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Hello Smeatons, I have a John and Mary Davies in my tree, who were my ggg grandparents.
They lived in and milled at Felin Newydd in 1861, but I don't know if they are related in any way to your Davies, so many of them around, such common names... Both were born in the area, Mary's maiden name was Isaac.
My parents have visited the mill and met the owners at the time - I have some photos that may be the same as the ones on the website link, but I can't seem to open them on the link to compare. I'm attaching one of the main building, I also have an interior photo if you haven't seen it.
My John moved around a lot and milled at least four different mills in the area - I have never been able to identify his parents for the usual reason - every second man was named John Davies!
Caroline.

Caroline,

Sorry for not replying sooner... for some reason I didn't get notified about your posts. :-(
I don't believe our Davies are related, my understanding of the history of the millers is as follows:

1836 John Davies was recorded Miller.
1836 He was replaced in the same year by James James. His tenancy was brief as he died the following year. The title was passed to his wife who was still milling in 1841.
1851 Edward Edwards
1861 John Davies in 1861
1871 John Williams
1874 Daniel Davies who remained milling until 1903 at the age of 85.
In 1905, Anthony Williams became tenant. He purchased the Mill in 1918 from the Edwinsford estate for the sum of £725

I would very much like to see a photo of the interior if possible as the mill is now closed to the public, so I'll never get to see all the fascinating things I know are in the mill relating to my family :-(

best wishes,
David

I'm currently planning a trip to Wales in order to visit Bangor University archives, Caernarvon Records Office and the National Library of Wales in order to research Rev. John Camwy Evans in more detail.

I have come across a newspaper cutting whilst researching him which, among other things, talks about the "Herber Society". The text of the newspaper cutting is given below for reference. Unfortunately I don't know which newspaper it is from and I only have a rough date of when the article was published, which is late October / early November 1931.

I have so far failed to find any references to the Herber Society in any archive search I have made. I assume it is in some way related to the church, but can anyone provide me with any further details?

Many thanks,
David

WELSH NEWS
Caernarvon Pastor Leaving
Presentations to Rev. Camwy Evans
A meeting was held at Pendref Congregational Chapel, Caernarvon, to bid farewell to the Rev. Camwy Evans, pastor of the church for about sixteen years, and for a period a representative of the town on the County Council. Mr Evans is leaving to take charge of Lloyd-street Congregational Church, Llanelly. The Rev. E. J. Owen (Salem) presided, and the devotional part was taken by the Rev. J. Wesley Felix.
The Revs. R. H. Williams (Chwilog), Ellis Jones (Bangor), and Mr John Parry (Bethesda) spoke on behalf of the county association and the quarterly meeting respectively; the Rev. D. Hoskins for the Caernarvon Evangelical Council; Messrs Jarvis, J. P. Roberts, and John Jones for the church at Pendref; and Alderman J. R. Pritchard for the church at Salem. Addresses were also given by the vicar (the Rev. John Morgan), the Rev. R. D. Rowlands (Anthropos), and Alderman R. E. Jones.
A wallet containing a cheque was handed to Mr Evans by the chairman on behalf of the town and district. Mrs John Williams (Pool Hill) presented Mr Evans with a gold watch and Mrs Evans with a silver tea service on behalf of Pendref Church, and the Rev. Griffith Jones (Bontnewydd) made a presentation on behalf of the "Herber Society."

Well, I think I'm making some good progress with all this!

The Welsh Mill Society has passed my email on to the current owners of the mill, so hopefully that will bring some good news in the coming weeks.
And although the mill is now closed to the public, I did find the original website about the mill here:

http://web.archive.org/web/20031008084645/www.themill.biz/wm-history.htm

which gives some details of interest.

My conversations with the museum in Patagonia are going well too... seems like they would like to interview me on the radio when I go, which should be interesting! Thankfully they plan to ask me questions in English and will then translate my answers for the audience.

Many thanks for the photo links, I looked at Geograph for photos and found this:

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/388953

I use this site and Google StreetView quite a lot to see what places look like.

In my nosiness I also spotted that the mill sold for £445,000 in 2004 :-)
http://www.houseprices.co.uk/e.php?q=Llanwrda%2C+Carmarthenshire%2C++SA19&n=10&f=pd

Doesn't help with the family history, but it's interesting to know never-the-less.

regards,
David

Morgan,

It's getting late so I'll check out the Evans one later today 

These are the census records for Davies

                  1861               1871               1881               1891               1901
             RG9 4127/6 Pg 5   RG10 5482/4 Pg 2   RG11 5386/22 Pg 15  RG12 4507/14 Pg 4  RG13 5101/13 Pg 1
                Parkwillim         Park Willim         Newmill             Newmill            Newmill

Daniel Davies    age 47             age 54            age 63              age 73             dead
Mary Davies   age 48             age 56            age 64              age 75             age 86
Daniel Davies     -                  age 23            -                   -                  age 52
Mary Davies   age 9              -                 -                   -                  -
Elizabeth Davies  age 7              age 17            -                   -                  -
Sarah Davies   age 4              -                 age 24              -                  -
David Davies   age 3              age 12            -                   -                  -
John Davies       -                  -                 age 7               age 18             -



1851
HO107 2471/7 Pg 7
Tyr Gwilim

Daniel Davies  34
Mary Davies 35
James Davies 9
John Davies 7
William Davies 5
Daniel Davies 3
Thomas Davies 1
regards and thanks,
David