Bagillt was created as a parish in 1844 from the townships of Bagillt Fechan, Coleshill Fawr, Coleshill Fechan and Bagillt Fawr all of which were previously in the Parish of Holywell.  The Parish Church St Mary’s was built in 1839 as a ‘chapel of ease’ to the parish of Holywell.

David Prichard (1813) and his wife Jemima moved to Bagillt shortly after their marriage in 1839 and David became a coal miner.  In the 1841 census they are shown living with their one year old son David at Merllyn.  It is likely that David (senior) was working at Wern Colliery which was close by.  By 1851 the family had moved to Union Row, young David aged eleven was working as a Labourer and three other boys, George, Michael and Edward were at school.

The town where the family had made their home was a very different place to Aberchwiler just the other side of the Clwyd hills. As well as the coal mines and docks there was the lead works, iron works, rope works and a brewery.

George (1842) followed his father and older brother David into the mine and was a pitman for the rest of his life.  He met and married a Bagillt girl, Margaret Leighton in 1865 and soon afterwards they left the town for Co. Durham.

The rest of the family remained in Bagillt, David’s wife Jemima died when she was 40 and he eventually remarried.  His second wife Jane was seven years his junior.  He remained a miner until he retired.  Tragically two of his sons were killed in separate fatal accidents at Bettisfield Colliery in Bagillt.  David (junior) in 1884 and Edward in 1887.  Less than two months after his son Edward was killed David died and was buried at St Mary’s along with Jemima and both his boys.