Woods n' Draisey

[Roy G]

I have the Swansea marriage of George Woods to Mary Draisey in 1917, and the Draisey name is causing no problems, it's the Woods.

As far as I can tell George Woods was base born of Mary Woods, in Cwmbwrla, Swansea on 28 May 1896. but he/they fail to turn up as Woods on the 1901 or 1911 Swansea censuses.  Presuming Mary may have married between George's birth and the censuses, I found a probable candidate (Mary Ann Woods) who married in Swansea in 1899, but unfortunately the two possible partners for her listed on FreeBMD were a Elias Davies or a Charles Jones.  An albeit brief look at the census indexes for a George born c1896 living in Swansea with a set of parents with either of those two surnames was inconclusive.  Did I miss him?

To my mind the most likely mother is a 16 year old Mary Ann Woods, born Swansea born 1880, daughter of William & Catherine Woods from Ireland (1881 & 1891 censuses) but I would need more proof than just supposition.  I therefore need to find George with his married mother in 1901 or 1911, alternatively, palmed off on Mary's parents or a known sibling, or in care.

The first time George re-emerges as George Woods in other records is when he joins the Welsh Regiment in September 1914, but I would very much like to identify him and his mother Mary before that date in order to verify my supposition that William & Catherine Woods from Ireland are Mary's parents and George's grandparents.

Any help would be much appreciated
Roy G

[RayDen]

Hi Roy

From a quick look I don't think the marriage of Mary Ann Wood is with Charles Jones.  Can only find one marriage for a Mary Ann Wood to a Charles Jones and I believe they are on the 1901 census (RG13; 5072;110;page 33) age 66 & 64 respectively.  Have not found the 1911 census.

However there is a Mary Ann with an Elias Davies on the 1911 census (RG14, Piece 32740, Schedule 219).  They are aged 30 & 34 respectively and they have been married 11 years.  Have not found the 1901 census as yet.

Ray

[RayDen]

Believe I have found the 1901 census for Mary Ann. 
(RG13;5073;36; page 10) has Mary Davies age 21 and Elias Davies age 24 (transcription shows 34 but it is 24) with a son William J (age 1 year) and a sister Elizabeth Wood.  But no George.

On the 1891 census (RG12;4476;67; Page 7) there is:

Household Members:
Name                    Age
John Woods           19      Son/Head
Catherine Woods    41      Mother  widow
William Woods       13      Son
Mary Ann Woods    11      Daughter
Elizabeth Woods      9      Daughter
James Woods          7      Son
Jane Woods             5      Daughter

Can't yet find the 1901 census for Catherine.

 

[Roy G]

Hi Ray
Yes thats them on the 1891 census you have shown (catherine died 1900).  Unfortunately, I now know that the married name of Mary Ann was Jones, so many thanks for your valient efforts on that score but regrettably the Davies name is no longer a fit.   What I can throw into the equasion however is that between 1900 and 1911, another daughter called Lily arrived.    Regards Roy G   

[RayDen]

Have found a Mary Jones (1882) and a Charles Jones (1879) on the 1901 & 1911 census (I assume that you have as well) but no Lily. There is a lily with them on the 1911 census but she is a niece born 1898.  Have checked all the Lily Jones born Swansea between 1898 and 1911 but no connection to a Mary Jones.

[Roy G]

Hi Ray
No, I had not found the Jones entry you refer to, mainly because personal funds are such I am not subsribed to one of the more costly ancestry websites.  I therefore have to rely on searching the indexes rather than seeing copies of the actual census entries themselves. 
Even though her age is a bit off, I feel the two census entries you have found may well be them, so it would help to have a census reference.  Was George with them by the way?  The little info I have about Charles is that he was not a skilled person, so at one time made his living as a street cleaner and rat catcher.  Hopefully the census entry you found bears this out.
Lily's connection may also be a family story that has been mis-interpreted, perhaps she was a base born daughter of another member of the family, but was brought up by them and subsequently became thought of as their daughter.   

Thanks again.  At last I feel that I may be getting somewhere.        Regards Roy G

[RayDen]

1901 census: RG13;5075;141;page 46:

Household Members:
Name                    Age
Charles Jones         22                Head   Billposter
Mary Jones             19                wife
Mary Jones              7 Months    daughter

The address is 4 Rees Court.

1911 census:  RG14; 32788; Schedule 502

Household Members:
Name                           Age
Charles Jones                31       Head   Billposter
Mary Jones                   28
Mary Ann Jones             67       mother
William Jones               41        Lodger   Labourer
Violet Jones                 16        Niece
Lilly Jones                   13         Niece
Josephine Jones            8         Daughter
Charlies Jones              6          Son
Bessie Jones                3          Daughter

There is no daughter Mary with them but the census says they had four children and all are alive.

The address given is:  5 Percy St Gorse Rd Cwmbwrla Swansea.

Ray

 

 

[RayDen]

Have had one last look around but have not found any of the Woods family in 1901 or 1911.  An assumption would be that they left the area but as you say mother Catherine died in Sept Qtr 1900 in Swansea (so she would not be on the census).

In 1891 the Woods family were living at 6 Tip Row, but in 1901 that house was not occupied so no help there.

Another thing is that I could only find one Mary Ann Wood with a mother Catherine & sister Elizabeth, so having an Elizabeth Wood as a sister to a Mary Davies on the 1901 census is a little confusing.

Anyway good hunting

Ray

[Roy G]

Hi Ray, I had replied to you off list to say that I thought it was all tied up, but now I am beginning to question the memory of the member of the family who told me his Great Grandpa was a Jones.  An alternative and more credible family comes from a colleage who I asked the same question a while ago.  I thought a response from them was not forthcoming, but it was just substantially delayed.

They suddenly came up with the following Davies family entry, which dovetailed perfectly with ages and marriage date given on the 1911:

Census findings for Mary Ann Woods born 1880

1901 Census RG13 5073 86 10 Swansea, Glam:   
Living at 100 Neath Road, Swansea.

Davies Elias      Head   M   M   24   Gen Lab   
Davies Mary      Wife   M   F   21      
Davies William J   Son   S   M    1         
Elizabeth Woods      SiLaw   S   F   19   Domestic Servant   
ALL BORN SWANSEA
This would appear to be the correct Mary (Ann) due to the presence of her sister in law Elizabeth Woods who I knew to be 2 years younger than Mary Ann.

1911 Census RG14PN32740 RG78PN1869 RD594 SD2 ED3 SN219, Swansea, Glam:
Living at 3 Pentremawr Road, Pentre   (Same family but I cant show the details due to 1911 census copywrite)

Still NO George unfortunately.
Roy G