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Wales (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Wales => Breconshire => Topic started by: cardinalcanary on Thursday 11 August 16 14:00 BST (UK)
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Would it be understandable for a person to say they were born in Llanelly, Breconshire in one census and Ebbw Vale in another?
I think both entries relate to my 2 x great grandmother Ann Aston (nee Miles) but I could do with someone's thoughts on why the birth places are recorded differently.
Thanks
Stephen
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Ebbw Vale and Llanelly (Brynmawr) are only 3 or 4 miles apart.
Many people didn't know exactly where they were born, and often used a place from their childhood?
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Llanelly Hill, Breconshire, is part of the industrial sprawl which was a hive of activity during the 19th and 20th centuries. Coal measures and the presence of iron meant that there was lots of work in the area, and people moved about a lot, albeit from one settlement to the next, depending on where the work was at any one time. As KG says, Llanelly and Ebbw Vale are not particularly distant and are both part of the same industrial area so it is quite possible that someone might be born in Llanelly but subsequently live in Ebbw Vale and give that as place of birth.
The village of Llanelly is set right atop a high plateau the sides of which were extensively quarried during the 19th century. Here is a photo of Llanelly Hill from the south-west, the red line showing the route of the road up to the village - known as the most frightening road in the area!
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Thanks KG and thanks Greensleeves
I guess someone might decide to say they were born in the biggest neighbouring town when they filled in the census while their parents may have been more specific in earlier censuses when recording their child's place of birth.
I am pretty sure now that they both refer to my GGM Ann Miles.
I am going to travel across to Wales this weekend and will make a trip via Blakeney in Gloucestershire, then Llanelly and Tredegar to see the places where my various Welsh ancestors (and their other halves) came from.
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The problem is pretty standard with my ancestors too. When the census is local you usually get the village name, when they move away it is the nearest town.
Transcription errors don't help, a search on Ancestry showed an entry with the right name and right dob but in Cambridge. The good thing about an account rather than PAYG is that you can check the unlikely ones, the original said Cambridge Heath with matched with the Bethnal Green that I had seen elsewhere.
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Thanks Peter
I guess if I was telling someone in the next village where I lived I'd say the name of my village. Whereas if I meet someone in another part of the UK I tend to say I live near Gatwick even tnough its a few miles away and in a different county.
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Yet another birthplace is listed in the 1871 census. It is transcribed as Bermybare but looks like Penny-Bare on the actual census. Are these even real places? Perhaps they should say Bryn-Mawr but it's hard to see that as what is written.
Why is Llanelly also known as Bryn Mawr?
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From "The History of Brecknockshire" (as Breconshire used to be called!):
In the year 1815 Brynmawr was formed into a new ecclesiastical parish, carved out of Llanelly, Llangattock, with a small portion of Aberystruth.
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Would it be understandable for a person to say they were born in Llanelly, Breconshire in one census and Ebbw Vale in another?
I think both entries relate to my 2 x great grandmother Ann Aston (nee Miles) but I could do with someone's thoughts on why the birth places are recorded differently.
Thanks
Stephen
Are you definite positive about which Llanelli they meant?
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Llanelly Breconshire is not the same as Llanelli in Carmarthenshire, SB. Those of us who live in the area do know the difference!