Caernarfon - Black Boy Inn

The Black Boy Inn claims to be one of the oldest inns in Wales.

The name of the inn reminds of John Ystumllyn (c. 1738–1786) who was an 18th-century gardener and the first well-recorded black person of North Wales. He was probably a victim of the Atlantic slave trade.

As a child he was taken by the Wynn family to its Ystumllyn estate, where he was christened with the name John Ystumllyn. He was taught English and Welsh. He learned horticulture and craftsmanship and worked as a gardener at the estate and began a romance with a local maid, Margaret Gruffydd.

John run eventually away from his job as gardener to marry Margaret in 1768. They had seven children, five of whom survived. In recognition of his service Ellis Wynn gave Ystumllyn a large garden and cottage at Y Nhyra Isa. Ystumllyn died in 1786; his wife, Margaret, outlived him by more than forty years.

In 2021 a new rose variety was released in honour of him. The John Ystumllyn rose is a golden yellow hybrid tea rose.