Montgomershire Farmers related. Bunner,Davies,Ellis  Evans,Howell, Hughes,Jehu,Jones,Morris,Owens, Reynolds, Roberts ,Rogers,Williams

Shropshire Farmers related.   Beddoes,Brisborne,Calcott, Chidley, Downes,Gittins, Hobson ,Kent, Lewis Powell, Slater,Smith, Wynn

U.K.Familes related  Billington,Church, Cobb.Edmunds, Frazer  ,Hooker, Johnston, Jourd, Morgan, Norris, Price, Rake, Remi,Stanley, Steele,Wilkinson. Warren,Woods. 

Montgomeryshire Farms.              Berriew ,Blackwood,Dyffryn , Llwynderw,Wernllwyd .Upper Brithdir Churchstoke. Bacheldre.     Forden Edderton Rhydygroes GuilsfieldBurntHouse Llanbrynmair Diosg Hafodwen Tynyrwtn, Llandysilio.Church House,Gwernybuarth Llanerfyl   Coed Talog,Neuadd Wen  Llangadfan Blowty,Cyffin,, Penygribin,    Llanfair Berthfawr Bryn Penarth, Dolgead, Gelli,, Gelligason, GwaenynogGwynyndy Llanloddian Isa and Ucha, Moeldrehaiarn, Rallt Issa,Rhydygro Llanfechain Bodynfol,Finnant, Tybaen,  Llanfihangel          Dolwar Fach Rhydebyde, TynyCyl, Llangyniew The Weeg (Wig Ucha). Llansantfraidd   Plasgwyn.  Llanwnog Grosstyd Llanwydellan Ty Issa Meifod Garth Tietref Nantymechiead. Pontyscowrid(Pant yr Cuenyd) Tregynon. Gwaintrebedde  Welshpool Glan Hafren,  Radnorshire Pentre Farm (Corwen) 

Shropshire Farms,  at Alberbury -Eyton Upper and Lower Farms and Brook House,Crew Green. Fields Farm Melverley. at Berrington- Fox Farm,Betton Strange and Russell Place.   at Bitterley-Brook House farm,Snitton Hall Farm and Church Farm and Hall Farm Ditton Priors.          at Edgmond-Adney Farm.Ellerton Grange and Whitley Manor,Chetwynd.    at Oswestry -Dunewydd Farm Whittington,;New Hall Hanmer,;Church House Farm St Martins,; Pleasant Grove Gobowen; Lower House Farm, Knockin; Penypark.Maesbury.           at Shrewsbury south -Wellbatch Farm Annscroft ;Longden Hall Farm, ;Langley Hall Acton Burnell,; Lower Farm Pitchford ;  The Manor Farm Stapleton ;Side Farm ,Netley,;Picklescote Farm Smethcott,; Walford Farm Dorrington; Castle Place Pulverbatch.,; Rectory Farm Woolstaston; Middle Farm Batchcote.Upper and Lower Sutton Farms,             at Westbury Stretton Hall,,Field Farm,; Lower Wallop Farm.    at West Felton The Fords Farm.Twyford    OtherAreas         Albrightlee Farm Battlefield .;Ash Hollow Farm Weston & Wixill Highfield House Clive,; Priors Halton Farm Ludlow; .Tudor Lodge Shawbury

Indepedent Churches /Chapels Ministers at  Ebenezer,Siloh and Penarth Chapels at Llanfair.John Hughes’s Chapel at Pontrobert.     Zion Chapel, Oswestry. Coedway Chapel, Alberbury. Bethel Chapel,Aberdare .    Penmaen Chapel at Blackwood.      Ruyton X1 Towns Chapel.,      Threapwood,Malpas,     Weedon and Flore Chapels in Northants and Ross on Wye.

Draper/Stores.,Assistants ,Managers,or Owners at.    Norbury House Aston; 290-292 Gypsy Lane,West Ham. .Bon Marche at Brixton;  Thomas Yeo. Plymouth; Wallace Hughes in Brixton; Thomas Fearn, Kilburn High St.; Bobby’s of Eastbourne; Griffin and Spalding at Nottingham.   M.Evans,Montreal      Bunners, Ironmongers of Montgomery.R.Ellis, Boat Builder Shrewsbury. Thomas Hughes Mirror Manufacturer,Euston.

Overseas.             Australia.- Charters Towers Gold Fields,: Noyea and Windaroo Sugar Plantations at Mt Warren.,:Dubbo News papers,:.Sydney- League of Health and Beauty.            Africa. Mashonaland Expedition,Fort Victoria, Boer War -Relief of Kimberley.,Driefountain etc Salous Scouts Rhodesia, Irving and Bonnar, Lagos, Nigeria   Canada. Molson’s Brewery,Montreal. Various Drapers Shops Montreal..             India. Madras Civil Service.Royal Asiatic Society,Royal.Engineers,Siaklot, Punjab         U.S.A Georgetown Silver Mines,Colorado.    East Tennessee Welsh Migration.Lake Forest, Lake County,Illinois. Ohio Preaching Tour     World War 1, Egypt,Gaza,Palestine, Ypres Arras and Flanders.

Having completed my genealogical studies on my father’s family-”The Griffiths Family of North Shropshire”,which can be accessed on two web sites. http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~vicgal     or at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~dtgriffiths/ ,I have now turned my attention to my mother’s family-The Hughes of Langley Hall Farm,Acton Burnell, Salop.My Great Aunt Louisa Hughes had filled my head with stories of Hughes, Davies and Jones all farmers, drapers or ministers, intermarrying with each other and other Welsh farming families such as Evans,Owen,Reynolds,Rogers and Roberts,in the counties of Montgomeryshire and Shropshire(Salop).She also claimed that four Hughes (or Davies) sisters were left £8000 by a rich Uncle.Also that Thomas Hughes brother was William Morris Hughes,Prime Minister of Australia and that Cousin Wallace Hughes had called and been entertained by him on a family visit to Australia!  Cousin Jennifer Morgan also makes this claim,writing”My grand mother Bronwen Jones told me that her mother Jane Evans(nee Hughes) often related how he used to come and stay at Llanloddian as a boy and was very naughty,putting eggs in her shoes.She referred to him as ‘cousin Billy’ and said how surprised they were when he became P.M.He corresponded with her father but no letters remain.These claims seem likely, as although William Morris Hughes the Australian P.M.’s parents lived in London and came from Anglesea,and he went to school in Llandudno, according to his official biography.- he did spend school holidays with relatives in Montgomeryshire.

Bronze Age Celt wearing the famous gold cloak found at Mold,Flintshire.

Above photo:A 9th Century Celtic grave stone standing in Meifod Church.

Right photo: Seal of Lady Hawys,who with her husband De Cherleton,Lord of Powys, was saved by Roger de Mortimer forces in 1312 after being beseiged in Powys Castle by Griffith of Deytheur’s,Welshmen.

Introduction. Montgomeryshire is one of the largest counties in Wales,but has one of its smallest populations,down to 52.000 by 1914.Much of the land e.g.the great uplands in the western region -. Plynlimon from 1500-2000ft where the Rivers Severn and Wye rise are practically uninhabitable except for sheep in the Summer months.Only in the valleys is the land cultivatable. and in ancient times a Swiss type of farming may have been practised, with families living at the bottom of valleys in Winter, and then following their livestock into upland pastures in the Summer.Our present farming familes may be the last remnants of the taller fair haired Celts,who settled Britain long before the Romans invaded and were then driven gradually westward into Wales by successive invasions of AngloSaxons.,and then battling bitterly with the Normans for three centuries until they were finally conquered as a free people,when the forces of Owen Glyndwr recently crowned Prince of Wales at the Parliament of Machynelleth had been beaten and dispersed 1406-1415 by Edward de Cherleton ,Lord of Powys. Most of the farmers became tenants of the greater or lesser Norman landowners like the Earl of Powys,or tenants of various churches and colleges and lastly of the nouveau rich industrialists.Each farm now clearly demarcated on the Estate maps had cultivatable land on the valley floor and then with fields rising back up into the hills and forests for summer grazing.  In the 19th cent the Rev Samuel Roberts of the Llanbrynmair farming family railed bitterly from the pulpit and in print about the uncaring avariciousness of these landlords (see under Mary Ann Jones for more details).The Earl of Powys was also accused of enclosing Common Land,but at the 1896 Land Commissions enquiries into these grievances ,no unlawful evictions of tenants were proved.Nevertheless as a result of these enclosures,villagers now found themselves paying a rent for grazing land,which had been free to them for centuries past. However it was also shown that most farm rents had not been raised for 50 years and many had been reduced.Furthermore many farms on the Powys Estates had been held by the same families for many generations..In Llanbrynmair on the Wynnstay estates the Hughes family had farmed Cwm-carnedd for 300 years,the Roberts family had been at Hafod-wen for 300 years(see Mary Ann Roberts-nee Jones) ,the Jervis family at Ty-pellaf over 300 year and the Evans at Coedglyniaeu for 300 years and the Jones  family at Neuadd Wen and Coed Talog over 300 years.Perhaps it was the smaller farmers who suffered most.With their large families they were continually taking on new tenancies to accommodate their sons and daughters and unscrupulous stewards could take advantage of this.My own family research has been made more difficult because of the trend to move regularly from farm to farm generally in an eastward direction.Many families left for the big cities,London ,Liverpool etc or emigrated to the U.S.A. in the 19th C. because of this economic pressure, a series of poor harvests-;’the hungry forties’,general depression of agricultural prices,the enclosure of Common Land and also on the cultural pressure exerted on them as non-conformist dissenters(80 % of the Montgomeryshire population) who wanted their own Welsh speaking churches and schools.

Plynlimon - a wild and lonely place. The source of three rivers -the Severn,the Wye and the Rhaedol. Photo courtesy www.geologywales.

Between 1600 and 1900 my own family of Hughes ,Davies and Jones appear in the U.K. Census and Church records as tenant farmers in the County of Montgomery and then gradually in the County of Shropshire. When they marry ,often by special licence and marriage bond ,it is only to children of other farmers, occasionally to drapers and ministers but rarely to labourers or big landowners.They regularly take in their own nephews and nieces from larger families.Their farm servants are generally the sons and daughters of smaller tenant farmers This is the story of these families and their struggles to become landowners, business tycoons, scholars and clergymen over three centuries..

        PIGOT’S DIRECTORY N.WALES 1828-29

Most of my family originated ,farming on the hills and in the valleys N.W of Llanfair Caereinion.The Pigots Directory for N.Wales for 1828-29 ,although not listing the farmers in the area, does clearly indicate the sorts of business activities going on in this region of Wales.In fact the entry for nearby Welshpool stresses the importance of the wool(flannel) trade and how goods were moved via the Shropshire Union Canal and the River Severn.

Thomas Taylor’s 1718 Map of Montgomeryshire ,showing its division into 7 Hundreds for administrative purposes.At this time the roads in this County were described as the worst in in the Kingdom.little more than rutted tracks.Most of the transport was by pack animals,horse drawn sledges and river where navigable. Famous are the Welsh Drovers, with their cross country routes to the livestock markets in the Midlands and London.In 1821 the first canal was built linking Llanymynech ,Welshpool and Newtown finally linking this Montgomery Canal with The Shropshire Union Canal in 1846.This gave a tremendous boost to agriculture , mining ,quarrying,tanning and the weaving industry and Newtown was described as the Leeds of Wales,with consumer goods flowing in and farm products and woollen goods flowing out.This was further boosted by the construction of railway lines from 1859 onwards linking the main Welsh towns to the English towns and cities.This railway construction in North and Mid Wales and the development of the Rhondda Coal Fields was mainly engineered and financed by David Davies of Llandinam.Later M.P. and philanthropist in many fields of Education and the Arts.The red arrow N.W. of Llanfair Caereinion marks the area where The Hughes ancestors originated.

This 1840 Map of Montgomeryshire Parishes shows Llanfair Caereinion ,Llanfihangel,Llangadfan,Meifod,and Berriew Parishes(those five parishes most associated with the Hughes.Davies and Jones Families). centrally placed with Newtown(just above Kerry),Montgomery and Welshpool Parishes in the S.E. corner not far from the Salop(Shropshire) border. Bishop Transcripts of Parish Records and Wills before1840 were held in the Archives of the four Cathedrals overseeing the four areas of Montgomeryshire as outlined above.Now all these records are kept in the National Library of Wales at Aberystwyth.

THE ORIGIN OF WELSH SURNAMES.                                                    Most English Surnames originate in four ways 1.from the familes trade or occupation e.g. Smith,Bowman,Reeve etc 2.from the families place of origin e.g. London,Welsh,Scott ,Ley ,Wood,Forest etc.3 from family traits e.g.Smallman, Hogg ,Redman,Black etc 4.from family christian names (patronymic) or corruption thereof.Most Welsh surnames are patronymic, e.g John becomes Johns,Jones Johnson,Hugh becomes Hews,Hughes ,Hewson.David the popular Saint of Wales becomes Davies,Davidson etc. Another characteristic of early Welsh names is the way a son or grandson was described as e.g.John ap Evan or John ap John ap Howell meaning John son of John son of Howell.This type of naming would later become anglicised into John Bevan or John Powell.It has also been suggested that the name Hughes may be derived from Huegenots,the Flemish weavers settling round Newtown in the 18th Century,whose descendants live there to this day.

Note that very few Welsh names have more than 1 or 2 Hearths and some were so poor,that they were Not Chargeable. Contrast this with Edward Cherbury of Powys Castle,who had 14 Hearths, Rees Wynn of Wynnstay 6 Hearths and the Heiress of Sir Thomas Middleton 13 Hearths.The Vaughans,Lewises, Jervises and Lloyds of the Lloyds Bank Family? also have 4+ Hearths.Several Hughes,Davies and Joneses have 3 Hearths,probably in farm houses.

This small extract from the 1671 Montgomery Hearth Tax Roll(there were 94 name entries with over 100 hearths for the Llanfair ,Dolgead,Pentyrch,Brrynglas and Gwaenynog hamlets) shows how the clerk recorded the Welsh family names.This tax together with tax on beer and wines was designed by Charles II Parliament to give the King a revenue.This and the later Window Tax Roll are valueable sources of information for Genealogists.The very limited number of Christian names in use leading to a very limited number of Surnames in use means that there are dozens and dozens of families with the same name living within the same area,  some related and some unrelated. This is what makes Welsh families particularly difficult to sort out.

St Asaph Notitiae 1681

Surprisingly Hugh,Hughs Hughes families do not occur as frequently as might be expected. For instance in Llangyniew with 73 families only Morris Hugh can be found with five in the household including two children aged 12 and 6. Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa with 133 families only has Cadwalader ap Hugh six in household,Elan ap Hugh 1 member and Margaret Hugh 2 members,Llangadfan with 148 families has Watkin ap Hugh 8 members,Isiah Hugh 4 members. Llanerfyl with 95 families has Edward Hugh,6 members and Evan Hugh 6 members.Llanfair Caereinion with 288 familes has Edward Hugh 3,membersJohn ap Hugh 4, Edward Hugh 4,Hathovan Hugh 4,David Hugh 4,Thomas Hugh 5,John Hugh 3, and Thomas Hugh 2 members in family..The plural name Hughs,Hughes is rarely used at this date. David,Davies families occur more frequently also John, Jones.

.By clicking on the Jones,Hughes and Davies titles at the top of the left hand column on each page, or by clicking on the individual names at the bottom of each page ,or by clicking on the Go Menu,the various colour coded family member pages can be accessed.John Jones of Gwaenynog has 11 children (pages) ,Thomas Hughes of Llanloddian has 8 children (pages) and William Davies of Upper Brithdir has 9 children(pages). Some of these children (pages) have a secondary page recording their offsprings families right down to the present day,where known.These secondary pages may be accessed by clicking on the 11,8 and 9 children(pages) in the left hand columns.Those using Windows XP ME,98 or 95 all with Java 2 enabled can click on the site mapper symbol,which will show the family tree and the place of each descendant on it. Clicking on any name will open that page.Internet Explorer may ask you to allow Active X blocked content - click yes.

Unfortunately we have lost touch with many of these families and would like to contact any living relation or friend ,who has information and photographs of any of the Jones,Hughes and Davies mentioned or their descendants or related families such as Evans,Owen,Roberts,Rogers Jehu, Smith,Calcott etc.  Please e-mail me at vicgal@globalnet.co.uk

The Site structure,which may be accessed immediately,by clicking on the site mapper symbol at the bottom of each page,is arranged in five levels                                                                                                        Level 1. The index or first page titled “Hughes Davies Jones in Montgomery/Salop,”                                                 Level 2 Three pages introduce the Jones Family of Gwaenynog in pink,the Hughes Family origins in brown and the Davies Family of Berriew  in green.                                                                                                                     Level 3. Six pages. The first in pink describes the family of John Jones of Gwaenynog and his wife Margaret Jehu of Dolgead.The next four pages in brown describe,the family of Thomas Hughes of Llanloddian,the family of Billy Hughes P.M. of Australia,the family of Richard Ellis boatbuilder of Shrewsbury plus a page on Methodists/Congregationalists.The sixth page in green describes the family of William Davies of Upper Brithdir. and his wife Mary Hughes the sister of Thomas Hughes of Llanlloddian                                                   Level 4. Twenty eight pages .The first eleven pages(one is missing on left edge of diagram) in pink describe the children of John Jones of Gwaenynog.as follows 1.Margaret Jones and Edward Jehu of Neuadd Farm. 2. Elizabeth Jones and John Evans of The Nant Farm. 3.John Jones of Moeldreaiarn and Elizabeth Jones of Coed Talog. 4.Edward Jones emigrated? 5.Jane Jones and John Evans of The Weeg(The Wig).. 6.Gwen Jones and Robert Davies of Tyn y cyl.7.Mary Anne Jones and Evan Roberts of Hafodwen. 8.Thomas Jones - a mystery. 9.Richard Jones of Pontyscowrid and Elizabeth Hughes of Llanloddian.10.David Jones of Gelli and Elizabeth Jones of Cemmaes. 11.Evan Jones ,bachelor of Eyton Upper Farm.The next eight pages in brown describe the children of Thomas Hughes of Llanloddian as follows 12.Thomas Hughes-mirror manufacturer of Euston and Emma Warren .13.John Hughes of Edderton Farm and Elizabeth Howells.. . 14.William Hughes,bachelor of Llanloddian 15.Elizabeth Hughes and Richard Jones of Pontyscowrid. 16.Ann Hughes and Samuel Reynolds of Llanwynog. 17.Jane Hughes and the Rev Robert Evans of Penmaen. 18. Morris Stephen Hughes of The Burnt House,Guilsfield and Mary Davies. 19.Sarah Hughes and William Evans of The Dyffrin , The last nine pages in green describe the children of William and Mary Davies(nee Hughes) at Upper Brithdir Farm,Berriew. 20.Jane Davies and Evan Davies of the Manor Farm.Stapleton 21. David and Harriet Davies of The Fords,West,Felton. 22.William Davies,bachelor of Upper,Brithdir. 23.Mary Davies and Thomas Davies of Church House,Llandysilio. 24.Martha Davies and Lewis Norris,draper of Aston. 25.John Davies,boy of Upper Brithdir. 26.Catherine Davies,spinster of Penyparc,Maesbrook. 27/Elizabeth Davies and Maurice Stephen Hughes of The Burnt House,Guilsfield. 28.Harriet Davies and the Rev John Landel Jones of Weedon.            Level 5. Twenty one daughter pages showing the descendants of the twenty eight families in Level 4. They include two special pages on the adventures of The Warren Family and the life of the well known cleric, The Rev Samuel Roberts of Diosg Farm,Llanbrynmair.                 All levels may also be navigated by repeatedly clicking on family names at the top and bottom of the left hand column on each page.