Trawsfynydd EVANS Family
My Trawsfynydd family connection begins with my great maternal grandmother Elizabeth Evans born on the 13 November 1862. She died in Dolwyddelan in the Conwy Valley on the 18 June 1943 aged 80 years, and is buried in the parish with her husband, David McNaughton (1862-1935).
Elizabeth Evans (my great grandmother)
David and Elizabeth McNaughton and their daughter Marnine (Mannie)
Elizabeth's date of birth comes from the 1939 Register, when she was living at 3 Maes y Braich, Dolwyddelan with her daughter and son-in-law's family, Jessie and Thomas Roberts. 'Auntie Jess', as I used to call her, was the last of the fourteen McNaughton children, born in Wales. More about my McNaughton family can be found on the Welsh McNaughton pages.
Due to her apparent dementia, Elizabeth's (or 'Mrs Mac' as she was fondly known in the village) final years were profoundly confusing and tragically sad, mirroring her early married family life. Having given birth to fourteen children, tragically only five survived to reach the age of 30 years or older. Many suffered with Tuberculosis, which also killed my grandmother, Marnine.
But rather than repeating the tragic McNaughton story, lets concentrate on the Evans family, and focus on the Trawsfynydd connection.
Elizabeth was the daughter of coal miner turned Lay Reader, Rowland EVANs (1828-1893) and his wife Mary (née Jones) (1833-1915). Rowland (junior) was born in Trawsfynydd, the son of Rowland EVANs (senior) (1797-1866) and Anne (née HUGHes) (1793-1867).
The reason why I've started to use upper and lower case with their surnames, is the confusing issue of Welsh patronymics which can be a major issue when researching the early church registers. In Wales, pre the 1841 census, the common naming system was something similiar to Rowland the son of Rowland Evan. So on a Church register, he would sometimes be noted as Rowland ROWLAND which became ROWLANDs or Rowland Evan which became EVANs. In some cases, you will see Rowland ROWLAND EVANs too. One aim of the 1841 census, was to try and agree upon a more civilised and official way of registering forenames and surnames.
Elizabeth, my maternal great grandmother, was the fifth of the ten children born to Rowland (junior) and Mary Evans, after their marriage at the Holy Trinity Church in Chester, Cheshire on the 19 November 1852.
Rowland Evans and Mary Jones wedding 1852
As you can see from the above entry in the marriage register, Rowland Evans (my 2nd great maternal grandfather) was noted as a 'grocer' living at 'Watergate Street' in Chester, and his father Rowland Evans (senior) was an 'inn keeper' back in Trawsfynydd, North Wales.
Mary Jones, his wife and (my 2nd great maternal grandmother) wasn't employed at the time of the marriage, but lived on 'Weaver Street' in Chester. Her father was named as 'stone mason' Abraham Jones.
We can also see that sadly, Mary was unable to sign her name, with only an 'x' as 'her mark', suggesting the absence of an education, but her husband Rowland was clearly educated. Their witnesses were 'Evan R (Rowland) Evans' and 'Ann Jones' who I think were the brother and sister of each of them.
Map of the City of Chester from 1863, ten years after the wedding of
my 2nd great maternal grandparents, with the Holy Trinity Church pointed out,
on Watergate Street where Rowland lived and Weaver Street, Mary's address.
Rowland and Mary Evans had at least ten children born in a variety of locations, due to the movements of their parents, from Scotland to Trawsfynydd and Dolwyddelan in Wales :
(i) Abraham Llewelyn Evans (1855-1935)
(ii) Annie Elizabeth Evans (later Roberts) (1856-1932)
(iii) Rowland Evans (1859-1929)
(iv) David (Dafydd) Evans (1861-1863)
(v) Elizabeth Evans (later McNaughton) (1862-1943)
(vi) Evan Rowland Evans (1866-1868)
(vii) John Evans (1868-1881)
(viii) Richard Jones Evans (1871-1900)
(ix) Robert Maurice Evans (1873-1956)
(x) Laura MARY Evans (later Williams / Amos) (1877-1966)
Soon after their marriage in Chester, Rowland and Mary must have moved back to his native North Wales, near Tanygrisiau, Blaenau Ffestiniog, where their first son Abraham Llewelyn Evans was born about 1855. But their next child, and first daughter Annie Elizabeth Evans was born in 'Old Monkland', Lanarkshire, Scotland, to the East of Glasgow. By the 1861 Census, we see the reason for this relocation, as her father Rowland was now working as a 'coal miner' in the Woodhall Colliery near Coatbridge.
1861 Census
If you have a good eyesight, you can make out the arrival of daughter Annie Elizabeth Evans (aged 4 in 1861) and son Rowland Evans (aged 18 months in 1861), both born in 'Lanark, Old Monktown'. Therefore, we know that Annie Elizabeth was actually born on the 24th September 1856, so her parents Rowland and Mary must have relocated shortly after their older brother Abraham was born in North Wales.
There is a description of Woodhall Colliery and the town of Coatbridge in the Glasgow Herald on the 13th January 1875, within the article 'Notes on Miner's Houses'. I appreciate this description comes twenty years after my family had left, but it still gives us a good indication of the area :
"Coatbridge is a good centre from which to prosecute inquiries as to the homes of miners. With the town itself, given up as it is, to furnaces and steam hammers [...] All round about are miners' rows and villages, set down as a rule according to no special plan, or rather in defiance of all system, and reached by roads which are generally rough and crooked. [...] In these circumstances driving is a necessity, however much one may be inclined to adopt the slower but in such a case the more satisfactory mode of walking through the mining districts".
Woodhall Colliery map 1869
"...Woodhall, which I visited last, belongs to Mesars Merry & Cuninghame. In early summer last year, (1874) [...] I found myself at this place, which is charmingly situated, although the natural beauty of the surroundings has been greatly marred by industrial encroachments. The houses, which are all of stone, were built about thirty years ago. (1845) At that time they were doubtless of a very superior class, and even now, with some repairs, they might be made quite comortable. [...] The houses, which are built in five rows, number 70 or 80 in all, and, with some 20 exceptions, they are all single apartments. The floors, so far as I saw, are all earthen, and there is a good deal of damp on the wall. One of the tenants told me it was necessary to keep large fires burning night and day in this weather. In summer, however, they are said to be quite agreeable houses, and, with such fine air as they have. I can quite believe that Woodhall is then a capital place of residence. [...] The health of Woodhall is said to be excellent, fever and small-pox being alike unknown".
Woodhall area and coal pit 1860
During my many years of research, I have posted on several different geneology websites, and have recieved further information about the Woodhall Colliery and subsequent 'square' or 'village' where the miners lived. In the above image from 1860, you can see the rows of houses, 6 large units located in an area to the south of the coal pit itself.
"The houses referred to in the info you gave were not the kind of thing we would imagine today In fact they were transient and built like a camp of tiny rooms of dubious quality. Some were on the edge of the once fine gardens of the Woodhall House which had almost been stripped of the rarest plants in order to provide space for the miners and their families .The mineral here was the finest Black band Ironstone and in great demand at that time in the nearby Iron and Steel works. The nearby village of Calderbank had rows of a better quality, built on the slopes near the works. These were named Scottish Row, Irish Row, Welsh Row and English Row. They were rented out payment taken from wages to Calderbank miners. After this, the remnants of the Woodhall "houses" were swept away. Today this whole area is a sward of green, the big house gone, the woods regrown. Luckily some rare plants survive from its heyday. A developer wants to bulldoze the lot. I walk there daily remembering the past and worrying about its future. We want to save it."
They family didn't stay in Scotland for too long, as they were
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