1 February (1882) Opening of Bethania Vestry

  • 1 1950 (Wed.) Opening TSB bank in Kensington House. Opened by Mayor.
  • 1 1882 (Wed.) Bethania Vestry officially opened.
  • 1 1850 (Fri.) Sale of the smack ‘Anne & Mary’ at the White Hart Inn by David Roberts.

OPENING OF BETHANIA VESTRY (adapted from CTA 2.3.1882)

The Vestry was built to meet the demands of the numbers attending the Sunday School. Vestry contained: a library, retiring rooms, vestry, teachers’ rooms, boiler room and other conveniences at a cost of £510. The plan was presented to Revd John William as a token of respect, by John  Owens, a Liverpool architect. The inside was suitably decorated by Mrs R E Rees, who was also responsible for collecting £20–£30 towards the expenses. Master Johnny Evans George sold over 100 tickets towards the tea and concert.

The following were responsible for the decorations:

Miss Evans, Penrallt-Cadwgan; Mrs Williams, the minister’s wife; Capt J O Griffiths; Mrs Llewellyn (The Globe); Mr Richards; Mr David Thomas, Northgate Tce.; Mr John Bowen, Quay St; Mrs Thomas, Mwldan; Capt Evans, New Inn, William St.

Responsible for feeding the 500:

Miss Evans, Penrallt-Cadwgan; Mrs J O Griffiths, Emerald Ho., Pendre; Thomas Griffiths, Pendre; Mrs  Esau, Pendre; Mrs James, Northgate Tce.; Miss Mary Ann Thomas, Quay St.

30 January (1950) Opening of the Public Library

  • 30 1950 (Mon.) Opening Public Library. Ald Griffith Davies JP, chairman of County Joint Library Committee. 5000 books; 2000 novels, 2500 non-fiction, 500 Welsh.
  • 30 1852 (Fri.) Sale of smack ‘Maria’ by David Roberts, at White Hart Inn.
  • 30 1682 (Fri.) ‘Paramour’ of Cardigan, master Phillip Picton,  took 100 meise of white herring to Falmouth

26 January (1895) Meeting: New golf links for Gwbert?

  • 26 1895 (Sat.) Meeting held in the offices of Evans & Stephens to form a new golf links at Gwbert
  • 26 1883 (Fri.) Eleanor Jones, 65 charged with stealing 24 sheets of notepaper and a small packet of envelopes from a shop at Llandysul. Pleaded guilty and said she had had a drop too much of beer. Sentenced to 18 months hard labour.

12 January (1964) Fire at Bethania

  • 12 1964 (Sun.) Fire at Bethania under the chapel where the boiler was housed.
  • 12 1910 (Wed.) General election: Public meeting at the Guildhall Vaughan Davies MP; Prof Levi, Aberystwyth; D Davies, Treforgan, Revd.  J D Hughes, Blaenwaun. Chairman: Revd. John Williams, Bethania.
  • 12 1876 (Wed.) Dr. William Lane Noot, surgeon, died, aged 71.

8 January (1872) Fire at J. R. Daniel

  • 8 1872 (Mon.) Oddfellows movement instituted in Cardigan. Some will claim to have seen odd fellows in Cardigan before this date!
  • 8 1872 (Mon.) Fire destroyed premises of J. R. Daniel, Cabinet Maker, St. Mary’s Street. The Council met and decided to purchase a Fire Engine. A manual Fire Engine cost £102. The money was to be raised by public subscription. Not really surprising then that a second hand fire engine (called ‘Ada’ from Neath), was not bought until the early 1930s! Until then it was buckets only.
  • 8 1867 (Tues.) ‘John Stuart’ lifeboat rescues the ‘Coronation’ of Bideford.

3 January (1682) sailings

For more information choose January (above) and then the date.

3 1682 (Tues.) Ffisher of Milford, master John Thompson, sailed from Cardigan to Dartmouth with a cargo of 60 brls of herring.

Remember to contribute if you know of memorable days in the history of the town – birthdays or anniversaries of ‘famous’ people; big civic week events; a horse kicking someone on Barley Saturday; a spectacular fight on fair day; notable elections…

“the truth is in the detail”