Kathleen Matilda Mason

[Aks]

I have been trying to trace Kathleen Matilda Mason who married Charles Frederick Froud Curtis in the Registry Office in Pontardawe, Glamorgan, on 13/05/1908  The marriage certificate gives her father as David Mason, a mason. The marriage took place when she was 21.

They seem to have had two daughters in Pontardawe, Dulcie Grace Froude Curtis in 2nd quarter 1909 and Molly Froude Curtis in 1913.

I cannot be certain but, since I suspect Charles may be from Devon, I thought perhaps Kathleen might be from the Pontardawe area, but I cannot find any birth registration for a Kathleen Matilda Mason and I can't find her on the censuses or anywhere else. (I have looked in the Pontardawe area and elsewhere).

I'm just wondering if someone has some insight into this. For example, might there be a Welsh version of her name that I should be looking for or are there some particular considerations with regards to the 1891 and 1901 Wales censuses that I should take into account.

Otherwise, what are the chances that the names given on the marriage certificate are not entirely correct?

Many thanks.

[PaulineJ]

Have you tried searching the index at 1901censusonline for david Mason, A Mason?

then see if he has a daughter ~14y?

Pauline

[avm228]

Here's a Welshman called David Mason who was a mason. (Unfortunately his daughters do not apparently include a Kathleen...).  Still, it might be a family worth having a look at, if only to eliminate.

1891 (Wales): RG12/4567/108/7

1901 (Wales): RG13/5164/79/2

No doubt you will be looking forward to the release of the 1911 census and hoping that Charles and Kathleen give clear details of their birthplaces!

Anna

[Isobelruss]

I was just looking at that family,wondered if Ganeth M could be her the age would fit and theres no birth registry that I can see for this child either.

Isobel

[avm228]

I was just looking at that family,wondered if Ganeth M could be her the age would fit and theres no birth registry that I can see for this child either.

Isobel

I had the same thought, but I'm just not sure.  Her name looks to me like Janath M., and I wonder whether she might be the Janet Mason registered Mar 1886 Builth 11b 83?

Anna

[Isobelruss]

Ah yes I think you are right Anna.Dont know why I wrote Ganath as you say its Janath.She is missing from the family in 1901 though.
I love a good route round !!!

Isobel

[avm228]

Another thing to bear in mind is that Kathleen was still a relatively uncommon name amongst non-Irish families in the 1880s - it wasn't until about the turn of the century (and afterwards) that it enjoyed a surge of popularity.  FreeBMD shows only ten girls registered at birth as Kathleen Mason in the whole of the 1880s, none of them in Wales.  So she might have been old-fashioned Catherine or Katherine, or Matilda, or something completely different at birth, later adopting the fashionable Kathleen because she liked it...

Anna

[avm228]

Ah yes I think you are right Anna.Dont know why I wrote Ganath as you say its Janath.She is missing from the family in 1901 though.
I love a good route round !!!

Isobel

My hunch is that Janath M Mason from 1891 has become Janette B Mason* by 1901 (in service with an Ellis family in Llanddewi: RG13/5164/48/7).  If so, this may be her marriage:

Mar 1907   
 
MASON  Janet Bertha    Pontardawe  11a 1219   


*NB those old-fashioned capital Bs and Ms can be hard to distinguish - perhaps the 1891 enumerator had trouble reading the household schedule correctly.

[Aks]

Gosh, I just went out to the shops and there were so many replies when I came back! Sorry, I should have put this David Mason (who is a mason) entry from the Census, but in the end I became so confused I didn't know what to think any more. Also, my knowledge of Welsh geography is so pitiful that I wasn't sure if this (Maesmynis, Breconshire) was in the right area or not.

This family seemed almost the ideal fit, but it would appear that if Janeth's marriage is the one listed above for MASON  Janet Bertha, then she cannot be kathleen.

I have also tried scouring the birth indexes quarter by quarter, but I could not find any Kathleen Matilda Mason in this period.

That's an interesting comment by avm228 about the name Kathleen. I hadn't thought of that. I was more surprised by Matilda. When I first saw this name, I thought perhaps she was from Australia! But there appear to have been quite a few Matilda's, I think(?)

Is Janath a Welsh version of Janet. It certainly looked like Janath on the census, but, as someone pointed out, there only seems to be a Janet in the birth indexes.

Many thanks to all those who have replied.

Alan