Monmouth Independent Chapel (General)

by unknown, Tuesday, July 10, 2012, 11:39 (4524 days ago) @ chriselawrence

Hello, I'm new to the forum and have spotted the correspondence about Benjamin Lawrence and his father and their connection with Clearwell. I'm descended from them but do not know much about them and wondered how you are getting on.

I believe that Benjamin lived for a long time at Ross on Wye, at a house called Fernside which is still standing. As a small child in the 1950s I visited the last of his many children, Clara, at Fernside when she was well into her nineties. I think she died in 1957.

I believe that Benjamin designed a chapel or church in Ross. His son, Robert ("Bob") was also an architect and emigrated for a while to Victoria BC, Canada, where there are several buildings designed by him, including the Unitarian chapel I believe. He eventually returned to the UK and lived with his wife at Poole, Dorset. Another of Benjamin's daughters, Ellen Elizabeth, was my great grandmother and married George Henry Llewellyn from a Newport family, my great grandfather.

Best regards,
Richard Golland