St David’s Church Froncysyllte
Stories from Beyond the Grave
Tales of the lives and deaths of some of those who are remembered in St David’s Church
Please be careful of uneven walking surfaces, steps and gravestones
Burial Records
The earliest burial in the records of St. David’s Church was that of Mary Elizabeth Eddy who was buried on 26th. July 1883. The original purpose of St David’s was to serve as a Chapel for occasional use as a place for worship and also as a National School. The church was opened for public worship in September 1871.
Many of the plots in the churchyard are marked by headstones but others are unmarked graves. One of those unmarked graves is that of the footballer David ‘Di’ Jones.
The churchyard has remained in constant use since 1883. It is the choice of many local families for burials and for those who have travelled away from the village but wish their final resting place to be in the village where they were born and remember fondly.
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Froncysyllte War Memorial
The war memorial commemorates the lives of local people who lost their lives during World War One and World War Two.
The memorial is a stone cross adorned with the cross of sacrifice, mounted upon a square plinth standing upon a two-tier base. The front face commemorates 21 men who fell during World War One. The commemoration is in English and the names are listed by regiment. Below the names is a wreath of laurels with the date 1914 - 1939. On the reverse (church side), are listed the names of 11 men who died during World War Two. These names carry the individual’s rank. Below this are two further names who died in the UK, including the only woman named on the memorial Nurse May Dickens. The left and right faces bear statements and a passage from the Bible (1 Samuel, 25, 15-16) in Welsh.
Robert Graesser
Robert Graesser was born in Saxony, Germany in 1844. In 1867 he established a chemical works at Plas Kynaston, Cefn Mawr to extract paraffin oil and wax from the shales available from the surrounding collieries.
Wrexham Lager was set up in 1882. However, the business was struggling due to problems with cooling the beer. Robert Graesser was able to use his manufacturing expertise to resolve the problem. Graesser eventually took full ownership and the business prospered. Wrexham Lager was served on the Titanic.
Robert Graesser became a British citizen in the 1870s and bought Argoed Hall and the surrounding land in 1880. He lived there for the rest of his life. On 15 July 1911 Robert Graesser walked from Argoed Hall to his chemical works where he collapsed and died at his desk.
E.S (Ted) Williams
E.S. (Ted) Williams was born in Lwow, then part of Poland. In 1939, Ted was studying medicine at Warsaw.
As a result of the attack by German forces, Ted decided to escape over the border to Russia and was arrested by Russian soldiers and sentenced to 25 years in a Siberian Labour Camp. An agreement was reached to allow all Polish prisoners to leave Siberia to fight with the British army. Ted was badly wounded in battle at Monte Cassino.
After the war Ted arrived in Wales as a refugee. He developed a successful Newsagents shop in the centre of Froncysyllte. He managed the Fron Celts football team and married Irene Williams. At this stage, Ted changed his name from Zbrozek to Williams. In later years, Ted was President of the Fron Male Voice Choir. Ted moved to London to further his career and rose to a very prominent position internationally within Tesco. He died in 1997 and is buried alongside his wife Irene.
Ian “Jacko” Roberts
Ian ‘Jacko’ Roberts was a diehard Wrexham fan and a member of the Froncysyllte Male Voice Choir. He was born in Trevor and lived there until the age of 25. He died in 2017 following a long battle with cancer. In his own words:
“I really enjoy singing at games - I think it really creates an atmosphere. I suppose I started singing at games in about ’78 or ’79 when I waa young. It just gradually happened. I just became more and more noisy - and in the end people start looking towards you to get the singing going. My choir singing is more important to me than the football. I sing with the Fron Male Voice Choir. We’ve sung in Greece, Germany, Holland, Austria, the USA and Malta. I think you’d describe us as serious amateur professionals”.
Trevor Williams
Leading Aircraftman
Trevor Williams served in the Royal Air Force. He died aged 19.
Trevor was the son of William Caradoc Williams and Mary Williams, of Froncysyllte. Trevor Williams was attached to RAF Newton and died in Wrexham isolation hospital.
Trevor Williams was born in Froncysyllte, September 1921. As a child he attended Carmel Baptist Church and Sunday School. He was later employed at the Pen-y-bont clay works run by J. C. Edwards (Ruabon) Ltd., Brick and Tile Manufacturers.
He joined the R.A.F. at the end of 1938 and by 1941 had reached the rank of Leading Aircraftsman. He was buried at St. David’s Froncysyllte on 17th May 1941. The grave of Trevor Williams is the only grave in the churchyard that is maintained by the Commonwealth Graves Commission. Trevor Williams is remembered fondly by his many relatives who still live in this area.
Dorothy Hartley
Dorothy Hartley (1893–1985) was a social historian, illustrator, and author. Her interest in history led her into writing. Among her books are six volumes of The Life and Work of the People of England, covering six centuries of English history.
Hartley’s mother was from Froncysyllte, where the (Eddy) family owned quarries and property. In 1933 Hartley moved to Fron House in Froncysyllte, where she lived for the rest of her life.
It was there that she began work on the book for which she is best known, Food in England, written from the viewpoint of a historian and also a practical and old-fashioned cook. On its publication in 1954, the book was received with immediate acclaim and has remained in print ever since.
Walter Eddy
Walter Eddy lived in Froncysyllte from 1830 to 1896 and made a major contribution to its transition from a hamlet to a thriving village.
He was centrally involved with the establishment of St David’s in September 1871. Walter Eddy was a Cornishman who came to the village aged nineteen, making his home at Cysyllte Farm (now ‘Fron House’).
He started a life long career as an engineer in the mining industry in Cornwall and came to North Wales to work in mining and also in the limestone quarrying concerns of the Cornwallis-West family of Ruthin Castle, land owners of a very substantial part of the Township of Cysyllte.
Walter Eddy died in 1896. A token of the esteem and respect in which he was held is illustrated by the beautiful stained-glass window in St. David’s inscribed“To the glory of God, in memory of Walter Eddy, born 12.1.1812 died 8.12.1896 – erected by public subscription”.
David ‘Di’ Jones
David ‘Di’ Jones (1867-1902) was a Welsh footballer who won 14 caps for Wales.
He began his career with Oswestry in 1882 helping them win the Shropshire Cup. Jones moved to Chirk and won the Welsh Cup in 1887 and 1888. He then moved on to Bolton Wanderers. Di Jones made his League and Bolton Wanderers debut in September 1888. He captained Bolton in the 1894 FA Cup Final. Jones made over 200 appearances for Bolton, before moving to Manchester City, where his former Chirk teammate Billy Meredith played. He made his Manchester City debut in October 1898. In his first season, the club won promotion to the First Division.
On 17 August 1902, Jones was playing in a pre-season match when he suffered a cut to his knee after falling on a piece of glass. The wound became infected and Jones died on 27 August.