I would like to thank Julian for sending me the above photograph and Paul for sending me a photocopy of the same photograph. Originally this photograph was found by Joan who has been researching the Batten family a lot longer than I have and recently I had had the pleasure of talking to Joan by telephone. Hopefully Joan, Derrick her husband and I will be meeting soon.
1. William 1778 – 1864 born 1778 with no exact date of birth however, his birth year is mentioned in one of the old ledgers of the White Church in Dyffryn and his baptism is recorded as 16th February 1779. In addition volume 5 of the Denbigh Parish Registers records his baptism on the 16th February 1779 his father recorded as William Beaton his father’s occupation was a Skinner and his mother’s name Rebeek. I therefore have two sources showing William’s baptism details and recording his father as William Beaton.
William became a well known Wesleyan Minister especially on the North Wales Circuit therefore there is quite a lot of information either in the public domain although some of his history is archived material with different organisations. The latter being subject to copyright laws if I can get permission to include the information I will do so with acknowledgements. As I have already said on my home page this is my hobby and I do not gain financially from any of my research.
William Batten married Alice Bennion who was born Oswestry 6th May 1791 she was the daughter of Mr. Edward Bennion a Surgeon from Oswestry Shropshire. Alice was baptised June 1791 both the records I have for Alice do not show the exact day she was baptised. William and Alice married on the 13th January 1813 at St. Oswald’s Parish Church Oswestry. Source: details taken from microfiche entry at Oswestry Library, the surname for William looks like ‘Bolten’ which is possibly why I could not find it on other records. Thank you to Derek at Oswestry Library for finding these details.
In 1835 William appeared in Pigot and Co’s National Commercial Directory 1835 for North Wales on the page for Llanwrst under the heading Nobility, Gentry and Clergy which reads: BATTEN Rev William, Scotland St. William served at Llanwrst for two years from 1834-1836.
The 1841 Census for Wales
From 1839-1842 William’s Ministry was at Beaumaris the 1841 census shows William aged 60 living at Bodfeirig, Anglesey his occupation given as Minister of the Gospel. Interestingly his family are living at a different address. Source: HO107; piece 1359; folio 27; page 4;
It has taken me months to find Alice and the family on the 1841 census and finally found them living at Hermitage Place, Beaumaris and the surname had been transcribed as Batton. Alice aged 45 was living with possibly four of her children. Why do I say possibly? Because I have found another child that I can not find any baptism records for and the only reason I can assume the he was Alice and William’s child is that the age range is in sequence. The children living with Alice at that time were John aged 15, occupation illegible, Alice aged 14, David aged 12 and Sarah aged 9. At this tme I have know idea were David came from.
1851 Census for Wales
From 1843 to his death in 1864 William’s Ministry was at Llanfyllin for a period of 19 years; this was unusual as a Ministry tended to be for one or two years and occasionally three years. As we can see from William’s obituary further down on this page, it states that “for twenty-two years he bore his infirmities of age with exemplary patience”. The 1851 census shows that William and Alice where living at Garth Cottage, Llansantffraid the surname had been transcribed as ‘Ballen’. William’s profession then Wesleyan Minister aged 70 and Alice aged 59 a Minister’s wife. They had three of their children living at home with them Thomas aged 31, profession Wesleyan Minister, daughter Alice aged 34 and daughter Sarah aged 19. Both daughters profession described as ‘at home’.
1861 Census for Wales
William was a Superannuated Wesleyan Minister (this is how it has been transcribed), he and Alice on the 1861 census for Wales where living in the Village of Llansantffraid, he was 82, Alice aged 69 and at that time they had a daughter Sarah living at home aged 29. As far as I can tell they had eight children. Sadly their daughter Alice died 2nd February 1856 at the age of 29 and their son Thomas died at the age of 37 on Good Friday, April 10th, 1857.
From the births of their children we can see that William and Alice moved around Wales with his Ministry. It is also interesting how William’s professional titles change with the different baptisms of his and Alice’s children. William and Alice possibly had another daughter Mary as there is a reference in Isaac Watkins’s book on Oswestry page 237 to “Mr. Thomas Owen, who married firstly Mary Batten, grand-daughter of Dr. Edward D Bennion of Cyrnybwch”. The significance of this is that John was baptised at Cyrn Y Bwch and the Bennion’s were mentioned on John’s baptism records as maternal parents (grandparents). However, if Mary was their daughter then Alice would have given birth to her at 50, not sure about this and I have sent for Mary’s birth certificate. Interestingly Mary Batten was the first wife of Thomas Owen, Publisher and Stationer of Oswestry he published a book in 1904 with the title of Personal Reminiscences of Oswestry. Now that I have split the Batten pages I will be able to cover Thomas Owen see right hand column.
Rev. William attended a meeting on Wednesday 24th August 1864 at the Chapel and that night he became ill with Pleurisy and took to his bed he died on the 1st September 1864 and was buried at Bwlch y Cibau Cemetery on the 6th September. Out of respect the Church bells at Bwlch y Cibau tolled all day.
Death and funeral of Rev W Batten Wesleyan Minister, Llansantffraid yn Mechain
Despite his healthy appearance, his sprightliness and the bodily strength right up to the last week of his life, we have to record the death of the Rev. W. Batten, the oldest minister in the Wesleyan denomination, which occurred at Llansantffraid, September 1st, in his 86th year and in the 61st year of his ministry.
He was taken ill on 24th August; therefore his illness was only of the short duration of eight days. We have no accurate record of the date of his birth, but the registers of Whitchurch in the Vale of Clwyd state that a child ‘William Beaton’ was baptized on 16th February 1779. Much has happened since that time when Williams, Pant y Celyn and Ann Griffiths were enchanting the old Methodists, the Bible Society had not then been established, Calvinistic Methodism was then still in its infancy, the country was in a wretched state and the works of the Welsh bards undermined the efforts of those who sought to promote Christianity. John and Charles Wesley were flourishing and Wesleyan Methodism had begun to blossom.
The Sunday school had not then been accepted by the church generally and not one per cent of the present chapels had been built when the boy William first opened his eyes. John Wesley had been buried some 13 years before Mr. Batten began his public ministry, but the Wesleyan cause had been established and ‘Little Bryan’ as the old people described him – Rev Bryan Jones, Mathafarn – and Rev Owen Davies were seeking members when Mr. Batten began to preach.
In 1803, when in his prime – aged 25 years – Mr. Batten began the important work of his ministry and in 1804, or as he preferred to call it ‘The Great Year’, he preached his trial sermon in the presence of Rev Owen Davies, the Chairman of the North and South Wales District. Although one would have expected the young candidate to feel apprehension the Rev Owen Davies had no doubts regarding his ability, because in the gallery, opposite the pulpit, sat an aged character whose ‘well done’ was the most that anyone could expect, indeed equivalent to a licence granted by the Courts of the Bishop of St Asaph. The old man we refer to was about 65 years old, of a rustic appearance, with a striking and unusual countenance. His eyes were fixed on the young preacher throughout his sermon and his rapt attention showed that he was assessing what he heard with great deliberation. It was not surprising that the presence of the old man wearing a white linen cap sitting at the front of the gallery should be more disturbing than that of the district chairman – he was none other than * Twm o’r Nant. At the close of the service and the young preacher fearing the criticism of the famous poet, was about to leave the chapel in a depressed state of mind, whereupon Twm o’r Nant approached Mr. Batten and putting his hand in a fatherly way upon his shoulder said, ‘Well done my boy, keep up the good work’. The words were but few and may have seemed of little value, but the tone of voice in which they were delivered and the friendly touch of the bard were of great encouragement to the young man and he immediately felt himself to grow in stature having made his mark as a preacher.
Soon after this he was appointed to the Circuit which extended from Denbigh to Rhayadr and at that time there were only four chapels – Denbigh, Ruthin, Llanidloes and Rhayadr. His zeal, perseverance and warm ministry earned Mr. Batten a high placing, not only among his own flock but also among the other denominations, indeed those from all strata of society consistently paid the greatest respect to the old patriarch. He fulfilled his preaching engagements to the end of his long life and occupied the pulpit up to the Sunday before his illness when he preached with much fervor and unusual effect on the text ‘The sower went forth to sow’ Matthew XIII v3. But alas his constitution was not strong enough to withstand the attack of pleurisy on Wednesday 24th August which confined him to his bed. To the end he was perfectly content and the prospect of death did not disturb his peace of mind. Among his last words were, ‘I shall be content when I awake before your image. All is well, all is well.’
Thus our old friend departed peacefully
The Funeral
On September 6th, there gathered, without specific invitation (by request of the deceased) as is usual in the neighbourhood, and despite the inclement weather, a large concourse of mourners.
At 2 pm, following a prayer and the reading of a psalm by the Rev. W.H. Evans, Llanfair, a lengthy procession formed in the following order – Ministers and friends in 16 carriages, mourners mounted and on foot, members of Llansantffraid Chapel, the hearse and relatives in carriages. Slowly the cortege moved on to Bwlch y Cibau Chapel where the family grave is located. En route, signs of mourning were manifest and the several women and children at the roadside looked on sadly as their old friend and father was carried to his eternal rest. At the Bwlch, many other friends and admirers had come to pay their last respects to his mortal remains.
In the chapel, The Rev. S. Davies, Llanrhaiadr read portions of the 90th Psalm and from the 1st Epistle to the Corinthians, Chapter 15. Following a prayer, the hymn, ‘Drawing towards Eternal Life’ was sung. The Rev T. Aubrey then addressed the congregation and the Rev J L Richards, Llansantffraid offered a prayer. This was an impressive oration by Rev Aubrey, an old friend and fellow labourer in the vineyard speaking under great emotion with the remains of his old companion lying before him.
At the graveside the burial service was read by Rev Aubrey and all present sang the hymn ‘My friends no longer seek for peace’.
It will not be easy to forget the sad scene as the mortal remains of our old father were lowered to the earth to join his dear ‘Aili’ and children.
We cannot conclude our report without recording the fact that on the day of his burial, every family in the township showed the greatest respect towards the late Rev W. Batten on the day of his interment. Although he was a nonconformist minister, the church bell was tolled throughout the day showing the high regard in which the Wesleyan minister was held in the community.
*Thomas Edwards, bardic name Twm o’r Nant, is one of the best known names in Welsh literature.
There was also a piece from (Histories) held by University of Wales and this was also printed in Welsh and I have had this translated by Howard of Montgomeryshire Genealogical Society. I would also like to thank Hilary his wife for the emails with regards to this piece of work. The account below is very similar however, it does give one or two more facts and both accounts tell us the sort of man the Rev. William was.
Obituary of Mr William Batten
On the 1st September, Llansantffraid, Llanfyllin circuit, the Rev. William Batten in the 86th year of his age, and the 61st of his travelling ministry, of which he spent 21 years of the above. He was the youngest Wesleyan minister in Wales. Mr Batten was a man of cheerful nature and very friendly, of this he kept until his last days. He spent his whole ministry in constant hard work but nobody ever heard him complain he was tired. As a minister he was powerful, fiery, and very effective. He was possessed with an exciting gift in his preaching and was popular; in his day he was very successful in winning many souls. Over the time he was overseer, he showed that his care and his love for the cause of the Lord stayed strong in his breast.
A big loss is felt for him in this district as well as for his public labours. On Wednesday night, the 24th of August he went to the meeting of the ‘committee’ ( probably a meeting of chapel elders) in the chapel, that same night he was struck ill; and the second Thursday after that, after only a week and a day, he breathed his last. The following Tuesday a big crowd of respectable men gathered to accompany his remains to the cemetery in Bwlch y Cibau.
In the mournful procession there were eighteen vehicles beside the numerous horses and the hearse carrying ministers, preachers, leaders, church leaders and noted friends from the circuits of Llanfyllin, Llanrhaeadr and Llanfair. Before starting from the home the Reverend W. H. Evans read and said a prayer. At Bwlch-y-Cibau chapel the Rev. Samuel Davies read appropriate pieces from the scriptures; then the Rev. T. Aubrey gave an appropriate and effective speech, then he called on the Rev J. L. Richards to pray. After this we moved to the cemetery, where the mortal remains of the once lively Father Batten was laid in the grave the service was terminated in the usual manner by Mr Aubrey. “The Fathers where are they?”
mypastonline.uk 