Elias Family

[viv]

http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/wal/AGY/Llanfwrog/#Genealogy

Parish church records show Thomas Elias as a member

[viv]

have a look at the old maps section.When the map shows Llanfwrog at the centre, move to the left and you will see Plas y Glyn!  http://www.genuki.org.uk/cgi-bin/placemaps.  If u go on Zoopla and type in Plas y Glyn, Llanfwrog you will see entries forw. These are modern homes, but if you select street view and walk along the road you will come across the main farm

[sgbright]

wow.  I am in the office - will have to wait til I am home and have better capabilities to do that.  amazing hey!  You can see the farm - no sign of an old building?

[sgbright]

hi viv.  having difficulty with that genuk link.  Would you mind giving me some further explanation so I can follow it.  Also not having much luck on zoopla.  could you give me a property reverence to follow?

i did however find this:  http://www.geolocation.ws/v/E/1369460/plas-y-glyn-farm-from-drumlin-31/en

regards

Stuart

[sgbright]

Hugo and Viv.  If you email me on stuart.bright@bigpond.com (I will delete this post subsequently) I will send you a copy of a tree prepared in the 1930s I think you will find interesting and may also be able to comment upon.  regards

[sgbright]

here we go ..

[Hugo]

Hi Stuart, thanks for your posts.   Your head must be spinning with all these links that have been posted but there is a lot of useful info in them.
I've looked again at the various links regarding the addresses of your Ancestors and they all seem to say that William was born at Plas Y Glyn Cynnog although I have been unable to find any other reference for a Plas Y Glyn in Clynnog anywhere.
Looking up the links again this is what I found:-
Richard     Born  Derwen Isa Clynnog
Elias ap Richard  born Gefail Talhenbont Llanystymdwy   (occupation Smith)
William ab Elias ( known as Willliam Elias)  born 1708   Plas Y Glyn Clynnog

As I said before there are only 17 Elias' listed in the telephone directory and the vast majority live in the Llyn Peninsula and two of those are in Llanystymdwy and one in Clynnogfawr 

[sgbright]

Thanks Hugo.  Yes will need to take stock and digest at some stage - luckily I have a few months to go before my trip.  The archives material may also help once there.  kind regards for now

[Hugo]

I was in the Conwy Archives for a short time today and had a look at the Burial Indexes for Llanrwst.  There is only one entry for the Elias family and that is at St Mary's grave No 361. The entry was as follows:-
In memory of Thomas Elias of Llanrwst who died the 6th day of January 1901, aged 67 years.
Also Evelyn Mary the beloved daughter of Thomas and Mary Elias who died the 7th day of November 1923.
Also the said Mary Elias who died the 29th day of August 1930 aged 85 years.

There was also a small book there which I think you would find interesting, it's called " The story of the Parish of Caerhun" with particular reference to the village of Rowen and is by E C Bryan.
I was having a read of it when my phone rang and I had to leave the Archives.  During my quick read of it,  I read that it mentions John Elias of Manchester House who was a member of Seion Chapel in 1911.
There was also a mention of Edward Elias of Gorswen and it said that he was a tenant of the old mansion of Gorswen but the mansion disappeared a long time ago and an ancient garden wall still encloses the present farm house.

[sgbright]

Thanks Hugo.  The following shows who these folk were who you found today.  Great to know for my visit.

http://records.ancestry.com.au/William_Elias_records.ashx?pid=84109063

Shame the Gorswen house is not there but not unexpected.  The census indicated that he was farming Gorswen - I wonder if it too was a Lord Newborough property although Edwards death notice indicated that he and his father were the Estate Manager to the same lord who I think died in the 1870s so may have changed at some stage. 

Thanks for pointing out the publications which will be on my reading list.

[Hugo]

Hi Stuart, I know Gorswen is on your must see list when you visit this country but I drove past it yesterday for the first time.  I drove down a narrow lane from Caerhun to Rowen and the winding lane followed the small river Ro crossing some lovely little bridges on the way.   I passed the driveway to Gorswen but didn't take any photos as the building is not visible from the lane I was driving along.
The driveway for Gorswen goes uphill through some lovely woodland and the house must be somewhere above the trees.  Well worth a visit for you when you do come here.

[sgbright]

Thanks Hugo, much appreciated.  Certainly looks like a beautiful area.  I am assembling quite a list of things to see.  thanks again

[Hugo]

Hi Stuart,  last night I was reading one of my walks with history books and I came across a walk entitled " A Victorian Murderer's Guide to Rowen"      Your ancestor's home has a mention in it, in the nicest possible way and I've copied it for you.
Very briefly, a man called Jac Y Swan had committed a murder in May 1853 and was making his escape via a field close to Gorswen to avoid possible detection. The comments went on to say:-
"  Gorswen was formerly a very important gentry house, the home in 1622 of Nicholas Bayly, an ancestor of the Marquess of Anglesey.  In 1853 it was occupied by a wealthy tenant, Edward Elias (1822- 1893) who farmed 250 acres and employed 11 servants and farm labourers.  After completing his grizzly task the murderer descended from the hills,  skirting Parciau Farm and following this precise route.  Was he heading for an outlying dwelling or avoiding the village centre in case he was recognised?    If the latter, he was out of luck for at about seven o' clock one of Gorswen's labourers William Williams, was leading his master's ponies up towards the mountains when he spotted a familiar figure heading towards him.  He shouted to him and although the man obediently opened the field gate he then seemed to vanish into thin air"
Jac Y Swan was later tried and convicted of the murder and 10,000 people, including most of the population of Rowen witnessed a public hanging in Caernarfon

[sgbright]

Thanks Hugo.  Much appreciated.  In looking more closely at the hisfam data this property seemed to have been occupied by the family longer than i thought.  there were initially a couple of generations of Elias but then previously one of the wives family occupied the property for much longer. Is that a book you were reading from?

Also we speculated on how Ernest Bartleet from Redditch and Isobel from Gorswen may have met.  I have since found that there was an Ernest Bartlet (spelling error in census) was living in Llanrwst (2 Rhiwlas Villa) in 1881.  he was listed as a sheep farmer with 3000 acres (census has correct age and birthplace) so that mystery is partly solved.   

thanks again ... i cant wait to get over there ..

[Hugo]

I enjoyed a walk in Rowen today and walked through the Gorswen Nature Reserve but didn't walk past the present house at Gorswen, we're saving that for another day.