Henry Davies

[vpd]

My Grand-father Henry Davies states on the 1911 census that he was born in 1873 in Llandissilio Carmarthenshire. He worked at Weavers Flour Mill around 1900 and while living in Swansea meet and married Hannah Lewis b 1877 in Landore.
Problem is I can't find a marriage certificate or reference to him on the LLandissilio census returns!
Any help / tips for a newby would be most appreciated.

[welsh_angel]

Have you found Henry Davies on any census? And if so, where? I have found a Henry Davies 28, born in Aberdare, and a Hannah Davies, wife, age 24, born in Landore. They are on the 1901 census and living Rhyndwyclydach, Pontardawe district. They have no children at this time.

I don't know if they are your Davies, but if you give a little more information, maybe I can find out a little bit more.

[vpd]

Hi,
thanks for the reply - yes I have seen them and they are the right ages and she is from Landore however on the 1911 census he puts his place of birth as Llandissilio Carmarthenshire rather than Aberdare. The other point is family recollections have him originating from Pembrokeshire and around 1900 working at Weavers flour mill and not in the mines!
My problem has been that up till now I have been unable to find a marriage between Henry and Hannah and while her lineage is known to us little concrete is known about him, but today I have found today a marriage entry in Mar 1898 between Henry Davis and a Hannah Lewis in Pembroke and while its out of the expected area I have sent for a copy of the marriage cert if only to eliminate them from my search.

I know that they were in living in Liverpool by July 1903 when their first child was born - they subsequently stayed in Liverpool / Birkenhead.

Q1 1898 davis henry  Pembroke  11a 1317

[Morganllan]

Llandissilio was part in Pembrokeshire and part Carmarthenshire 

http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/wal/CMN/Llandissilio/

[vpd]

the marriage certificate arrived this morning and unfortunately its not my guys!
I need advice on how to proceed from here - I have Henry Davies (possible middle name Caleb) living with Hannah Lewis in 1911 in Liverpool with several children, the first born in Liverpool in 1903.
On the 1911 census Henry Davies gives his place of birth as Llandissilio Carmarthenshire and that they have been married for 12 years. Family word of mouth has him possibly coming from Pembrokeshire?
Hannah Lewis came from Llangyfelach and her ancestry is known and proven his however is a big void. I am unable to find a marriage certificate for them or place him in Llandissilio from any census.

Any help in how to proceed would be very welcome.

[pinot]

I had great difficulty in running a great-uncle Henry down in one census until I successfully looked for 'Harry'; do you know how to use wildcards in searches? They might help.
                     I'm sure he will be found.
                            Pinot       

[Morganllan]

Hello 

Have you tried to find Henry's death certificate which may help confirm his age (and approximate year of birth)?

As they were married by 1901 it may help if you post the census details for Hannah for 1881 and 1891.

I did find another Henry and Hannah in 1901, with Henry born Llandissilio, living Ystradyfodwg, but Hannah's pob doesn't match and there are children 
RG13 Piece 5016/ 145 Pg 29

Best wishes
Morgan

[vpd]

hello,
Thanks for the replies.
His death certificate in 1943 sayes he was "about 71" which gives a birth year as 1871 which in turn fits with him being 38 in 1911. Harry seems to be the English derivative of Henry I have however searched for both without success.

My problem is that the 1911 census is the first time I can put Henry and Hannah together with certainty - however I cannot find a marriage cert for them or trace him at Llandissilio. So numerous possibilities arise and I wondered what is the classical way of searching for them?

[Morganllan]

Hello

Another possibility is a mistake with Llandissilio, e.g. Llandyssul, or perhaps Llandissiliogogo in Cardiganshire. However, it's not going to be that easy with a name like Henry Davies!

Consider whether either or both of them had first names and were using their middle names, e.g. Henry could be Thomas Henry or George Henry. Sometimes with Welsh families they named their children after family members, usually in the order Father's parents for first born Son and Daughter, then Mother's parents for next born. This can be a helpful clue!

Have you found Hannah in earlier census records? If she was still living in Landore the probability is that she married in the area, so try Chapels and Churches in Llangyfelach Parish first, although it may have been in a register office in Swansea or Neath districts. If they were married 1898-9 presumably it would have been in Glamorgan, but later marriage could have been in Liverpool. Do you know her religious denomination to help narrow the possible venues?

I assume that Hannah had not been previously married and would then have married under a different surname. Seems a long time to be married before birth of first child 

Kind Regards
Morgan