St. Illtyd's-Only RC Chapel in Merthyr 1857-1878?

[mwill]

Hello,

I'm looking for my GGF/M's Church baptismal and marriage records. I have their civil marriage record for 1876 which states they were married in the "Roman Catholic chapel in Dowlais, Merthyr" but the chapel is not named.

Can someone confirm that St.Illtyd's was the only RC Chapel in Dowlais from around 1857 through 1878?

If there's only one chapel, then I think I can get the baptism, marriage records index booklets from the Glamorgan Family History Society through the Parish Chest. They aren't too expensive. I don't know if there's any look-up services. I live in San Francisco so a trip to Merthyr cannot be in my immediate plans unfortunately.

Also, I understand that once I have their names from these Index Booklets I can order the certificates from the Public Record Office in Kew, London. Is that correct? It seems unusual to me to order religious records from a government office, (but this is all new to me)

Thank you so much if you can confirm if I am on the right track in my research or set me straight. I really appreciate this forum.

Thanks, Mary

[tricia1309]

I asked a similar type of question in the Family History section.
Hope that was ok?

oldmerthyr1.proboards2.com/index.cgi?board=familyhistory&action=display&thread=644

[Alan]

There has only ever been one Roman Catholic Church in Dowlais ..............St Illtyd's Church
Marriages are recorded in the Church records from 1836 ( which is curious since strictly speaking no legal marriage should have taken place here until 1837 and the Church was not licensed until 1873 ). However, the priest carefully
recorded marriages with names of bride' s and groom's father, names of witnesses and sometimes the address.
Except for a few odd years, the priest writes in latin but it is a simple formula easy to understand.
The index to these marriages has been complied by the Glamorgan Family History Society ............ they are available for sale and contain all the details of the original records ........ except names of witnesses.
The National Archives in Kew now has the Civil records of birth, marriage and death ( these are available for Merthyr
Tydfil from the Registrar, Castle House, Glebeland, Street for a fee of £7 per certificate ). The Civil marriage certificate can be obtained from KEW BUT the St Illtyds Church records are NOT available from Kew or from the local registrar. The records are in the Church itself and Merthyr Library has photocopies of the originals 1836-1900 and Merthyr Library could supply a photocopy...... [e-mail]

The other Roman Catholic Church in Merthyr Tydfil was St Mary's .............. the priest came over from Abergavenny
and the records kept in the Church date only from 1859 ...............
the info. for St Illtyd's is the same for this Church ............. except that the indexes and photocopies extent to 1925 and not 1900.

Alan

[mwill]

Alan Wrote:

..............But the St Illtyds Church records are NOT available from Kew or from the local registrar. The records are in the Church itself and Merthyr Library has photocopies of the originals 1836-1900 and Merthyr Library could supply a photocopy at [e-mail]
Alan...........................


Alan,

Thank you so much for your response. I looked up in the Glamorgan FHS booklet for Baptisms 1836-1900 and found my great-uncle's baptism in 1877! I emailed the Merthyr Library for a photocopy as you suggested at [e-mail]. I'll keep you posted.

I also am emailing them for a copy of his parents' church marriage records, my GGM and F who per the Civil Record which I have, were married the year before.

The only disappointing thing is that I couldn't find my GGMom's baptism in the same booklet. All other documents I have and very firm statements from family say she was born in Wales in 1857-ish with GGF born in Ireland.

I was hoping it was Dowlais where GGMom was born, since she was married there.

I don't have her GRO Civil Birth Civil Record because there are around 6 girls in Glamorgan with her name around 1857. My plan was to find her baptism in Dowlais and then request the correct one. So that hypothesis has not worked out the way I wanted.

But also, I have a vague remembrance that my mom (who's passed on) mentioned Swansea as GGM's birthplace.

Is it likely that that could be?

For example, would Swansea likely be a first stop in Wales for Irish immigrants coming from Cork?

So could GGMom be born in Swansea to immigrant Irish, move to Merthy Tydfil at some point and marry GGF in 1876 (another Irish immigrant) whose occupation then is listed as a "furnace filler" living on High Street in their GRO Civil Marriage Record.

GGMom's dad in the GRO Civil Marriage record (1876) is listed as a laborer. I wonder if there's anyway to figure out if he was working in Merthyr by then or somewhere else like Swansea.

Any light you can cast would be very appreciated.

Any other hints for narrowing down the likely place GGMom was born in Wales and the likely paths Irish immigrants took in Wales when they came from Ireland?

Or any suggestion on another part of the forum that I should post this problem would be very enlightening.

Thanks, Mary