So much to tell you …

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Where to begin? At the end!

The internet opens up countless opportunities for individuals and businesses to connect and thrive. However, we must also be aware of the dangers that lurk in cyberspace. While cyber attacks can be devastating, we should not be discouraged but instead, motivated to take action. Implementing stronger security measures, such as using cutting-edge technology and adding extra layers of protection, can prevent hackers from causing harm. Those who create and own websites have a tremendous responsibility to safeguard their users and the integrity of their platform. We must hold ourselves and others accountable for the security of online spaces. We should rise to the challenge and work towards making the internet a safer place for all. Remember, together we can overcome any challenge!

So, apparently, my websites thought it would be fun to get hacked. Can you believe it!? But no worries, I’m slowly but surely bouncing back from the craziness the hackers caused. It’s like they wanted to play a game of cat and mouse, but I’m the ultimate winner in the end coz I’m a LEO! 😉

Moving on ....

I have heard from a great many people since my last post and have done loads of research. Some to prove a connection to the Williams family, some to disprove the same, and some to argue that my research is true and others are following the wrong path – or vice versa!

A case in point ...

This photo is of a John Owens, his wife Caroline, and their daughter Olwen.

John Owens appears in the Owens Family Tree owned by Lloyd Owens. He also appears in the Helen Currie Family Tree owned by Helen Owens.

The problem is that one John Owens was born about 1879 in Dowlais, Glamorganshire, and the other on 15th July 1877 in Rhydlewis, Cardiganshire.

On the left is a photo of “our” John Owens (in the peaked cap) in August 1954. According to the caption on the back of the photo, with him from left to right are his sister Hetty, great-nephew Timothy, great-niece Gwyneth, nephew Ernest, and great nephew Lloyd. John died in February of 1954! So, was this his brother William?

According to my research, Neither John nor Hetty ever married. This is confirmed by the 1921 Census and the 1939 Register.

The other John, his wife Catherine, their sons David and Job, and his brothers Evan, Job, and Alfred, were all together in Dowlais for the 1911 Census. Olwen was born in 1912. This John is most definitely from Dowlais.

So, there are two mysteries to be solved.

1. How is the John Owens from Dowlais related to the Owens family from Cardiganshire?

2. Is it John or William holding Gwyneth? If it’s John, what was the correct date of the picture – or did he come back from the dead?!?

If anyone can shed any light on this subject, there are many people who would to hear from you.

fiery roaring lion

Watch this space

There is a lot more to come …
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It’s been a long time coming …

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Well, what can I say? It would appear that I’ve been rather idle for a while. I can assure you that is far from the truth.

Most of my research over that period has been for The Wates Family Saga.

The original version of ‘The Wates Family Saga’ was compiled by Margaret Pitt (pictured) and ‘completed’ in 1974.  This was well before the days when personal computers and wordprocessors were widely used.  The first edition was typed and hand-written notes were found on an original version, added by Margaret over time.

From the foreword of the 6th edition, by Brian Wate

Margaret Pitt

The Williams Family Tree and the Wates families are linked via my 3rd cousin Michael Richards. When I heard about the Saga I became interested and asked if I might have a copy and set about adding the “Wates” to my database. It has taken many years to add the data as life and other issues got in the way. The crunch came when Brian Wates and Ian Roberts informed me that they were going to produce the 6th and final edition of the Saga.

After some discussion, Brian and Ian agreed to hold on to publication until I had gone through the information in the Saga. So, six months of solid research on nothing but the Wates and associated families later, it is done. Or rather, it is done for now!

Maybe someone will take over and produce another edition. Maybe not. Either way, the information will remain on this website along with any new or interesting data I come across.

If you have any updates or corrections to the information presented here please get in touch with me via this website. Brian and Ian can be contacted via this link: www.brian-wates.co.uk/WatesFamily/Wates.html

Twists and Turns

I continually receive messages by email, Ancestry, FindMyPast, MyHeritage, and The Williams Family Tree Guestbook. These messages are generally about a connection to the family or perhaps some corrections, updates or additions to a particular branch. Replying to these messages drives me to research the particular connection and I often end up adding a lot more information to my database. Because that’s what I do!

More recently, Facebook and Messenger are being used to communicate and this is part of one such message sent to me by Hefin:

“I remember two maiden sisters Aunts Maggie and Mary. Maggie was a school teacher and Mary was the housekeeper. We used to visit them regularly. I do have a photograph of Maggie somewhere. Dressed in black she looked very severe!! On the way to Aber, on the right hand side of the road there are two houses with canopies over the doors. They stand out from the rest of the houses. They lived in the second one next to Aber.”

Everyone from my home village of Aberdyfi knows who Hefin is and that “Aber” refers to Aberystwyth. The question interested me and so I took a look on Google street map to see if I could find the house in question. I did.

The photos show the street view and a close-up of the window where you can just make out the name of the house – “Gwelfryn” (see inset).


My first thought was to check the 1939 Register. In 1939 the occupant of “Gwelfryn” was Morwenna Aspinall Jones. The “Aspinall” rang a very loud bell. I remembered that Captain Owen Williams’ second marriage was to Jane Aspinall (née Roberts). Morwenna was Jane’s granddaughter and the daughter of Owen Jones and May Aspinall.


Until this episode I had not heard of May but she turns out to be the daughter of Abraham Aspinall and Jane Roberts. Jane, of course, went on to marry Captain Owen Williams after Abraham’s death. Morwenna is therefore, our 3rd cousin once removed.

May Aspinall lived with her grandmother Elizabeth Roberts nee Owens in Talybont. Whether it was in “Gwelfryn” or not I don’t know. I am now in touch with Morwenna’s son Iwan Richards after he replied to a post on the Aberdovey Londoner blog. Unfortunately, he does not know of the sisters Mary and Maggie so the search continues.

Morwenna’s brother was John William Jones. Iwan has confirmed that, for some reason, he was referred to as Gwilym! Perhaps to differentiate between another John William Jones? Us Welsh have a habit of not referring to people by their proper name!

Time went on and for some reason I went back to the 1939 Register and discovered a missing piece. The “see page …” bit in red escaped my notice the first time. Above Morwenna’s name is Margaret J. Jenkins born 16 Feb 1869. Could this be one of the sisters that Hefin mentioned?

Taking a good look at the 1911 Census, I finally found Marg’t Jane Jenkins age 42, an Elementary School Teacher in and from Talybont. Bingo! Now, can I find her sister Mary?

Knowing that Margaret was born in Talybont, searching becomes a little easier. The 1901 census has her living with her mother Jane and her sister – Anne Mary Jenkins age 38, a Housekeeper. Remember what I said about not referring to people by their proper name?

So, now I have the two sisters with the correct occupations living in Talybont. The next question is how are they related to the Williams family?

Jane Jenkins age 74 is a widow from Bow Street. Who was her husband and what was her maiden name?

Her husband’s name was easy enough to find, just search through the earlier census returns and he is recorded as a Master Tailor from Llanfihangel Genau’r Glyn. His name? Richard Jenkins – born about 1822 in Llanfihangel Genau’r-Glyn.

Jane’s maiden name? From the GRO indexes for the two sisters there is a good possibility that she was an Owens. There is a marriage registration between Richard Jenkins and Jane Owens in 1858, Aberystwyth. In fact, I found the marriage certificate.

This pretty much confirms that I am on the right track, but I still don’t know how the Jenkins and/or the Owens are related to us.

We know that Captain Owen Williams first married Elizabeth Davies. Her parents were David Davies and Ann Owens. Ann Owens was born in 1809, Bow Street. Her parents were Thomas and Ann Owens. The parents of Jane Owens (who married Richard Jenkins) were Thomas and Mary. This Thomas was born about 1801. Were Ann born 1809 and Thomas born 1801 siblings?

My 4th Cousin and Lady Brân

Let me take you back a step. I mentioned above that I was now in touch with Iwan, the son of Morwenna Aspinall Jones. The photo is Iwan with his wife Eileen.

Iwan had no idea that he had any cousins, let alone so many! I am continuing to research his background as well as that of Eileen.

According to family gossip, Eileen is purportedly descended from Llowarch ap Brân, Lord of Menai who was born about 1120. Sadly, I’ve not yet been able to prove a connection, but you never know!

You can read about Llowarch ap Brân here: http://www.ancientwalesstudies.org/id32.html

 
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Merry Christmas – Again!

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xmas

Really? 12 months?

I can’t believe I’ve not updated you for the last 12 months! So much has happened since the last episode. Being retired seems to mean I have less time for writing about the family tree. Walking, brewing, creating a website for the village, more walking, more brewing … it goes on and on!

Some of the Fleckers!
Some of the Fleckers!
Some booze!
Some booze!

Of course, research has continued with over 2,100 new entries so far this year. Loads more individuals, family members, parts of family trees, and new contacts. As ever, I am extremely grateful for all the imformation you have provided. It’s been a great year.

Admittedly, most of the updates have concerned distant family members but over fifty of them are ancestors of my second cousin’s husband, Jack Cowley.

The pedigree of Mair Clare has been known for some time, at least going back to Joseph and Hannah Clare in the very early 1800s. Now, after a stroke of genius luck I have taken Jack Cowley’s ancestors back to the same period.

Cowley
6 Maesnewydd
Outside 6 Maesnewydd about 1958 - courtesy of Peter Clare

I was always told that I was born in Snowdon – it’s a small house in Church Street, Aberdyfi. We must have moved to Maesnewydd (number 3) shortly afterwards. The Cowley family occupied number 6. That’s Jack gasping for air at the bottom right of the picture with Mair directly behind him. Our family have known their family forever! We used to pop round on Sundays to watch a programme or two on their TV – we didn’t have one at the time. Tea and scones were on the menu, lovely! Happy times.

I digress, the Cowley family: Jack was born in Sheffield, as were his parents, Fred and Lillian. In 1939 Fred was a widower, Lillian having died two years earlier. He, and his son Jack, were living at 46 Dundas Road, Sheffield.

At this time, Jack was an Apprentice Turner and his father, Fred, a Packing Case Maker.

Fred’s parents turned out to be Jabez Cowley and Ann Robinson. No! Not that Ann Robinson! Jabez was a Timber Merchant from Thurleigh, in Bedfordshire. His wife, Ann Robinson, was a Sheffield lass and they married in Sheffield in 1875.

Jabez and Ann had (at least) nine children. Four girls and five boys. As yet, I have not had the time to trace Fred’s siblings but you can bet there are a lot more cousins out there ….

More cousins? You bet! Jabez was the son of Thomas Cowley and Sarah Armstrong – and they had twelve children! Five girls, seven boys. Phew!

46 Dundas Road, Sheffield
46 Dundas Road, Sheffield

Thomas was an Agricultural Labourer and his wife Sarah a Lacemaker. In 1845, before they married, Thomas was “a bit of a lad”. He was 5′ tall, had black hair, hazel eyes, a sallow complexion, and a scar on his right knee. How do we know? This is how he was described when he was committed to gaol, the Bedford New House of Correction, for breaking glass windows. His sentence was two calendar months hard Labour in the mill at the gaol. He must have been ‘reformed’, as when he died in 1901 he left his effects, £123, to George Chandler, a Baptist Minister.

Fathers Tree of Jack Cowley
Jack Cowley's Ancestors

And finally, for now at least, Jack’s great, great grandparents, John Cowley and Sarah Darnell. Married in Thurleigh, Bedfordshire in 1819, they only had nine children that we know of – three boys, six girls. It will take a lifetime to track down all their descendants!

Thomas was also an Agricultural Labourer. There may have been more children as the gaps between their ages is uncommonly large. At least, in 1841, mother-in-law was living next door to lend a hand!

Dudley

A massive 123 of the aforementioned additions to the tree are named Dudley. Research is still in progress but Dean Dudley published The Dudley History back in 1886. This documents much of this Irish family.

Descendants-of-Edmund-Sutton

If you zoom up to about 400% you can read the text of this large but miniaturised tree section. Just hover your mouse over the bottom of the tree and set the desired magnification and then drag the tree around inside the box. Clever, or what?!?

This lot are distantly related to my sister-in-law, Helen, via the Lambert, Redshaw, and Staniforth families.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Sutton_

sutton coat of arms

Sir Edmund Sutton (1425–1483) was a knight of Dudley Castle and Gatescombe. Sutton was born in Dudley, England, a son of John Sutton, 1st Baron Dudley, K.G, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Berkeley.

Edmund married Joyce Tiptoft, daughter of John Tiptoft, 1st Baron Tiptoft, ultimately coheir to the baronies of Cherleton and Tiptoft. She transmitted to the Dudley family the quarterings of Tiptoft, Cherleton, Holland, and that of Edmund of Woodstock, youngest son of King Edward I of England.

Edmund Sutton’s exact date of death is not known, but it was after July 6, 1483, but before that of his father (who died 30 September 1487). He had a son Edward, (b. 1459), who was to become the 2nd Lord Dudley.

His younger brother was John Dudley of Atherington. His son Edmund Dudley (1462–1510) was married to Elizabeth Grey, whom after this Edmund Dudley’s execution wed Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle, an illegitimate son of Edward IV. John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland was the son of Edmund Dudley and Elizabeth Grey.

Moving Forward

Cousin John Oliver Thomas is undertaking his own research into Dorset(shire) families that we believe are related but we’ve not quite found the link(s) yet. One of these families is named Forward. Over 50 individuals have been added to the Forward family recently and more research is being done.

Descendants-of-John-Forward

 

Again you need to hover, zoom, and drag until you can see what you want to read.

The family stem from the Compton Abbas area of Dorset and are a mixture of Agricultural Labourers, Shepherds, and Beer Sellers! Roy Forward, a direct descendant of John Forward who died in 1780, has kindly updated much of J. O. T’s, and my, research. Thanks Roy, keep it coming.

Kirkbride

Over 80 members of the Kirkbride family from Cumberland have been added this year. Matthew started it off back in 1636, at least that’s where we start! He married Magdalen in 1655. She was the daughter of John Dals(t)on and Eleanor Radcliffe – any relation to Paula? As far as we know, Matthew and Magdalen only had 7 children! Six boys!

I can relate to their great, great, grandson, Roger Kirkbride (1777-1853). He was a Maltster by trade. “The maltster selected cereals, mainly barley, from the growing fields, for malting. The barley could also be grown on a brewer’s premises. The maltster would then modify the barley, using nature as part of the process, to allow the brewmaster to be able to make beer from it. The barley was malted to the brewmaster’s specification, to ensure the brewmaster being able to produce the beer flavour, and alcohol content he desired.” Good man!

A Maltster hard at it!
A Maltster hard at it!

Roger married Hannah Robinson in 1798 and they had six children, five boys and one girl. The two youngest lads, George (a Joiner) and Edmund (a Shoemaker), lived together for a while. Edmund married Mary Ann Farrer in 1851 but he died in 1866. She didn’t do too well at this wedding lark as her first husband, Joseph Child, died at the age of 23! A bunch of Mary Ann’s ancestors have also been added this year.

Joiner George had similar luck. He married three times. Firstly to Elizabeth Sellers (any relation to Peter?), who gave him three children. Secondly to Faith Middlewood who gave him four children. Finally to Elizabeth Priestman who gave him five children. When I say “gave”, I really mean “shared” …

We are not sure whether Joiner George married Elizabeth before or after he moved to Canada but all his children with her were born there.

Moule
North Molton

Lastly, as I think I’ve probably bored you enough already, are some distant ancestors of my cousin Spike’s ex-wife. The Hoggett and Cook families married into the Moule line. They were from North Molton, Devonshire. At least that’s where our journey begins with them.

Descendants-of-John-Moule

Yep! It’s BIG! The Moule we’re interested in is Henry (1746-1818), the son of John and Joan. Henry was not an only child but I have not researched fully into this family yet. I seem to be saying that a lot lately! However, Henry married Agnes Dowden in 1767 and they hatched six children, four boys and two girls.

Their son, Henry, turned into a Farmer and married Agnes Smith. Their son, Henry, was also a farmer and he married Ellen Goss. Do you see a pattern starting here? Their son Henry, became a Cow Keeper and Milk Vendor – gotcha! He married Sarah Ann Arnold Cheek and they lived in Neath, Glamorganshire.

This latest Henry’s brother, William, married Kate Jenkins in 1900. They lived in Neath, too. In the 1901 census he was described as a Club Steward. By 1911 he was a Publican and they had produced 5 children. I am actually researching this as I type so I have some (more) updating to do!

Guess what?!? William and Kate (that sounds familiar!) had children. One of them was named … Henry! He married Esther Gladys Gunstone in 1920. Their second son was named HENRY! He married Peggy Lester and they had twelve children! Keeping up the tradition of large families. Watch this space …

Merry Christmas

The Williams Family Tree Statistics

Individual Target

56%

As you can see, a lot has been achieved but we are only just over halfway to our “new” target of 200,000 individuals.

Your continued contributions will be greatly appreciated.

Individuals
0
Families
0
New Entries
0
2020 hny
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Merry Christmas

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A Blogger I Am Not!

The tag line “keeping you up to date” is somewhat misleading! I am pretty useless at this blogging lark as it is over 5 months since I last posted an article here. A lot has happened in those months and I can’t remember all of it – it’s an age thing!

The Jones Family

The Jones Family Tree took off very quickly and has gathered 462 individuals.

There is now a Facebook Group called Aberdyfi Jones where you can view a lot more information about the Jones Family.

This particular Jones family is not related to the Williams Family of Aberdyfi but I have enjoyed researching it nevertheless and gained a few more friends because of it.

As and when time permits I will continue the research because you never know what will crop up …

William James Jones
(1904 - 1993)

New Contacts

A number of new contacts have been made since July and I have been able to put more cousins in touch with each other. Additionally, communication with some “old” contacts has been renewed. This all helps to make the whole concept of The Williams Family Tree a worthwhile effort. I won’t name any names here as I don’t want to offend anyone by missing them out or embarrassing them by including them! Suffice to say that I have acquired a lot more information about many of the branches of the tree and, as ever, I am extremely grateful for all the new information and the corrections to existing data.

The picture to the left is of Isadore Daniel Lunn (1848 – 1904)

The Williams Family Tree Statistics

Individual Target

56%

As you can see, a lot has been achieved but we are only just over halfway to our “new” target of 200,000 individuals.

Your continued contributions will be greatly appreciated.

Individuals
0
Families
0
New Entries
0
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Status

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Computers

A long winter and a hot summer. Whether this has anything to do with the computer problems I’ve been having lately I don’t know. Suffice to say that an upgrade on my main server failed and so I decided to utilise my old laptop as my new ownCloud and local website server. Hopefully, everything is now up and running with the latest versions of everything. Time will tell. Those of you with ownCloud accounts will be notified once all the data has been re-installed. You will be issued with temporary passwords which should be changed as soon as possible.

Redshaw

My sister-in-law, Helen, is the 7x great-granddaughter of William Redshaw born about 1670. A lot of the information ‘borrowed’ from The Redshaw Family Tree turned out to be incorrect. I have been hacking away at this branch of the family from time to time and I believe that the information on the website is now pretty accurate. Thanks to all who have helped with updates and corrections.

Other Branches

Research continues with the Rattenbury and Maidment families. Other branches are also being updated and added to as and when time allows. Again, many thanks for all the contributions.

The Jones Family

After reading a post on FaceBook, I decided to quickly delve into the Jones family from Aberdyfi. Well, one of them! As far as I am aware, there is no link to the Williams family but in no time at all the Jones tree grew to over 300 individuals. Surnames include Allingham, Bate, Brown, Carter, Cowley, Edwards, Ellingham, Evans, Fowles, French, Gordon, Henderson, Humphreys, Johnson, Mulliner, Nelson, O’Hara, Parry, Prince, Rogers, Shaw, Smith, and Wyatt. If you are linked to any of these families please get in touch.

Phil.

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