Place:Llangwm, Pembrokeshire, Wales

source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Llangwm is a small village, parish and community of around 450 properties situated on the Llangwm Pill off the River Cleddau estuary near Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, Wales. It has a history of mining and fishing and is in the largely English-speaking south of the county. Its population in the UK census of 2011 was 875.

The parish was in the hundred of Roose, at the heart of "Little England beyond Wales" (a synonym for the southern part of Pembrokeshire), and has been largely English-speaking since the 12th century, when it was settled by Flemish (north Belgian, Dutch speaking) immigrants.

Principal occupations in the early 19th century were oyster fishing and coal production; coal was shipped from Hook. (see below)

The parish church, a medieval Grade II listed building, is dedicated to St Jerome. The church dates from the 14th century, but was substantially altered in the 19th century. It also has two nonconformist chapels.

Hook

the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Hook is a medium-sized village and community on the Western Cleddau, Pembrokeshire, Wales. It was previously part of the community of Llangwm. The population of the community was 656 in 2001. Together with the communities of Freystrop and Llangwm, it makes up the Pembrokeshire electoral ward of Llangwm.

It is a rapidly expanding village. It was much larger in the nineteenth century, when it was a major shipping point for the local anthracite which was brought to the quay from inland collieries by the Hook Tramway.

Description tied to a 19th century local family

The parish church was dedicated to St Jerome, alternative spelling St Hierom, and lies awkwardly on a slope down from the village square to the small valley and old mill below the village, - also two non-conformist chapels. Once the centre of oyster fishing from the small harbour to the east of the village down what is now Rectory Road. Common names in the churchyard are Follant, Skyrme, Phillips and Palmer. Llangwm was in Haverfordwest Registration District, but several of its neighbouring hamlets are in the parish of Burton, which is in Pembroke Registration District. It is worth noting that transport was easier by water than by land and that the parishes across the inlet, called the Cleddau Estuary, were more accessible in days gone by - thus Martletwy and Minwear were the nearest parishes to Llangwm, - they are however in Narberth Registration District.

The rector of Llangwm in 1851 was Thomas Williams, 46, his wife, Caroline, 37. Their children were: Ann, 10 yrs, Hugh, 8 yrs, Eliza 6 yrs, Edward, 4 yrs, Penelope, 2 yrs, Caroline 4 mths. Mary Williams, 18 yrs is described as neice? and visitor. The family had four servants; Martha Rowe, 19 yrs, Elizabeth Howell, 21 yrs, Dorothy Jenkins, 16 yrs, nurse, George Nicholas, 25 yrs, farm labourer, George Evans, 15 yrs, stable boy. Places of birth are too jumbled up to read properly. (1851 census Ref: HO107 2477, page 3)

The rector of Llangwm in 1861 was again Thomas Williams, 56, his wife, Caroline, 47. Their children were: Anne, 20 yrs, Edward G. 15 yrs, Penelope E. 12 yrs, Caroline J. 10 yrs, Laura 8 yrs, Justinia 6 yrs. They had three domestic servants, Mary Davis, 33 yrs, Martha Harper, 19 yrs, and John Williams 33 yrs. All were from various places in Pembrokeshire.(1961 census, Ref: RG9 4162 page 12)

Still in 1871 the rector of Llangwm was Thomas Williams, 64, his wife, Caroline, 54, they had two daughters living with them, Caroline, 20 yrs, and Laura, 18 yrs. Also residing with them was Elizabeth Ann Williams, 13 yrs, described as a boarder and daughter. The family has four domestic servants, Rebekah Davis, 39 yrs, Elizabeth Thomas, 79? yrs, Nicholas Brown, 14 yrs, Thos ?, 13 yrs. The whole household came from various places in Pembrokeshire. (1971 census, Ref: RG10 5525 page 31)

Thomas Williams is still living in the rectory in Llangwm in 1881, he is a widower and has no children living with him, he is 75 yrs. He has two servants; Thomas Vaugn, 43, farm labourer, Sophia Harries, 16, house servant. (1881 census Ref: RG11 5417/10 page 16)

In 1881 there is a Congregational minister living in Llangwm with his family: - Eloy Arthurs, 36, born Radstock, Somerset and his wife, Mary Ann, 41 from Frome, Somerset. Their children are; Alfred G. 13 yrs, Edith C. 11 yrs, Elizabeth J. 9 yrs, William H E. 6 yrs, Theodore E. 5 yrs and Winefred G 5 mths(apparently this is a boy) (1881 census Ref: RG11 5417/3 page 2)

There was a public house, the Black Horse Inn, situated at 1 Llangwm Road. The landlady was Maria Shrubsall in 1881 Census. She was the widow of William James Shrubsall who died in 1865, two months to the day after their wedding on June 6. Their child, also called William James Shrubsall, died 2 months old the same year. Maria's maiden name was Thomas, and she was the daughter of James Thomas and Elizabeth (Dally). William had served on the RN vessel Victor Emanuel with the only officer to have been awarded the Victoria Cross and have it taken away because of disgraceful conduct. At his marriage with Maria he is described as an agent for an oyster company. The Shrubsall family is a common name in Kent fishing and fishmonger circles, and he had presumably worked for the family firm transporting oysters from Llangwm to Kent.

Research Tips

• A 1900 Ordnance Survey map of the historic county of Pembrokeshire is available on the A Vision of Britain through Time website. This shows all the old parishes within their urban and rural districts. Large farms and estates are also marked. On the Haverfordwest Rural District page there is a sketchmap indicating the civil parishes of Haverfordwest Rural District as of 1935.
• Pembrokeshire Archives has a website with a list of their holdings, as well as historical notes on places in Pembrokeshire. Its address is Prendergast, Haverfordwest, SA61 2PE; Tel No: 01437 775456 or (+44)1437 775456 (out of UK), E-mail: record.office@pembrokeshire.gov.uk
• GENUKI has a page on each of the old counties of Wales and, under these counties, pages for each of the ecclesiastical parishes within the county. Information is gathered under a number of headings and the amount of information varies from parish to parish. Parish descriptions are based on a gazetteer dated 1835 and thus the emphasis is on ecclesiastical parishes. (Civil parishes were not yet established.) The submitter is very firm about his copyright. This should not stop anyone from reading the material.
• The GENUKI Pembrokeshire pages include, under Description and Travel close to the bottom of the page, a link "parish map" to a map website showing boundaries and settlements before 1850. On the linked page will be maps of several parishes located close to each other.
• GENUKI also provides references to other organizations who hold genealogical information for the local area, but there is no guarantee that the website has been kept up to date for every county.
• FreeBMD provides a link to a list of the civil registration districts for each Welsh county from 1837 to 1996. Civil registration districts changed with varying densities of population and improvements in communication. Most counties and unitary authorities now have only one district. The list helps with providing names for the registration districts listed in the FreeBMD index and also as a guide for where to look for census entries.
• The FamilySearch Wiki has a series of pages similar to those provided by GENUKI and these have been prepared at a later date. The Wiki may look like Wikipedia but the information has been provided for family historians. There are tables of links between the parishes in the historic counties of Wales and their post-1996 counterparts. This is the only genealogical website found that provides this information universally; others are not as thorough.
• Some words in Welsh come up time and time again and you may want to know what they mean or how to pronounce them. For example,
  "Eglwys" is a church and the prefix "Llan" is a parish.
  "w" and "y" are used as vowels in Welsh.
  "Ll" is pronounced either "cl" or "hl" or somewhere in between. "dd" sounds like "th".
  The single letter "Y" is "the" and "Yn" means "in".
  "uwch" means "above"; "isod" is "below" or "under";
  "gwch" is "great", "ychydig" is "little";
  "cwm" is a "valley".

In both Welsh and English all these words are commonly used in place names in the UK. Place names are often hyphenated, or two words are combined into one. Entering your problem phrase into Google Search, including the term "meaning in Welsh", will lead you to Google's quick translation guide. I'm no authority; these are just things I have picked up while building up this gazetteer for WeRelate.