Connah's Quay
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"In the hamlet of Golftyn a large quay and pier have been constructed, within the last few years, by the Irish Coal Company, and vessels sail regularly from this place for Liverpool, London, and Dublin, and the ports of North Wales. A very large ale and porter brewery, the first of the kind established in this county, was erected in the hamlet of Kelsterton, in the year 1818, and is conducted upon a very extensive scale and with great advantage to the proprietors: from this establishment part of the city of Chester, and this and the adjoining counties are supplied." [A Topographical Dictionary of Wales, S. Lewis, 1834]
The town of Connah's Quay began to develop some two hundred years ago, on the banks of the estuary of the River Dee, in the parish of Northop. By the mid-Victorian period, it had become a busy port, with a thriving ship-building industry.
The precise identity of "Connah" remains uncertain, despite considerable activity by researchers. The parish registers of the adjacent parish of Hawarden have entries for Connah (under various spellings) dating from the sixteenth century - it is generally believed that there is a connection.
The new parish of Connah's Quay was created on 31 January 1844, from the townships of Wepre, Golftyn, Kelsterton, Leadbrook Major and Leadbrook Minor (all formerly in the parish of Northop).
In 1872, the townships of Leadbrook Major and Leadbrook Minor were transferred to the parish of Flint.
Bibliography
- Armstrong, John and David Fowler. The coastal trade of Connah's Quay in the early twentieth century Flintshire Historical Society journal, Vol. 34 1996 Welsh Journals Online
- Ashton, Ralph. Twenty-four fathoms deep 'Sarah Lathom' of Connah's Quay Cymru a'r môr, 17 (1995), p. 104-112.
- Bell, G A. Description of a scheme for the canalization of the River Dee from Chester to Connah's Quay Chester : Minshull and Hughes, 1861.
- Boyd, James I. C. The Wrexham, Mold and Connah's Quay railway Oxford : Oakwood Press, 1991.
- Connah's Quay Tenterden, Kent : Estate Publications, [1994].
- Connah's Quay parish magazine. [Connah's Quay] : Connah's Quay Parish Church, 1989
- Copp, Sue. 100 years of scouting in Connah's Quay Wrexham : Bridge Books, 2007.
- Flintshire Towns: Connah's Quay, Holywell, Mold Fourth revision.Tenterden : Estate Publications, 2000.
- Hawkes, G I. The founder of the port of Connah's Quay? Flintshire Historical Society journal, Vol. 32 1989 Welsh Journals Online
- Jones, W. Emyr. Connah's Quay, Flintshire : issued with the authority of Connah's Quay Urban District Council. Ramsgate : Norman Martell , 1971.
- Last link with Connah's Quay : Country Quest (October 1996), p. 46-8
- Official guide to the Connah's Quay Urban District Flintshire : Croydon : Home Publishing Co., 1945?
- Parry, Paul. The Carters of Cornwall, Connah's Quay and Ffynnongroew (Writings by W.E.A. Members) 10 (1989), p. 8-11
- Rules of the Connah's Quay Shipwrights' Association. Runcorn : Woodland Bros., 1875.
- Shields, Sylvia. Portrait of a Connah's Quay girl. Volume 2, The growing years Connah's Quay : I*D Books, 2001.
- Smith, Janet and J. Phillips. A walk in Wepre Country Park, Connah's Quay Proceedings of the Dyserth and district field club, (1997), p. 44-46
- The official guide to Connah's Quay in Flintshire / published by authority of the Urban District Council. Cheltenham : Ed. J. Burrow & Co., [1950?]
- The Wrexham, Mold & Connah's Quay Railway. [St. Albans, Eng.] : Oakwood Press, 1957.
- Trickett, Bernard, David Pryce Morris, John and Maureen Coppack. Connah's Quay, Shotton and Queensferry [Market Drayton] : S.B. Publications, 1991.
- Whitchurch, Wrexham, Mold, and Connah's Quay Junction Railway : [London] : [H. Kemshead, printer], 1862.
Cemeteries
In addition to the churchyard at St. Mark's parish church (now closed to further burials), there is a large public cemetery in Bryn Road (OS ref. SJ 288697).
The cemetery, which was opened about 1883, is still in use, and is administered by Flintshire County Council. The opening time is 8.00 a.m. until sunset. There is a full time Sexton in attendance.
The cemetery records, from 1883 to date, are held at the Flintshire County offices in Flint.
Researchers who wish to see the cemetery records must make a prior appointment, by contacting :
- Flintshire County Council,
Housing and Community Services,
Cemeteries Section,
County Offices,
Flint,
Flintshire.
CH6 5BD.Tel: 01352 703360
Fax: 01352 703373
Churches
| Rehoboth Independent Chapel;Salvation Army, Connah's Quay |
| Cemetery, Connah's Quay |
| Catholic Church Of The Blessed Sacrament, Connah's Quay |
| St David's Church, Connah's Quay |
You can also perform a more selective search for churches in the Connah's Quay area or see them printed on a map.
Church History
See Welsh Chapels and Churches for a photograph of St Andrews Methodist Church
Ordnance Survey reference SJ 291699.
The church of St. Mark, Connah's Quay was consecrated on 16 August 1837, initially as a district church within the parish of Northop.
"On Wednesday week, the new Church of St. Mark, at Connah's Quay, was consecrated by the Bishop of St. Asaph.
The building was raised by voluntary subscription to supply the want of church room, for the increasing population of a large district in the parish of Northop. It is calculated to hold about 600, and is finished with a neatness and taste which reflect the highest credit on all who have been concerned in its erection."
[From The Chester Chronicle of 25 August 1837]
The Clwyd FHS website has a photograph of the church.
Nonconformist Churches
"Welsh Church Commission - County of Flint - The Statistics of the Nonconformist Churches for 1905" lists the following nonconformist places of worship in the Civil parish of Connah's Quay:
| Name of Chapel | Denomination | Number of "adherents" |
|---|---|---|
| Rehoboth - Welsh | Congregational | 98 |
| Rivertown | Congregational | 200 |
| Not named - Welsh | Calvinistic Methodist | 73 |
| Golftyn | English Presbyterian | 200 |
| Wepre | English Presbyterian | 250 |
| Not named | Methodist New Connexion | 800 |
| Not named | Primitive Methodist | 200 |
| Not named - English | Wesleyan | 200 |
| Seion - Welsh | Wesleyan | 50 |
Church Records
- The following nonconformist registers for the Connah's Quay area are held at the Flintshire Record Office, Hawarden.
They have not been filmed; and they have not been incorporated into the I.G.I. :
| Name of Chapel | Denomination | Type of Record | Years Covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Connah's Quay and Hawarden circuit | Methodist | Baptisms | 1902 - 1989 |
| Bethel, Chapel Street | Methodist | Marriages | 1950 - 1957 |
- Note - many of the Methodist chapels were grouped into "Circuits", with one set of registers serving the Circuit; and it may not always be possible to identify the particular chapel in which the ceremony was performed.
Over the years, there have been several re-organisations of these Circuits in the eastern part of Flintshire. It is therefore advisable to also search the Methodist registers for the Buckley, Hawarden and Saltney areas.
Civil Registration
The new parish of Connah's Quay was assigned to the No. 3 ("Flint") sub-district of the Holywell Registration District, which was co-extensive with the Holywell poor law Union.
Connah's Quay was transferred to the Hawarden Registration District in 1971.
In the GRO indexes to civil registration, entries for Connah's Quay are found under:
- Years 1837 - 1851: Holywell XXVII. nnn
- Years 1852 - 1946: Holywell 11b. nnn
(GRO index references have no relevance at the localSuperintendent Registrar's Office)
Description and Travel
Connah's Quay - on wikipedia
Various landscapes on the People's Collection Wales site
You can see pictures of Connah's Quay which are provided by:
Gazetteers
The transcription of the section for Golftyn hamlet from the National Gazetteer (1868), provided by Colin Hinson.
Ask for a calculation of the distance from Connah's Quay to another place.
Click here for a list of nearby places.
Historical Geography
You can see the administrative areas in which Connah's Quay has been placed at times in the past. Select one to see a link to a map of that particular area.
History
Connah's Quay to Mold Bus c1910 on the People's Collection Wales site
Maps
"North-East Wales Churches and Ancient Parish Boundaries" produced by Clwyd Record Office in 1994, published by Genuki with the permission of Flintshire Record Office and Denbighshire Archives
You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SJ291698 (Lat/Lon: 53.2205, -3.06333), Connah's Quay which are provided by:
- This place shown on an OpenStreetMap map.
- Google Streetview
- StreetMap (Current Ordnance Survey maps)
- OpenStreetMap
- OpenStreetMap Cymru (Welsh counties only)
- Bing (was Multimap)
- OldMaps (Old Ordnance Survey maps.)
- Old Maps Online (Other old maps.)
- National Library of Scotland (Best site for old maps)
- Vision of Britain (Click "Historical units & statistics" for administrative areas.)
- English Jurisdictions in 1851 (Unfortunately the LDS have removed the facility to enable us to specify a starting location, you will need to search yourself on their map.)
- Magic (Geographic information) (Click + on map if it doesn't show)
- Elgin Road Works
- GeoHack (Links to on-line maps and location specific services.)
- All places within the same township/parish shown on an Openstreetmap map.
- Nearby townships/parishes shown on an Openstreetmap map.
- Nearby places shown on an Openstreetmap map.
Merchant Marine
Coppack Bros. and Co., Connah's Quay, Flintshire on the People's Collection Wales site
Population
- In 1831- Connah's Quay was not a separate parish.
- In 1901- the population was 3396.
[ Royal Commission on the Welsh Church - October 1907]
Statistics
Archdeacon Thomas (1911) gives the area of the parish as 2206 acres.