Dear Arranroots,
Thanks very much for your reply.
I suspect that this will be a tough nut to crack but this what I have found so far, working back from my great-grandfather, John Milton.
John Milton
According to the 1881 census for Glamorgan (which is the earliest reference to him that I have found), John Milton was born in Carmarthenshire circa 1856, but I can find no GRO record of his birth. A Carmarthenshire researcher tells me that up to 15% of births for this area were not recorded, so perhaps Parish records may hold the answer (particularly if he was illegitimate), although a quick search of records to hand didn't turn up anything.
He was married at the age of 24 to Sarah Evans on 22 Dec 1879 at the Bethlehem Chapel, Pontypridd. He was described as a collier of Heolfach and was, I assume, illiterate as he signed with his mark. The marriage certificate (of which I have a copy) states that his father was Isaac Milton, a Labourer, deceased. Sarah's father was Evan Evans, a collier (also deceased). The witnesses were Mary POOLE and William Andrews.
At the time of the 1881 Census, John was living at 1 Bryn Gwillym, Ystradyfodwg, with his wife and daughter, Ann.
His wife, Sarah, died in 1890 when the Miltons were at 2 Victoria Street, Ystradyfodwg. In the 1891 Census, I located his two children lodging with cousins in Ystradyfodwg; but of John himself I can find no trace at all in the Census (I've tried variants and possible misspellings). He pops up again in the 1901 Census at 13 Edmund Street, Ystradyfodwg, sharing two rooms with his son, Evan (my grandfather), and daughter, Ann. He is described as a Widower, aged 46, and his occupation is given as 'Underground Colliery Horse Driver'. However, and frustratingly, the place - of - birth column for him is left blank!! (Why? I've never seen this before!) I cannot therefore get any confirmation that he was actually born in Carmarthenshire. [N.B. Coincidentally, there was another, younger John Milton living in Ystradyfodwg in 1901, but I traced his ancestry to the West Country and he does not appear to belong to my branch of the family.]
John Milton died on 7th February 1907 at 11 East Road, Tylorstown Urban District and was buried in the family plot in Trealaw Cemetery, Rhondda. His wife, daughter Ann, and two other children who died in infancy are also buried there.
Isaac Milton
As for my great-greatgrandfather, Isaac Milton, I drew a complete blank for many years. There are only a couple of Isaac Miltons in the censuses for England, who don't seem to 'fit'. and I could find nothing at all in Wales. Then, earlier this year, I had a look at the newly available 1841 Census for Wales on the Ancestry Com site and found him, I think, aged 6, living in Merionethshire.with his parents (father John Milton, an ag.lab.)) and two siblings. The Census states that all were born in Merionethshire. I am ASSUMING that they are my ancestors because (a) the name is quite distinctive and this is the only Isaac Milton I have ever found in Wales and (b) his age is about right if John Milton was born c.1856. However, after 1841, the family disappears off the map!! I can find no record of any of them in the 1851, 1861 or 1871 Censuses for England and Wales. So I cannot link this family to my great-grandfather - particularly as I can find no marriage certificate or death certificate for Isaac Milton in the GRO, having searched every year from 1841 until 1879, by which time we know he was deceased. Could the family, I wonder, have trooped off to Ireland for a period {Holyhead wasn't too far away} But if John WAS born in Carmarthenshire (which I am now beginning to doubt), they must have returned to Wales at some stage.
Finally, an aunt of my father drew a lovely red herring across my path by saying some fifty years ago that she'd heard that John Milton came from Scotland and was said to wear a kilt (highly unlikely down a Welsh coalmine, I think)! However, a Scottish genealogist I consulted could find no trace of a Scottish John Milton with a father named Isaac in the relevant period; and the recently discovered 1841 Census information seems to disprove that theory, doesn't it?
So there you have it! I would be interested in any thoughts you might have about further avenues of research. Milton was a fairly rare surname in Wales in the 19th century, although there were a few Miltons in the Cardiff/South Glamorganshire area that don't seem to tie in with my relatives.
