Tregaron

1891 census ; Tregaron, Gwnnws sub district , and , Tregaron, Llangeitho sub district ; searches within their Research Service from Cardiganshire Family History Society

St Caron - photograph on Dyfed FHS

Various items - on the People's Collection Wales site

• Eglwys S. Caron, Tregaron  
• Men's sunday school class, Tregaron

Evans, William. Saint Caron's Church, Tregaron .Tregaron : 196-?

Powell, S M. The Vestry Book of Caron Lower. Transactions of the Cardiganshire Antiquarian Society Vol 11 1936 Welsh Journals Online

See Notes on Church/Chapel Records page

Parish Register;
Baptisms 1653-1931. Marriages 1653-1979 [Banns 1830-1915]. Burials 1653-1937 NLW/Cer.RO
Copy ts PR M 1653-1837 with index NLW/Cer.RO
Bishops Transcripts;
1678, 1680, 1700, 1811-17, 1828-9, 1831-9, 1841-66, 1869-79, 1882 NLW

See Bap/Mar/Bur data on FreeReg

Nonconformist Chapels; see Chapels database

Having difficulty in finding references to this parish ? It is referred to as "Caron" in early documents such as the Crosswood Deeds and all the census returns including 1891. It will be interesting to see how the parish is denoted in the 1901 census.It seems to be much later, possibly this century, when the whole parish became known as Tregaron, rather than just the town. The leather covers of the parish register have "Tregaron" inscribed on them as the church is, of course, in the town of Tregaron. The registers for the parish are listed under Tregaron in the NLW list of parish registers. Strata Florida/ Ystrad-fflur/Caron uwch clawdd parish records follow a similar pattern; older documents are under "Caron" or "Caron uwch clawdd". Extract from Cardiganshire FHS journal Vol 2-No 6, Oct 2000.

Various items  - on the People's Collection Wales site

• Various landscapes 
• View of Tregaron from an elevated vantage point; featuring houses, streets, a shop and a church tower; hills in background. c1885
• A shot of the [railway] tracks at Tregaron, which are facing towards Pencarder + other items

Tregaron - on Wikipedia

Three photographs relating to Tregaron;  On Ceredigion Archives/Catalogues with photographs, postcards

Davies, R Isgarn. Old roads in the parish of Caron. Transactions of the Cardiganshire Antiquarian Society Vol 11 1936 Welsh Journals Online

Jones, Emrys. Tregaron, a Welsh market town. Geography, Vol XXXV

Jones, Ieuan Gwynedd. The Tregaron of Henry Richard (NLW's site) Ceredigion XI

Powell, S.M. etc. Tregaron, Cardiganshire, Rural District. [With a map and illustrations.].London, 1949

Tregaron : the W.I. looks around it's town and country. Tregaron Women's Institute.Tregaron, 1984.The more recent version published in 2000 is available for lookups on the Wales Lookup Exchange.

• Geograph
• Flickr

Pigot & Co. South Wales Directory for 1844. Here are some Extracts relating to Tregaron

Kelly's Directory South Wales 1895

The transcription of the section for Tregaron from The National Gazetteer (1868) provided by Colin Hinson.

Description of the parish of Tregaron from A Topographical Dictionary of Wales (1833) by Samuel Lewis.

Descriptions of Townships in Tregaron parish from Samuel Lewis's A Topographical Dictionary of Wales 1833

• Ask for a calculation of the distance from Tregaron to another place.

Unveiling of the Henry Richard monument, Tregaron, 1893 - on the People's Collection Wales site
"Henry Richard (1812-88) was born in Tregaron, Cardiganshire. He was a Nonconformist minister in London before being elected the Liberal Member of Parliament for Merthyr Tydfil in 1868................."

Details of extant records on Archives Network Wales for the following;

• Henry Richard Family Papers 1808-1904 "Henry Richard (1812-1888) was born at Prospect House, Tregaron on 3 April 1812, educated at Llangeitho school and then was apprenticed to a draper at Carmarthen. Having resolved to enter the Christian ministry, he went to Highbury College, London ........... "
• Williams, Dai, Tregaron, papurau (papers) 1903-1959 "Dai Williams (1899-1971)of Tregaron, humourist, musician and broadcaster,...................."

Hart, Alan H. A Tregaron family with links to St Caron's Church and the Church of England. Dyfed FHS journal, Vol 8/9 Aug 2005. The Rees family

Usoro, J M Mrs. David Roderick Jones, Operatic Baritone (1910-1992). Cardiganshire FHS journal vol 3/8 June 2004. Born in Ferndale but 'from' Tregaron. Follow up article by Shirley Martin in vol 3/9 Oct 2004

Wilson, Delyth. The Hughes Family of Tregaron. Cardiganshire FHS journal, vol 3/4 Feb 2003. Features Richard/Anne Hughes of Pensarnhir and Pwllswyddog in Tregaron, married in Lampeter in 1818.

Various items  - on the People's Collection Wales site

• A two pounds promissory note issued by the Aberystwyth and Tregaron Bank in October 1814. The design of the note includes sheep, reflecting their importance to the local economy.
• The square at Tregaron featuring The Talbot Hotel, Henry Richard's monument and buildings.
• Tregaron Storws wen
• Henry Richard memorial, Tregaron
• Crowds attending the unveiling of the Henry Richard monument next to the Talbot Hotel in Tregaron. nd
• Home of Theophilus Jones, Tregaron c1885
• Nani'r Coed, Tregaron

Jones, Ieuan Gwynedd. The Tregaron of Henry Richard[1812-1888] .In Ceredigion 11 (1990), p.147-69

Martin, Shirley A. Sir Bulstrode Whitelocke , his connections with Hersham, Surrey and Tregaron, Cardiganshire, involving Sir Richard Pryse of Gogerddan, William Lilly and Carleton Whitelocke of Hersham, Surrey : Walton and Weybridge Local History Society,Year: 1996.

Meyrick, Sir Samuel Rush.(1783-1848) The History and Antiquities of the county of Cardigan. Collected from the few remaining documents which have escaped the ravages of time, as well as from actual observation. Longman: London ,1810. The history and antiquities of the County of Cardigan ... to which are now added a parliamentary history, list of High Sheriffs, some notes on the present county families, &c., &c. repr. Brecon: 1907. This 1907 print has now been reprinted. The section relating to this parish is on pages 240/49; mentioned is Pentre Rhydfendigaid( also known as the village of Blessed Ford, partly in Gwnnws parish).

Morgan, M.E. Cipdrem ar Hanes Tregaron a'r Cylch . Llanbedr: 1910

Rees, Rev.D.C. Tregaron-Historical and Antiquarian. Llandyssul :1936. (includes extracts from the parish vestry book from 1786 to 1833; lists of incumbents, parish clerks & schoolmasters; a chapter called 'Ancient Families & Notabilities' with sections on the Shelby, Herbert, Powell & Stedman families; also a full list of subscribers.) Here is a Contents listing and other data

Rees, Rev D Caron. 'A reverie' among the upper reaches of Blaencaron, four miles from Tregaron Transactions of the Cardiganshire Antiquarian Society Vol 7 1930 Welsh Journals Online

Tregaron : taith drwy'r oesoedd [a journey through time]. Publisher [Tregaron] : Curiad Caron, [1995]

Held at Ceredigion Archives;

• Transcript and index for the Caron tithe apportionment.

Martin, Shirley A. The Valuation Office Property Survey, 1910-1915 (also known as the Lloyd George Survey) for Tregaron and Strata Florida. Cardiganshire FHS journal, vol 4/3 Oct 2005

Aitchison, J.W. Immigration and the Welsh language : a case study of Tregaron and its region[Mewnfudo a'r iaith Gymraeg ]Publisher Aberystwyth :University College of Wales, 1989.

Parish map (Kain/Oliver)

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SN738592 (Lat/Lon: 52.219647, -3.933706), Tregaron which are provided by:

• OpenStreetMap
• Google Maps
• StreetMap (Current Ordnance Survey maps)
• OpenStreetMap Cymru (Welsh counties only)
• Bing (was Multimap)
• Old Maps Online
• National Library of Scotland (Old Ordnance Survey maps)
• Vision of Britain (Click "Historical units & statistics" for administrative areas.)
• Magic (Geographic information) (Click + on map if it doesn't show)
• GeoHack (Links to on-line maps and location specific services.)

• All places within the same township/parish shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby townships/parishes shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby places shown on an Openstreetmap map.

Held at the NLW ;

• Diaries of several members of the Jenkins family of Trecefel, Tregaron, 1839-1947.

Postcard of unnamed shop in Tregaron selling horse collars etc. Undated.  - on the People's Collection Wales site

A photograph, taken by Geoff Charles, was part of a special feature published in 'Y Cymro' on 8 September 1855. Postman David Lewis Jones, took nine hours to complete his round in the remote mountain areas between Tregaon and Abergwesyn, even though he only delivered to eight houses. He carried out his round on horseback.  + various other items - on the People's Collection Wales site

Colyer, Richard. Welsh Cattle Drovers in the Nineteenth Century - 1 National Library of Wales journal. 1972, Winter Volume XVII/4. Here is a short extract; - "On his return to Tregaron from England via Abergwesyn, Williams could see Tregaron from Cwmberwyn. The view inspired him to pen the following lines:
'Mae Tregaron fach yn mwgu
Nid oes fater ta hi'n llosgi
Os bydd newydd drwg ar gerdded
Yn Nhregaron cewch ei glywed'.
[See D. L. Rees Tregaron, Historical and Antiquarian. Llandyssul 1936].."

Markey, Margaret. In the footsteps of Tregaron drovers. In Country Quest 26/1 (1985), p. 32-3

Huws, Richard. Argraffwyr Tregaron (NLW's site) Ceredigion: Journal of the Cardiganshire Antiquarian Society. Vol. VIII, No. 2 (1977)

Tregaron Workhouse - on Peter Higginbotham's site

Details of extant records on Archives Network Wales for the following;

• Cardiganshire Board of Guardians Records 1834-1936
  "Records relating to the Cardiganshire Board of Guardians, including Cardigan Union, 1834-1935; Newcastle Emlyn Union, 1916-1925; Lampeter Union, 1871-1930; Tregaron Union, 1912-1929; Aberayron Union, 1854-1922; and Aberystwyth Union, 1878-1936."

Details of extant records on Archives Network Wales for the following;

• Caron Lower (Caron Is Clawdd or Tregaron) Parish Council and Community Council Records 1894-1985
• Gwnnws Upper and Caron Upper Bont Parochial Committee Records "The Gwnnws Upper and Caron Upper Bont Parochial Committee was active between 1895-1898, in the parishes of Gwnnws Upper and Tregaron, to provide a water supply to the area; its function was inherited by Tregaron Rural Sanitary Authority."
• Tregaron Rural District Council 1863-1974

Here is an extract from The Reports of the Commissioners appointed to enquire into the state of Education in Wales. 1847

Various items  - on the People's Collection Wales site

• Tregaron County School, 1910 [group]
• Undated picture of County School,Tregaron [group]
• Tregaron county school
• Class photograph Ysgol yr Eglwys, Tregaron. Back of postcard annotated 'National School My Class 1940 Katie Morris'
• Tregaron County School Hockey Team

Various items  - on the People's Collection Wales site

• Eisteddfod chair won by John Watkins ('Ioan Gwent'), Tregaron, 1876. 
• Tregaron Literary Society programme, 1907-1908

Jones, Emrys. 'Tregaron: the Sociology of a market town in Central Cardiganshire ', in Welsh Rural Communities, see below

Jenkins, David ; Jones, Emrys ; Hughes-Jones, T ; Owen, Trefor M. Welsh Rural Communities. [Edited by Davies, Elwyn and Rees, Alwyn]. Cardiff, UWP, 1960.
Edited description of this book from Cardiganshire FHS Journal Vol 2~No 6, Oct 2000.
" Four communities are described in this book, two of which are located within our area, namely Aberporth and Tregaron ........... In the second study, Emrys Jones describes everyday life in the market town of Tregaron. It begins with an useful map of the village showing its development during the years 1840 onwards. The town's population of 600 was divided into five well defined localities or 'neighbourhoods', each of which is described in this essay. The town's earliest phase of growth was linked to the cattle trade ; later the hosiery trade and wool manufacture were significant. During the third phase the town reverted to its basic function as a market .......... A sociological analysis illustrates the town's economic activity and the fields of education, religion and family and kindred make this essay essential reading for anyone with ancestors from this part of the country."

Cymdeithas Hanes Cylch Tregaron (Tregaron and District History Society) - for details see Ceredigion Local History Forum

This page has been partly compiled from material previously published in their journal
by kind permission of Cardiganshire Family History Society