Help Page

This page will be dedicated to people who are asking for information about the
History or Family Links in the areas covered by Caernarfononline.
If you want to be included send me an

I'm trying to help my grandmother trace her family from Caernarfon and was wondering if anyone out there can help me.

The family I'm looking for is Laura Owen nee Jones, married to possibly William Owen and went on to have children Nellie Myfanwy Owen who has since passed away, George Owen who has passed away, John Owen now living in Fishguard (we have contact with him ) and Will Glynn Owen who was thought to have stayed living in Caernarfon, Laura Owen brought up my grandmother who is Laura Jones born in Anglesey on 24th July 1933 and her birth mother is known as Lizzie Jones thought to be the sister of Laura Owen nee Jones, we are trying to trace anyone related to this family or possibly Will Glynn Owen if still alive would be around 70ish, please can anyone help however small the information may be, please let me know
Sharon Jones
sharon_jones78@yahoo.com

I have ancestors who lived in Carnarvon so have thoroughly enjoyed looking at the 'Memory Lane website'.

My aunt Gwyneth Rees is the attendant to Gwenifer and holding the spindle strut to the left of the chair. Gwenifer was her best friend and she married Elwyn Rowlands, Gwyneth's cousin so is now one of the family.

Gwyneth has recently died aged 96 and I have had access to a lot of her old photos .

I do remember auntie Gwyn telling me about The 1st May Queen in Carnarvon and it is only now that I have come across the photos . I just wondered how you knew that Gwenifer became 'Roberts' please? It would be lovely if we had some links there.

Gwyneth's mother was Margaret Grace Jones who grew up with her sisters, brothers, mother and father who was William Jones the Tailor at 6 Castle Square. The Wilson-Dands I believe also had a shop on the square. When the tailor died his son William Henry Jones kept on the shop until he died in 1951. He had a sister Olwen Jones who never married and was a music teacher in Carnarvon. A lot of the family sang with the Carnarvon choir.

I do have more photos which I shall sort and send along anything with groups of people in case you might find relatives. It will take me a while to sort though.

I enjoyed reading your article and am pleased to be part of Carnarvon's heritage.

Hi I have been looking at your pictures on the website. I am looking for a person in Caernarfon and just by off chance you have one with the same surname. Her name is Kathleen Griffiths and her birthday is 20/5/1944, her surname might have changed by now. She used to live in Cae'r Saint back in 1970 -71. If you could be of any help, helping me locate her I would be grateful. She would remember me as Jane Griffiths.
aj582@msn.com
I look forward to hearing from you.

Greetings from Pennsylvania

I just "happened" upon your Websites and felt compelled to write. My sister Anne, my wife Jinny, and I just returned from an absolutely fabulous one week holiday in North Wales. We spent much of the time exploring our Welsh
heritage and were quite successful discovering our roots.
We were able to locate our great great grandparents' gravemarker in Llanbeblig's Cemetery. The stone had been toppled and was overgrown with bramble, but we were thrilled with our discovery. In addition to Hugh and
Mary Hughes, who both died in 1887, the tombstone reflected the names of four of their children...Mary (1), Margaret, Mary (a second one), and Hugh.
A visit to the Archives in Caernarfon was equally productive, and we were able to find the baptism records of five more of Hugh and Mary's children, including our great grandfather, John Hughes, born in 1865.
During our entire visit, we were made to feel like "Family", and we are proud, indeed, to have Welsh Hughes blood coursing through our veins.
Everyone we met, from Reverend Donaldson at St. Mary's to the people in the Caernarfon shops were most kind and hospitable. I am in the process of writing up a more comprehensive biography of our Welsh ancestry, complete
with photos and maps, etc....however, you may find the following outline interesting:
Hugh Hughes was born in Llanfaes, Anglesey, in 1825. His wife, Mary Pritchard,was born in 1827 in nearby Llaniestyn. We visited both of those locations during our trip. We believe that Hugh and Mary were married in 1845 or 1846.
They had their first child, Hugh, in 1847. Census records reflect that he was also born in Llanfaes.
On October 6, 1947 a second child, Mary, was born. Margaret, their third child was born on January 19, 1850. It was during this time period that Hugh and Mary moved their family from Anglesey to Caernarfon.
Their daughter, Margaret, died on August 5, 1851 at the age of 11/2 and is buried in the grave at Llanbeblig. About one year later, on August 24, 1852 the Hughes' first daughter, Mary, died before her fifth birthday. She is
also interred in the family grave. Several months after the death of their daughter, Mary, the Hughes family had another daughter. Born on November 28, 1852 this little girl was also given the name "Mary". Tragically, she would
also die young, on June 3, 1867 at the age of fourteen. It is curious that her death date coincides with the horrible cholera outbreak that occurred in Caernarfon. It is also interesting to note that the records reflect that the
Hughes Family was residing on South Penrallt.... literally "ground zero" during that 1867 pestilence that took the lives of 75 Caernarfon residents.
Returning slightly chronologically, Hugh and Mary Hughes had a baby boy named Owen, born about 1855. Our family records indicate that he married a woman named Laura. Their union produces three children: Mary Hughes, Winifred Hughes Mills, and Laura Hughes. Owen and his family moved to Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, probably in the late 1800's.William Hughes was born in Caernarfon in 1861. He was baptized in Llanbeblig on March 15, 1863. Family records indicate that he married Maria, and they had a daughter named Florie.
About 1862 Hugh and Mary had another daughter, Jane Gaynor Hughes, born in Caernarfon, and baptized with her brother, William, on March 15, 1863. Jane married Howell Hughes in Wales, and came to America where they settled in the coal region of Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. They had four daughters: Mae Hughes Miller, Margaret Hughes Greenfield, Matilda Hughes, and Jenny Hughes. Jane died in about 1918 and is buried in Wilkes Barre.
John Hughes, was born on December 2, 1865 in Caernarfon, and was baptized on March 4, 1866. Baptism records in the Archives confirm that the Hughes family was still living on South Penrallt at the time. Census information
reveals that in 1881, John Hughes was an "Assistant Medical Student" living in the house of John Cookman on Castle Square in Bangor. His future wife, Elizabeth Pritchard from Llanberis, was also living in Bangor in 1881. She
was employed as "Undernurse domestic service" at the Friars School in Bangor.
On June 12, 1887 John Hughes and Elizabeth Pritchard were married, and they came to America on their "wedding tour", sailing out of Liverpool. Family lore claims that Elizabeth became so seasick on the voyage to New York, that
she vowed never to board another vessel. They settled in Wilkes Barre, where they had eleven children. It is interesting to note that John's father, Hugh Hughes, died on June 4, 1887...eight days before his son's wedding. The
mother, Mary Hughes died on September 8th of the same year.
Thomas Hughes was born in 1868 in Caernarfon, and was baptized in Llanbeblig on July 9, 1873. The parish records indicate the Hughes residence was no longer on South Penrallt, but now was on Pool Side. The 1881 Census confirms
an address of 27 Pool Side...a building that is still there...opposite the parking garage.
Mary Hughes, the third daughter named Mary, was born in 1872 in Caernarfon, and was baptized in Llanbeblig Parish on July 9, 1873, with her older brother, Thomas. Mary married Robert Edwards in Wales, and then came to
America, where they too settled in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. Mary and Robert had seven children, the last of whom is Dorothy Edwards Mainwaring...and as of this writing is alive and well in Plains, Pennsylvania.
It appears that Hugh Hughes, the firstborn of Hugh and Mary Hughes, had married, and then, widowed, returned to live with his parents at 27 Pool Side. His occupation is listed as "Shoemaker" in the 1881 Census. That is the same occupation that is listed for his father, in both the census data and the baptism records. At the age of 67, Hugh died on June 16, 1914 and is interred with his parents and three younger sisters in the hallowed grounds of Llanbeblig Parish Church.
And so, while Hugh and Mary Hughes share their final resting place with four of their children, six of their offspring ventured off to America and honed productive lives for themselves and their families.
As a descendent of that family tree, I am most proud to carry the Hughes name, and know in my heart that one day; we shall all be reunited...that one day we shall blend our voices in the most harmonious hymn of all.
I shall remember and cherish the warm Welsh hospitality that made our holiday so very special...and would welcome a response to my "Heritage" ramblings above from any of you folks. I would also welcome a visit should any of you
find yourself on this side of the big pond.
With warmest regards,

John Glenn Hughes, Jr. residing in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA
son of John Glenn Hughes
grandson of John Harold Hughes
great grandson of John Hughes
great great grandson of Hugh and Mary Hughes last residing at 27 Pool Side in Caernarfon...and now permanently resting at Llanbeblig Parish Church.

HughesZ3@aol.com

************************************

Hi David,

You don't know me yet. I do plan to come over for a visit in the next few years. I've been digging up my ancestry in Wales, and am trying to trace back from my gr-gr grandfather who was born in Llanrug at Penyrhiw on 16 June, 1839 to William Williams and Ann (Evans) Williams. His first name was Robert. In the US he was known as Robert Wesley Williams, arriving with friends as a very young boy to the East coast and going into the Civil War as a cavalryman. He led a full life here, and the rest of the story I know. What I am wanting to find out is what happened to his parents in Wales. Were there other siblings? Did everyone else from Robert's family stay in Wales? I cannot find a death certificate for my GGGgrandfather William because the census of 1851 shows that the family had moved on and another family was living at Penyrhiw.

A possible clue is that the marriage certificates research from the time show 2 possibilities:
Llanrug - Rhif No. 114 William Williams/Ann Evans in 1827
Gyffylliog - Rhif No 3 William Williams/Ann Evans

At any rate, I wanted to say HI, and tell you I liked your art! And I hope to meet you when I finally get to come over in person to finish up my genealogy. I am an artist too! As is my Mother who has shown her works at banks and juried art shows around Seattle. If you are curious, I have just a few photoshop paintings on my personal website at: http://home1.gte.net/res03hv1/index.htm

Hope to talk to you again!

Kay Marie Williams Loresch
kloresch@hotmail.com

******************************************

Hello

Upon conducting some research for my family tree, I came across this website. I must say that I think it's an excellent way to communicate any queries that anybody may have regarding anything connected with the town or relevance to family. So let's get straight to the point.

As I mentioned, I'm trying to gather as much information about my family surname. The surname, as you may well know, is pretty unusual. To compound matters further, there are similar spellings of the surname I.e Bohanna, Bohaana etc. People always ask me where did the surname originate. My answer is always vague. The best I can offer is that prehistoric man fooled around with a game of scrabble and the first six letters pulled out would be the surname.( how much points would that be worth?). Some say that the surname originates from a tinker family within the province of Southern Ireland. Yet, it's very hard to prove this. But get this, I think I have found the answer.

While conducting a search on the surname under normal listings, I came across a web site constructed by an Israeli doctor. Apparently, other than being a fairly accomplished doctor, he's also an amateur anthropologist. After much discussion with this man, he has confirmed to me that "Bohana" actually means " the son of Hosanna (Hosanna?)". He reinforced this by stating that the BO- in Bohana is actually an Israeli abbreviation for " Son, or a young person" and that the HANA refers to " Hosanna".

Now, we could argue, by following phonetic laws, that this person has simply broken down the word Bohana and simply translated it to his own configurations. Yet, this person then e-mailed me a document which shows how the name does have connections as far back as the thirteenth century AD. At this point, I was aghast. Had I been looking in the wrong places? For a second , I thought that the task would pan out quite handsomely. Then the wheels came off.

No sooner was I about to embark into Israeli archive records, I received an e-mail from America (Kansas to be precise). It seems there was a community of Bohana's (same surname) residing over there. This person in Kansas contacted me because he was doing exactly the same thing as what I was doing. We discussed the situation and came to a startling conclusion. The person in Kansas had contacted 352 same surname people around America and umpteen others world wide. Before I mentioned to him about the apparent definition of the surname he said " the funny thing is, forty nine per cent of those I contacted were or had known Jewish connection. Bingo.

There now had to be a definite Jewish connection or Israeli connection. Yet people who know the Bohana's in Caernarfon and elsewhere, will know that we do not go to holy temples and wear funny hats on our heads ( though my father does have a flat cap).

So, here we are. What I need is as much information as possible from local people regarding the Bohana surname, preferably from the 1930's back. Naturally, a lot of you will be giving the same info. That's fine. I'll sift through any info given. Remember, however vague the information, please send it. I could have mentioned other information I have , but it goes off on a tangent to the core of the research. Eventually, the finished article will be published on a web site, which is currently under construction.

Now for something totally different. Could you all please help me with a couple of queries I have about Caernarfon. While walking with my little boy the other day, I noticed that some landmarks were invisible. Naturally, it's been years since I walked through these areas. So here we go. Did they exist or was it my imagination.

1. Many years ago, I used to go down to the river by the brickworks and the Peblig factory. We know it as (caer afon) I'm not sure about the spelling of the first part. As you walk along the river towards Eryri Hospital, I could have sworn there were some old buildings (not in the same grounds) , right next to the hospital, with barbed windows. I was told that they used this building as a jail house or an asylum. Up to this day, I'm convinced they existed. Yesterday, I noticed that the entire field was overgrown, mainly with bramble. Can you help?

2. I went to Maesincla Primary School. At that time I lived in Maes Barcer which meant that I had to walk through "PLAS" as we still call it. Would I be right in saying that this walkway was not open until the early seventies? I recall going to school through Afon Bach, the other walkway by Cibyn. When was it first opened?

Many thanks for your time

Andrew Bohana

Andrew.Bohana@btopenworld.com

***************************************

Dafydd

When I was a child I remember the fire blaze at which was once a woollen complex which was situated near Gypsi Hill (now the fly over is located here) my grandmother at the time lived in Sunny Hill (opposite Twthill newsagents) I can recall my parent waking me up early one morning at about 1.30 am just to watch the fire.

Do you have any dates or details about this event as I think it would be a great article for your web page.

Keep up the good work.

Keith Jones

Chairman Segontium Rovers

Dafydd Note: Does anyone have a story [& Photos] to say about this fire and was it Hugheston Roberts?

***********************************

Dear Sirs,

My Nan, Elizabeth Amelia Price (nee Godfrey) was born in Mill Lane, Feb 1896,married Harold, daughter of John Levi Godfrey and Elizabeth (nee Roberts). John was a journeyman tailor; he could not speak or hear. They moved to Liverpool where they are buried in Anfield Cemetery.

Johns father, also a JL Godfrey was married to Catherine (nee Thomas) had been born in Fenny Stratford, Northampton. They were in Bangor Street in the 1901 census with daughter Catherine. John senior had worked on the railways and died in 1922, I'm hoping someone will recognise the family!

Regards Jim Price

Jimprice@supanet.com

******************************************

Hi

Browsing through your site and saw the request for Coronation Street parties so thought you might be interested in the attached. See HERE
My name is Peter Cox. I lived in Caernarfon in the early 50's, initially at 7 Thomas Street in Twthill and later at 8 Church Street. In the partypicture I am the one behind the table next to the "queen" and my mother was
the person at the back row extreme right. Unfortunately memory fades overthe years and I can only recognize a few now. The person next to me was Rhian John who, interestingly enough, I ran into 10 years later in Barry. At
the far right front are the Bonner-Pritchards who ran a removing company at the bottom of High Street. Was that Porthyraur? Welsh has faded also!
It was next to what used to be a large hotel on the corner of Shirehall Street - another aside, across from the hotel on the other side of Shirehall Street lived if I remember correctly someone we called Auntie Grace, saw a reference to her in your nicknames section, she used to run a newspaper 'shop' at the bottom of South Penrallt, she was what these days we would term a little eccentric in that she erred significantly on the water saving side!!!
I received the pictures form Geoff Walsh, he is in the centre of the 2nd row behind the table. If I remember correctly behind him one row and 2 to the right is David (Didi) Pritchard another branch of the Pritchard family that
lived up whatever the road was that went up to Segontium. With some thought I could maybe place names on some of the others also.
The second photo was a school photo I think from 54, maybe 55. The interesting thing about both photos that Geoff sent me is that I actually found copies of the same 2 pictures when clearing up my parent's estates.
The school photo was taken at the boys school on was it South Penrallt, the one that wasn't so steep!
I used to a very good friend of Cledwyn Williams who was the son of Peter (CC Banannas) Williams who had a warehouse on the corner of Market and High Streets. They used to live opposite to us on Church street, he was the onlyson in what I seem to recall was a large family of daughters. Unfortunately over the years I have lost contact with him but if you have any knowledge of him or anybody who does my email address is peter@simbatech.net
Actually made contact with several of these people via
www.friendsreunited.co.uk
I left the UK in 67 and am currently in a town called Westford, 30 odd miles North West of Boston Mass. going toward the New Hampshire line.
Hope this is of interest to you and TIA if you can be of any help on the other request

Peter

********************************