TREDYFFRIN TOWNSHIP

Tredyffrin Township is situated in the Great Valley, in the most easterly part of the county. It is part of a large tract which was surveyed for the Welsh, and was principally taken up and settled by them. The name is Welsh and signifies "valley town or township". Tre or Tref is the welsh for "town" or "township" and Dyffrin is a "wide cultivated valley", hence the compound Tredyffrin , the town or township in the wide, cultivated valley - a very appropriated name. The township is sometimes called Valleytown or Valleyton, in old writings - an evident effort to Anglicize the name. In a deed of conveyance from Lewis Walker to Llewellyn David in 1708, the grantor is recited as 'of the township of Valleyton, in the county of Chester." The name Tredyffrin has been said by some historians to signify "stony valley", but this is not correct. In the assessment for taxes made in the year 1722, the name is spelled "Tre:Yr:Dyffryn."

The organization of the township is not certainly known, but it was prior to the year 1707, as in that year Thomas David represented the township as constable. A rule seems to have been adopted at an early period that the land-owners should serve in the office of constable by turns.

This page was updated on March 1, 2009