Waterloo Fish & Chip shop, Dolgellau

[ArwelONeill]

I've recently discovered that a member of my family (whom I've never met), used to own/run the Waterloo fish & chip shop in Dolgellau.  Having visited today, the shop is now closed and up for sale.  The owner could have been a 'Mary' and an Evans, Jones-Roberts or even O'Neill but at this time, I'm quite unsure of the facts...its a very long story!!

By all accounts, the same family ran the shop for around 60 years.

If anyone knows anything of the above, I would appreciate hearing from you.

Thank you for your time.

Arwel

[Dolgellau]

I knew Mary well, or as well as a regular customer knows a shopkeeper, but for the life of me I can't remember her surname. I doubt that it was O'Neill, because that name would have stood out. I knew her as Mary Siop Tsips!

I remember Mary telling me that she was distantly related to me, but I still don't know how, and I also remember her telling me that when Capel Islaw'r Dref (between Arthog and Dolgellau on the Cregenan Road) closed that she had bought it and demolished it in order to stop it becoming a holiday home because her parents were buried there – I don't know who her parents were though.

As an aside, Delia Smith the cook and football club owner, also has family buried in Capel Islaw'r Dref, so you might have something other than a chip fryer in your family's gastronomic heritage!

[ArwelONeill]

Wow...!  Thank you Dolgellau! Good on her I say, I would have done exactly the same!  You don't happen to know if its was Rehoboth Chapel, Islaw'r Dref she was talking about?  I've visited the chapel and cemetary, looking for (and found) two other Pugh ancestors. 

You are probably right, O'Neill is highly unlikely.  The O'Neill name comes from my father's father's side of the family and I think that Mary may well be connected to my father's mother's side or more likely still, my father's father's wife's side of the family!  Therefore, Mary's maiden name would have been Roberts.  In which case, her mother's name was Margaret.

I shall have to look into it further and attempt to get hold of a family member who remembers Mary and will let you know.  I intend on visiting the archives in Dolgellau again tomorrow, having been on Tuesday.  It might prove helpful.

Thanks again Dolgellau.

Arwel     

[ArwelONeill]

I knew Mary well, or as well as a regular customer knows a shopkeeper, but for the life of me I can't remember her surname. I doubt that it was O'Neill, because that name would have stood out. I knew her as Mary Siop Tsips!

I remember Mary telling me that she was distantly related to me, but I still don't know how, and I also remember her telling me that when Capel Islaw'r Dref (between Arthog and Dolgellau on the Cregenan Road) closed that she had bought it and demolished it in order to stop it becoming a holiday home because her parents were buried there – I don't know who her parents were though.

As an aside, Delia Smith the cook and football club owner, also has family buried in Capel Islaw'r Dref, so you might have something other than a chip fryer in your family's gastronomic heritage!

Dolgellau,

Having visited my Aunt in Warrington on Saturday, she believes that the chip shop was owned by Mary Margaret Evans and her husband but she couldn't remember her husband's name.  Does that ring a bell with you...or any others reading this for that matter!

Thank you

Arwel.