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More Information is available on the local
history web site click on the button to be redirected there
FAMOUS PEOPLE ASSOCIATED WITH LLANFECHELL
William Jones' father was Siôn Siôr. An obvious
question would be: why was his father not named 'Jones'? The answer is simple,
he was named Jones since this is the English version of the Welsh Siôn.
William's mother was Elizabeth Rowland who was from Llanddeusant, a village in
the Brecon Beacon hills about 9 km due south of Llandovery. William was born on
a farm on the island of Anglesey and the family moved to Llanbabo on Anglesey,
then moved again after the death of William's father. The family were poor and
William attended a charity school at
Llanfechell about 3 km from the north coast of Anglesey. There his
mathematical talents were spotted by the
local landowner who arranged for him to be given a job in London working
in a merchant's counting-house.
This job saw Jones serving at sea on a voyage to the West
Indies, and he taught mathematics and navigation on board ships between 1695 and
1702. He was serving on a navy vessel which was part of the British-Dutch fleet
under Sir George Rooke and James Butler, Duke of Ormonde, which destroyed a
Franco-Spanish fleet in Vigo bay off northwestern Spain in 1702. Navigation was
a topic which greatly interested Jones and his first published work was A New
Compendium of the Whole Art of Navigation published in 1702. In this work he
applied mathematics to navigation, studying methods to calculate position at
sea.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/
~history/Mathematicians/Jones.html
A Topographical Dictionary of Wales
Samuel Lewis, 1833
LLANVECHELL (LLAN-VECHELL), a parish (formerly a
market-town) in the hundred of TAL Y BOLION, county of ANGLESEY, NORTH WALES, 5
miles (W.) from Amlwch, comprising the township of Llandugwell, which supports
its own poor, and containing 976 inhabitants. This parish, which derives its
name from the dedication of its church, is situated on a small stream which
falls into the bay of Cemmes on the north ; and the village, which is of
considerable size, is finely sheltered by a chain of hills on the south and
west. The parish extends for three miles in length and two in breadth, and is
divided into two unequal parts, called Llanvechell Caerdegog and Llanvechell
Llawr y Llan. The surface is boldly varied, and the hills abound with mineral
treasure : the lower lands are in a good state of cultivation. The surrounding
scenery is pleasingly diversified, and from the higher grounds are extensive
views of the channel, and of the adjacent country, which in some parts is
characterized by features of picturesque beauty. To the west of the church, and
about a mile distant from it, are three upright stones, ten feet in height,
disposed in the form of a triangle, twelve feet distant from each other, and
supposed to be the remaining supporters of an ancient cromlech, which must, from
the elevation of the stones, have been one of the loftiest monuments of that
kind in the island ; the table stone, if ever there was one, has disappeared ;
but the farm on which the upright stones are found still retains the name of the
"Cromlech." The celebrated Mona marble called verd antique is found in this
parish, in great abundance and of very superior quality; it is equal in the
brilliancy and variety of its colours to the finest specimens of Italy, and was
formerly a source of considerable wealth : the best is obtained from the
quarries on Maes Mawr farm, and surpasses in beauty all that has hitherto been
discovered in other parts of the island. On the same estate, and also in other
districts of the parish, steatite, or French chalk, is found in profusion : this
mineral has of late become more valuable and important since the discovery that
chromate of iron, a pigment of great value, belongs to the same formation.
Carding, spinning and fulling, and the weaving of stuffs and of coarse woollen
goods, are carried on in the parish to a limited extent. The small creek of
Cemmes, in the adjoining parish, affords an opportunity for transporting the
produce of the quarries, and for landing coal and other necessary commodities
for the supply of the inhabitants. The market, which was well supplied and
numerously attended, was formerly held on Friday : fairs are annually held on
Holy Thursday, August 5th, September 21st, and November 5th and 26th. The
township of Llandugwell was formerly a parish of itself, and is exempt from the
payment of church rates to the parish of Llanvechell: the church is now a ruin,
and the rectorial tithes are taken alternately by the rectors of this parish and
Llanrhyddlad. The living of Llanvechell is a discharged rectory, in the
archdeaconry of Anglesey, and diocese of Bangor, rated in the king's books at
£11. 11. 3., and in the patronage of the Bishop. The church, dedicated to St.
Mechell, or Macutus, by whom it was originally founded, was rebuilt about the
year 1533, and is a spacious and venerable structure, in the later style of
English architecture, with a tower surmounted by a low spire : it consists of a
nave, chancel, and south transept, and is ornamented with an cast window of
elegant design, embellished with ancient stained glass of brilliant colour, and
contains several good monuments. There are places of worship for Baptists,
Independents, and for Calvinistic and Wesleyan Methodists. A parochial school
was founded in. 1723, by Richard Wynne, Esq., who endowed it with a farm called
Nant Glyn, in the parish of Amlwch, for the gratuitous instruction of children
of this and the adjoining parish of Llanbadrig : there are at present only four
boys in the school. Mr. Owen Williams, in 1657, bequeathed £ 2. 14. per annum,
payable out of the tithes of Llanbadrig parish ; and William Davies, in 1751,
bequeathed £ 60, to be distributed in bread and coarse woollen cloth to the
poor. David Lloyd, in 1689, gave a cottage and garden in this parish for the
support of an aged and indigent man ; John Bulkeley, in 1754, bequeathed a
portion of land to the poor; and Catherine Bulkeley, in 1764, bequeathed £ 100
for the relief of poor distressed widows, but the interest of this last bequest
has not been paid for several years : there are also some other smaller
donations for the relief of the poor. There is a mineral spring near the demesne
of Cevn Coch, in this parish. The average annual expenditure for the maintenance
of the poor amounts to £433. 13.
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