What is this word on an 1841 Welsh census form?

[Lisajb]

Could someone puzzle out what this word is in the first column of the 1841 Welsh census form?

Reference is HO 107/1379/6

[chris_49]

"Wern" - mutated form of Gwern, meaning a marsh. If a place-name, the mutation implies an invisible "y" (the) so The Marsh.

Gwern is also the plural of Gwernen - alder tree, but then you often find alder trees at a marsh

[Lisajb]

Hi Chris
Thanks for this, it's in the column headed "Place".

Lisa

[chris_49]

You're welcome. Gwern (singular, "marsh") has a plural but I don't know what it is. You get this sometimes in Welsh - Coeden = tree, Coed = tree, or "a wood", coediau = woods, so a double plural.

Only double plural I know in English is "children" - the original plural "childer" fell out of use, except in dialect.

[Lisajb]

Oxen, maybe?

Apart from verbs, adverbs, adjectives, nouns and pronouns I missed out on English grammer at school!

So, The Marsh - this would be like a street address, like The Row or The Common?

[chris_49]

Oxen is just an irregular plural, like geese or mice. Children is the plural of childer, so really means "groups of children" so I suppose you should only use it for at least 4!

Wern is probably the name of a farm, or hamlet - I've never seen it as a street name. Back then you might find a number of households at the same farm. 1841 addresses are annoyingly imprecise, aren't they?

[Mabel Bagshawe]

Might be the name of a farm or dwelling, or just a local name for an area within a parish (in this case the local marshy spot)

[Lisajb]

Yes, there seem to be quite a few in this place, although each family/household has this written in the Place column for them.  The last entry on the page says Almshouse instead.

Thanks for correcting me on Oxen - you learn something every day!