"Thistleton House", Hawarden

[Pamela Kenworthy-Larsen]

I am looking for anyone who might remember the  "Thistleton House", Hawarden. I find it last listed in 1956. Interested in the "Davies" family that was living there.
Edward Davies
Elizabeth (Hughes) Davies
and 4 children born from 1917 to 1925.

[Jo Harding]

Hello and welcome to RootsChat,

I lived near Hawarden for some years but don't recall this house. Do you have a road name or an idea of where it was/is situated? That might help jog my memory.

Jo.

[Pamela Kenworthy-Larsen]

Jo
Thank you so much for responding. The information I have on "Thistleton House" is from a will in 1956. It says, "Edward Davies of Thistleton House." Penyffordd, Flintshire. Died there the 3rd day of July 1956. In 1939 they are listed as living at "Thistleton House", Hawarden R.D. Flintshire, Wales. Would so much like to find out the names of the 4 children. Their children would all have the same great grandfather as me and I have a story of a long lost sister of their Mother to share with them. I have already found one brother and met them this fall in Paris. It was incredible!
As I said before it was Edward and Elizabeth (Hughes) Davies married in Dodleston 1917, living in the Mold/Hawarden/Chester all their lives. The 4 children would have gone to school from the 1920's to the late 40's. Thanks so much

[Jo Harding]

Hello Pamela,

According to the details in the Will, Thistleton House was/is situated in Penyffordd which is close to Hawarden but separate from it. Penyffordd is a village about 3 miles from Hawarden. Information on the parishes in that area can be found here:

http://www.genuki.org.uk/files/wal/FLN/Hawarden/Pentrobin/index.html

The reason that it is shown as Thistleton House  Hawarden RD is because Penyffordd is in the Registration District of Hawarden. Both Penyffordd and Hawarden are in Flintshire.

Penyffordd is a small village today and in those days, would have been smaller than now. I should think it would be quite easy to trace the house etc.

Now to turn to the children of Edward Davies and Elizabeth (Hughes). Is there any mention of children in the Will of Edward Davies? Did his wife predecease him, or was there a Will for her too?

There are many births registered in Hawarden for children with a surname of Davies, mother's maiden name of Hughes in the years 1917 onwards. It will be difficult to determine the children that belong to Edward and Elizabeth. I used the site of FreeBMD

http://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/search.pl

There don't appear to have been many births registered in Chester in those years. Dodleston would be shown under Chester as it is in Chester/Cheshire

http://www.ukbmd.org.uk/genuki/chs/dodleston.html

It would help to know where the children were born in order to look in more detail. A street directory may assist, this could show the place of residence of the family.

Do you have any further information on Edward Davies? When and where was he born?

The Flintshire Record Office may be able to help you with your search. Have you tried to contact them?

http://www.flintshire.gov.uk/en/LeisureAndTourism/Records-and-Archives/Home.aspx

Jo.

[Pamela Kenworthy-Larsen]

Hello Jo
Thanks once again for your reply. I have found that "Edward Davies" was born and raised in the same area. Found his parents to be Mary and James Davies. Edward Davies born in 1894 died in 1956 and he did not have a will and all was given to his wife Elizabeth Davies. I have searched and searched for a will for her from 1956 to 1985 and just cannot hit on the right ingredients to make it all come together. I have ordered a death certificate for an Elizabeth who died in 1962, but who knows. So hard because you can't view all the details until you pay for it. Baptism record seem to be the best, siting both parents names but alas not all on line. Elizabeth Hughes Davies was my Grandmothers sister. My Grandmother ran away from Mold, in 1924. They were never to see her again. I have connected with my Grandmothers, brother's family and it was wonderful. We all met in Paris. It was a miracle! Now wishing to find Elizabeth Hughes Davies family to try and figure out some mysteries. Thanks for your advice and I will still plod away.
Pamela

[Jo Harding]

Hello Pamela,

I have given this some further thought and it may be helpful to know the information on the death certificate of Elizabeth Hughes Davies when you have it.

I tried a search on North Wales BMD for the children of Edward and Elizabeth but the names of Davies and Hughes are so common in Wales, it resulted in many birth registrations that matched in the Mold index alone.

http://www.northwalesbmd.org.uk/cgi/birthind.cgi

It may come down to asking a Rootschatter to do some look ups for you in the Flintshire Record Office in Hawarden. Ideally to do these you would need to know the place the children were born. This would narrow down the search to a church in that area. Looking for churches all over the place wouldn't be viable. My suggestion would be to look in Hawarden and Hope for a start. An initial search for the years 1918-1930.

The couple married in Dodleston, do you think that was Elizabeth's residence at that time? It was usual for a couple to marry in the bride's home town, or village. It is possible the children were born there, in which case you would need someone to search the records in the Record Office in Chester.

The only way you can be sure of the children would be to get their baptisms from the parish registers, then you can order the birth certificates.

It might be an idea to contact The Chester Chronicle and ask them to put a piece in asking for information on this family. It isn't that long ago, so someone may remember them and have the details you want.

I cannot offer to help you with the searches as I live too far away from that area now. I know all these places well and have ancestors from Mold myself.

Jo.

[Pamela Kenworthy-Larsen]

Jo
Thanks ever so much for your thoughts and advice. I am waiting for a death certificate I ordered for Elizabeth, however who knows if it is the correct one. I think I shall hire someone from the Flintshire records and have them do some church searching. Elizabeth was born in Mold and that where the family lived, except for a short stint in Liverpool. If all does not pan out I will contact the newspaper. Thanks again, Pamela

[Jo Harding]

Hello Pamela,

There used to be an arrangement at the Record Office in Chester where they would do about half an hours research for free. I don't know if this still stands but you could ask them to look in the records for Dodleston. There shouldn't be too much in those as it is (and was) a small place. I lived near there for some years.

It is worth posting on this site as at one time one of the archivists in Hawarden used to do searches and responses for searches posted here. Same for Chester as there are some Rootschatters who visit the RO every week and who will do look ups if not too time consuming.

Have you tried searching on Find My Past? They have many of the Welsh parish registers online and I think those for Hawarden and Mold are amongst them.

Jo.