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BARMOUTH1 VOLUNTEERS. (1804-1808.)

The Barmouth Volunteers were raised in 1804 2, the officers being commissioned on 18th April, 18043. They were composed of one Company. According to one of the first returns. the following was their composition :-

The personnel, so far as the officers were concerned, remained the same till the Company was disbanded.

The number of days of exercise and the number of inspections were-

The pay lists and returns are silent on the inspections in 1806, 1807 and 1808, but in a return dated 4th August, 1808, it is stated that the company was inspected on 10th June, 1808, by Lieut-Colonel Maxwell.

The route marches of the Company were, except on one occasion, from Barmouth to Dolgelley and return. The distance between the two towns was given as ten miles. On each occasion the march occupied two days. The Company was allowed 1/6 per mile for carriage of baggage on the march.

The troops were billeted with the inn-keepers at Dolgelley. In 1808, this cost the Company £11: 18 : 0. In the same year the Surgeon was paid £1:1:3 for medicine whilst the troops were stationed at Dolgelley, and again in 1805 the same officer was paid £2: 11 : 6 for medical and surgical attendance upon the troops when stationed in this town.

The only occasion when the route march was varied was in 1807 when their objective was Pwllheli6, the length of the march both ways being given as 74 miles. The Company was four days on the march and ten days in stationary quarters. The troops were billeted on innkeepers whilst stationary and on the march, the total bill being £17: 17: 0.

The Barmouth Volunteers proved themselves extremely useful to the authorities on the occasion of one of the many wrecks that took place on the Barmouth coast in those days.

This occasion is referred to by Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, the Lord Lieutenant, in a letter 7 sent by him to the Government authorities on the 9th of March, 1805. In this letter he sent the following extract received by him from a very respectable Magistrate at Barmouth.8

On last Friday morning (March 1st) a strange vessel supposed to be from Portugal was wrecked within three miles of this place. The name was Caminhando. She was built entirely of deal and as soon. as she was stranded went to pieces. All the crew perished. She was laden with corn and a small quantity of fruit. I have the pleasure to inform you that the Barmouth Volunteers behaved extremely well upon the occasion. Capt. Roberts and his men kept guard there from Friday morning until Saturday evening, and. secured 96 pipes of wine from the country people and had them conveyed to Barmouth, where they will be safely kept for the owners if they can be found otherwise for his Majesty. There are or other letters or other documents I find that throw any light upon the matter.

This service as will be seen later, was quoted by the Lord Lieutenant as an argument for accepting the transference of the Company to the Local Militia. The number willing to transfer was 3 officers, 8 men and 6o privates, which constituted the whole Company.

1 A seaside resort in Cardigan Bay. Formed part of the parish of Llanaber, until it became an Urban District in 1894. Population, 2,489. (Census,1931).

2 W.O. Volunteer Pay List. W.0. 13/4455. P.R.O. M.Q.S.R. (Trinity), 1808.

3 W.O. Volunteer List and Militia Merioneth, 1805.

4 In one of the returns his address is given as Barmouth, Nr. Dolgelley. Local readers will appreciate what a flutter would be caused if Barmouth were so described in these days of friendly rivalry between these two towns.

5 The Captain of the Company certified that this man had served upwards of five years in the Anglesey Militia, three years of which was as a non-commissioned officer. He therefore recommended his employment as a permanent Sergeant in the Company.

6 Now a well-known seaside resort in Caernarvonshire, on the shores of Cardigan Bay.

7 H.O. 50/129.

8 The Rev. Francis Parry (son of Francis Parry, of Llanaber, Merioneth), who matriculated at Hertford College, Oxford, in 1764; B.A., 1768; appointed to the benefice of Llandanwg cum Llanbedr in 1781, and to Llanaber in 1791, by the Crown. Died 1821, and was buried at Llanaber. He was heir of Hendreforion, and was an "excellent Magistrate". This is from a note in the Llanaber Parish Register, and I am indebted for the information to Canon R. Hughes Williams, the present Rector of Barmouth. Llanaber was the parish Church of Barmouth in the time of the Rev. Francis Parry.