1841 & 1851 Glamorgan census lookups

[Mickytom]

Thanks guys, reliable as always. Thanks also, Rhys, for the notes on the area; I'll say Cwmbargoed was windswept, I remember it well from when I used to visit my aunty Bron and uncle Mordecai there as a child in the 60s and 70s!!!! Actually, my mother's cousin was known to all and sundry as "John Cwmbargoed". Just one question: I have no doubt that the two of you have located the various members of my family, but does anyone have any idea (from the censuses, perhaps) how large the communities we're dealing with here would have been in, say, the mid-19th century? I have the Pantywaun village website bookmarked, and know that it mentions the village having 50 houses, but assume that this is a 20th century figure and that the village may have grown organically over the years.

Mike    

[rhys]

Hi Mike
As far as i can make out there were 30 houses in 1871 and
39 in 1881.
in 1881 .

Rhys

[Mickytom]

Thanks, Rhys, that was very useful.

Mike

[Mickytom]

Hi guys, me again!

Something has just struck me about the recorded age for Margaret Richards in 1851, i.e. 52. Is there any element of doubt about this? The reason I ask is that in 1841 (assuming we have the same person) her age is shown as 50, which should have been rounded down to the nearest 5 years (I think I've got that right!), whereas in 1861 and 1871 she is shown as 77 and 89. See my problem? A small point, I know, but just a loose end to tie off, I feel.

Mike

[osprey]

The number did look like it might have been changed from 52 to 62. It wasn't totally clear and I went with the transcriber's figure (52) in the end but it quite likely was 62.

[Mickytom]

Hi guys

Thought I'd reactivate this old strand, rather than start a new one, due to the information it contains. Paid a visit to the National Library in Aberystwyth on Saturday, mainly to research other aspects of my ancestry, but had half an hour or so spare right at the end of the day, so thought I'd spend it having a quick look at the Merthyr Tydfil parish registers for the late 1700s/early 1800s. Bearing in mind that previously in this strand mention has been made of a probable ancestor of mine called Jenkin (Jinkin) Richards, who would have been born circa 1790, I discovered what I think may be a couple of connected events in the 1780s-1790s. Although I ran out of time to search thoroughly for a record of the baptism of a Jenkin Richards, I did find records of the baptisms of several other children (and also the deaths of a couple of them in infancy) to "Jenkin Richards and Mary, his wife"; the address is given simply as "village". I don't want to go clutching at straws but think that it might be entirely possible that these may be the parents of my Jenkin and that the village in question may well be Pantywaun in its infancy. I'm intending to revisit the Library in a month or so to search more fully for a suitable baptism, but in the meantime, does anyone have a view on whether the "village" mentioned may be the right one for me and also any information on the layout of the immediate Merthyr area during the period in question? I am aware, of course, that at the time the population of the town was increasing exponentially due to the Industrial Revolution.

Any comments would be appreciated.

Mike