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England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Caerphilly St Martin

 

The Parish

Caerphilly has an unusual position, it being one of the larger towns in its county yet being merely a small chapelry of the rural parish of Eglwysilan (which sits on the eastern edge of the county bordering neighbouring Monmouthshire) and for the period of this transcript being only licensed for a marriages for a short time in which only 35 marriages were recorded. Caerphilly is located about 7 miles north of the county town of Cardiff and sits at the crossroads of the A468 (running from Newport westwards along the base of the industrial valley) with the A469 (heading north from Cardiff along the Rhymney Valley). Caerphilly has a very long history being developed as a town following the construction of its mighty castle begun in 1268 as one the string of castles designed by Edward 1's team to subdue the Welsh. Today the castle is the major touristic feature of the town and a draw for visitors. The town remained relatively small throughout the Middle Ages only growing to its present size as part of the general industrialisation of the area following the Industrial Revolution. The economy was governed not by the mines of further north but included an active weaving industry as well as providing the market for local produce and the specialist skilled trades associated with a market town. Modern developments came to the town with construction of the railway line along the Rhymney Valley from Cardiff, Caerphilly acquiring a station on that line enabled much growth in trade as well as a growing commuter trade with nearby Cardiff. The Rhynmey drains the town eastwards and then south to reach the nearby outer Bristol Channel. Caerphilly is sited at between 80 and 210 metres above the sea, the northern suburbs rising up the hillside almost to its summit, land continues to rise to the northwest to reach 355 metres on Mynydd Eglwysilan. Caerphilly chapelry covered merely the limits of the medieval town lying wholly with Eglwysilan parish, it would have a substantial population included within that  parishes data. Like most of Wales Caerphilly is not mentioned in Domesday Book as that tome did not cover this area.


The Church

St Martin's church is not the venue in which these marriages took place as it was built in the 1870s opposite Caerphilly's railway station at the junction of Mountain Road and St Martin's Road. A large church to accommodate the town's large congregation is is built in a style derived from the early English Gothic tradition. Following completion the church was enlarged by the addition of a further 2 bays to the nave in 1905 whilst the nrthwestern tower was added by 1910. Further work of widening the southern aisle was required by 1938 to arrive at today's church. Whilst a worthy addition to the townscape Pevsner clearly had little interest describing the church as "solid and serious". A large car park to the south of the church permits a lengthy stay, the churchyard is open and uncluttered with few restrictions for the photographer.


The Records

Register No Covering Dates Deposited With Register Style Quality Standard Comments
1
27th April 1813 - 17th June 1820
Glamorgan Archives - Cardiff - Reference - P148CW/2
Standard Rose style preprinted and prenumbered Marriage register
Grade 2 Register - not a perfect read but with a low likelihood of misreads
None


Eglwysilan St Ilan
Eglwysilan St Ilan
Eglwysilan St Ilan
Bedwas St Barrwg, Monmouthshire
Eglwysilan St Ilan
Eglwysilan St Ilan
Rudry St James
Eglwysilan St Ilan
Eglwysilan St Ilan
Eglwysilan St Ilan
Rudry St James

Register Reference Date Groom Forename Groom Surname Groom Status Groom Abode Bride Forename Bride Surname Bride Status Bride Abode
3 27/04/1813 Edward WILLIAM Single
Alice DAVIES Single
4 17/05/1813 William WALTERS Single
Harriet SHEPHERD Single
5 22/05/1813 John DAVIES Single Llanfabon Elizabeth HARRIES Single
6 31/05/1813 Thomas JAMES Single
Jane HOWEL Single
7 12/06/1813 Evan THOMAS Single
Mary PRICE Single
8 22/11/1813 Evan EVANS Single
Rachel EDMUNDS Single
9 24/12/1813 John WHITCOME Single
Hannah DAVIES Single
16 29/04/1814 Thomas DAVID Single
Sarah HARRIES Single
17 07/05/1814 David DAVIES Single
Ann LEWIS Single
18 16/07/1814 David RICHARD Single Bedwas, Monmouthshire Margaret EDMUNDS Single
19 28/01/1815 Thomas THOMAS Single
Mary HARRIES Single
20 04/02/1815 Thomas PRICE Single
Mary DAVID Single
21 06/05/1815 Lewis LEWIS Single
Mary EDMUND Single
22 13/05/1815 John HARRIES Single
Ann LEWELIN Single
23 15/05/1815 James REYNOLD Single Cowbridge Mary JONES Single
24 27/05/1815 William LEWIS Single
Ann EDMUNDS Single
25 03/06/1815 John ANTHONY Single
Elizabeth DAVIES Single
26 17/06/1815 William THOMAS Single Pentyrch Mary PRICE Single
10 01/06/1816 Lewis JONES Single
Mary PRICE Widow
27 22/07/1816 Thomas EDWARD Widower
Mary EVANS Single
11 30/11/1816 Thomas WILLIAMS Single
Catherine WILLIAMS Single
28 08/02/1817 Thomas RUSSELL Single
Elizabeth PRICE Single
12 24/03/1817 John WILLIAMS Widower
Margaret WILLIAMS Widow
29 08/08/1817 David EVANS Single Merthyr Tydfil Mary EVANS Single
30 09/08/1817 John PRICE Single
Elizabeth POWELL Single
31 02/11/1817 Evan PHILLIPS Single
Anne WATKINS Single
32 07/03/1818 Charles MORRIS Single
Barbara DAVIES Single
33 12/05/1818 Edward DAVID Widower
Mary BRIAN Single
34 04/07/1818 Thomas PHILLIPS Single
Mary GEORGE Single
35 22/09/1818 David JONES Single Aberyscir, Breconshire Margaret MORGAN Single
36 28/11/1818 Thomas EVAN Single
Mary ROWLAND Single
37 04/12/1818 Evan EVANS Single
Frances BROWN Single
38 23/01/1819 John OWEN Single Bedwas, Monmouthshire Mary LEWIS Single
39 26/01/1819 Evan WILLIAMS Single Newport, Monmouthshire Elizabeth EVANS Single
40 17/06/1820 Joseph BUSH Widower St Paul, Bristol, Gloucestershire Dorothy Augusta LEWIS Widow

Corrections to Tinstaafl Transcripts