Daniel Mostyn was born in 1842, he was the son of Edward Mostyn, a collier and Elizabeth Edwards, the family lived in the Coedpoeth, and there is still a Mostyn Road there.
Edward and Elizabeth had 9 known children including Daniel and Ellis who was 11 years younger. By 1871 Edward had died, Daniel and two of his brothers were coal miners, the youngest son John was a stonemason.
Daniel married Elizabeth Jones in 1876 in St Giles, Wrexham. They moved to the Tanyfron area and in August 1879 he applied for a licence to sell beer, in the application he states he is a Grocer and Provision Dealer, and for the last eighteen months had resided there and had carried on that business, he also was the owner of the property.
He later tried to get an extension licence on his house, it was midway between the Vron and Plas Power Collieries and was about 800 yards from the nearest public house. The Chairman said they had a large coal owner on the Bench, and he was sure he would agree with him in saying that there was no business which required more sobriety than coal mining. The application was therefore refused.
Daniel didn’t give up and in 1881 he once more applied for a full licence for the Queens Head, his case was that the nearest one was over a mile away, Mr Lester opposed and again he was refused.
Daniel stayed there anyway and in 1891 he is at the Queens Head, Mostyn Terrace, he is still a collier, his wife Elizabeth who was born in Summerhill and his younger brother Ellis Mostyn are with him.
In September 1895 he applied again for a full licence for the Queens Head, Tanyfron, he had lived there for 17 years and it was his property. He was at present licenced for the sale of beer and spirits in quantities of not less than one quart, but he was often asked for smaller measures, after a lengthy discussion on the annual licensing day he was again refused.
Daniel must have been really fed up with all these refusals and a few weeks later in November he went to a property sale at the Wynnstay Arms, up for auction was the fully-licensed freehold public-house, the Butcher’s Arms, Abbot-street, late in the occupation of Mrs (Ruth) Eyton. Bidding started at £500 and Daniel got it for £825. In December 1895 Mrs Eyton held a sale of household furniture, bagatelle board, and effects, at the Butchers Arms Inn as she was leaving.
The pub was on the same side as the Old Swan and opposite the Cross Foxes. When Ruth Eyton was there in 1891 it was 8 Abbot Street and in 1900 it was the Railway Inn 8 Abbot Street, so it seems the name was changed. Wrexham Central Railway Station had been rebuilt and a new line had been laid as far as Ellesmere, on 2 July 1895 the first passenger train to Ellesmere departed. This was a special excursion for a Sunday School outing and took place before the official Board of Trade inspection after which the scheduled trains started on 2 November 1895. The railway line ran between Abbot Street and Brook Street and it was likely the pubs name was changed because of this.
Daniel died at the Railway Inn on 22 January 1900 and left effects of £2294 7s
Elizabeth applied for a new licence for the pub which was granted and in 1901 she was officially a licenced victualler, Ellen Jones her 72-year-old mother was living with her, she was a retired grocer. On 10 March 1903 Elizabeth died at the Railway Inn, she left effects of £865 18s 1d. She was buried with Daniel.
ELIZABETH MOSTYN 1851 – 1903
Elizabeth Jones was born in 1851, she was the eldest daughter of Edwin Jones and Ellen Thomas. Edwin was from the Chester area and Ellen from Ruabon. Edwin was a carpenter and moved from Vron to Pentre Isa, Broughton. By 1871 Ellen had given birth to 7 known children all of which were girls; of course, there may have been some others who had died.
Elizabeth 19, Maria 18, Sarah Ellen 12, Eliza 10, Mary 6, Harriet Jane 5 and Charlotte aged 4 months were the only ones at home.
Edwin was living in the Post Office in Pentre Isa by 1881 and by 1891 his daughter Mary was the postmistress.
Elizabeth Jones had married Daniel Mostyn in 1876 in St Giles, Wrexham, and died 10 March 1903, aged 51 years, they were buried together.
HARRIET JANE ATKINS 1866 – 1933
Also buried with Daniel and Eliza is Harriet Jane Atkins, “sister of the above” who died 20 March 1933 aged 67. Cemetery records have her place of death as 3 Watery Road.
From the grave inscription it wasn`t really clear who Harriet Jane was the sister of, and it has been quite difficult to find who she was and how she came to be known as Atkins. There was a newspaper report found about her death and it was a very sad affair, the article stated she “lived with her brother and sister-in-law, Mr and Mrs Mostyn”
As she died 30 years after Daniel and Elizabeth then it couldn`t have been them. A search in the Cemetery records found Ellis and Eliza Mostyn both died at 3 Watery Road a few years later.
In 1901 Harriet J Jones was a visitor at the household of Ellis and Eliza Mostyn, but no relationship was shown which didn`t help. On checking the marriage of Eliza and Ellis Mostyn it all became clear, Eliza`s father was Edwin Jones, a carpenter, so two sisters had married two brothers and Harriet Jane was another sister.
Presumably she married a man named Atkins, but no marriage has been found, another possibility is that she married, her husband died, and she then remarried. It will remain unsolved.
Researched by Annette Edwards. With additional help from Judy Roberts of Chirk, and Louisa Maud of London. Gravestone photograph by Graham Lloyd. Abbot Street pics Wrexham History. December 2018.
Grave ref: Wrexham Cemetery J-02390
