Trying to trace birth from marriage cert.

[DebbieDee]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this site...so hope I've posted on the right board.

My query relates to my great gran Amelia Assender (nee Rees).  I have her death cert which says she died on 26 Mar 1975 in Abergavenny and that she was born 19 Aug 1888 in Monmouthshire(doesn't say town).  The details are given by her son so I realise they could be less than accurate.  I do know that Amelia lived all her married life in Abertillery which leads me onto her marriage cert.  On the cert it says Amelia Rees was 20 on 5th August 1907 when she married James Assender (23) in The English Baptist Chapel, Abertillery.  Her father's name was given as Aneurin Rees (coalminer).  The same address was given for both bride and groom in Abertillery. 

My father told me that Amelia's family were from the Swansea area so when I've looked for Amelia in the census I haven't just looked at Monmouthshire.  So far I have found only one Aneurin(have checked different spellings) with a daughter called Amelia (age 2 born in Aberavon) in the 1891 census living in Llantarnam. 

I have traced the same Aneurin Rees  from 1871 (Maesteg) through 1881 (Aberystruth) to 1891 (Llantarnam) to Neath Workhouse in 1901. 

In all the censuses he is said to be working in the tin industry.  In 1871 he was a furnaceman at tin works and the others a tin roller man. 

I have checked indexes for the right quarters on 1837online, for Amelia's birth but cannot find it.  I know without this I am just guessing that this particular Aneurin Rees is my gg grandfather. 

If anyone has any other ideas I would be really pleased as this is starting to become an obsession 

Sorry this is so long winded ...didn't want to leave anything relevant out 

Debbie

[DebbieDee]

Oops I still forgot something 

The Aneurin Rees in Neath Workhouse (1901)is said to be widowed.   His wife in 1871 and 1881 was Mary (nee Williams) and they were both born Margam.  In 1891 when Amelia appears Aneurins wife is said to be Jane born in Brecon so I think this Amelia was from a second marriage. 

There is a family rumour that Amelia thought one of her sisters was adopted but in fact it was her which could explain the lack of a birth certificate?

Debbie

[casalguidi]

Hi

I expect that you have already checked the following but just in case ....................

Are you certain that all the Aneurin REES' in the various census are one and the same?

If so, have you found Aneurin's second marriage?  Perhaps Ameilia belonged to Jane (illegitimate or previous marriage) or perhaps she belonged to them both but born before marriage thus registered in Jane's then surname.

Have you found any likely candidates for Jane in earlier census to try and see what her previous names were?

I expect there are a lot of Amelia's born c1888 (search on forename) in the partial indexes at http://freebmd.rootsweb.com  -  how far have you extended the search for an Amelia REES birth?

Best wishes

Casalguidi

[DebbieDee]

Hi Casalguidi,

Thanks for replying.  I am as certain as I can be that this is the same Aneurin Rees in all the censuses.  It's only in 1901 that his age was about 10 yrs out but presumeably that's the first census when he wasn't giving the details himself. 

I have started to dredge through the indexes to find either Mary's death or Aneurin's second marriage.  Nothing so far on FreeBMD and I've found trying to cover the Rees surname over 10 years near impossible  . 

Good theory on Amelia's birth  - I've also considered that Amelia's older sister might be Jane's daughter from previous relationship so I'm checking that out.  I also wondered if Amelia was actually a grandaughter (born to Aneurin's daughter Ann (6) in 1881?) and adopted by them with a change of name.

At the moment I am accepting this is the right family as there doesn't seem to be much of an alternative (I've become quite attached  ).  I'm going to concentrate on Amelia's siblings and try to trace their births/parentage.  The children in 1881 & 1891 show evidence of a fairly complicated step-family so I will try to untangle the family setup and who knows?  Even if it turns out not to be my family(or I never find out) it's certainly interesting and might be of use to someone else.

Best wishes

Debbie