Hello
Have you found the family on 1871 or 1881 Census so that we we may be able to locate the property?
I guess life would not have been easy for people living in Newbridge-on-Wye in the 1870s. It was a mainly rural area and increased use of machinery meant that fewer people were needed to work the land. Many people moved to the towns and cities to find work. Rural families lived in small rented cottages, with no running water or proper sanitation. They worked hard, and struggled to provide enough food to keep the family alive by keeping animals and growing vegetables. Disease was common, e.g. plithisis is seen on many death certificates. The hazards of pregnancy and child birth could result in the death of the mother and the child. Do you have your 2xG Grandmother's death certificate?
Llanyre National School (a Church School) opened on 6th January 1868 with 36 pupils and Headmaster William Tudor Thomas. It was intended to "provide education for children and adults, or children only, of the labouring and other poorer classes in the Parish of Llanyre or in any other adjoining Parish within a radius of three miles of the village of Newbridge"
In 1871 W E T Morgan (later Canon W E T Morgan) was ordained and appointed Curate of Llanyre, and services were held in the Schoolroom. He remained until 1878 so may have performed Marriages or Baptisms for your family. The Church wardens were Mr Williams of Bwlchdyarth, and Mr Jenkins the Cwm, a farm built on the remains of a Roman camp. Canon Morgan recalled that Llanyre men used to kick during fights rather than use their fists! Also that whisky had replaced gin as the tipple of choice.... perhaps that is why the fights became so violent.
Llanyre poor would have ended up in Rhayader Union Workshouse, like 5 year old Edith Jones in 1881:
http://www.workhouses.org.uk/index.html?Rhayader/Rhayader.shtmlKind Regards
Morgan
