Hi there,
My g grandmothers name comes from my father, who says that all he knows about her is that her name was Mary Jane Harris and that she came from Tredegar. I can't find her definatively on the 1901 census. There is a possibllity in Mountain Ash, another possibility in Pontypridd and another somewhere else whose name escapes me at this minute, but he is fairly insistent that its Tredegar.
Thomas Wilkins, however, I am fairly certain I have correctly identified in 1901. He is living as a single man in his fathers house at 117 Middle St Pontypridd (a street in which my father spent the first 20 years of his life living). My father has also identified some of Thomas' siblings as his great uncles / aunts. I know that my grandfather was born in 1906 and that he was the second of five children. I checked the index between 1902 and 1905 and identified the marriage of Thomas referred to in my earlier post. It cross references with a Mary Harris married in Pontypridd in the same year and quarter but with a different reference. It was not until I had ordered that certificate yesterday that I pondered that maybe they should have the same reference (hey ho! £7 up the swanee!)
After making my post yesterday I widened the search and looked between 1901 and 1906 and extending the location further across Glamorgan, and came across one Thomas Wilkins in Q2 1901 in Merthyr Tydfil and another Thomas Wilkins in Q4 1906 (Wilkins's it transpires have a habit of marrying after becoming pregnant) in Pontypridd but neither of them cross reference with a Mary Harris.
I was looking for the marriage cert in order to ascertain Mary's parents names to identify them in the 1901 census, but realistically I'm unsure of what to do next. Interestingly the fifth of Thomas and Mary Jane's children is still alive and living in the house in which she was born in 1911. However, when another relative (with whom we have lost touch) tried talking to her about her family 20 years ago for the purposes of family history she flatly refused to talk! And at the age of 97 and in very frail health I'm not sure its something I feel that she should be troubled with............
Any constructive suggestions greatly appreciated and very welcome.....
Many thanks for all responses so far.
Heather
xx
