Category: Family & Social History

  • June Headstone - Elizabeth, William, John & Mary Walbeoff

    The 1841 Census shows John, age 60, living with his eight children at Dan-y-lan, Llanelly Parish and the 1851 Census shows John, age 70, still working as a labourer and now living at Harewell Rock, Llanelly Parish with his two sons Lewis and Frederick and daughter Christina. Can anyone identify the location of these two… Read more

  • May Headstone - Major T L Lawrence, Dr Evan Parry, Louisa and Anna Pyne

    Major Lawrence, a retired Major/farmer lived at Duffryn Mawr, Lower Common, Gilwern (now a wedding venue) and Dr Evan Parry a GP/Surgeon lived at Ivy Towers and Pen y Dre, Crickhowell. Dr Parry's wife Louisa and his sister Anna are also interred here. Two families linked by marriage. Read more

  • April Headstone - Anne, Solomon & Maria Chilton

    This grave is an example of a family who were not born in this area, (Anne was born in London and Chilton in Shropshire) but undoubtedly moved here for work. Solomon was a mine agent/contractor and clearly became proactive in local affairs in his later years being elected to the Board of Health and other… Read more

  • March headstone - Lt Col Robert Preston Sandeman & Jessy

    This is an interesting headstone with a carving of a sleeping dog at the foot of the cross - more information in the file below. The grave can be easily viewed via the gate on the left-hand side of Church Road as you go up to the church from the Gilwern direction. Lt Col Sandeman… Read more

  • Gilwern u3a Social History Project - 2024

    SHARE YOUR STORY Gilwern u3a are undertaking a social history project for which we are asking long-term residents of Llanelly Parish to talk to us about their memories of growing up in the area. In this way we hope to create a permanent record via ORAL HISTORY of the memories of the long living residents… Read more

  • February headstone - Meredith Kenvin

    For the first headstone to feature in our monthly update I have chosen the grave of a local man Meredith Kenvin who died in 1865 aged 71 years. You will see that he lived and worked at the Clydach Iron Works before moving to Aberbaiden. He was employed as an "iron baller". I have found… Read more

  • Help needed!

    Are you a whizz at Word Processing and using MS Word?Not interested in carrying out any actual research but would like to help the Family and Social History group? We need help typing up and editing our Living Stones and oral histories research so that it can be presented in a consistent format and made… Read more

  • Are you interested in joining us?

    Why not consider joining us on our quest to reveal the forgotten narratives of our village and the surrounding area as we reveal the stories behind the inscriptions etched on the historic headstones of our local church. Do any of the following apply to you: Please contact me for more information on 07393 296375 or… Read more

  • Living Stones - January Update

    This is proving to be a challenging, yet fascinating project and we are making good progress. There are 5 plots around the churchyard (A - E) and we estimate there are almost 1,000 graves. Progress at the start was slow due to access problems and many headstones being very difficult to read. We are indebted… Read more

Gilwern, Monmouthshire