Graves at Church Island, Menai Bridge

button_lang_welshbutton_lang_frenchGraves at Church Island, Menai Bridge

Use the lists and map below to find the interesting graves we’ve selected at Church Island. Click the person’s name to see our information about him or her, with a photo of their grave to help you find it.

When you go to look at the graves, please take care and remember that the ground at churchyards can be uneven.

You can hear specially recorded readings of Welsh poetry on our web pages about Hugh Emyr-Davies and Sir Cynan Evans-Jones and a recording of a hymn by “Corfanydd”.

The oldest graves are in the vicinity of the St Tysilio’s Church. The northern side of the island was farmland until 1918, when it was consecrated as an extension to the graveyard. The local war memorial stands on the highest point of the island.

To discover the origins of the place-name Ynys Gorad Goch (a nearby island with fish traps), see our information about the grave of Catherine Jones (who lived on the island).

With thanks to Lis Perkins, Gareth Hughes and John Hughes of the Friends of Church Island. Also to Bridget Geoghegan, Adrian Hughes of the Home Front museum, Llandudno, Prof Hywel Wyn Owen of the Welsh Place-Name Society, Prof Gerwyn Wiliams of Bangor University, Hazel Pierce of The History House, Rhidian Griffiths, Dafydd Hobson, Catrin Hobson, Barry Wynne, Peredur Glyn Webb-Davies and the Royal Society.

Postcode: LL59 5HD

Need help to find Church Island? Click here for a map

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Northern sector

1, William Jones (d.1940) - killed in Dover port when a German aircraft attacked his minesweeper
2, Hugh Emyr Davies (d.1950) - chapel minister and poet who won many chairs and crowns at eisteddfodau
3, Sir Cynan Evans-Jones (d.1970) - poet, dramatist, preacher, playwright, theatrical producer and university tutor
4, John Charles Jones (d.1956) - Bishop of Bangor and missionary in Africa
5, Robert and Roderick Jones (d.1917 and 1944) - brothers who died in army service in different world wars
6, David White Griffith (d.1876) - Anglesey's chief constable for almost 20 years
7, Glyn Roberts (d.1962) - organised UK wartime supplies in USA. Later Bangor’s Welsh history professor
8, FWR Brambell (d.1970) - zoology professor who launched Bangor’s marine science expertise
9, Edna Pritchard (d.1935) - inherited a fortune but died in Snowdonia while walking with Oxford University friends

Southern sector
10, Richard Davies (d.1896) - wealthy Liberal MP, trader, ship owner and Methodist benefactor
11, Gracie Davies (d.1919) - Mentioned in Dispatches for her work at Red Cross hospital in First World War
12, Alexander William Connington (d.1918) - Australian airman brought here for burial by local relatives
13, William Jones (d.1877) - Anglesey's coroner for 40 years. Held inquest on hundreds who died in Royal Charter wreck
14, Robert Herbert Williams (d.1876) - Liverpool draper, aka "Corfanydd", who wrote hymns and cultivated a famous beard
15, Catherine & Catherine Jones (d.1865 & 1924) - lived on Ynys Gorad Goch, a nearby island famed for its fish traps
16, Thomas Hughes (d.1890) - draper credited with the idea of lengthening Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll’s name
17, John Owen (d.1830) - worked as a livestock feeder
18, Henry Fisher (d.1851) - first keeper of Menai Suspension Bridge, which he helped to build
19, Mary Blackwell (d.1801) - lived with husband Thomas at ferry house. He died before Telford's bridge replaced ferry
20, John Evans, Y Bardd Cocos (d.1888) - famed for his poetry, which was unintentionally inane

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