I have a headache - actually a brain ache - from looking at Welsh records for my Williams kin. Williams is a VERY common Welsh name as are the forenames Morgan and David. Wowser! Does anyone have a strategy that works really well? Please share!
Oscraps
How Do You Break Down Your Brick Walls
- Thread starter Susan - s3js
- Start date
janedee
Well-Known Member
I guess my first question would be - how far back are you? Once you get back past the 1837 GRO records, it can be much more difficult. Do you know if they lived in one particular parish? If they did, sometimes the church records may help. By those, I mean the Parish Council Records, not just the Parish Birth, Marriage and Death records. Another avenue to check can be the local quarter session records. Most of my research has been in England, so I'm not sure if the same records are available in Wales, or whether you might need to employ a researcher locally, especially if the records are in Welsh.
Somehow I missed this. My apologies. I am back to the mid - late 18th century. There are some hints in the Welsh census records but so far they've led nowhere. I have scoured Find My Past but I have noty tried parish governmental records or any court records not at FMP. Must see what is on line. We know from the not so helpful 1841 census in Monmouthshire that someone indicated neither James Williams nor his wife Ann Morgan were born in that county and that their children to that point were, although some family records indicate one or both of them may have been born in Abersychan & Trevethin parish Monmouthshire, which is where they were on the census. They married in Trevethin 2 Sep 1838 his father was Daniel a miner and hers Hugh a tailor. They are parents to my Morgan Williams who was born in Monmouthshire in 1845 as where his elder siblings Daniel 1839, Jane 1840, David 1842, and Ann 1846. They are on the 1850 census in Bloom, Pennsylvania (PA), USA without mother Ann and sister Ann, but with brother John born PA between 1848-1850 (the census is hard to decipher). I'm fairly certain it is abt 1848 but whoever indexed the census read his age as 0 in 1850. So they emigrated between 20 Dec 1846 when little Ann was baptized and 1848-1850. I have the documentation in the US and the birth records for all his children in Wales. I know who I believe his parents were, when and where they married. All their children match his known siblings to a T, but no birth record for James which should have been in Aberyschan & Trevethin where they wed. 'Tis a conundrum because they left so few clues behind and so many with the same names in the same places and the same times. Sigh! It took me almost 10 years to find my great grandfather, William C. Jones in Arkansas and Missouri. Do you know how many many William ad derivative names Jonses there are? More zeroes than I can count. So are the Williamses in Wales!
I have one very stubborn brick wall that I cannot find at all.
His name was John Burrow - and he died in Devon, England in 1839, at age 73. This was just before the first census in 1841 so he is not on that census. The age at death means he was born roughly around 1766. He married his wife in 1817. They had 8 children altogether. They also went through a removal process as well. That is where the Poor Laws Act forced the familys removal from one county to another.
I know everything about John after he got married. but his life is a total blank slate before he got married. If he was born in 1766, he would have been around 50 years old at the time of his marriage. She was just 25 years old.
If he was previously married, I have no details about this. There is one person with dates that may have been Johns son, or nephew, but again, I cannot find a common ancestor, because I dont know for sure who John's parents and siblings were.
I think the age at death might be wrong which means the year of birth is also wrong, because so far in over 20 years of searching, I have not been able to find anyone who fits the name and details that I have for John Burrow and dated before 1817!!!
So far all I have are some educated guesses.
The only thing I can think of is that he changed his name.
But how common was that in the late 1700s or early 1800s?
And why would he do that?
His name was John Burrow - and he died in Devon, England in 1839, at age 73. This was just before the first census in 1841 so he is not on that census. The age at death means he was born roughly around 1766. He married his wife in 1817. They had 8 children altogether. They also went through a removal process as well. That is where the Poor Laws Act forced the familys removal from one county to another.
I know everything about John after he got married. but his life is a total blank slate before he got married. If he was born in 1766, he would have been around 50 years old at the time of his marriage. She was just 25 years old.
If he was previously married, I have no details about this. There is one person with dates that may have been Johns son, or nephew, but again, I cannot find a common ancestor, because I dont know for sure who John's parents and siblings were.
I think the age at death might be wrong which means the year of birth is also wrong, because so far in over 20 years of searching, I have not been able to find anyone who fits the name and details that I have for John Burrow and dated before 1817!!!
So far all I have are some educated guesses.
The only thing I can think of is that he changed his name.
But how common was that in the late 1700s or early 1800s?
And why would he do that?
Robynne, would you give me his wife's name and the children's names, place of birth and year? Was she Mary Batershall banns posted in March 1817 Colebrook, Devon? If so, I noticed he was a widower and she was a spinster. I was on Find My Past the other night and saw that some more Devonshire records have been loaded. So I went looking for your John and found 3 possibles. With the above information I might be able to narrow it down more for you. Also PM me your email addy and I'll send you at least transcriptions of what I found.
Sniff, Sad day for me today. The last sibling in my fathers family died today. (30 Aug 2022)
My fathers older sister. She was 95 years old. My fathers family have now all gone. My Father died in 2016.
OK - brick wall - John Burrow died 1839, Ottery St Mary, Devon.
I sent Susan a PM with an info dump - 20 years worth of research.
And NO sorry, the wife was not named Mary. Her name was Amy and she was from Milverton, in Somerset.
My fathers older sister. She was 95 years old. My fathers family have now all gone. My Father died in 2016.
OK - brick wall - John Burrow died 1839, Ottery St Mary, Devon.
I sent Susan a PM with an info dump - 20 years worth of research.
And NO sorry, the wife was not named Mary. Her name was Amy and she was from Milverton, in Somerset.