appear in the parish register. For some reason the register page for 1755 has been (literally) cut short and the last baptismal entry is for 12 Oct 1755. However the Myddfai Bishop's Transcript for 1855 has the entry for 26 Oct 1755 - David son of William Price and Margaret. The fact that David was indeed one of William's sons is also confirmed by William's will and by a draft bond drawn up by his brother John which also identifies him as David Price of Glasallt Fawr. It is further confirmed by another son - Morgan Price's will of 1804 which mentions his brother David.)

A-C continues, “Neither does it show the link between this branch and that once headed by Thomas Price of Llandovery, mercer (d. 1796) who held another group of Stone Street properties. The Price properties had evidently constituted a single block, the sites of the present Nos. 30 - 52. One moiety [share], now represented by Nos. 30 - 36, descended to William Price of Tynyllwyn. The other, where Nos. 38 - 52 now stand, came into the possession of John Rolley of Nantymwyn, probably when he married Rachel, daughter of Thomas Price, in 1779. This moiety is later found in the hands of one of Rachel's nephews, Samuel Price, Postmaster. Rachel and several other children of Thomas Price was baptised at Myddfai.”  This is an intriguing speculation based on information which I have not been able to trace. A-C gives no details of the source of his information regarding the legacies of the Stone Street properties and in spite of some research no will has been found. There may be some clues in the deeds of the relevant properties but access to this sort of information is difficult if not impossible. More information regarding Thomas Price, mercer, John Rollwy etc. will be provided in a later post.

 

The Pedigree

The pedigree provided for William Price Tynyllwyn is incomplete (it was almost certainly not intended to be complete) but it is also understandably inaccurate. Apart from the omission of David, the children are all shown. However, William Price Tynllwyn's son William (identified by A-C as William Price of Mothvey b. 1758 and hereafter identified by the same title for the sake of clarity) is shown as married to Magdalen who, in fact was his father's second wife. William of Mothvey was actually married to Elizabeth William at MPC in 1783 but died comparatively young in 1797 thus predeceasing his father. A-C correctly identifies William Price of Pentreoyn (Pentwyn) as the son of William Price of Mothvey.

Jane, the eldest daughter of William Tynllwyn (bp. 1750) is assumed by A-C to have married Benjamin Davies 3 May 1771 - this being the only marriage recorded for a Jane Price at Myddfai and she would have been of an appropriate age. However, at the time of William's will she was married to Rees John of Llanthoysant and at this time she had nine children. Some further research is required to clear this matter up but it is made difficult by the fact that most of the Llanddeusant Parish Records do not survive apart from the Bishop’s Transcripts.

Leaving aside the pedigree, A-C has painstakingly researched much of the history of individual properties in Llandovery and some relevant extracts are reproduced in the next post.

Notes: Mothvey is an old form of Myddfai. Llanthoysant is an old form of Llanddeusant (Church of Two Saints) a parish bordering Myddfai to the North West

Some Welsh meanings - Tynyllwyn = House in the Grove. Pentwyn - top of the mound.

William Price's Family and My Family Line



Tynllwyn with Mynydd Myddfai (aka Mynydd Bach) in background.

Before diving into more detail about William Price Tynllwyn it would be helpful to describe his immediate family and then also to outline my family line from Wiliam Price in order to make subsequent family posts easier to follow.
William was married twice but all of his children were born during his marriage to his first wife, Margaret who died in 1777. Two years later in 1799 William married Magdalene Rees (aka Maud or Maudlin) who survived him by some 5 years.
William and Margaret's children were:

• Rev. John Price B.A. baptised 1749 - curate then vicar of Myddfai.
• Jane Price baptised 1750 married to Rees John of Llanddeusant.
• Morgan Price Nantygweision and Trawsllwynddu baptised 1753 farmer and freeholder.
• David Price Glasallt Fawr baptised 1755 farmer and freeholder.
• William Price of Myddfai baptised 1758 predeceased his father in 1797.
• Elizabeth Price baptised 1759 married to Evan Morgan of Myddfai

More details for each of the above and their children will be given in future posts devoted to each of William's children and their descendants.

My Family Line

My family line descends from William's second son Morgan Price. These are the families that I will describe first.

Morgan Price of Nantygweision (1753 - 1805) through his son
William Price (1780 - 1823) of Trawsllwynddu and Trichwmmwl, through his son
Morgan Price (1819 - 1863) and his son
David Price Pantyffordd (1848 - 1916) and his daughter
Anne Price, Pantyffordd (1887 - 1969) married David Jones, Tyleglas and their daughter
Elizabeth Jones (1915 - 1994) (my mother)

But before we descend too quickly it is worthwhile learning what we can of this interesting character, William Price Tynllwyn because we are fortunate enough to have not only a detailed will but also much intriguing information from other sources.

The will of William Price Tynllwyn Myddfai

(A précis of the will is given here, noting the important points.) The will itself can be seen online at the National Library of Wales web site - here

William Price of Twynyllwyn (sic) in the parish of Mothvey 1 July 1799

It begins

"This is the last will and testament of me William Price of the parish of Mothvey in the county of Carmarthen, farmer."

"I give and devise all that my messuage or dwelling place and garden situate in the town of Llandovery in the county of Carmarthen unto my son Reverend John Price, Clerk, his heirs and assigns forever."

[This section on property is very general and it is possible that William had already conveyed some Llandovery property to his sons before his death.]

To his children, the Rev. John Price, Clerk; David Price; Morgan Price and Jane the wife of Rees John the sum of £5 each. To his son in law, Evan Morgan [husband of Elizabeth] he also bequeaths £5.

To his grandson John, the son of Evan Morgan “who now lives with me", the sum of £15.

These monetary legacies (totalling £35) he wills to be paid twelve months after His wife Magdalen's death if money he has on mortgage of Evan Morgan's estate is then due and payable. If not then it should be paid as soon as the amount is due and payment made, together with interest at the rate of 4.5% chargeable on the mortgaged amount dated from the time of her death.

To his beloved wife Magdalen he leaves £10 and an annuity of £10 to be paid quarterly by his executor. He also leaves her all the goods and furniture that he received from her at their marriage. He also gives her one cow of her choosing from his stock, one teal of wheat, one teal of pilcorn, all the wool in the house at the time of his decease and five cheeses of her choice. He also gives her the use of the parlour at Twynyllwyn (sic) and the garden called the Upper Garden for her enjoyment for the rest of her life or until the lease on Tynllwyn runs out for an annual rent of sixteen shillings. He also gives her the keep of a cow during the summer months with his son John's cattle and room to keep the cow during winter for an annual rent of one guinea.

He leaves the sum of £60 to his sons David and John with the instruction that they or their executors or administrators are to pay the interest on this sum directly to his daughter Elizabeth annually for the rest of her life and after her decease the sum is to be divided equally among her children. The terms are "for the term of her natural life to be taken by her and received for her own sole and separate use without being in any wise liable to the control, debts or engagements of her said husband and her receipt notwithstanding her coverture to be the only sufficient discharge or aquittance for the same" [See my comments below]

He then bequeaths the sum of £5 to each of his grandchildren then living -

• 4 children of John


• 11 children of David


• 9 children of Morgan


• 4 children of his late son William


• 9 children of his daughter Jane


• 3 children of his daughter Elizabeth 

Then follow some individual bequests of particular items all of which are to be delivered to the individuals concerned on his decease.

• To his son Morgan his clock and case.


• To his grandson William, son of Morgan, one cupboard bedstead.


• To his grandson William, the son of David, his large iron pot.


• To his grandson John, son of John, "the cupboard that stands in the kitchen in the house I now live in."

All the residue of his estate and personal possessions he leaves to his son John, who he names as his sole executor.

There is a legal clause clarifying the entitlement of Magdalen to the annuity and the rights she had as a wife to William's estate).

The will is witnessed by William Bowen of Cwmydw and William Morgan of Bailyglace [sic] also by William writer to Mr E Jones, Llandovery [Edward Jones, the Llandovery solicitor.]

The will was dated 1 Jul 1799. William died later that month and was buried on 24 Jul 1799 at Myddfai Parish Church.

His son John proved his will on 16 Dec 1799 and its estimated value at probate was £450.

Notes.

There are two copies of the will at the National Library of Wales. The one held in the wills archive (SD 1799/209) is by far the clearer. The one in the DTM Jones collection (2884) is probably a draft or copy and is in a smaller hand and slightly more difficult to read. The DTM Jones copy is accompanied by three bonds and a draft (2885 – 2888). The bonds were drawn up in order to indemnify the Rev. John Price for any further claim upon him as executor of his father William Price’s will, having paid in full to David Price Glasallt Fawr, farmer (2885-6), Morgan Price, farmer (2887) and Rees John of Llanthoysant (2888) the bequests intended for their children – the responsibility for passing on the bequests to the children at age 21 thus was passed on to them or their executors. It is unclear whether the bonds were executed – none of them appear to be signed. The Rees John bond has only been started and consists of the opening paragraph only so it seems that in the event the bonds were never executed.

The will gives us a very solid starting point from which to start researching the family history since it names all of William and Margaret's children and also the numbers of grandchildren in each family at 1799 and the names of a few of them.

It would appear that William had concerns for the welfare of his younger daughter Elizabeth since he makes special provision for her through two of his sons, John and David, making it very clear that the money is to be paid to her directly irrespective of the financial state of her husband Evan Morgan. We note that Evan Morgan had borrowed money from his father in law in the form of a mortgage on his estate and that the debt was still outstanding. It seems likely that this Evan Morgan only survived William by less than a year being buried at MPC 21 Jun 1800. Elizabeth was 38 in 1799 and possibly not in good health because she died less than three years later and was buried at MPC on 21 May 1802 - see family reconstruction for Evan Morgan.

Morgan Price, farmer of Nantygweision and Drainllwynddu (also better known as Trawsllwynddu) survived his father by less than six years being buried at MPC 1 Mar 1805 just short of his 52nd birthday. It is through Morgan that my mother’s family line descends.

John Price, who was curate of Myddfai in 1799 at the time of his father’s death, became vicar in 1801. He died and was buried 24 Nov. 1819 MPC aged 70.

David Price, farmer of Glasallt Fawr and Llwynifanfeddyg died and was buried 29 Nov 1837 at MPC aged 83.

John, probably the eldest son of Rev. John Price died and was buried 24 Feb 1804. His baptism is not recorded at Myddfai and it may be that he was born prior to his father moving to and becoming curate of Mothvey in 1785 in which case he would be about the age of 20.

William, eldest son of Morgan Price was 19 at the time of his grandfather's death.

William, David Price's eldest son was 21 and was married 5 days after his grandfather's funeral.

William Morgan, Bailyglas – one of the witnesses to the will was in fact related to William by marriage. His sister Elizabeth had married William Tynllwyn's son William ("my late son") who had died in 1797.

William Price Tynllwyn Myddfai Gent.

William Price Tynllwyn, Myddfai, Gent. is the earliest member of the Price family that can be identified with confidence. Although there are many details of his life that are still obscure, there is enough detail about him to make him much more than a mere name on a register. Importantly, he left a detailed will which names all his children surviving in 1799 and also gives the numbers of grandchildren in each of his offspring's families. This will is the basis for all the family reconstructions that follow and it is a key source not only for actual data but also for a flavour of rural life at that time. (The will can be seen at the National Library of Wales together with a copy of the will and three bonds that accompany it in the DTM Jones Collection - also at the NLW). See this post for details of the will.

There is no detail about where and when he was born, although there is circumstantial evidence to suggest that he was from the Llandovery area. The name Price of course comes from the Welsh form “ap Rees/Rhys” (son of Rees) and since the patronymic naming system was common at this time he could have been named William ap Rees ** (where ** could be any other name). Other clues might lie in the naming of his children since it was traditional at this time to name children after paternal grandparents and then maternal grandparents. William's first boys were John and Morgan and the girls were Jane and Elizabeth (names which continued to be common in further generations of the family). 

William married twice. No positive record of his first marriage to Margaret has yet been found unless it be that recorded at Llandingat (the main parish church of Llandovery) on 8 Sep 1744 "(P)rees William and Margaret Thomas were married by banns". The only positive thing we can say is that the marriage must have taken place around 1747 or earlier (the date when his first son John was baptised at St. Michael's, the Myddfai Parish Church). The Parish Register records the baptisms of the remaining children - Jane (1750), Morgan (1753), David (1755), William (1758) and Elizabeth (1761).

His date of birth is also a mystery. The Myddfai parish baptismal records in the early part of the 18^th century are difficult to read but even a close examination has yield no clue. Surprisingly he has no memorial at St. Michael’s church Myddfai (if there was one it hasn’t survived). We have no age given in the Parish Records at the time of his death on 24 July 1799. If we assume that he was about 20 at the date of his marriage to Margaret then he would have been born around 1725 which would make him around 75 at the time of his death.

Margaret, William’s first wife and mother of all his children died in 1777 and in 1779 William married a second time by license at Myddfai Parish Church (MPC). His second wife's name was Magdalen Rees. She appears to have been a native of Myddfai and a possible candidate from the Parish Records is "Magdalen d/o Rees Thomas Lewis and Elizabeth bp. 29 Jan 1733" at MPC. This would make her 46 at the time of her marriage and about 71 at the time of her death in 1804.

William is styled Gent. in the parish records and also ‘freeholder’. This meant that he owned some freehold property and was entitled to vote in county elections. This together with the fact that he was literate and was able to send his eldest son to be educated at Oxford implies that he was a man of some substance and this is confirmed by further evidence including his will.

In order to distinguish him from later Prices of the same name I have called him William Price Tynllwyn, where he lived for at least the latter part of his life. In fact he did not own Tynllwyn farm - the 1779 Land Tax Assessment shows that the owner was a Mrs Owens and the occupier was William Price - so he obviously leased the farm and this is also confirmed in his will. However it is worth noting that the tax assessed (£1-7s-0d) indicates that Tynllwyn was a considerable property, this being the highest amount levied in the Myddfai Upper Division. William’s leasehold of Tynllwyn is confirmed by his will which bequeathed the remainder of the lease of Tynllwyn to his son Rev. John Price who lived there until his death in 1819. In turn the lease succeeded for a short time to his son Edward until presumably it expired.

William’s will, which was executed following his death in 1799, was valued at £450 - a considerable sum for the time (£15k - £20k in today’s terms). It is also possible that he had conveyed some of his property and wealth to his surviving sons before his death. The will is a valuable resource for much that follows and so the next post describes it in detail.

Final Thoughts before getting down to the Nitty Gritty

What sort of people were they?

Well, there's no point in beating about the bush! Of fame and fortune there is little although there is evidence that some of the early Prices may have been comparatively well off as freeholders and there are tantalising hints that William Price (the earliest Price we can identify with certainty) was a part heir to a considerable estate. Generally, most of them were hard working farm labourers, shepherds, council road men with some of them managing to farm for a while on their own account.

How far back can we go?

This is always one of the first questions that I'm asked and when I say that I can trace my mother’s ancestry back to around the middle of the 18th century, most people are not that impressed. In fact it's around four to five generations to the birth of the earliest member around 1720. But just consider that the Napoleonic Wars lasted from 1803 to 1815 and Nelson's victory at the battle of Trafalgar took place in 1805 it sort of puts things in context. I like classical music and when I remind myself that J S Bach died in 1750 and Mozart was born in 1756 – both lived within the period of my mother’s documented family history.

Forwards or Backwards?

Everyone who wants to trace their ancestry has to start in the present and gradually work backwards. This is steady work and may come up against many roadblocks on the journey backwards but it generally has the advantage of following the path from the twig to the branch to the bigger branch, to the even bigger branch to the trunk until eventually one hits the inevitable root beyond which all is hidden underground and may forever remain that way.

But having arrived at what appears to be the earliest traceable ancestor, the journey forward begins and now the fun really starts. Nothing prepares you for the way that the descendants of those early Joneses and Prices branch out in many surprising directions. I well remember that in my youth I like other people of my age would jokingly call anyone from Senny, Sennybridge or Trecastle 'cous' or 'cousin'. Well, perhaps I was nearer the truth than I imagined - it’s amazing where relatives seem to pop up. Of course the explanation is simply that people born into rural communities before the advent of road and later rail travel didn’t travel far and tended to marry local partners and settle within their own community.

When it comes to recording all this information there are two main questions. Do you start at the end and work backwards or vice versa and what is the style that you will use? In answer to the first question I have decided to start with the earliest members of the families and work forward. In answer to the second question I have tried to make each blog post factual and added narrative where I have something to say about the generation or person(s) described.

I have one final confession to make. Having spent so much time looking at the Myddfai and Llywel census returns from through the whole 19^th century, I became more than a bit obsessed with trying to discover how every Price in the parish was related to every other Price in the parish. This certainly side-tracked me from the main family line – but still proved an enjoyable investigation. It is here that I expect some correction from those who may know better.

Final Disclaimer.

The history contained in these pages and the opinions and occasionally the inferences that I have made from the data are entirely mine. The records are often not complete. For example in the case of Parish Records for baptisms, marriages and deaths there are often gaps and incomplete entries. Sometimes the Bishop's Transcript of the record will help to fill in these gaps but in the case of a parish like Llanddeusant for example, the parish records have been lost. The Llywel records have many gaps in them also and so sometimes it is not possible to trace everyone in this way. Similarly it is sometimes tricky to find people in the census records. I acknowledge the help of many people in this journey. Staff at Record Offices and the Registrars have often helped beyond the call of duty.

A Special Appreciation

One of the great experiences of this research, which I would not have had if my maternal grandparents had not had their roots in Myddfai, has to be the discovery of a book written by David B. James called “Myddfai, its Land and its Peoples.” David B. James was born and raised in Myddfai and  has done, not only the community of Myddfai, but also the whole of Wales, a service by producing this wonderful history of the Parish. Now sadly out of print, it contains much valuable information, not only specific to Myddfai, but also more than that, an insight into the way that the people of this rural parish lived. David James in his introduction says in better words than I can muster something of what it is that is so interesting about the past.

"In moments of reflection it is not uncommon for one to speculate on what a place or locality was like in past ages. How did its inhabitants view moments of joy, tribulation and the daily round and was their attitude in essence any different from that of present-day inhabitants? Such speculations are of perennial interest and are possibly of greater poignancy today than they have been in the past since most people now seem to have an awareness of immense changes having taken place in their environment and society. In today's seemingly more mobile and less settled communities, the past seems to be of increasing rather than diminishing interest. Many it seems feel the need to know something of the rock of which they were hewn and more interestingly perhaps those who are new to a locality can feel a greater sense of identity and participation in the local community when they know more of its past. This book represents an attempt to meet some of these aspirations with respect to the community of peoples having an interest in the parish of Myddfai. There is nothing that obviously and uniquely distinguishes the parish of Myddfai from the many other rural parishes in what was recognised as the county of Carmarthenshire. The casual visitor will find that its topography and landscape are in general indistinguishable from that of the many other parishes of the region where farming has been the principal and traditional occupation of the majority of its inhabitants."

(David B. James Myddfai its Land and People Ch. 1 "By Way of Introduction")

In my humble opinion, Mr James has achieved his objective and his attempt has succeeded - it's a book to savour and enjoy giving valuable insights into life in a rural community particularly in the 19th century. Those who want to get a flavour of the book can do so via the internet where on www.genuki.org.uk Mr. Gareth Hicks has made extracts from the book available with Mr James' permission. You can find it here

Incidentally for those privileged to own a copy of this book, I recently discovered one for sale for £1066.

Where and how did they live

My maternal ancestors lived in what seems to my modern eye a beautiful and idyllic environment - the Prices originating in the parish of Myddfai in Carmarthshire and the Joneses just over the county boundary in the parishes of Llywel, Cray and Senny in Breconshire. Both pairs of my mother’s grandparents ended their days in the Senny Valley.

Senny Valley looking towards Fan Nedd from Tyleglas

Today, travelling around the districts in which they worked and farmed I can be literally staggered with the glorious countryside and hills that surround me. What would it have meant to them? That is a difficult question to answer when you consider that many of them were comparatively poor and worked outdoors the whole year around in bad conditions as well as good. But if the experience of my father and uncles and others I have known and spoken to, who lived and worked on the land, is anything to go by, they appreciated it too. It may have been their workplace, but it was also their playground and the places and the characters that inhabited that landscape became very dear to them.

The village of Myddfai from the top of Mynydd Bach

I have read with interest books, often just booklets, which have been written by local people about the people and the localities in which they lived. These memoirs recall characters and a way of life which has almost disappeared. It can often seem that in general we pay more attention to the ancient past than we do to the recent past. It is worth while investigating it now while we have the opportunity. Local knowledge can vanish in a very short time.

Why Bother?

I suppose that interest in the history of your family is an age related thing. I certainly had no interest in it when I was younger. But there's something else too. As I grow older and the modern world grows further and further away from the ethos and environment of my youth, I find myself recalling those days more clearly than I thought possible. That was particularly true when I first found myself retired because when one is engaged in a full time job there isn’t that much time for reflection. 

In a very small measure I can relate to what it was like to live in rural Wales in the past because I experienced a little of it when I was young - something that is very hard to convey to my children today. But even my experience of that lost world pales into insignificance compared with that of others of my generation and that of my parents - and to enter the world of rural Wales in the 18^th and 19^th centuries is almost beyond imagination for me but it is growing even further beyond the imagination of my children.

My maternal grandmother Anne Jones (nee Price)who had been widowed in 1951 (I was 5) lived in a small house in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. Brynhyfryd had no running water, no electricity, and no flush toilet - not a shop for miles. Just an expanse of wild mountain moorland (Waundwr) exposed to the worse of the weather. The name of the house was most appropriate during the summer months (Brynhyfryd means fair or pleasant hill) but it was a complete misnomer when the wind whistled and howled and bent the pine trees that partially surrounded the house and the rain came in sheets from the West. Winter snow meant that the house was almost inevitably marooned with deep drifts filling the lane that led up to the house past the Brychgoed Chapel. I stayed at Brynhyfryd many times during my school summer holidays and visited my grandmother often and for me this was a different but fascinating world! Visiting her meant a bus trip on the South Wales Transport Brecon to Swansea double-decker, getting off at the "holly bush" stop near Beilygwern on the road between Defynock and Cray and then a walk of a about a mile and a half in total, mostly uphill through the fields above Coedhowell farm.

 But even my grandmother’s life was comparatively 'modern' compared to that of her parents. Certainly later in life she was able to travel further than many of them had been able to. Trains and buses and much later cars formed a part of her experience. I can be pretty certain that her mother had never ridden in a car!

Then again, I can relate in a small way to older farming methods - horsepower and haymaking and harvesting by hand I can personally recall. My father and mother both had first-hand experience of farming, my father being a farm worker from the age of 14 for some 20 years and my mother being in service mainly on farms from the same age until the start of the Second World War. My father recalled the days when as young man he had stood with many others at the top of Ship St. in the town of Brecon at one of the two annual "hiring" fairs held in May and November and wait in line for a farmer to hire his labour for the following six months. The contract would be sealed by the farmer handing over a shilling. My uncles and aunts on both sides of the family had similar experiences during their younger days. But even so, apart from my mother's recollections of the rigours of her schooldays, I can scarcely imagine what rural life was like in the nineteenth century and even less so in the 18th!

However, tracing the family back through the generations has had its rewards and although some generations are comparatively faceless - just names in censuses or parish records, yet there is the odd surprise when out of the shadowy past emerges a character whose life is brought to life through other records and information.

Initiative

I guess that this is the third attempt that I've made to chronicle some of my family history research and make it available to the rest of my family and whoever else may be interested. I have vacillated between building a website or writing a pdf document and having made some progress with each of them but not really getting either finished, it occurred to me that a blog might be a better idea. Combining shorter and hopefully regular blogs and photographs will, I hope, be a more efficient way of documenting what I know.


I began researching my maternal family tree in October 2004 at the request of my uncle who was 80 and terminally ill. He asked me if I could discover where his grandparents were buried. I did find out and this encouraged me to go further back. It was he who provided the initial impetus for researching my family history and I dedicate this blog to his memory.


I discovered that it is not unusual to find that my mother's generation knew very little about their ancestors. Although I did ask my mother about her grandparents she knew very little about them or where they were from although a few hints that she gave me did prove helpful. She was born in 1915 and could remember her maternal grandmother but knew little about her.


I have to acknowledge that I had some amazingly good help as I set out to discover more. A second cousin who I became acquainted with at my uncle's funeral was a great source of information and she was kind enough to pass on a great deal of her knowledge and expertise to me. She also introduced me to a (very) distant relative whose knowledge of the area and its past was extensive and who has published his own invaluable and detailed guides to the memorials of the main graveyards in the parishes in which I was interested. I had the pleasure of corresponding with him over the period of a few years (we still keep in touch) and also collaborating with him on the collation of a set of parish records. He also was generous enough to pass on much information from his own extensive research. So all in all I have been extremely fortunate to have such input.


In addition I did a lot of personal research at the Powys and Carmarthenshire Record Offices and through the relevant registry offices. The censuses from 1841 on also proved an invaluable source of information. I will try to give details of sources as I go along. I will also list some of the books and articles that I have read and also provide links to some online material which I found to be of interest.

I called the blog The Pantyffordd Prices because it was here that most of my maternal grandmother's siblings grew up although she herself was not born there. The farm still remains in the Price family having been farmed by my grandmother's younger brother, Evan Tom Price.

Initial blogs will give some further background and will I hope set the scene both historically and geographically for the family history that follows.