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PEMBREY PARISH CHRONOLOGY [AND LOCAL COMMUNITIES]

60'sAD Romans Conquest of Carmarthenshire
297AD Battle of Loughor, where the Romans were slain
600AD About this period lived St Elli. To whom LLanelli church is supposedly dedicated
1066 Pembrey parish church consecrated
1356 Charter of Kidwelly granted
1457 27th Jan Henry VII born in Pembroke Castle
1509 21st April Death of Henry VII ages 52
1540 Coal Mining commenced in Trimsaran area Shortly after in Pinged
1560 Court Farm Pembrey Probably built
1574 This date is engraved on the old chalice at LLanelli Church
1586 The earliest Parish Registers of Kidwelly date from this year
1653 The Plague of LLanelli
1659 John Vaughan of LLanelli, High Sheriff
1660 John LLoyd of LLangenech M.P. for Carmarthenshire
1663 Thomas Rice, Vicar of LLanelli
1679 LLanon Parish Registers commence
1681 Kidwelly Church spire struck by lightening
1683 LLanelli Church probably restored at this time
1684 LLanelli Parish registers start from this time
1700 Small brewhouse started on what is now Buckleys Brewery
1701 Gwdig house rebuilt or restored
1703 26 & 27 nov The Great Storm (Greatest storm recorded in this country)
1714 LLanelli House Built
1723 from this date there are no entries in the parish registers of LLanelli until 1735
1737 Lower Kidwelly Tinplate Works Founded
1764 John Wesley crossed sands from Kidwelly to Gower
1766 Dock constructed at Kidwelly
1766 Kymers canal built in Kidwelly ( first canal in Wales)
1768 John Wesley paid the first of six preaching visits to LLanelli
1769 Fifteen deaths from smallpox in LLanelli, mostly infants
1770 Achddu Mill Built
1774 Two adult deaths from smallpox reported
1780 First Independent Chapel - Capel Als - established in LLanelli
1784 Wern Ironfoundry established by Yalden
1784 Thomas Kymer (Kidwelly) dies 54
1785 Capel Sul (Kidwelly) formed - Independent
1788 20 September William Emanuel (Will Manny) of Pembrey Hanged at Pensarn for Murder
1793 Wind Street Wesleyan Chapel built
1795 Less than 500 people living in LLanelli
1797 Eleven Coal pits mentioned in LLanelli at this time
1801 Population of Carmarthenshire 42,952
1801 Population of Pembrey parish 1455
1801 Population of LLanelli Parish 2,972
1801 Population of Wales 541,546
1802 Waddles Engineering works & Foundry established at what is now called New Dock
1804 'The Cambrian' first newspaper in Wales, Established in Swansea
1805 LLanelli Copper Works founded by Daniel & Co
1805 Gwdig Transformed to a grand home from a farm.
1807 John Wedge' survey of the Burry Estuary published
1809 Floods at LLanelli
1809 Capel Newydd founded
1811 Population of Carmarthenshire 77,217
1811 Population of LLanelly 3891
1811 Population of Pembrey Parish 1528
1811 Population of Wales 611,788
1812 Jerusalem Burry Port built
1812 Kidwelly & LLanelli Tramroad company formed
1814 John Howell's map of LLanelli produced
1817 W Lewis of Park, Pembrey killed by steam-engine
1818 Pembrey harbour Opened
1820 Jolly Sailor public house built in Pembrey
1820 Pembrey House Built
1821 27th november United Friends, the only ship built in Pembrey harbour registered
1821 Population of Carmarthenshire 90,239
1821 Population of Pembrey Parish 1767
1821 Population of LLanelly 5649
1821 Population of Wales 717,438
1822 Capel Zion (baptist) established
1823 Ashburnham Hotel Built
1824 Coasting Pilot probably built in Burry Port
1824 Old Harbour View (Burry Port) built by George Bowser
1824 Pembrey iron Works Built
1825 Falcon Bridge rebuilt
1825 Pembrey Harbour Act
1826 Tramway built from llanelli to Burry Port across marshes, later destroyed by sea
1828 Carmel chapel built
1828 Neice of Empress Josephine drowned off Cefn Sidan (12yrs) buried in Pembrey church
1828 LLanelli Railway & Dock Company incorporated
1828 Upper and Lower Markets opened
1828 Wind Street Weslyan Chapel rebuilt
1828 Caldy lighthouse established
1829 New Road and Hall Street commenced
1830 Cambrian Copper works opened by the Glascot
1830 Zoar (baptist) LLwynhendy built
1831 Population of Wales 806,182
1831 Population of Carmarthenshire 100,740
1831 Population of LLanelly 7646
1831 Population of Pembrey Parish 2645
1831 St Johns Pontyberem rebuilt : Capel Als re -opened after enlargement
1831 Election riots in Carmarthen ; 200 LLanelly colliers sworn as special constables
1832 Cholera at LLanelly : 17 Deaths
1832 LLanelly united to Carmarthen as Parliamentary district
1832 Horeb chapel built
1834 First Loughor bridge opened
1834 First Post Office opened in Pembrey village (originally called Cliff shop)
1834 Gelly Fawr Coal Pit sunk near Pembrey house, Pembrey
1835 29th march Death of George Bowser (Builder of Pembrey Harbour)
1835 Name of Burry Port first used
1835 LLanelly New Dock opened : first floating dock in Wales
1835 Gas Company formed
1837 National Schools established on the Wern : Branch of Breacon Bank opened
1836 01 January Burry Port harbour opens, NINUS first ship to use it (300 tons)
1836 27th September LLanelli town first illuminated with gaslight
1836 Old Harbour View became a public House
1837 01 July Kidwelly & LLanelli Canal & Railway Company completed railway from Pembrey to LLanelli
1838 Burry Port Harbour Lighthouse erected (could be seen for nine miles)
1839 Park Street Independent Chapel opened
1839 The Workhouse built in Swansea Road
1840 Burry Port East Dock opened
1840 Pemberton Arms Built
1840 LLanelly Potteries commenced
1840 Heol fawr schools established
1840 Bethel LLanelly (Baptist) Siloah (Independant ) founded
1840 Population of Burry Port 400
1841 Neptune Hotel Burry Port Built
1841 Population of Wales 911,603
1841 Population of Pembrey Parish 2850
1841 Population of LLanelly 11115
1841 Population of Carmarthenshire 106,326
1842 Commissioners Bridge Kidwelly Built
1843 Rebecca Riots : Toll Gates demolished : continued into following year
1844 River LLiedi diverted
1845 Bridge Street widened : South Wales Railway sanctioned
1846 Helwick lightship established
1847 Dafen Tinworks opened
1847 Building of Embankment from LLanelli to Burry Port for railway
1848 'LLanelly Advertiser', established as a monthly, but had only a brief career
1848 Market Street School, and Felinfoel school Built
1849 01 September Cholera spreads to LLanelli killing several people
1849 01 August Cholera makes an appearance in Pontyates, One boy dies
1849 Cambrian Copper Works converted into Lead and Silver Works
1849 Copperworks in Burry Port started, by Mason & Elkington
1850 01 May 27 Miners die at Gwendraith colliery Pontyberem
1850 Box and Old Road Cemeteries founded ; St Pauls Church consecrated
1850 Dafen School erected
1850 1850-1860+ Burrows, Woodbrook & Silver Terraces in Burry Port built
1851 Population of Wales 1,005,721
1851 Population of LLanelly 13663
1851 Population of Pembrey Parish 3310
1851 Population of Carmarthenshire 110,721
1851 Prospect Place School built : First burial at N ew Churchyard (old Road)
1851 Steam Sawmills started at Machynys by R. Winter
1852 01 December Storms hit LLanelli, Hailstones 2" in girth were measured
1852 21st August South Wales Railway opened through Pembrey Parish to Carmarthen
1852 Morfa Tinworks established
1853 01 October The Telegraph service is made available in LLanelli
1853 Silver works Built in Burry Port
1853 Old Lodge Works opened
1853 Trebeddod Reservoir commenced
1854 Wern and Seaside first lit by Gas
1854 01 January Typhus Fever in LLanelli, several die
1854 Burry Port Reading Room established
1854 First Whitford lighthouse built - on piles
1856 01 June LLanelli Eisteddfod took place
1856 01 January Opening of Wesley chapel LLanelli
1856 Tabernacle (Burry Port) Chapel Built
1857 The Athenaeum erected : portion of LLanelly House turned into Drapery establishment
1857 20th January LLanelli and LLandeilo railway opened
1857 'LLanelly Telegraph newspaper established and continued for some years
1857 James Evans killed during erection of Greenfield Chapel
1857 Public Baths opened in Market Street
1858 01 November Cae Colliery, Marble Hall near LLanelli, ten Men Die
1858 01 June Smallpox takes three lives in LLanelli
1858 01 January LLanelli Athenaeum opened
1858 Hermon Pembrey built
1858 Holy Trinity Felinfoel erected : Greenfield (English Baptist) & Trinity (c.m) opened
1858 St Mary's Roman Catholic Church built
1859 Flood in LLiedi
1860 The Scouring Reservoir begun
1861 16 Public Houses in Burry Port
1861 Bethany Chapel built
1861 Population of Wales 1,111,780
1861 Population of LLanelly 17279
1861 Population of Pembrey Parish 4145
1861 Population of Carmarthenshire 111,796
1862 Marshfield Works opened
1863 'LLanelly Guardian' Weekly Newspaper founded
1863 01 October Earthquake shakes LLanelli, Swansea, Pembroke, Cardiff and as far away as Liverpool
1864 29th july William Mainwaring, aged 75, LLanelli's only remaining battle of Waterloo hero dies
1864 Copperworks School , Burry Port built by Mason & Elkington opened 1865
1864 Burry Port Lead works built opened 1865
1864 People's park opened
1865 Present Whitford Point Light House Built
1866 01 August 164 people have died during July and August of Cholera
1866 01 June LLanelli's new market opened
1867 Village Hospital established
1867 Population of LLanelli Approx 17,000
1869 First Cwmlliedi Waterworks opened : St Peters Consecrated
1869 01 June Opening of the Burry Port and Gwendraeth Railway line
1869 23rd June Gwendraeth Valley Railway opened
1869 White Lead Works opened in Burry Port
1870 Small-pox and Scarlet fever epidemic
1870 Bathania Baptist Church formed : LLwnhendy and the Roman Catholic Schools built
1870 English Congregational Chapel built
1870 Goodwins town built (Carway Street, Pemberton Avenue) Burry Port
1870 White lead works started in Burry Port
1871 Population of Wales 1.217.135
1871 Population of Carmarthenshire 115,710
1871 Population of LLanelly 21746
1871 Population of Pembrey Parish 4773
1872 The Brice murder at Bryn
1872 Morewoods Tinplate works established : Moriah Baptist Chapel opened
1872 Railway converted to narrow guage
1873 01 April Of 340 Houses visited in Pembrey 234 did not have toilets
1874 Population of Burry Port 1840
1875 6th july Foundation Stone laid for Burry Port church
1875 First Sunday school held in Burry Port on Easter Day
1876 Present LLanelly Railway Station built
1877 Kidwelly Town Hall built
1877 9th december Burry Port church dedicated
1877 Jubilee house built (Josephs) in Burry Port
1877 Lead Works Closed
1878 01 September LLanelly new reservoir opened (swiss valley)
1878 Pembrey harbour, Designated unused
1879 Upper Kidwelly Tinplate Works Founded
1881 01 October Top of the spire at Burry Port Church Blown down during Hurricane
1881 22nd December BURIAL OF 'WILLIAM McKIERNON' at Pembrey, builder of Neville dock, Commissioners Bridge.
1881 The Mazey murder at Kidwelly
1881 Pembrey Explosive Works Opened
1881 Population of Wales 1,360,305
1881 Population of Carmarthenshire 124,864
1881 Population of LLanelly 27779
1881 Population of Pembrey Parish 5663
1882 01 August LLanelli Tramway opening
1882 17th november Seven People Killed, 4 Females, 3 Males in explosion at Pembrey dynamite Works
1883 01 May General Booth founder of the Salvation Army visits LLanelli
1883 'UP' Irish Express wrecked at Kidwelly, incredible escape of passengers
1884 01 October Laying of Foundation Stone for LLanelli Hospital
1884 01 February Twenty feet of St. Mary's church spire demolished by lightening
1885 LLanelly Post Office removed to Cowell Street
1885 Liberal club opened
1885 LLanelly New Hospital opened
1887 T Davies tinworks messenger robbed and murdered near Dafen by David Rees
1887 Howells timber yard destroyed by fire
1887 Lifeboat moved from Pembrey to Burry Port, Lifeboat House and Slipway built.
1888 Western Tinplate Works established
1888 The Hall in the Market Place built
1889 01 June Opening of Bandstand in Peoples Park LLanelli
1889 01 January Burry Port Reading Rooms opened
1889 Turnpikes abolished
1889 8th January First ship sails from Burry Port West Dock
1890 01 January Gales & Tides wash away the railway embankment between LLanelli and Burry Port
1890 Old Lodge and Ashburnham Tinplate Works Started
1891 Higher Grade School opened
1891 'LLanelly Mercury' Weekly newspaper established
1891 CENSUS Sarah Thomas of 4 Pencoed was 102yrs old, born in 1789
1891 Population of Wales 1,519,035
1891 Population of Carmarthenshire 130,566
1891 Population of LLanelly 32034
1891 Population of Pembrey Parish 6448
1893 Riots in Tumble
1893 New custom House erected
1893 Royalty Theatre LLanelly opened
1893 01 January 17 Degrees of frost recorded at LLanelli
1894 Ashburnham Golf Club Inaugurated
1894 Burry Port Parish hall Opened
1894 LLanelli Market Pavilion Built
1895 01 October Elizabeth Morris aged 104yrs died, born 1791
1895 National Eisteddfoed held at LLanelly
1896 01 August LLoyd George Visits LLanelli
1896 01 April New Town Hall Opened
1896 Lower Kidwelly Tinplate Works closed
1897 Free Library's act adopted
1899 01 June Cockett Tunnel Collapses
1901 01 November Burry Port Policeman, P.C.Gunter killed in Birmingham
1901 Population of Wales 1,714,800
1901 Population of Carmarthenshire 135,328
1903 01 July Buffalo Bill Entertains in LLanelli
1903 3rd may Burry Port Church consecrated
1903 Second National Eisteddfod at LLanelli
1904 01 October Five people die in Loughor train disaster
1907 01 September Royal Exchange in Market Street, LLanelli burnt down
1907 01 February Colliery disaster at Trimsaran, six die, five injured
1908 17th october Scarlets beat the Australians at Stradey 8pts to 3
1908 Co-operative Society House built in Burry Port
1911 01 March Y.M.C.A Building opened in Stepney Street
1911 31st July 4 colliers killed at crown colliery Pwll
1911 1st January LLanelli receives first electricity supply
1911 19th August LLanelli Railway Riots, 2 killed by soldiers
1911 17th August LLanelli Railwaymen begin strike
1911 General Post office opens in Llanelli
1911 LLanelli Cinema Built
1911 Palace Theatre built on corner of Market Place and Murray Street LLanelli
1911 Population of Wales 2,025,202
1911 Population of Carmarthenshire 160,406
1911 population of LLanelli 31,953
1912 01 April Stepney House, Stepney Street, LLanelli, Burnt down
1912 Park Howard bowling greens opened
1912 restoration of St.Illtyds church Pembrey
1917 01 September Victoria Cross Awarded to Ivor Rees of Pwll, first LLanelli man to be awarded the V.C.
1917 Garden Suburbs Burry Port Probably built
1918 01 October Influenza Epidemic kills more than 20 in LLanelli area
1919 Electricity first used in Burry Port dock area
1921 Population of Wales 2,127,059
1921 Population of Carmarthenshire 175,377
1922 01 September Steboneath football ground opened in LLanelli
1922 01 March Two men killed ,and six injured at Pembrey factory
1922 15 August Ashburnham Estate Sale, Held at Parish Hall Burry Port
1922 Ashburnham Golf Club buy the links at Pembrey for £3,750
1923 01 December LLanelli Pottery closes, situated at junction of Murray street and Pottery Street
1923 01 May Ten men die at Trimsaran mine disaster
1924 Ashburnham Golf Club Opened (building)
1928 01 April Mrs Margaret Morse, Burry Port's oldest resident dies aged 98
1928 June 28th Amelia Earhart lands in Burry Port, rowed ashore Captain Fisher & David Harvey Thomas
1929 Regal cinema Built in LLanelli
1930 National Eisteddfod at LLanelli
1931 01 July Royal Welsh Show at Stradey
1931 Gwscwm Road from Rock House to Jerusalem Burry Port Widened
1931 Population of Wales 2,472,377
1931 Population of Carmarthenshire 171,445
1934 01 January Mrs Hannah Maria Bevan, Burry Villa, Burry Port dies age 92
1936 Burry Port Post Office moves from New Street to Station Road (present Position)
1937 July 31st Gardens in Memorial Square opened
1938 01 May Odeon Cinema LLanelli Built
1938 Upper Kidwelly Tinplate Works Closed
1939 3rd September Second World War started
1940 01 March Meat rationing in Carmarthenshire
1941 Population of Wales 1,910,980
1941 Population of Carmarthenshire 162,670
1943 The Last vessel Loaded in Burry Port habour
1946 01 July Bread rationed
1948 01 April Market Street School LLanelli, 100yrs old
1948 Burry port park and bowling greens opened
1950 01 April First Television Pictures received at LLanelli, Mr Les John, first T.V Licence Holder in LLanelli
1951 Population of Wales 2,472,429
1951 Population of Carmarthenshire 164,681
1953 28 June Carmarthen bay Power Station opened
1953 Ashburnham Tinplate Works closed
1954 27th August Burry Port Power Station goes on line
1960 01 August Regal Cinema LLanelli closes
1961 Population of Wales 2,518,711
1961 Population of Carmarthenshire 161,099
1962 01 October New Police Station opens in LLanelli
1962 01 January Fishers and Ludlow Ltd opens in felinfoel
1964 01 February Two boys killed when tree falls on them in Penyfan LLanelli
1965 Pembrey R.O.F. Closed
1966 01 January LLanelli spelt with an 'i' instead of a 'y'
1966 Brian Trubshaw from the links, Pembrey to be Chief test pilot for Concorde
1967 17 January Scarlets beat the Australians at Stradey 11pts to nil
1967 'Morris the Realm' LLanelli's largest department store closes
1968 01 December LLanelli's oldest inhabitant dies at 105yrs, Mrs Sarah Jenkins, Havard road, LLanelli
1969 Road widening at Pembrey Church and Bethel
1971 01 April Six men die at Cynheidre colliery
1971 Population of Wales 2,262,247
1971 Population of Dyfed 318,245 (boundery Changes)
1972 31 October Scarlets beat the All Blacks 9pts to 3
1976 Pembrey 'OLD' Harbour lighthouse demolished
1977 07 May Burry Port Yacht Club launched
1980 01 August Opening of Pembrey country park
1981 01 January Grounds of Carmarthen bay power Station for experimental windmills
1981 Population of Wales 2,225,351
1981 Population of Dyfed 311,351
1982 01 August Albert Richards murdered by Mark Smith At Burry Port harbour
1982 01 March Ty Elwyn opens in LLanelli
1982 August 29th Pembrey Inn Opened (renamed from Commercial Arms) (Landlord Peter Hallett)
1983 01 January Rugby Maestro Carwyn James dies
1983 Closure of Gwendraeth valley Railway
1991 Last Stack of Carmarthen Bay Power Station demolished
1993 01 January Burry Port Infants School Elkington Park Opened
1993 Demolition of Top End of Murray Street to make way for new town Complex
1995 April Demolition of 'ELIM' LDS Church Opposite 'Island House' Public House, the oldest LDS Brick Built Church in The United Kingdom

This Chronology is but just touching upon the incidents which have happened over the years, I do not pretend to know everything
that has happened, above is just a small amount of the People and incidents which have happened in our towns and villages.

Richard James

1996-1995