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William WYNNE, Aberderfyn
Dear AncestryAid,
I would be ever so grateful if you could shed some light on my "brick wall".
My "brick wall" is my ggg grandfather, William WYNNE, an engineer, who lived and died in Aberderfyn, Ponciau (Ponkey), in Rhosllannerchrugog in Ruabon Parish.
In 1835, William WYNNE ran one of only two mines in Rhosllanerchrugog that had a steam powered winch (the rest had manual winches). The mine was in the Ponkey area of Rhos. (Source: John Platt's Map of Rhosllanerchrugog). This was probably where he got the occupation "engineer" from. Both his son and grandson became winch engineers at local pits, so it may have been the family profession.
Also on John Platt's map is a large field of about 5-7 acres called "Cae Wil. Wynne" (William WYNNE's field), stretching between where I guess Princess Road and Johnson Street are today, in the centre of Rhos (also shown on OS Map 1879, Grid Ref: 329200,346516), where Plas-yn-Rhos is today, I believe.
The nearest birth I can find is the record of birth of a William WYNNE (3rd March 1792), baptised 18th March 1792, son of Samuel WYNNE (a labourer) and Mary (DAVIES) in Minera (this is nearby, but OUTSIDE of the Parish of Ruabon). This William had a brother born in Brymbo on 7th December, who had the same name (Charles) as our William's son. (Minera Chapel Registers Baptisms 1786-1820, pages 8 & 10)
When he married Mary PARRY in Ruabon on 18 Feb 1816, they were both described as "of the parish", but I can find no trace of his birth or parents. The marriage was "by Banns", and the witnesses were Thomas Matthews and Mary Matthews [Ruabon Parish Register, Marriages 1813-1827, page 11]
William WYNNE died on 22nd February, 1839, and on his death certificate his age was recorded by his son Charles as 45. If this was correct, he would have been born between Feb 1794 and Feb 1793, but 45 could have been an estimate.
In his burial record, (Film 586, Wrexham PF/101/1/73, 75-77, [Volume 75, Page 185, entry 1476]) his abode was recorded as Esclusham Below, which is a parish 2 miles (SW) from Wrexham. David ROBERTS was the officiating minister, which possibly suggests that William WYNNE was a Non-Conformist because most of the entries recorded the burial being performed by the Vicar or Curate. That matches with his descendents, who were all Calvinist Methodists.
The Monumental Inscriptions for St. Giles Churchyard in Wrexham (page 49) lists the gravestone of a William WYNN of "Aberderlyn", 10/Feb/1849, aged 57. The gravestone is no longer there. This may be totally unrelated, but the name, the reference to "Aberderlyn" that is almost certainly Aberderfyn, and the month of death might be suggestive of a possible mistranscription of a worn headstone. There were a series of articles in the North Wales Guardian in 1890-91 on the Cemeteries of the District. According to Joy Thomas at the A.N. Palmer Centre in Wrexham, there is an article dated 17 January 1891 with a heading on a paragraph refering to Lewis and Pritchard of Minera, as follows "Other stones in immediate proximity record the deaths of William Wynn, of Aberderfyn (1849) aged 37".
I don't know what to make of the reported inscriptions, and whether there were mis-transcriptions, or whether this was indeed my ancestor buried there.
I have quite a bit of information about William WYNNE, but there are so many conflicting clues to his birth that I would really appreciate any help in tracking down his birth and parents.
Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
John Wynne
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