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Is there anyone in the Swansea area who might be able to look stuff up that I can't from Birmingham?
My grandmother Annie Caroline was born in Morriston on 9th April 1912, the first daughter of John and Annie Davies. I have her birth certificate, which confirms this.
I have found her father on the 1901 census, living with his mother Ann and half-brother William Price at Neath Road, Morriston. It gives his year of birth as around 1872 and place of birth as Llanfianghel, Carmarthen.
All I know about Annie Davies is that she was 12 years younger than him (so born around 1884) and she was his first cousin.
I have a newspaper report from October 1927 detailing Annie's suicide which confirms her age and also states that she had lost her husband, father and mother during the previous couple of years. (I also have her death certificate but the person who registered her death was the Coroner).
I cannot find any record of John's death, nor their marriage. I have searched freebmd and Ancestry and written to all the Register Offices which had marriages of both a John Davies and an Annie Davies on the same page (according to the GRO reference) and all of them have written back to me with nothing. (These are Cardiganshire North, Cardiganshire Central, Glyncoed Chambers - Cardigan, Carmarthen, Merthyr Tydfil, Neath, Pontypridd and Swansea).
I have hit a bit of a brick wall and with a name like Davies in Wales, I'm stuck.
Any help would be gratefully appreciated.
Many thanks in advance.
Ellie
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Marriage of John Davies and Annie Davies around the date of their daughter Annie:
I see that Annie C Davies is registered in the Swansea district in the June qtr of 1912.
Since the partner's name is given for marriages after 1911, I extended the search up to 1920 on Free BMD.
There is a marriage in the Mar qtr of 1912 (both partners married a Davies) in the Swansea registration district:
Marriages Mar 1912 (>99%)
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Davies Annie Davies Swansea 11a 1283
Davies John Davies Swansea 11a 1283
Jenkins Martha Morgan Swansea 11a 1283
Morgan John C Jenkins Swansea 11a 1283
Did you write for this one and have to discount it?
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Presumably they are also in Morriston in 1891, at:
Class: RG12; Piece: 4473; Folio 102; Page 57; GSU roll: 6099583
(just seeing how consistent the age info is for John!)
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For 1881, is this them?
Class: RG11; Piece: 5352; Folio: 138; Page: 33; Line: ; GSU roll: 1342289.
The writing by the enumerator is appalling, but the details broadly tie up - there is a W H Price age 2, daughter of Ann, and stepson with two Christian names John Davis; but only aged 4, unless this was a misreading by the enumerator of the householder's 11?
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Is Annie's death the one in Swansea in the Dec qtr of 1927, aged 44?
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Presumably the problem with John's death is that there are far too many possible deaths? If he was in his fifties in the mid-to late 1920s, there are many such John Davies deaths registered in say districts 11a and 11b.
If you have Annie's address from her death certificate, would a possible way forward be to ask someone to check the electoral roll for John for the previous few years back from her death? (Apologies, I am too far from Swansea to do so).
Perhaps post a request on the records office board?
Also, there was a note on the success board from a Stephanie giving appreciation for help in finding Welsh ancestors. I'll see if I can find her original thread and give it a nudge for you.
All the best with this one - it is a sad story.
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Stephanie's success message is 11.37 on 17 Nov.
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Ivy,
Thank you so much for everything you have found out so far. I have only just logged back on, so apologies for the delay in responding.
Yes, the death is the one you mention above. I have yet to verify the 1891 and 1881 census records you've identified, but will check them later.
I don't think I did find the marriage from the Mar qtr of 1912 as Annie C was born in the April and I was assuming they were married more than 9 months before! The family story says that they were forced to marry because although she had been sent to housekeep for her cousin John (he'd lost an arm in a mining accident), it was not proper that a young woman in her 20s and a young man in his 30s should be sharing a house whilst not married. Maybe it was a whole different story .....!
Ellie
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I'm pretty sure that the census records you've found are correct, so thank you very much, Ivy.
I am now trying to work out Ann's age, as on the 1901 census she was 50, 1891 made her 47 and 1881 made her 24. None of these tie up! The address is the same for 1881 and 1891 and is only round the corner from where they lived in 1901, so it must be right!
I will order the marriage certificate for Mar qtr 1912 and see where we go from there.
Thanks again for all your help. You really have helped me smash through a brick wall!
Regards, Ellie
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