Place:Ynyshir, Glamorgan, Wales

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

Ynyshir means "Long River Meadow" in Welsh. Ynyshir is a village and a community (or civil parish) located in the Rhondda Valley, within Rhondda Cynon Taf in the southern part of Wales. The village takes its name from a farm in the area, falling within the historic parishes of Ystradyfodwg (now Rhondda) and Llanwonno (Welsh: Llanwynno). The community of Ynyshir lies between the small adjoining village of Wattstown and the larger town of neighbouring Porth. In the UK census of 2011 it had a population of 3,320.

Until the mid-18th century Ynyshir was a sparsely populated agricultural area. Then in the 1840s the first deep coal mine was sunk in the village, representing the first colliery to be opened in the Rhondda Fach valley, and consequently Ynyshir also represents the earliest colliery settlement of the valley.

Research Tips

• GENUKI on Glamorgan Lots of leads to other sources and descriptions of former parishes.
• The FamilySearch Wiki on Glamorgan has recently been updated (early 2016) and looks remarkably like Wikipedia. Their map "Glamorgan Parish Map.jpg" enlarges to show all the original parishes. The sub-section "Parishes of Historic Glamorgan" lists all the parishes of Glamorgan and the newer preserved counties and principal areas in both English and Welsh. (Currently this website is still under construction.)
• Rhondda Cynon Taf Library Service provides an historical description of a number of towns and villages in its principal area

Maps

The first three maps are provided by A Vision of Britain through Time

• A map of 1832 showing larger towns and some villages (not as good as the England county maps in this series).
• Ordnance Survey map of Glamorgan illustrating the parishes, rural districts, urban districts and boroughs as revised to 1899.
• A 1930s Ordnance Survey map of Glamorgan illustrating the parishes, rural districts, urban districts and boroughs as revised to 1944.

These maps were found on Wikimedia Commons

• Glamorgan Administrative Map 1947 separating the various types of administrations with colour coding. These division were most likely in place until 1974.
• A map of Wales outlining the prinicipal areas of Mid Glamorgan and South Glamorgan
• A map of Wales outlining the prinicipal areas of West Glamorgan
• A map of the Vale of Glamorgan principal area with the western part of Cardiff included

These maps of Glamorgan post-1974 were found on another site and are very useful for sorting out the up-to-date geography of the area

• A map of West Glamorgan showing the two principal areas and the towns located in them.
• A map of South Glamorgan showing the two principal areas and the towns located in them.
• A map of Bridgend, Merthyr and Rhondda showing the three principal areas and the towns located in them. The description states that this is "formerly part of Mid Glamorgan".
• A map of Caerphilly, Blaenau and Torfean showing the three principal areas and the towns located in them.