16 December 1735

Marriage of Evan Thomas and Elizabeth Morgan (the parents of Ann’s father) in Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa parish church.

1736

3l October 1736

Ann’s father, John, the son of Evan and Elizabeth Thomas, is christened in Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa parish church. He was known locally as John Evan Thomas, or Siôn Ifan Thomas in everyday speech.

1737

12 April 1737

Marriage of Edward Theodore from the parish of Hirnant and Jane Morgan from the parish of Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant (the parents of Ann’s mother).

1744

1 January 1744

Ann’s mother, Jane, the daughter of Edward and Jane Theodore, is christened in Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa parish church.

1759

1759

Publication of Timothy Thomas’s volume, Traethiad am y Wisg-Wen Ddisglair (‘A Treatise on the Shining White Garment’). Some claim that this book, rather than the 1790 Welsh translation of Baxter’s The Saints Everlasting Rest, was the one instrumental in spiritually awakening John Thomas, Ann’s brother. There was a copy at Dolwar Fach, and John Hughes, Pontrobert owned another copy.

1764

Easter 1764

John Evan Thomas is elected an Overseer of the Poor for the parish of Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa and remains in office for two years, until Easter 1766.

1767

10 February 1767

John Evan Thomas (aged 30) and Jane Theodore (aged 23) marry in Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa parish church, and go to live with John’s parents at Tŷ Mawr farm, about a mile from Dolwar Fach.

13 December 1767

Jane, Ann’s eldest sister, is christened in Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa parish church.

1769

20 August 1769 (?)

John, Ann’s elder brother, is christened in Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa parish church.

c. 1769

Birth of Thomas Williams (‘Eos Gwnfa’), a weaver from Pontyscadarn, Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa, and a prolific poet. His plygain carols were extremely popular. He died in 1848 and was buried in Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa churchyard.

1770

March 1770

Evan Thomas becomes tenant of Dolwar Fach.

1772

March 1772

Transfer of the tenancy of Dolwar Fach from Evan Thomas to his son, John Evan Thomas.

Easter 1772

John Evan Thomas is elected an Overseer of the Poor for the parish of Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa and remains in office until Easter 1773.

10 May 1772

Elizabeth, Ann’s second sister, is christened in Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa parish church.

11 July 1772

Birth of John Davies, probably in a cottage at Dugwm Isaf in the parish of Meifod. He was a close friend of John Thomas, Ann’s brother, and became a teacher in Thomas Charles’s circulating schools. In 1800 he left to become a missionary in Tahiti, where he died in 1855. For much of his life he maintained a regular correspondence with John Hughes, Pontrobert. He is probably the John, son of David and Martha Davies, who was christened in Meifod parish church on 12 July 1772.

c. 1772

A Calvinistic Methodist seiat is formed in the Pontrobert area, based at Pen-llys.

1773

24 February 1773

Burial of Evan Thomas, Dolwar Fach (Ann’s grandfather) in Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa churchyard.

Easter 1773

John Evan Thomas finishes his term as an Overseer of the Poor for the parish of Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa.

1775

22 February 1775

Birth of John, the son of David Hugh and Jane Ellis, his second wife. He was christened in Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa parish church on 26 February 1775. This is ‘John Hughes, Pontrobert’, who married Ruth Evans, the maid-servant of Dolwar Fach, and who was to become a prominent minister with the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists.

1776

21 APRIL 1776

ANN IS CHRISTENED IN LLANFIHANGEL-YNG-NGWYNFA PARISH CHURCH

16 September 1776

Birth of Thomas, the son of Edward and Margaret Griffiths. He was christened in Meifod parish church on 20 September 1776. This is the Thomas Griffiths who married Ann in October 1804.

1779

c. 1779

Birth of Ruth Evans, the daughter of Morris and Margaret Evans of Mardy Mill in the parish of Llandrinio. In 1801 she became a maid-servant at Dolwar Fach and was (with her husband, John Hughes, Pontrobert) instrumental in preserving Ann’s hymns.

1779

Thomas Edwards (‘Twm o’r Nant’; 1739-1810), the well-known poet and anterliwtiwr (‘rustic playwright’), comes to live for a short period in Dolobran, near Pontrobert.

20 November 1779

Edward, Ann’s younger brother, is christened in Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa parish church.

1782

9 April 1782

Elizabeth, Ann’s aunt, the daughter of Evan and Elizabeth Thomas, Dolwar Fach, is buried in Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa churchyard.

1784

2 July 1784

Thomas Charles (1755-1814) joins the Calvinistic Methodist seiat at Bala.

1785

1785

Thomas Charles organizes his first circulating schools.

1786

c. 1786

Ann composes an impromptu englyn.

1789

1789

The French Revolution. The Revolution was followed in 1793 by war between Britain and France. Apart from a short truce in 1802-03, the two countries were at war from 1793 until 1815, ten years after Ann’s death. According to John Hughes, Pontrobert, Ann was much exercised in prayer on account of the war.

29-30 September 1789

An eisteddfod was held at Bala, the first eisteddfod to be officially supported by the London-based Welsh society, the Gwyneddigion. Among the poets that gathered there were the radical, William Jones (1726-95) of Llangadfan, and Harri Parri of Craig-y-gath, Ann’s father’s bardic teacher. The winning poet was Walter Davies (‘Gwallter Mechain’; 1761-1849). John Hughes, Pontrobert competed in the Gwyneddigion Eisteddfodau of 1794 (Dolgellau) and 1795 (Penmorfa).

1790

c. Jan.-Feb. 1790

Thomas Evans becomes curate of the parish of Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa.

1790

Publication of Tragywyddol Orphwysfa’r Saint – Thomas Jones, Creaton’s translation of Richard Baxter’s book, The Saints Everlasting Rest – with all the proceeds going towards Thomas Charles of Bala’s circulating Welsh charity schools. It is said that this book was instrumental in spiritually awakening John Thomas, Ann’s brother.

1791

1791

Publication of Marw i’r Ddeddf a Byw i Dduw, a translation of Ralph Erskine’s Law-Death, Gospel Life. John Hughes, Pontrobert owned a copy of this influential book.

24 August 1791

Thomas Evans, the curate of Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa, marries Margaret Jones, Efail Llwydiarth, in Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa parish church. Efail Llwydiarth was a tavern and smithy on the road between Llangadfan and Llanfyllin. It was a popular haunt for informal entertainment (singing, story-telling, dancing, etc.), which Ann regularly frequented prior to her conversion.

1792

c. 1792 (?)

John, Ann’s brother is convicted as he reads the 1790 Welsh translation of Baxter’s The Saints Everlasting Rest, a copy he had been loaned by his friend, Samuel Owen. He would soon become the first of the Dolwar Fach family to attend the Calvinistic Methodist meetings at Pen-llys.

1792

Publication of Gwledd i’r Eglwys, Thomas Jones, Creaton’s translation of William Romaine’s Discourses upon Solomon’s Song. Thomas Griffiths, Ann’s husband, owned a copy of this book.

1793

1793

Publication of Benjamin Jones, Pwllheli’s book, Athrawiaeth y Drindod (‘Doctrine of the Trinity’).

17 February 1793

Elizabeth, Ann’s sister, marries Thomas Morris of the parish of Llangadfan in Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa parish church, and moves to live in Parc Llysyn farm on the edge of Llangadfan parish, about five miles from Dolwar Fach.

24 March 1793

The christening of John, the son of Jane, Ann’s eldest sister, and her husband, Thomas Jones, a shopkeeper from Lanfyllin? Details in the 1851 Census and on his death certificate in 1855 suggest that John Jones was born sometime between May 1792 and March 1793, six years before his parent’s marriage. He may have been born in the Rhosybrithdir area, near Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant. It has not been possible to find a record of his christening. Could he be the Thomas, the illegitimate son of Jane Thomas, Llanfyllin, who was christened in Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa parish church on 24 March 1793?

13 May 1793

Ann is one of the official witnesses to the marriage in Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa parish church of David Thomas from the parish of Llanfair and Jane Hughes from the parish of Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa.

1794

31 January 1794

Jane Thomas, Ann’s mother, is buried in Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa churchyard, aged 50. Ann was 17 years of age at the time.

1 March 1794

Birth of Ann, the daughter of ‘Thomas Maurice Park’ and his wife, Elizabeth (probably Ann’s sister). She was christened in Llangadfan parish church on the following day.

21 June 1794

The following entry is to be found in the Llangadfan Parish Register: ‘John the illegitimate son (as supposed) of Thomas Morris Park and Anne Evans his Concubine was born 21st. and baptised 22nd. of June 1794.’ A case was brought against both parties in the consistory court in July 1795 on a charge of adultery. This Thomas Morris was probably the husband of Elizabeth, Ann’s sister, and it is quite possible that he was the ‘Thomas Morris alias Jones junior’ from Llangadfan parish whose illegitimate daughter Ann, by Elizabeth Lewis of Garthbeibio parish, was christened in Garthbeibio parish church on 28 February 1787. The child was buried in Garbeibio churchyard on 28 September 1787, the day after a charge of licentiousness was brought against Thomas Morris and Elizabeth Lewis in the consistory court. David Thomas in his book, Ann Griffiths a’i Theulu (‘Ann Griffiths and her Family’; 1963), p.40, suggested that Elizabeth Morris and her father, John Evan Thomas, Dolwar Fach, had become estranged. Could it be that the ‘activities’ of Thomas Morris were responsible?

1795

1795

The Methodist, Edward Watkin, Llanidloes is assaulted while preaching in the open air in Llanfyllin.

Easter 1795

John Evan Thomas is elected one of the Churchwardens for the parish of Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa and remains in office for two years, until Easter 1797. He also served as one of the Overseers of the Poor for the parish from Easter 1795 until Easter 1796.

21 May 1795

Birth of David Jones, the second child and eldest son of Elizabeth (Ann’s sister) and her husband, Thomas Morris. He was christened in Llangadfan parish church the following day.

c. 1795

Thomas Griffiths and his family begin attending Calvinistic Methodist meetings at Pant, in the parish of Guilsfield. His brother, Evan, was already a member of the seiat there. Shortly afterwards the seiat relocates to their home, Cefn-du.

1796

1796

Ann writes her name and address on a page in a manuscript collection of poetry which had belonged to Harri Parri of Craig-y-gath, her father’s bardic teacher, but which had possibly become the property of her brother, Edward, in 1796. The manuscript is at the National Library of Wales (NLW, Cwrt Mawr 1491B).

Spring 1796

A powerful revival breaks out in Pontrobert. As a result the Methodist seiat gradually relocates from Pen-llys to Pontrobert during the years 1796-97. By the time the seiat moved to Pontrobert, Ann’s brother John had been elected an elder.

Easter Monday (?) 1796 (28 March)

Ann (aged almost 20) comes under conviction while listening to the Independent minister, Benjamin Jones (1756-1823) of Pwllheli, preaching in Llanfyllin. The summer of 1796 was wet and stormy, with much thunder and lightening by all accounts; it seems also to have been a stormy period for Ann spiritually.

Easter 1796

John Evan Thomas finishes his term as an Overseer of the Poor for the parish of Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa.

Summer 1796

John Hughes, Pontrobert is converted and joins the Calvinistic Methodist seiat at Pen-llys.

1796 (?)

Ann’s brother, Edward, experiences conversion and joins the Calvinistic Methodists.

Christmas 1796

Ann goes alone to the plygain service at Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa parish church on Christmas morning, while her two brothers attend the Calvinistic Methodist service. The curate’s comments after the service cause her to turn her back on the Church and seek spiritual help elsewhere.

1797

1797

Ann joins the Calvinistic Methodist seiat at Pontrobert.

Easter 1797

John Evan Thomas finishes his term as Churchwarden for the parish of Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa.

5 December 1797

Birth of Gwen Jones, the third child of Elizabeth and Thomas Morris. She was christened in Llangadfan parish church the following day.

1798

c. 1798 (?)

Calvinistic Methodist preachers begin holding meetings at Dolwar Fach.

c. 1798 (?)

Ann’s father joins the Calvinistic Methodists.

3 May 1798

Ann writes a note in a copy of Benjamin Jones, Pwllheli’s book, Athrawiaeth y Drindod (‘The Doctrine of the Trinity’; 1793).

27 August 1798

Jane, Ann’s sister, and Thomas Jones, a shopkeeper from Lanfyllin, marry in Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa parish church.

17 November 1798

Edward, Ann’s brother, marries Elizabeth Savage in Llangynyw parish church, with Ann as one of the official witnesses. Elizabeth comes to live with her husband at Dolwar Fach.

1799

1799

John Hughes, Pontrobert lodges at Dolwar Fach for some months while teaching in one of Thomas Charles’s circulating schools in the area.

Easter 1799

John Evan Thomas is elected a Churchwarden for the parish of Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa and remains in office for two years, until Easter 1801. The other churchwarden during this period was William Jones, Llaethbwlch. (Is this the William Jones, Llaethbwlch who was an exhorter in the Calvinistic Methodist seiat at Pontrobert? He was probably the brother of Ann’s brother-in-law, Thomas Jones the shopkeeper from Llanfyllin.)

16 April 1799

Publication of the first issue of Thomas Charles of Bala and Thomas Jones of Denbigh’s magazine, Trysorfa Ysprydol (‘Spiritual Treasury’). Five further issues of the first volume appeared, in June 1799, October 1799, January 1800, October 1800 and December 1801. There was then a gap until March 1809 before the appearance of the first issue of the second volume. John Hughes, Pontrobert owned a copy of the first volume of Trysorfa Ysprydol, and one can be certain that the family at Dolwar Fach would have eagerly awaited the appearance of each issue.

22 July 1799

John Davies is accepted as a missionary by the London Missionary Society.

27 October 1799

John, the son of Edward and Elizabeth Thomas, Dolwar Fach, is christened in Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa parish church.

1800

1800

Upper Chapel, Pontrobert is built for the Pontrobert Calvinistic Methodist seiat.

Spring (?) 1800

John Hughes, Pontrobert goes to the Dyfi Valley as a circulating school teacher. He appears to have taught in western Montgomeryshire, in the area between Cemais and Llanidloes, for the next four or five years.

3 March 1800

Birth of Jane, the fourth child of Elizabeth and Thomas Morris. She was christened in Llangadfan parish church two days later.

8 May 1800

John Davies sends a letter to the seiat at Pontrobert from Portsmouth, a few days before he sets sail for Tahiti. A copy by John Hughes, Pontrobert is preserved in the National Library of Wales (NLW, C. M. Archives 5864).

15 November 1800

Harri Parri of Craig-y-gath, Ann’s father’s bardic teacher, is buried in Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa churchyard.

28 November 1800

Ann’s first letter to John Hughes (Letter I). Copies of six other letters to John Hughes, Pontrobert are extant. Although only two are dated, all of them must have been written before her marriage in October 1804, since they are written in the name of ‘Ann Thomas’. There is reason to believe that they were all written between the end of November 1800 and the summer of 1802.

1801

c. 1801

Thomas Griffiths (who was to become Ann’s husband) is received into membership in the Calvinistic Methodist seiat which met at his home, Cefn-du, in the parish of Guilsfield. He was aged 24 at the time and was soon elected an elder.

17 February 1801

Ann writes a letter to John Hughes (Letter II).

March 1801

Edward, Ann’s brother, becomes tenant of Gwern Fawr, a small farm in the parish of Llangynyw near Pontrobert.

Easter 1801

John Evan Thomas finishes his term as a Churchwarden for the parish of Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa.

May 1801

Ruth Evans is employed as a maid-servant at Dolwar Fach (probably to replace Edward’s wife).

12 May 1801

Ann is one of the official witnesses to the marriage in Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa parish church of Thomas Morris and Margaret Humphreys, both of the parish of Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa.

1802

30 March 1802

Birth of Thomas, the fifth child of Elizabeth and Thomas Morris. He was christened in Llangadfan parish church the following day.

Spring 1802

Four young men begin preaching with the Calvinistic Methodists in Montgomeryshire. All four were to become prominent figures in the Methodist movement in that county:

(i) John Hughes, Pontrobert (1775-1854)
Raised in dire poverty in the Braich-y-waun area to the north of Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa parish church, he was to become one of the most influential Calvinistic Methodist leaders in north Wales. He married Ruth Evans, the maid-servant of Dolwar Fach, in 1805. They spent almost the whole of their long married life in the small house attached to the Upper Chapel in Pontrobert. John Hughes is a key figure in the preservation of Ann’s hymns and letters, and his biographical essay, first published in 1846, is the single most important source of information on her life.

(ii) Evan Griffiths (1778-1839)
The brother of Thomas Griffiths, Ann’s husband. He was born in Rhos-fawr in the parish of Meifod on 12 March 1778. The family moved to Cefn-du in the parish of Guilsfield when he was eight years of age, but moved back to Ceunant in Meifod parish in 1804, where he spent the remainder of his life.

(iii) William Jones (1770-1837)
Born in Trawsfynydd in Merioneth and converted in London under the ministry of William Romaine, he moved in 1794 to the parish of Llanwrin in the Dyfi Valley upon marrying Susan Watkins, Mathafarn. In 1805 he moved to Dolyfonddu in the same parish, where he spent the remainder of his life.

(iv) Abraham Jones (1775-1840)
Born and raised in the parish of Trefeglwys, near Llanidloes, he moved to Radnorshire in 1805, moving to Llanfyllin on the occasion of his marriage, on 8 February 1807, to Jane Jones, a widow who kept a shop in that town. Jane was Ann’s eldest sister.

18 April 1802 (Easter Sunday morning)

John Hughes, Pontrobert preaches for the first time. This was at Llanidloes on the Sunday following the Monthly Meeting of the Calvinistic Methodists held there in April 1802. In a letter to him in that period (Letter VI), Ann rejoices in the fact that he has been allowed to begin preaching.

Easter 1802

John Evan Thomas is elected an Overseer of the Poor for the parish of Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa and remains in office until Easter 1803.

June 1802

Although 1805 is the date on the title page of the first volume of Thomas Charles of Bala’s influential Geiriadur Ysgrythurol (‘Scriptural Dictionary’), it had begun appearing in parts from about June 1802 onward. The first five parts (up to the word ‘Dannedd’) were published between summer 1802 and spring 1805, with the remainder appearing after Ann’s death. It is difficult to believe that she would not have turned frequently to those first five parts of the dictionary; but the Geiriadur as a whole is a mirror of one of the most important influences on Ann, and is essential reading to fully appreciate her mind and work.

c. 1802 (?)

Ann begins to compose hymns.

c. 1802 (?)

Ann sends a letter to Elizabeth Evans, Bwlch Aeddan (Letter VIII). Bwlch Aeddan is a farm in the parish of Guilsfield in which Calvinistic Methodist meetings were held during this period. Elizabeth Evans was probably a maid-servant on that farm. It is generally believed that she was a sister of Ruth Evans, the maid-servant at Dolwar Fach. This letter is the only one to survive in Ann’s own hand. It is kept in the National Library of Wales (NLW 694D). Around the beginning of the twentieth century, H. Elvet Lewis (‘Elfed’; 1860-1953) noticed a watermark bearing the date 1801 in the paper on which the letter was written. It is unlikely therefore that the letter was written before 1802; and since it is signed ‘Ann Thomas’, it must have been written before she married in 1804.

14 December 1802

John Parry and Griffith Jones preach at Dolwar Fach in the evening, and experience a remarkable unction. The text of John Parry’s sermon was the Song of Solomon 5:10, ‘My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand’ (cf. Hymns XII and XIII). John Parry (1775-1846) was at the time a schoolmaster in Holyhead. He moved to Chester in 1806 and became an influential Calvinistic Methodist preacher and publisher. Griffith Jones was a weaver, and one of the earliest Methodist preachers in Caernarfonshire. The famous Methodist preacher, John Elias (1774-1841), worked for him as a weaver in his youth. Griffith Jones moved to the Bala area about 1802.

1803

4 March 1803

John Hughes writes a letter to Ruth Evans. His copy of the letter is in the National Library of Wales (NLW, C. M. Archives 5863).

Easter 1803

John Evan Thomas finishes his term as an Overseer of the Poor for the parish of Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa.

27 May 1803

John Hughes writes a letter to Ruth Evans. His copy of the letter is in the National Library of Wales (NLW, C. M. Archives 5863).

28 May 1803

An application is sent to the Bishop’s Court at St Asaph to register Dolwar Fach as a place for public worship, signed by seven men ‘dissenting from the Church of England’, namely John Evan Thomas and his two sons, John and Edward, William Jones, John Griffiths, Thomas Morgan and John Thomley. The building was registered on 9 June 1803.

9 July 1803

John Hughes writes a letter to Ruth Evans from Berth-las, Trefeglwys. The letter is in the National Library of Wales (NLW, C. M. Archives 5869).

1803 (?)

Shortly before his death John Evan Thomas copied a number of Ann’s hymns on to blank sheets which Jane, his daughter in Llanfyllin, had bound for that purpose with her copy of
J. R. Jones, Ramoth’s ‘hymn-book’. This may refer to a volume published by J. R. Jones in 1801, but it more likely refers to his Casgliad o Salmau a Hymnau (Chester: W. C. Jones, 1802). Some copies of this volume are dated 1803, which may mean that some appeared from the press in late 1802 and others in early 1803.

1804

23 February 1804

John Evan Thomas is buried in Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa churchyard, aged 67. His sudden death affected Ann deeply, causing a weakening in her constitution which lasted for the remainder of her life.

Early 1804

Thomas Griffiths and his family move to Ceunant, Meifod. Their home soon became a Methodist preaching station and was registered for public worship on 12 July 1804.

1804

Publication of Talfyriad o Hanes Mr. Kicherer (Bala: Jones & Co.). Thomas Charles was probably its author, and it went to a second edition in the same year. The book gives an account of the missionary work of J. J. Kicherer on behalf of the London Missionary Society in southern Africa, including his work among the Hottentots and the Korana. It also includes an account of the establishment of the British and Foreign Bible Society in London on 7 March 1804, together with a reference to the usefulness of John Davies as a missionary in Tahiti. It was probably around the time of its publication that Ann wrote her ‘missionary hymn’, ‘Cenhadon hedd, mewn efengylaidd iaith’ (Hymn XXIV). John Hughes, Pontrobert, owned a copy of the book.

10 July 1804

Edward, the second child of Edward and Elizabeth Thomas, was christened in Llangynyw parish church.

1 October 1804

Birth of Ann, the sixth child of Elizabeth and Thomas Morris. She was christened on 6 October in Llangadfan parish church.

October 1804 (?)

John Hughes writes a letter to Ann Thomas. It is undated, but was probably written sometime between the Calvinistic Methodist association meeting held in Caernarfon at the end of September 1804 and Ann’s marriage on 10 October 1804. The letter is in the National Library of Wales (NLW 3292E).

October 1804

John Hughes writes a letter to Ruth Evans from Llanidloes. The letter is dated ‘October 1804’. It must have been written before Ann married on 10 October since it refers to her as ‘Ann Thomas’. The letter is in the National Library of Wales (NLW, C. M. Archives 5870).

10 October 1804

Marriage of Ann Thomas (aged 28) and Thomas Griffiths (who was five months younger than her) in Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa parish church.

7 November 1804

Thomas Jones, ‘Corner Shop’, Llanfyllin (Ann’s brother-in-law), is buried in Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa churchyard.

13 November 1804

John Hughes writes a letter to Ruth Evans from Llanidloes. The letter is in the National Library of Wales (NLW 3292E).

1805

7 May 1805

Marriage of John Hughes and Ruth Evans in Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa parish church, with Thomas and Ann Griffiths as official witnesses.

13 July 1805

Birth of Elizabeth, the daughter of Thomas and Ann Griffiths. She was christened the same day by Jenkin Lewis (1749-1805), minister of the Independent church at Llanfyllin.

31 July 1805

Elizabeth, the daughter of Thomas and Ann Griffiths, is buried in Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa churchyard.

12 AUGUST 1805

ANN IS BURIED IN LLANFIHANGEL-YNG-NGWYNFA CHURCHYARD AGED 29

The following Sunday, John Hughes preached a funeral service for her, taking as his text, ‘For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain’ (Philippians 1:21).

1806

1806

Ann’s hymns are published in Casgliad o Hymnau (Bala: R. Saunderson, 1806), with a preface by Thomas Charles. The hymns were probably edited by him and Robert Jones (1745-1829), Rhos-lan. Some of the hymns also appeared about the same time in the second edition of Robert Jones’s hymn-book, Grawn-sypiau Canaan (Bala: R. Saunderson, 1805-06). 1805 is the date on the title page of this edition of Grawn-sypiau Canaan, but the date in the colophon at the end of the book is 1806.

March 1806

Richard Davies becomes tenant of Dolwar Fach. (John Evan Thomas’s name remains on the Rent Books between 1804 and 1806 although he had died in February 1804.) The descendants of Richard Davies and his wife, Mary, still live in Dolwar Fach (although the present house was built after Ann's day).

May 1806

Thomas Griffiths moves from Dolwar Fach to live with his mother and brother in Ceunant, Meifod, leaving John Thomas in Dolwar with the young married couple, Richard and Mary Davies.

1807

3 January 1807

John Thomas, Ann’s brother, is buried in Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa churchyard. He was the last of the family to live in Dolwar Fach.

1808

8 April 1808

Thomas Griffiths dies of tuberculosis and is buried in Meifod churchyard on 12 April 1808.