Thomas Jones, Cwmavon

[Cymro36]

I appear to have hit a blank wall re my great-grandfather, Thomas Jones, for whom the last address I have is 14, Gower Street, Cwmavon, at the 1891 census.  In 1901, that address was occupied by his daughter, Jane Evans, and her husband and daughter, but there is no sign of Thomas or his wife, Margaret.  When his daughter Hannah (my grandmother) married in 1905 he was shown on her marriage certificate as deceased, so it is obvious that he died some time between 1891 and 1905.  I have looked at the list of Thomas Joneses who died in that period in the Neath Registration District on the Freebmd website, but there is nobody of the right age - he was shown as 26 in the 1871 census, 36 in 1881 and 45 in 1891, so that is fairly consistent.  The Registrar's office is unable to help.  Of course, he might have left the area and died elsewhere, but I just have no idea.  To add to the mystery, my grandparents were married at Bethlehem Green Chapel, Neath, although both were shown on the marriage certificate as resident in Cwmavon (my grandmother's address being shown as 14, Gower Street, although as stated she was not there in 1901).  I do not know where to go on this one and am looking for inspiration.  Any suggestions as to how I might get around this apparent road block?

[landeg]

Cymro

Are you still persuing this family group?

I have an 1889 marriage of a Martha Jones of (no number) Gower Street.
Martha's parents are William and Hanna AKA Anna (Isaac).
William was from Llanwinio, Carms and Hanna from Swansea.

Hanna's parents are in St Michael's churchyard.
There's another thread that states the Jones family moved to the Llantrisant area.
I'll be looking for them some time soon.

Regards, Steve.

[Cymro36]

Thanks for your posting - sorry I've taken so long to reply, but I received it literally as I was leaving for 3 weeks' holiday.  My grandmother did indeed have a sister Martha, but as she was only born in 1877/78 she wouldn't have been marrying in 1889.  In any case, my grandmother's father was Thomas Jones.  What I found particularly interesting, however, was the fact that the birthplace of William Jones was Llanwinio, Carms.  In each of the censuses for 1871, 1881 and 1891, Thomas Jones's place of birth is virtually undecipherable, except that it was in Carmarthenshire, but one suggestion which I have received is that it might have been Llanwinio - indeed, in the 1871 census in particular it could well have been transliterated as Llanwynio, which is obviously very close.  This raises the possibility that "my" Thomas and "your" William may have been brothers.  Thomas's marriage certificate gives his father as Phillip Jones, farmer.  Do you have the name of William's father?  Incidentally, I'm not aware of any connection of my family with the Llantrisant area.

[landeg]

Thanks for the reply.
I've been a bit distracted with other interests since posting.
However, I wouldn't be surprised that we are dealing with parallel family groups as there are aspects here that, hopefully,are to good to be coincidence.
William's parents are Benjamin (b. Trelech) and Mary (b. Llanwinio).
In 1851 they are at Bwlch Bach, Baglan parish.
As far as I am aware, my William (B. Llanwinio) did not have a brother Thomas.
I'm interested in what happened to William and Hannah (nee Isaac).
I believe that Hannah's family  moved on to Llantrisant and William and Hannah may have tagged along.
Hannah's father, Lance, died in 1867 as a result of a colliery accident.
I had wondered if this accident precipitated a move but Hannah's mother, Elizabeth, died in 1875 in Cwmafan and ruins this idea.
Depending on how wide your interests are, you are welcome to have copies of the few certificates that I have.

[Cymro36]

It looks as though there is no direct family connection, but if my Thomas did actually come from Llanwinio it may be that a group of families migrated together from there to Cwmavon, so may have settled in close proximity in Gower Street (see the same thing happening with the Irish migration, where whole streets were occupied by families from a particular place in Ireland).  Or alternatively, perhaps my Phillip and your Benjamin were brothers - at this distance in time, who knows?  God help those of us with Jones ancestors!!  Anyway, thanks a lot and good hunting.

[Josocks]

There's a Thomas Jones from Llangathen, Carms with a wife Margaret in Swansea in 1901 - he's a shoe maker.

Deaths for Thomas Jones in Neath which may be of interest:
1903 Q4 aged 59 11A 487

[Cymro36]

Yes, I had noted that one, although the age is not quite right and if he was still alive in 1903 it wouldn't explain why I can't find him in the 1901 census - I have assumed he was dead by then.  Apart from the 1903 death, there were another 6 Thomas Joneses recorded as having died in the Neath Registration District between 1891 and 1899.  I suppose the answer would be to get copies of all those death certificates and hope that one of them gives a clue to the correct identity.

[Josocks]

I've also assumed death for some families in 1901, only to find them in 1911 (and still no idea where they got to in 1901)! 

I've had a similar dilemma with an Annie Jones, so I feel your pain.  I made a list of the possible deaths and checked the new government probate service (https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/#wills) for each one.  I was lucky, and found which one I needed thanks to the right Annie Jones being at the address I knew that she previously lived at.  Long shot, but worth a try.  Also, if there are other siblings who got married in that time scale, perhaps checking out their marriage certs would help to narrow the time frame a bit more.

[Cymro36]

Afraid I couldn't find him in 1911 either, though if he had moved he could be any one of umpteen Thomas Joneses.  Thanks for the suggestion re probatesearch - although it didn't help me to find Thomas, it led me to one or two other interesting results both in my own family and my wife's.  Thanks.