YSPYTTY-IVAN (YSPYTTY-IEUAN), a parish, composed of the townships of Tir-Evan and Trebrys, in the union of LLANRWST,
hundred of ISALED, county of DENBIGH, and the township of EIDDA, which is also in the union of Llanrwst, and partly in
the above-named hundred and county, and partly in the hundred of NANTCONWAY, county of CARNARVON, NORTH WALES, 3 miles
(S. W.) from Pentre-Voelas; and containing 839 inhabitants, of whom 427 are in the Denbighshire, and 412 in the
Carnarvonshire, portion. This parish, which is intersected by the river Conway, a few miles below its source, derives its
name from a preceptory belonging to the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, founded by Ivan ab Rhys, about the year 1189,
which continued to flourish until the suppression of that order, affording a sanctuary to travellers and others during the
period of the conflicts between the English and the Welsh. This privilege continuing with the lords of the manor, after
the abolition, and the place being exempted from all civil jurisdiction, rendered it an asylum for robbers and other
malefactors, who became the pest of the surrounding country, until the reign of Henry VII., when they were extirpated by
the courage and firmness of Meredydd ab Ivan. The site of the hospital, or preceptory, is now occupied by the parish
church, and there is not a single vestige of the buildings. The rateable annual value of that part of the parish situated
in Denbighshire has been returned at £1062, of which £612 is the portion for Tir-Evan, and £450 for Trebrys. Fairs are
held on March 17th, May 21st, July 1st, August 18th, September 15th, November 23rd, and December 2nd; and a manorial
court occurs periodically. The living is a perpetual curacy, endowed with a rent-charge of ten guineas, private
benefaction, £600 royal bounty, and £600 parliamentary grant; patrons, alternately, Lord Mostyn and the representatives of
P. Jones, Esq., who are the impropriators; net income, £122. The church, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, is a small
neat edifice, and contains three alabaster figures in a tolerable state of preservation, though much neglected; the first
that of Rhys Vawr ab Meredydd, to whom Henry, Earl of Richmond, afterwards Henry VII., intrusted the standard of
England, at the decisive battle of Bosworth Field, after -Sir William Brandon, his former standard-bearer, had been slain.
the second that of his wife Lowry; and the third, in canonical robes, representing his son Robert ab Rhys, cross-bearer
and chaplain to Cardinal Wolsey. There are places of worship for Independents and Calvinistic Methodists. A day school,
containing about 40 children (of whom 30 are from the township of Eidda), is supported partly by subscription of ten
guineas per annum from Lord Mostyn, towards the education of 12 poor boys, and partly by payments from the parents; and a
Sunday school is held in the meeting-house belonging to the Methodists, in which about 200 males and females meet together
for the purpose of instructing each other in reading the Bible in their native language. Captain Richard Vaughan, in the
year 1700, gave the sum of £200, which was subsequently vested in land, for the endowment of an almshouse, containing six
tenements for as many poor aged men, which he had previously erected in the township of Tir-Evan, and the produce, £8 per
annum, is still distributed among the inmates. Mrs. Catherine Vaughan, too, founded a house for six old women at Eidda,
and the overseers of this township also claim the right of selecting the occupants of the former.