I have looked into this family in great detail as Charles Kayes and Mary Long were some of my gg grandparents.
Various spellings of the surnames are used over the years - Keys, Keyes, Keyse and ultimately Kayes.It gets very confusing but the 1841 census when the parents Thomas and Mary are living in the canal houses in Pontnewynydd is the clue. I believe Mary Thomas was originally Mary Williams, and married to but separated from her then husband John Thomas - he didn’t die until 1867 which is when Thomas / Mary ultimately married in Llantarnam. Until then although living together from about 1840, they were not legally married.
Charles born 1846 didn’t survive and died 1846; Charles Kayes 1849 lived, had many children, was a colliery blacksmith and died 1905 and is my ancestor.
His father Thomas Keys/Kayes is the really interesting character. I think he came from Coleford in the Forest of Dean with his father William and their family sometime between about 1808 and 1815. (Their earlier history in the Forest of Dean can also be traced - too complicated to explain here). The father William was also a blacksmith and in the Pontypool area they were originally living in Panteg parish - I suspect they may have been at the ironworks around Blaendare. Thomas has a brother William also a blacksmith. I believe Thomas was a chartist and was the Thomas Keys indicted to the Monmouthshire Special Assize commission in December 1839 that dealt with the Newport riots / Chartist uprising. This was on a charge of stealing beer. Furthermore I think he was the Thomas Keys who in 1842 was indicted for stealing iron from the ironworks and sentenced to 6 months hard labour in the House of correction in Usk at the Monmouthshire assizes. This would be in the decade of great local and National hardship - the “Hungry Forties”. Details of these cases can be found by searching in the Welsh newspapers online pages of the National library of Wales website. I can give much more detail if you wish - it’s a fascinating story.
