St. David's Day - where better to spend it than in Wales!!) and I decided to wander over to Newbridge. Found what could have been the chapel but this building was signed as having been re-built in 1912, some 11 years after Dan and Amelia were married. The building had a couple of foundation stones and another that was engraved(?) with the words: "Laid by W. Rowland of Abercarn". Just a matter of finding out whether this place was rebuilt on the same location as Dan and Amelia's or whatever...

Continued to wander around Newbridge. As luck would have it I found a small bric-a-brac shop in one of the side streets. The sign outside indicated that they had old maps and photographs, so I thought it might be useful. One of the owners (Terry) is very into local history and we got to talking about where the English Baptist Chapel might have been. As it happens he had a copy of the 1861 map that I had seen in Newport and he was able to confirm for us that the rebuilt chapel (1912) was indeed on the spot of the previous chapel. Terry was also certain that he knows the name of William Rowland as being connected with the Post Office in Abercarn at the beginning of the 20th century - he is listed as a "bookseller / stationer" on Amelia's marriage certificate, so this may fit well. Also, the current Post Office is at the corner of High and Vine Streets in Abercarn. Vine Street is the former home of the Rowland's and initial home of the Davis clan (Dan, Amelia, Rowland and Graham)... might be a coincidence but you never know!!

Side Note: I tried telephoning the pastor of the Baptist chapel to find out if the church has any information of it's own history but wasn't able to get an answer - I'll keep trying.

After Newbridge it was on to Abercarn. The local library is only open on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays so I wanted make sure I got there today. Had to wait for it to open after the lunch break but it was worth the wait. Managed to find a couple of books by Rex Pugh, both published in the early 1930's:
1 - Glimpses of West Gwent - An Historical Survey of Abercarn and District
2 - A History of the Baptist Church Abercarn

Interestingly, I was allowed to join the Abercarn Library and borrow books - so I did!!

I had been curious as to why Amelia and Dan were married in an English Baptist Chapel, given they were both Welsh - hopefully these books will provide some background of this church in the Welsh environment

spending a couple of days in Wales - stayed overnight at the Lawns Farm B&B in Grosmont again... nice and relaxing...

initial research for this trip was the Newport Reference Library, home of many records for Monmouthshire. Unfortunately I wasn't able to make use of the microfiche or computers - apparently they need to booked and, naturally enough, none were available when I turned up... bummer... I did find out that they can be booked over the 'phone, so I just need to plan a bit better next time. I did, however, manage to look at a few other things - the most interesting of which was an 1861 map of Newbridge. Newbridge is a couple miles north of Abercarn and the place where Dan & Amelia were married. Managed to find the location of the Baptist Chapel - just need to translate this to a modern day map.