Talented Local Author brings Wrexham’s History Back to Life
2026
celebrates
The Year
of Wonder
We were recommended to reach out and meet up with Dave McCall, a well-respected and published local author. Dave has lived in Wrexham for over 40 years and goes under the pen name David Ebsworth and has published a series of dramatic historical crime thrillers, available both online and in store in Wrexham’s Waterstones located on Regent Street.
After a successful career Dave took up writing for the first time at retirement. A keen local walker and swimmer, he has never really slowed down since and his writing career has been equally successful and has just completed his 15th novel.
What became clear upon meeting is what really drives Dave. It’s his passion and love of the history and all the famous stories and people from our world famous town. Whilst Wrexham is blessed with many different festivals throughout the year – there were a staggering 32 in 2025 alone – one of his favourites is the annual Wrexham Carnival of Words in April, a literary festival with a difference, now in its 11th year, and one he helps to organise.
Every November, the Carnival team brings us yet another one, called the Clwyd Crime Fest. But 2026 is that bit more special, as they host an exciting theme throughout the whole year.
The whole town, people and institutions will celebrate these great achievements under a year-long festival called The Year of Wonder, celebrating 150 years since a very special year here in Wrexham, 1876.
From celebrating the Welsh Football Association being founded at the Wynnstay Arms Hotel, or the famous bells in the tower at St Giles’ Church having a world class technology upgrade, or the stately gardens being opened at Ruabon Road Garden Cemetery for the first time, or celebrating the Art Treasures and Industrial Exhibition which was one of the largest art exhibitions in the UK in its day - make no doubt about it, in 1876 Wrexham appeared able to command the attention of the whole world with something noteworthy happening almost every single day of the year.
Wrexham might be well known now but it was world famous once before!
Wrexham certainly was the precious jewel of North Wales in 1876 and the Year of Wonder festival aims to bring it all back to life.
We look forward to sharing further updates on this exciting year-long festival and news of events taking place, so keep on coming back.
Elihu
Yale -
Wrexham's
famous
son
Wrexham’s Global Icon: Elihu Yale and the Woman History Got Wrong.
Brymbo History Group
In February we attended a highly informative talk at a public meeting at Brymbo Sports Complex in Brymbo, located just north of Wrexham. The talk was arranged by Brymbo History Group - and delivered by Dave McCall – also known by his pen name – David Ebsworth – who is one of Wrexham’s most prolific and successful history fiction writers.
'Elihu Yale and his wicked wife'
Dave’s talk was titled ‘Elihu Yale and his Wicked Wife’. Now you don’t need to be a history buff to have heard of Wrexham’s most famous son—his name is on a university you will all know. And he is still named on one of the busiest pubs in Wrexham, the Wetherspoon Elihu Yale on Regent Street.
But Elihu Yale wasn’t just a philanthropist; he was a 17th-century global player. Born in Boston, raised in Wrexham, and made wealthy in India as Governor of Fort St. George, he helped lay the foundations of the British Empire decades before Clive of India. He was even the first to use public auctions for the sale of fine arts and collectibles, rather than real estate and livestock. This came from his enormous wealth he acquired during his life at the time.
Known as a ‘merchant adventurer’ his legacy is woven into the very fabric and history of Wrexham today. His famous coffin tomb is located outside St Giles Church, whose iconic tower inspired "Wrexham Tower" at Yale University. The Erddig Estate that we all know? His family were key players in its history, when he famously bankrupted his neighbour, Joshua Edisbury, who originally owned it, by calling in a loan. Today’s National Trust property Erddig Hall is actually the surviving property from the time. Elihu’s home, Plâs Grono, fell some time ago and was located on the same estate just to the south of Wrexham.
Dave’s retelling of his life made it feel part of a real-life drama and straight out of a soap. But the real story getting attention during the talk was that of his wife, Catherine Yale. Long dismissed in his will as his “wicked wife,” she was actually a remarkable woman. A wine merchant’s daughter from Spain, she sailed to India, survived the plague, raised a family in an unimaginably difficult colonial world, and outlived her first husband. She then remarried a lowly clerk at the time – Elihu – who literally became immensely wealthy overnight upon marrying her. Unfortunately, despite raising many children there was little love between the pair and by the time her second husband died, Elihu himself, she had to contest the will. Eventually she won a massive fortune in court—because he forgot to sign his will—and then she gave it to charity.
Dave’s experience in creating popular historical works and his ability to research at length has meant that he not only uncovered her truth but then has turned her into the star of his Yale Trilogy. His books reveal a Wrexham that’s not just about football, but about global connections, forgotten women, and a past that’s far more complex—and human—than we all first thought. We look forward to hearing more talks from Dave and the Brymbo History Group again in the future and other talks that will form part of the Year of Wonder festival here in Wrexham that runs throughout 2026.