There was an Oliver family near Devils Bridge in Northern Cardiganshire. Two of the sons were ministers - Rev. Abraham Oliver who was at Bethlehem Chapel in Llanddewi Brefi and David Oliver who was at Twrgwym near Rhydylewis. My great Uncle Thomas Lloyd worked for Abraham Oliver and my great grandfather helped David Oliver build a chapel near Aberbanc. I came to the conclusion that Oliver was a patronymic name rather than being French, but its possible. There are a lot of "strange" names in Cardiganshire such as Ajax, Felix, Mathias, Simon, Anthony, Andrew, Oliver, etc. As for a French connection, there were Flemings in PEM in the 12th centruy and there was a Dutch community near Llandovery which is where I believe my Ajax family originally came from. My father, who aws Welsh-born always said that Mathias was a Welsh name. Some of these names disappear after a generation because they are patronymic. Annie Attached Message From: yvonne evans <a.y.evans@homecall.co.uk> To: DYFED@rootsweb.com Subject: [Dyfed] French in South West Wales Date: Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:34:52 +0100 Hello Listers, This is a long shot! I have heard tales of French people in small numbers inhibitating the Cardigan area(Ferwig area) in 1700's.Apparently there was a farm in that area with a French name. I have ancestors by surname Oliver originating from North Pembs and also ancestors with surname Peregrine from North Pembrokeshire including the Llandysilio area. My grandparents used to tell me we had continental connections going back to 18th century, but I have been unable to trace any! I am just wondering about a Hugenot connection fleeing from persecution in France. Has anyone any ideas ? It would be very much appreciated. Yvonne Evans Attached Message From: Jennifer Cairns <jenmathias@gmail.com> To: DYFED@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [Dyfed] French in South West Wales Date: Fri, 16 Oct 2009 04:13:50 -0700 (PDT) Dear Yvonne I know of Fleming settlement in Pembs but not Huguenots (although my father surname Mathias, claimed he was of Huguenot descent when in poetic mood, but I have never found any trace !) - but perhaps individuals fled from France and settled here. Possibly your ancestors could have been Flemings rather than Huguenots. The Huguenot Society link is here http://www.huguenotsociety.org.uk/ and their family history link is here http://www.huguenotsociety.org.uk/family.html Journal: Huguenot Families is a half yearly publication of the Huguenot Society which deals specifically with genealogy and family history - this has now ceased publication - but available on CD rom. List of Contents of the journals is here:- [with lists of family names] http://www.huguenotsociety.org.uk/uploads/docs/HuguenotFamilies_Contents.pdf Hope this is helpful Jen --- On Fri, 16/10/09, yvonne evans <a.y.evans@homecall.co.uk> wrote: