William DAVIES, Treorchy 1911

[Ferrington]

Hi Rootschatters,  here's a curly one.

At the end of WW1 my Aussie great uncle visited his grandmother's Welsh relatives.  He sent home a postcard marked "Treorchy, 20th May" in which he wrote that he had visited "Uncle Billie Davies' place" in Wales. From his war record I know that this postcard was sent in 1919.

Here's what I (think I) know about "Uncle Billie Davies".  He is my great uncle's great uncle - his grandmother's brother.  He was born in 1837 in Lamdon (?), Pembrokeshire to Thomas Davies and Sarah nee Johns.  The family moved to Glamorganshire in c 1840, and his father died c 1845.  His mother then married David Samuels in 1848.  The 1861 census shows William aged 24, an unmarried coalminer, living with his mother and stepfather in Margam, Neath, Michaelstone SuperAvon.  He is not living with them by the 1871 census.

I have been trying without luck to find William Davies in the 1911 census living in Treorchy, aged 74.   I am confused about what registration district Treorchy is in, but that may be due to my difficulty with Welsh place names!

Can anyone help me find him, or at least direct me to the right registration and sub-registrations districts to look in?

Thanks for any assistance.

Fiona

[PaulineJ]

Its going to be

County   Glamorganshire

Pontypridd. Registration District

Parish of Rhondda.

[osprey]

1851 has William's place of birth as Camrose. The one in 1861 might be Lambston, they're not very far from each other, to the west of Haverfordwest.

http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/wal/PEM/Lambston

[heddwch]

Hi

Treorchy is also spelt on census Treorci  in the parish of Ystradyfodwg  later known as the Rhondda.

Hope this helps   
Heddwch

[Mabel Bagshawe]

I'm not doing very well n 1911. There's a William from Pembrokeshire the right age in the Rhondda in1901 with his son from his first marriage, his second wife and their two small children, however in this and previous censuses he's not a miner . She appears to be a widow in 1911.

Do you  know any more about him and his family. Is it possible that by "Uncle Billy's place" he visited the village/house but not the man himself?

[heddwch]

This may be him???
1911 census
Residing at  32 Pembroke Terrace Nant Y Moel  Bridgend  with son Alfred Davies born 1875 Nantymoel and daughter in Law  Mary Ann Davies  born 1876  Orange Gardens Pembroke
and  their  children 
William Davies is a Widower  age 75 years.

Nant Y Moel  had direct contact with Treorchy Rhondda by travelling over the Bwlch Mountain.

Just a shot in the dark but seems likely

Heddwch

[Ferrington]

Wow, this is all great, thank you so much. I'll have a look at those entries and see what I can make of them.

Of course, other possibilities are:
1. When my great uncle Norm wrote "Uncle Billie Davies' place" he might have been referring to the house that Billie had lived in before he died and that his family still live in;   
2. Billie might have moved between the 1911 census and the Norm's visit in 1919;
3. Billie not be Norm's uncle, but another relative who they called Uncle. I think this is less likely because Norm's grandmother was the one who emigrated to Australia and she kept in touch with the family. So its most likely to be her brother that they would call "Uncle Billie Davies".

Thanks again, and I'll get sleuthing.