Ystradgynlais History

Detail of 1844 Tithe Map of Watford, Hertfordshire, showing properties on Watford Heath

Doing some research today and the family come from a part of the world that I know very well. It makes such a difference when you have a clear picture of what the place looks like today - particularly when, as in this case, it hasn't changed that much in the past 200 years...

Handwritten note in the parish register of Flaunden, Hertfordshire: Copy of Baptismal Register 1729 to 1773* The original Register (kept herewith) of the Parish of Flaunden in the County of Hertford having become much injured and obliterated by age, the following Copy without alteration or emendation was made by me. Bryant Burgess - Vicar - January 1861 * These are the covering dates for the entries on this page. The Rev. Burgess copied the whole of the old register, covering baptisms 1729-76, marriages 1731-65 and burials 1732-76.

And the Vicar of the Day award goes to Rev. Bryant Burgess, Vicar of Flaunden, Hertfordshire, who in 1861, made a copy of an older parish register which was "much injured and obliterated by age". 1/2

So pleased to announce that Valleys poetry legend Patrick Jones will be adding some of his brilliant words to my book!

I think this is a great reason to get a copy if you haven't already!

www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/valleys-ph...

The Valleys book crowdfund launches on Thursday! Featuring my work, and designed by the inestimable @seanrees.bsky.social

The book itself is B5 size, and 72 pages of full colour. It’s £15, with the other £4 to cover postage and packaging etc. It’s comprised of 15 years work covering the Valleys.

Tomorrow morning for those in Blighty.

Here’s a truly exciting thought I think this book was given to Millicent Fawcett by her daughter Philippa, English mathematician & lecturer at Newham College, on her 52nd birthday. According to my colleague Millicent hated this book. Thanks for all your help. A minor history quest has been solved.

Here's another #buyaastrangerabook offer.

I read about Danielle Brown recently, and she seems like the coolest!

So I bought a couple of these to give away.

"Run Like A Girl"

If you'd like one, get in touch!

UK only

More #buyastrangerabook day loveliness!

@lisatans.bsky.social is offering to buy someone whatever book they like, up to £15!

So, if there's a particular book you're after, get in touch!

UK only.

Very sad to hear of the untimely death of Mario Biagioli, a great scholar of intellectual property and #histsci
ishtip.org/mario-biagio...

The Brora WWII listening or ‘Y’ station which supplied information to Bletchley Park on intercepted German communications. It continued in use during the Cold War up to 1986. Now a caravan/motorhome parking area.

My tutor in King Alfred and Charles the Bald, 1989-91, and a remarkable teacher at that. Where others might knock you back, she encouraged you, saw parallels you were trying to make and why, and my dissertation was a bizarre joy to research and write, on Alfred's nobility

Jinty Nelson Memorial A memorial for Dame Professor Jinty Nelson DBE FRHistS FBA (28 March 1942 – 14 October 2024)

On 20 May @kingshistory.bsky.social host a memorial event for the historian Jinty Nelson (1942-2024) bit.ly/42IX6Xa

Jinty was also a distinguished President @royalhistsoc.org (2000-04). The event includes reflections on Jinty and the RHS by @petermandler.bsky.social and @pstafford.bsky.social 1/2

Hello & welcome to this historian's dream

A newspaper that gives the times of sunrise & sunset, as well as temperature, weather, etc for any given day

Please excuse me while I rewrite everything based on what the moon was doing, thanks #18c

NEW PAGE for the obituaries of Rev W. Ilar Edwards (1871-1930), Rector of Ystradgynlais, and his widow Mrs Mary Ann Edwards (1872-1962)

ystradgynlais-history.co.uk/rev-w-ilar-e...

Thank you! Interesting 1969, that means that the money that my Dad got from Will towards his house in Leeds must have been a gift of some sort rather than an inheritance,

It’s been a while but here is one of the first ships to form the Royal Canadian Navy

HMCS Niobe formally HMS was transferred in 1911 along with a family member of mine

Here she is in 1917 alongside in Halifax

The wedding of my dad's cousin John to Louvain. We visited them in Aberavon in the early 1980s but John died a few years later. When Dad died in 2022 I tried to inform Louvain but nobody knew where she lived or if she was still alive

My Grandma from Briton Ferry and my Grandpa from Neath married in London in 1933

My Grandma came from Briton Ferry, my Grandpa came from Neath, they married in London, lived in South London, then Spain, then Oundle, but are buried in Shirley, Croydon

My great grandmother Mabel Phillips, postmistress at Giants Grave, Briton Ferry

The iron crosses for graves at Castlemartin for the Phillips side of my family/ The charity tells me they are safe within the church, but they must be locked away as I could not find them on visiting in 2024

I don't off hand know the exact date of this, the death of my great Uncle Will, leaving his wife, my Aunty Dinah, a widow

My Grandma from Briton Ferry and my Grandpa from Neath married in London in 1933

The death of Eddie Phillips

Llanguicke Church, c 2020 and my Dad sat by the well in front of the tower

Swansea Castle, c 2010

Here's the blurb for Elodie's new book! THE EPIC NEW STANDALONE NOVEL FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE WOLF DEN TRILOGY Boudicca. Infamous warrior, queen of the British Iceni tribe and mastermind of one of history’s greatest revolts. Her defeat spelled ruin for her people, yet still her name is enough to strike fear into Roman hearts. But what of the woman who grew up in her shadow? The woman who has her mother’s looks and cunning but a spirit all of her own? The woman whose desperate bid for survival will take her from Britain’s sacred marshlands to the glittering façades of Nero’s Roman Empire… Born to a legend. Forced to fight. Determined to succeed. Meet Solina. Boudicca’s Daughter.

SIGNED BOOK NEWS!

Order a SIGNED copy of "Boudicca's Daughter" by the ace @elodieharper.bsky.social

A new stand alone novel by the author of The Wolf Den Trilogy.

Blurb in ALT text.

It's out in August, but all the cool kids are pre-ordering copies.

HERE!

biggreenbookshop.com/signed-copie...

The house in Treherbert where my Grandma was born... probably because her mother pregnant before marriage

Strata Florida Abbey, 1976