Author Topic: Daniel Thomas draper and one time mayor of Aberystwyth  (Read 22271 times)

Offline nequine

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Daniel Thomas draper and one time mayor of Aberystwyth
« on: Tuesday 17 July 07 18:48 BST (UK) »
Dear Group



Dear Community

I am interested in finding out information about  Daniel Thomas draper of Little or possibly Great Darkgate Street Aberystwyth who became mayor of "Aber" in 1910-11 - just before famed royal visit.   He was born about 1855 in Langutto (sp?)

He was married to London born wife Elizabeth with whom he had  a large family (all Aberystwyth born) daughters Mary Jane (born about 1882) Edith S (born about 1883) Gwen (born about 1899) , Nellie, Margaret L and Elizabeth and sons Ebenezer R (born about 1885) , Evan (born about 1890)  and Edward D (born about 1896)

Is anyone researching this family?

Thanks
NEQUINE

Offline osprey

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Re: Daniel Thomas draper and one time mayor of Aberystwyth
« Reply #1 on: Wednesday 18 July 07 09:49 BST (UK) »
can't help you with much apart from Daniel's place of birth.
1881 7 Little Dark Gate St, Aberystwyth RG11/5445 folio 64 pg 24
Daniel Thomas Head mar 26 draper employing 2 boys b. Llangeitho
Elizabeth Ellen wife 25 b. London, Islington 
+ a servant, an assistant and an apprentice

http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/wal/CGN/Llangeitho/

possible match from 1861, marriage cert would confirm father's name
Nantmelyn, Llangeitho RG9/4202 folio 70 pg 9
Rees Thomas head mar 52 carpenter b. Cards, Nantcwnlle
Sarah wife 47 b. Cards, Gwynfil
Elizabeth dau unm 28 b. Llangeitho
Elizabeth grand-dau 7 b. Llangeitho
Sarah grand-dau 6 months b. Llangeitho
Thomas son 9 b. Llangeitho
Daniel son 6 b. Llangeitho
Cornwall: Allen, Bevan, Bosisto, Carnpezzack, Donithorn, Huddy, James, Retallack, Russell, Vincent, Yeoman
Cards: Thomas (Llanbadarn Fawr)
Glam: Bowler, Cram, Galloway, James, Thomas, Watkins
Lincs: Coupland, Cram
Mon: Cram, Gwyn, John, Philpot, Smart, Watkins
Pembs: Edwards (St. Dogmael's)
Yorks: Airey, Bowler, Elliott, Hare, Hewitt, Kellett, Kemp, Stephenson, Tebb

Offline trish251

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Re: Daniel Thomas draper and one time mayor of Aberystwyth
« Reply #2 on: Wednesday 18 July 07 11:33 BST (UK) »
Not sure if you have the 1901 Census - it lists all the children you have mentioned - if you use freebdm you can find the registration quarter for most of the children - they all seem to be registered with 2 names, so relatively easy to find - apart from 2 possibilities for Mary Jane
http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/cgi/search.pl

1901
RG13/5153 53/49 Aberystwyth Cardiganshire Wales
Daniel Thomas head M 46 Draper and Outfitter Cardigan LLangeitto
Elizabeth E do wife M 45 London
Mary Jane do daur S 19 drapers assistant Cardigan Aberystwyth
Edith S do daur S 18 do do
Ebenezer R do son S 15 do do
Elizabeth P do daur S 13 do do
Margaret L do daur S 9 do do
Nellie M do daur S 8 do do
Edward D do son S 5 do do
Gwen E do daur S 2 do do
John William James Serv S 27 Drapers asst Herefordshire
Evan Thomas sert S 16 apprentice Card. Lampeter
Henry B Davis serv S 15 do Card. llanon
Mary Griffiths serv S 14 Gen servant Card Tregaron

Trish
Census information is Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

Offline nequine

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Re: Daniel Thomas draper and one time mayor of Aberystwyth
« Reply #3 on: Wednesday 18 July 07 21:30 BST (UK) »
Dear Both

Thanks for your help and for giving me another possible steer.  I know how frustrating "Mary Jane" can be to try to find, but the point about the middle names is certainly apt and I will look on free bmd.   I hope there are not as many Ebenezers as there seem to be "Mary Janes".

The census link is also helpful - and helps link the mayor to his father.  I wish I understood the place names rather better and was sure that transcriptions were accurate.  I will try to track down the marriage certificate. 

Thanks again for your time and for reminding me of some of the more obvious place.  Often in frustration over the surname Thomas the obvious gets overlooked.

On the more general subject of Welsh mayors - were they political appointments, mercantile appointments, elected? 

Nequine


Offline osprey

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Re: Daniel Thomas draper and one time mayor of Aberystwyth
« Reply #4 on: Thursday 19 July 07 10:28 BST (UK) »
Sorry, I committed the sin of assuming you had the 1901 census as you knew all the children's names.  :-[

Took a while to find them in 1891 as Ancestry's indexing has joined them to the Davies family next door but they're Thomas on the census itself.

20 & 22 Little Darkgate St, Aberystwyth RG12/4558 folio 68 pgs 35-36
Daniel Thomas head mar 36 draper & outfitter b. Llangeitho
Elizabeth E wife 35 b. Aberystwyth
Mary J dau 9 b. Aberystwyth
Edith S dau 8 b. Aberystwyth
Ebenezer R son 5 b. Aberystwyth
Elizabeth P dau 3 b. Aberystwyth
John Rees Jones nephew 21 joiner b. Llangeitho
John Bonsall 22 draper's assistant b. Aberystwyth
John Wm Jones 17 draper's apprentice b. Grantham, Lincolnshire
Samuel Thompson 16 draper's apprentice b. New York, USA, British subject
Elizabeth Williams 17 general servant b. Cards, Blaenpennal
Margaret Davies 15 house servant b. Cards, Cwmystwyth

Think you'll need a birth certificate to get Elizabeth's maiden name before you can find their marriage. There's nothing showing on FreeBmd that looks obvious.
Edith Sarah Thomas june qtr Aberystwyth vol 11b pg 66
Luckily, Ebenezer's middle initial is on the census as there is more than one Ebenezer Thomas registered in 1885
Ebenezer Rees Thomas june qtr 1885 Aberystwyth
Middle name makes Daniel's father in 1861 look good.
Can't see Daniel in 1871, but he should be apprenticed and could be anywhere.

If you having problems with Welsh place names, you could post on Rootschat and ask. This is a list of Cardiganshire place names that might help
http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/wal/CGN/Gazetteer.html

If he became mayor, he must have been a local councillor. You could ask the local archives for some help
http://archifdy-ceredigion.org.uk/
I'd suggest visiting the archives, but your profile doesn't say where you are.
Cornwall: Allen, Bevan, Bosisto, Carnpezzack, Donithorn, Huddy, James, Retallack, Russell, Vincent, Yeoman
Cards: Thomas (Llanbadarn Fawr)
Glam: Bowler, Cram, Galloway, James, Thomas, Watkins
Lincs: Coupland, Cram
Mon: Cram, Gwyn, John, Philpot, Smart, Watkins
Pembs: Edwards (St. Dogmael's)
Yorks: Airey, Bowler, Elliott, Hare, Hewitt, Kellett, Kemp, Stephenson, Tebb

Offline trish251

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Re: Daniel Thomas draper and one time mayor of Aberystwyth
« Reply #5 on: Thursday 19 July 07 13:47 BST (UK) »
I think I listed 1901 - so it was no problem Osprey  ???

As the children are all born in Aberystwyth use that as the district when searching FreeBDM for their names & approx years & you will discover they are very easy to find. The only one I found duplicated was Mary Jane - Dec 1881 or Sep 1882. Perhaps because the surname was Thomas, the parents decided to give them two names on registration  :)  :)

If two names are given, the closest possibility I see for the marriage is
Mar 1878 (seems a little distant from the first child)
Elizabeth Ellen Phillips
Daniel Thomas
Ref 11b 509
Festiniog - an alternative name for Ffestiniog and it spans the boundaries of the counties of Caernarvonshire and Merionethshire

(I am not very good with Welsh names and geography, so I don't really know if this is a possibility)

There are many marriages in Wales between Daniel Thomas and Elizabeth ... at around the right time, but I thought Elizabeth Ellen looked possible.

Trish


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Offline davierj

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Re: Daniel Thomas draper and one time mayor of Aberystwyth
« Reply #6 on: Thursday 19 July 07 18:09 BST (UK) »
I'm not researching the family but I remember Daniel Thomas the drapers shop in the 1940s, 50s and 60s (I don't go any further back).   It was on the corner of Pier St and New St.   This was a crossroads - Pier St runs east to west, New St runs north to south and the last leg of the cross is Eastgate St (Little Darkgate St) running south to north.   I believe the shop changed hands later in the century.

My uncle, David William Jones, worked in the shop until his death in 1964.

Cheers Dave

PS:   I no longer have notification of posts on Cardiganshire or Montgomeryshire boards.   Is one taken off the list after a particular time  :o
Census information is Crown Copyright from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk   Research:   Clements, Jenkins, Jones, Williams, Davies, Renfrey in Cardiganshire.   Trow, Jones, Clayton in Montgomeryshire.  Renfrey, Datsun, May, Stephens in Cornwall.   Foster in Liverpoo.l   Milliner, Fry, in Gloucestershire.  Mawby, Popple in Rutland.   Kent, Fry, Robinson, Nott, Griffiths in Somerset.   Willis in Oxfordshire.   Fishlock, Snell, Fry, in Wiltshire

Offline osprey

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Re: Daniel Thomas draper and one time mayor of Aberystwyth
« Reply #7 on: Friday 20 July 07 09:06 BST (UK) »
Trish, sorry to confuse. I assumed Nequine had the info so said I couldn't help apart from finding birthplace when I would have given all the census info if I'd realised. You posted 1901 so all's well. :)

Ffestiniog isn't near and as Elizabeth gives Islington as her place of birth twice, they could have met anywhere, possibly where he was apprenticed. Only 2 Daniel Thomas marriages in Cardiganshire, one registered Lampeter, one Cardigan but again suspicious gap before the first child.
I quoted the Ebenezer registration as his middle name Rees showed that the family I found in Llangeitho was a good bet. Also, there is another Ebenezer registered the same year.
I have my own Thomas family from Llanbadarn Fawr just inland from Aberystwyth, and  would be very thankful to have just one child with a middle name so that they stand out in the registrations.  ;)

The record office is very helpful - I was there a month ago and it's very relaxed, though if you do get stressed, you can just cross the road and walk along the beach. I think I saw histories of Aberystwyth corporation there, but don't quote me on it. 

davierj, have you switched off your notifications? Otherwise, the replies keep on coming....
Cornwall: Allen, Bevan, Bosisto, Carnpezzack, Donithorn, Huddy, James, Retallack, Russell, Vincent, Yeoman
Cards: Thomas (Llanbadarn Fawr)
Glam: Bowler, Cram, Galloway, James, Thomas, Watkins
Lincs: Coupland, Cram
Mon: Cram, Gwyn, John, Philpot, Smart, Watkins
Pembs: Edwards (St. Dogmael's)
Yorks: Airey, Bowler, Elliott, Hare, Hewitt, Kellett, Kemp, Stephenson, Tebb

Offline Galium

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Re: Daniel Thomas draper and one time mayor of Aberystwyth
« Reply #8 on: Friday 20 July 07 09:57 BST (UK) »
Osprey - Thomas/Llanbadarn Fawr/Aberystwyth - and a real lack of imagination with the first names.   tell me about it  ;D.

The other Ebenezer Thomas born in 1885 is one of mine.  Parents Evan and Sarah née Jones.
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