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Jeffreyston

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"JEFFRESTON, a parish in the hundred of NARBERTH, county of PEMBROKE, SOUTH WALES, 7 miles (S. by W.) from Narberth, containing 610 inhabitants. The village is pleasantly situated on a well-wooded eminence, and forms a conspicuous and interesting feature in the views from the adjacent parts of the country. Near the turnpike road from Narberth to Pembroke, which passes through the parish, and about half-way between Creswell Quay and the church, is Cresselly, the seat of I.H. Allen, Esq., surrounded with luxuriant plantations. The substrata of the soil of this parish are stone coal and culm, which have been wrought to a very great extent, and still continue to be procured, though on a smaller scale. The mines are thought to be nearly exhausted, but it is probable that, by carrying the shaft to a greater depth, an abundant supply might still be obtained. The coal is shipped at Creswell Quay, in a branch of Milford Haven extending for more than a mile and a half to the south, and partly in this parish, for the coast of Sussex, in vessels of about eighty tons' burden. The living is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry and diocese of St.David's, rated in the king's books at £4. 17. 6., endowed with £200 private benefaction, £600 royal bounty, and £1000 parliamentary grant, and in the patronage of the Chapter of St. David's. The church, dedicated to St. Jeffry and St. Oswald, is not distinguished by any remarkable architectural features. The average annual expenditure for the main-tenance of the poor is £231. 5." [From A Topographical Dictionary of Wales (S. Lewis, 1833).]

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Census

The 1851 census for this parish has been indexed by Dyfed Family History Society.

Census Returns for this parish have the following LDS Call Numbers:

  • 1841 Census - 0464344
  • 1851 Census - 0104232
  • 1861 Census - 0543242
  • 1871 Census - 0850852
  • 1881 Census - 1342302
  • 1891 Census - 6099636
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Church History

Some church and chapel data from The Religious census of 1851 : A Calendar of the returns relating to Wales, Vol 1, South Wales. Ed. by I.G Jones, & D. Williams. UWP, Cardiff, 1976. The names are those of the informants

  • Jeffreston Parish Church John Dawkins Palmour, Curate
  • Wesleyan chapel WM Erected before 1820 Thomas Hat, Leader
  • Cresselly Primitive Methodists Erected in 1837 George Davies, Chappel Steward
    The following note is attached; - "This return is exceedingly inaccurate and I fear that most of the returns from Dissenting congregations are far from the truth. This return I can state from my own personal knowledge is false. It sets down 60 as the average congregation. The truth is the congregation seldom exceeds 15 and there are only 3 persons in the Parish who call themselves Primitive Methodists" J D Palmer, Registrar

Parish entry for Jeffreyston with Reynoldston from The Welsh Church Year Book, 1929 (Cd by Archive CD Books).

  • St Jeffrey & Parish Church (Reynoldston)
  • Incumbent and Curates; H Morgan
  • Rural Deanery of Narberth
  • Acreage 2,357 & 527 ; Population 481

    Lloyd, T. A history of Jeffreyston Parish Church, Pembrokeshire, Jeffreyston Parish Church (1992) [8] p.

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    Church Records

    Parish registers: Christenings (1695-1945), Marriages (1695-1971), Burials (1695-1977) at NLW with Mf copy at Pem.RO

    Copy ts PR [extracts] (1715-1801) at NLW

    Copy ts PR (1730-1837) incomplete and with index, at Pem.RO

    Bishops' Transcripts, covering the period (1799-1876, 1879, 1881, 1885-6, 1888-9, 1903-4) are at the National Library of Wales, and have been microfilmed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

    Bishops Transcripts for this parish have the LDS Call Number: 0105146.

    See Bap/Mar/Bur data on FreeReg

    Eynon/Einon names from the Jeffreyston PRs, also names of Vicars 1534-1903. And a photograph of the parish church

    Nonconformist Chapels:

    • Cresselly, Lanesend, Cresselly [Primitive Methodists, 1837]. Records ; baptisms, 1847-1907, also other records such as accounts, minute books etc, at Pem RO. SN07030630 Built 1837, rebuilt 1893 Still open 1992 Coflein On Dyfed FHS
    • Chapel, in South Pits [Wesleyan Methodists, 1820]. Records ; births and baptisms, Pembroke Circuit, 1847-70 ; births and bapts, Tenby Circuit, 1868-1961 ; other circuit records are also deposited at Pem RO. On Dyfed FHS
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    Description & Travel

    Various landscape photographs of the area -  on the People's Collection Wales site

    You can see pictures of Jeffreyston which are provided by:

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    Gazetteers

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

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    Genealogy

    Pembrokeshire Families

    Inglis-Jones, Elisabeth. A Pembrokeshire County Family in the Eighteenth century . Part I , National Library of Wales Journal, 1971, Winter. Volume XVII/2. "Since the sixteenth century when a John Allen migrated there from Ireland, many branches of his descendants had inhabited Pembrokeshire.................In 1728 John Allen of Goodhooke raised his standing by his marriage with Joan Bartlett, heiress of Cresselly (in Jeffreyston parish), a fine estate with an ancient house standing on a coal-bearing headland above a tidal river and overlooking the far shores of Milford Haven"
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    Maps

    Parish map (Kain/Oliver)

    You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SN072059 (Lat/Lon: 51.718757, -4.792228), Jeffreyston which are provided by:

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    Names, Geographical

    Places, villages, farms etc within Jeffreston parish as shown on the online parish map from the CD of Historic Parishes of England and Wales: an Electronic Map of Boundaries before 1850 with a Gazetteer and Metadata [computer file]. (Kain, R.J.P., Oliver, R.R.). (Extracted by Barry Johnson)

    • Jeffreston (133); Beacon Hill, Bishop's Br., Brince, Cresselly, Cresswell, Harrolds, Honey's Croft, Jeffreston, Landigwinnet, Lanesend, Marketgate, Millards, Morgan's Fm., Norchard.
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    Occupations

    Price, Martin Connop Coal, Culm and Cressswell Quay: some aspects of the Pembrokeshire coal industry in the eighteenth century The Journal of the Pembrokeshire Historical Society, No.6, 1994/5 Welsh Journals Online