Evans family in Trefil, near Tredegar

[Mickytom]

Hi guys. Not posted on here for a while. I'm trying at the moment to do a bit of digging for my cousin on her dad's side of the family. As far as she is aware, they all emanated from the small quarrying village of Trefil, a few miles north of Tredegar but, I think, just across the county boundary in Breconshire. Unfortunately, the family name is Evans, which doesn't help, but Trefil isn't that large a place. Can anyone help with any Evanses in the vicinity on the various census returns?

Mike

[blodwen]

Hi Mickytom,

any christian names, dates, etc. to go on?

Viv

[Mickytom]

Hi Viv

Not yet, I'm afraid other than my cousin's father who was a William (Bill) Evans and would have been born, I think, probably in the late 1920s, so wouldn't appear on any of the currently available censuses. I might have some more information to go on in a week or so, but posted today more in hope than expectation, I suppose, bearing in mind the common surname. I know Trefil village very well, being a Tredegar boy myself, and reasoned that as it only comprises a few dozen houses now, it might have been even smaller at the time of, say, the 1881, 1891 and 1901 censuses, so there might not have been that many families by the name of Evans in the village then.

Mike

[blodwen]

Hi Mickytom,

I have had a look at parishes under Breconshire and Glamorgan - no sign of Trefil - that is why I would think it comes under  a neighbouring village. 
Do you have an idea which village it could be?

Viv

[blodwen]

Do you happen to know the name of your cousin's grandfather by any chance. 

That would, of course, give us a bit more to go on. 

I have had a look again, putting in some supposed information, but, as you would know, get so many results   

Viv

[Mickytom]

Hi Viv

Thanks for all that; I appreciate you taking the trouble. The only other place Trefil is remotely near is Tredegar itself, which is about three miles to the south; there are no settlements in between, although the top end of Tredegar could also be known as Nantybwch or Dukestown. I think the next nearest villages of Tafarnaubach and Princetown would be too far afield to incorporate Trefil. It may well be that the village comes under Monmouthshire, as it lies very close to the Monmouthshire/Breconshire border, but I had always assumed it was just about in the latter. North of Trefil there's nothing except a quarry, the Brecon Beacons and a rutted track which goes down from the mountains and eventually comes out on the Brecon & Monmouthshire canal between Talybont-on-Usk and Llangynidr, about 7 miles further on.

No further names as yet, but I may have some soon.

Mike   

[blodwen]

Hi Mickytom,

From your description I have found that Tredegar comes under Monmouthshire.

Viv

Will await further info 

[Mickytom]

Hi guys. Me again. I appreciate I'm drip-feeding you information at present, but since my last posting I've come up with a few extra snippets of information which might help in the search for my cousin's family. I now know that her father, Frederick William EVANS, was born in 1919 in Trefil village and that he had four siblings who survived to adulthood: Bryn, Eufron, Miriam and Cissy. His father was a William EVANS and my cousin is fairly certain that his mother's christian name was something like Kesiah. This may be putting the cart before the horse, but I've had a quick trawl on the FreeBMD website this morning and found what looks like the marriage of a William EVANS and Keziah JONES in the December quarter of 1905 in Merthyr Tydfil district. Knowing the area as I do, it is certainly possible that Merthyr district at that time incorporated the village of Trefil, as it is only about seven miles distant, and I know that the district straddled the border of Breconshire and Glamorganshire. I know for a fact that my great-grandfather on my mother's side was born in the village of Princetown, between Trefil and Merthyr, and that that lay within Breconshire in the 1870s. I'll obviously have other options to consider as I gather more information, but I think it may be entirely possible that the 1905 marriage may well turn out to be that of my cousin's grandparents, bearing in mind her unusual christian name, especially if the births of the four siblings mentioned above turn out to fall into the gap between 1905 and 1919.

OK, cut to the chase. Assuming that William and Keziah were around 20 at the time of their marriage in 1905, they should appear on the at least the 1891 and 1901 censuses. William EVANS will obviously be a nightmare to trace without any further information, but do I have any takers for a Keziah (or Kesiah) JONES? If she turns up anywhere close to Trefil, I may just be on to something!

Mike 

[blodwen]

Hi Mickytom,

found the following entries from your descriptions for 1 the 1901 Census

RG13, 5032, 26, 8
Keziah Jones b. 1882,  in Merthyr,
Occ. dom. servant at153 High Street, Cefncoedycwmmer

RG13, 4932, 68, 22
Kezia Jones b. 1878 in Blaenavon, occ. School Teacher
Father - James,
Mother  -Agnes
Living at 31 New William Street, Blaenavon

RG13, 4939, 15, 21
William Evans b. 1886 in New Tredegar occ. coal miner
Father - Thomas
Mother - Martha

RG13, 4932, 163, 25
William Evans, b. 1883 in Blaenavon, occ. Smith's striker
22 Victoria Road, Blaenavon
Father - William
Mother - Ann

Then I found this one 

RG5172, 110, 10
William Evans, b. 1887 in Trevil, Breconshire
William Evans b.1867
Ann, b. 1868
John b. 1891
Joseph b. 1895
M A b. 1881

and this one:  RG 13, 5172, 112, 14
William Evans, b. 1886 in Trevil, occ. limestone quarrymann
Samuel 48, limestone quarrymann
Thomas, 17, limestone quarrymann
Stanley, 3
Sam, 9
Olwen J.  5 months
Marie, 20
Evan J. 11
Elizabeth, 19
Annie, 6
all living at Giles Row, Trevil


Does that help a little??

Viv