Betws

The history of Osbourne House in Garnant illustrates the way many small businesses struggled into existence and eventually faded away; the owner Mrs Margaret Evans was known as Mrs Evans Siop y Lamb. Now included here

1841 census of Bettws - transcription by Rina Callingham

See John Ball's site Welsh Churches and Chapels Collection for a photograph/data re St David's Church, Betws

See the Cwmgors/Waun site for a history database of local chapels and churches

Cwmamman Auxiliary of the British & Foreign Bible Society. Subscribers' List from the 1931-1932 report, compiled by Rina Callingham

Dyfed FHS have photographs and data relating to various churches and chapels on their site

Parish registers prior to 1706 were lost when the place they were kept caught fire.

Parish registers: Christenings and Marriages (1706-1973), Banns (1823-1964) and Burials (1706-1909) are at the Carmarthenshire Record Office.

Bishops' Transcripts, covering the period (1702, 1707-8, 1716-22, 1728-84, 1786-7, 1789-90, 1793-6, 1798, 1800, 1802-3, 1805-65) are at the National Library of Wales, and have been microfilmed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Marriage index for this parish - see Dyfed Marriages, 1813-1837, Vol. 18 - Iscennin Hundred (Dyfed Family History Society, c1989)

See Bap/Mar/Bur data on FreeReg

Nonconformist Chapels:

The parish Vestry Minutes for the period 1706-1894 are held at Carmarthen Archives.

Dave Michael's Amman Valley site

Betws - on Wikipedia

Gittins, R & Spencer Davies, D. The Illustrated Heart of Wales Line. Llandysul, 1985, 143 pp. Its 110 mile route from Swansea to Shrewsbury takes it through the heartland of Wales inc. the towns and hamlets of Pantyfynnon, Ffairfach, Llandeilo, Llangadog, Llandovery, Cynghordy etc, and describes each halt and station in detail.

• Geograph
• Flickr

• Kelly's Directory South Wales 1895 for Betws parish
• Kelly's Directory of South Wales, 1910. Here are Extracts relating to Brynamman, Cwmllynfell and Quarter Bach
• Kelly's Directory of South Wales, 1910. Here are Extracts relating to Betws, Garnant and Glanamman
• Kelly's Directory of South Wales, 1910. Here are Extracts relating to Ammanford
• Kelly's Directory South Wales 1923 Private Residents and Commercial for Ammanford
• Kelly's Directory South Wales 1923 for Betws parish

From the Amman Valley to Kansas By Rina Callingham "Daniel Thomas Morgan was born on Tuesday 28th April 1835. He was the 5th known child of David and Mary Morgan (nee Griffiths) of Brynhynydd farm in the Carmarthenshire parish of Betws.............................."

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

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

Carmarthenshire Families

A database of Hicks Names names found in the BTs/IGI and censuses for Llandeilo fawr, Betws and [some] Llangadog parishes which have been collated into specific (probable) family groups.

David Henry Rees.'

".............. or 'D.H as he was often known was born in 1895. From 1917-1918 he was colliery checkweigher at Bettws Colliery. During the 1920s and 1930s he was politically active and in 1936 he was imprisoned in Swansea Gaol following disturbances in Crynant when the Anthracite Combine used blackleg labour to defeat the strike. His health began to declined dramatically from 1937 due to emphesema and he died in 1940 aged just 45.
The archive includes David Henry Rees' diary which records a Miners' Delegation visit to Russia in November 1934. Visits during the trip included factories, schools, hospitals and rest homes, sanatoria, collective farms, workers' flats and a colliery. The delegation visited Leningrad and Moscow and they were in Red Square for the 17th Anniversary of the Russian Revolution"   [From  Archives Network Wales]

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

• Amanwy, papurau (papers) 1909-1975 "`Amanwy', David Rees Griffiths (1882-1953) of Betws, Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, was a poet, writer and broadcaster. An elder brother of James Griffiths (1897-1975), Labour MP for Llanelli and Secretary of State for Wales, he was born in Betws on 6 November 1882 ........"
• Griffiths, James, papers 1897-1975 (accumulated 1912-1975) "James Griffiths (1890-1975), trade union leader and MP, became the first Secretary of State for Wales. He was born in Betws, Carmarthenshire, on 19 September 1890..........."

See Not everyone knows this.. and the Cwmgors/Waun site for random snippets about this parish

Evans DA & Walters H. Dyffryn Aman 'Slawer Dydd [The Amman Valley Long Ago: A Collection of Photographs];Gomer 1987. Bilingual. Here is the book's introduction and an index by Gareth Hicks

Lewis, Brian The Amman Valley: A Photographic Portrait. 1996. Here is an index by Gareth Hicks.

Lloyd, Sir John E., (Ed.). A History of Carmarthenshire (2 vols.), Cardiff, London Carmarthenshire Society (1935, 1939). Extracts from this book can be accessed on some parish pages

Locksmith, W T H. Ammanford: Origin of Street Names and Notable Historical Records. Cultural Services Department, County Hall, Carmarthen, 2000 ?.

Murphy, Carol/Dixon,Chris. Betws Mas o'r Byd. Betws History Group, 2000 . Here is a contents listing and index by Gareth Hicks.
Here also is a brief Betws related extract from this book re the Llyfrau Gleision (The Report of the Commission of Enquiry into State Education in Wales, 1847)

Trumor Thomas, D. Old Characters of Bettws. Glanamman, 1894. (Translated from the original Welsh by Ivor Griffiths, Gorseinon.) Here is an Index by Gareth Hicks. See here also for an extensive summary of the book .

Walters, Huw [Dr]. Canu'r Pwll a'r Pulpud. Cyhoeddiadau Barddas, Swansea; 1987, 397 pp. A study of the Welsh culture of the anthracite coalfield before 1914 - particularly Brynaman, and the Aman Valley areas. There are chapters on folk-lore, growth of industry and population, nonconformity, the eisteddfod etc. It brought the author the Welsh Arts Council Prize for the best work of literary criticism in 1988, the Board of Celtic Studies Prize and the Sir Ellis Jones Ellis-Griffith Prize in 1989.
Here is a translation of the Preface by Professor Caerwyn William, list of Contents and brief Introduction.

Cwmamman snippets from The Centenary History of Amman United Rugby Football Club, 1903-2003

• "At the WWI reunion parade on the 20th September 1919, all discharged volunteers from Cwmamman attended, and it is recorded that 400 men from the villages did volunteer for service, of whom 54 paid the supreme sacrifice.
• There was one Military Cross, five Military Medals, and one Distinguished Service Cross Medal, and one Cross of Saint Stanislau awarded during this period to men of Cwmamman."
• " Moving pictures were being developed and  December 1930 saw them introduced in the Workman's Hall and in January 1931 in the Palace."
• "(1933)...was the year that Cwmamman Silver Band became West Wales Champions....."
• "In the 1950s, three people closely associated with the (Amman United) club were killed in the Llandow Air Disaster where the plane returning supporters from the international match in Ireland crashed on landing, killing over 80 people, at the time the world's worst air disaster. The three local men were; Gomer Griffiths, Freddie Schofield, and Elwyn Davies. "

Extracts from A History of Carmarthenshire Lloyd, Sir John E., (Ed.). 2 vols., Cardiff, London Carmarthenshire Society (1935, 1939)

• The Later Middle Ages; Iscennen---The Commote
  • "Near the castle of Carregcennen were the demesne lands of the maerdref of its former arglwydd.........the commote west and south of the demesne and forest lands was divided into maenors. Maenors Vouwen and Gryngar, bordering on Kidwelly commote, corresponded roughly to the ancient ecclesiastical parishes of Llanarthney and Llanddarog;  Maenors Llys and Methennich to Llanfihangel Aberbythych and Llandybie; and, 'between Amman River and the lordship of Gower, bounded by Cathau brook and Lle'r Castell' was Maenor Bettws or Stryveland."
  • "............the gwestfa paying areas were peopled by descendents of the Welsh freemen. They also paid dofraeth; this was regarded as an imposition ' against the liberty of the men of Iscennen'..............there was also the tribute of the equivalent of forty cows paid triennially..............and the freemen 'beyond Amman' (that is of Maenor Bettws) paid a separate 'rent of assize'............."

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

• Llwynyronnen estates 1753-1961 "The Llwynyronnen estate, formerly known as Tyr yr Inn, was situated in the parishes of Bettws and Llangadog, Carmarthenshire. During the early 19th century the estate was owned by the Lewis family of Tynywain. In 1819, the property was sold to Richard Jones, of Cwmllynfell, Glamorgan ........"
• Betws (Ammanford), papers "Deeds and papers relating to lands of the Hopkin family and others in the parish of Betws, Carmarthenshire, 1594-1748; papers relating to the Hopkin family, 1719-1898; and a poor rate account for the parish of Betws, 1818."

Parish map (Kain/Oliver)

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SN663115 (Lat/Lon: 51.785838, -3.939629), Betws 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.

A notable local entry from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission site;

• HERMAS LLEWELLYN MM Lance Corporal 2136378 275 Field Coy., Royal Engineers who died on Monday 15 February 1943 . Age 29 . Son of John and Martha Llewellyn, of Garnant.  
  Cemetery: TRIPOLI WAR CEMETERY Libya. Grave or Reference Panel Number: 11. E. 18.

Place names from the C19th Tithe Apportionment schedules. Contributed by Darris Williams

Gwaith Y Lamb mine - named after the adjoining Lamb pub in Garnant.

Betws Drift on the Welsh Coal Mines site

Various Betws Mine items  - on the People's Collection Wales site

Davies, Ifor. History of Coal Mining in the Amman Valley . Bi-lingual. Published by the author, 2001. Here is a list of chapter headings and photographs, also on the same page is an ode written to commemorate the Pwll Perkins disaster of 1884

Evans, William John. Pit Memories [Up and Under] 1989. Dinefwr Press, Llandybie. Or in Welsh "Atgofion y Pwll " [ Lan a Lawr]. The book is bi-lingual although the 2 sections are not identical. Here is an index by Gareth Hicks. with a list of contents. There is coverage of Betws[Ammanford] Colliery but also some on the villages and mines of Brynamman in Carmarthenshire and Tairgwaith, Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen and Cwmgors in Glamorgan.

The Raven Tinplate Works, Glanamman. Paul Jenkins book "Twenty Four by Fourteen" (ISBN 1-85902-203-0) makes only a few references to The Raven Works at Glanamman.

• It was in operation from 1881 to 1940.(pp 245) By the middle of 1939 the Raven Works, along with The Amman and the Glynbeudy Works, were requisitioned by the Government (Ministry of Supply?) for the storage of War materials.(pp. 221).
• At about this time the Llangenech Works was taken over by the Admiralty for use as a storage depot.It would appear however, that The Raven Works didn't actually produce tinplate. It, along with the Whitford Works at Briton Ferry, are described as Steel Sheet Works, not tinplate works.
• The Grovesend Steel & Tinplate Works purchased the Raven Works in 1913. (pp. 47). The Raven Works figures in none of the tinplate production statistics in the book, again pointing to the fact it produced only steel sheet.

Raven Tin Plate Works - Glanamman. Extract from " Chronology of Tinplate Works of Great Britain"

• Proprietors :- The Grovesend Steel Tinplate Company Ltd.
  Plant :- 5 sheet mills and a Galvanising Plant. Weekly capacity 350 tons.
• Feb 1881 Concern started by Messrs. H Rees, D Morris and others as the Glanamman Tin Plate Co. The works having been erected by a Mr David Richards (who, in partnership with Mr James Jones, purchased the Dynevor Tinplate Works in August 1881)
• They ceased  trading in August 1895 at which time the plant comprised four mills.
• Oct 1895 Raven Tin Plate Company Ltd registered with £20,000 Capital and converted into a galvanised sheet works.1913 Share capital purchased by Messrs. The Grovesend Steel & Tinplate Co Ltd.
• June 1939 Raven Tinplate Co Ltd ceased trading as a separate company and the assets were transferred to The Grovesend Steel & Tinplate Co Ltd.
• 1941 Premises requisitioned by Ministry of Supply for storage purposes.
• May 1948 Buildings and freehold site offered for sale. the machinery and  plant having been removed previously.

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

• Betws Parish Council and Community Council Records 1825-1987 (accumulated 1894-1987)

Davies, Howard G. The Centenary History of Amman United Rugby Football Club, 1903 - 2003. (Roll Along, Amman United, Roll Along) 2003. Here is a Contents listing and a listing of the photographs - by Gareth Hicks

Walters, Huw. Cynnwrf Canrif : Agweddau Ar Ddiwylliant Gwern. Cyhoeddiadau Barddas, Abertawe, 2004. ISBN: 1900437678. Paperback, 372p.
A comprehensive collection of eight interesting and informative essays reflecting various aspects of the rich folk culture of the Aman and other south Wales valleys in the 19th century, written by a thorough researcher. Here is a review of the book by Tegwyn Jones (in Welsh)