Aberffraw, Anglesey

Historical Description

Aberffraw, a seaport village and a parish in the county of Anglesey. The village stands at the mouth of the Ffraw rivulet, on a creek of Carnarvon Bay, 3 miles from Bodorgan and Ty Croes stations on the L. & N.W.R., and 12 SE of Holyhead. It has a post office under Ty Croes (R.S.O.), and was formerly a market-town. It is now a poor place, inhabited chiefly by fishermen and farm-labourers; but it anciently, for four centuries, till the death of Llewelyn-ap-Griffith, was a capital of the Princes of Wales. No remains of the palace exist, but a garden at the S end of the village still bears the name of Gardd-y-Llys or " palace-garden." The eisteddfodau, or assemblies of the bards, were anciently held here. The parish comprises 5664 acres of land and 173 of foreshore and water; population of the civil parish, 959; of the ecclesiastical, 983. A lake, called Llyn Coron, about 2 miles in circumference, lies a little east of the village, and is much frequented by anglers. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Bangor; net value, £669. Patron, the Crown. The old church, which contains a very interesting doorway of the 12th century, is in good condition. There are two dissenting chapels.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Church Records

FindMyPast have a parish records collection which includes transcripts and images of most Welsh parish registers.
This includes Aberffraw: Baptisms from 1719 to 1912, Marriages from 1719 to 1927, and Burials from 1639 to 1980. Free to search.

Civil Registration

For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.

For births, marriages, and deaths in Aberffraw from 1837 to 1885 you should search for the Anglesey Registration District.
For births, marriages, and deaths in Aberffraw from 1885 to 1937 you should search for the Holyhead Registration District.
For births, marriages, and deaths in Aberffraw from 1937 to 1968 you should search for the Anglesey West Registration District.
For births, marriages, and deaths in Aberffraw from 1968 to 1974 you should search for the Anglesey Registration District.

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Aberffraw from the following:

• Slater's Directory of North & Mid Wales, 1895

Land and Property

A full transcript of the Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Anglesey is online.

Maps

Online maps of Aberffraw are available from a number of sites:

• Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• Google Streetview.
• National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
• OpenStreetMap.
• old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
• Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)

Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following newspapers online:

• Western Mail
• The North Wales Chronicle