Employed as a PUDDLER

[wdytya]

Hi

Having returned from a not very successful trip to my local library to use the FH websites I am calling for help from the experts on Rootschatwho have come up trumps in the past.
I am trying to find the maiden name of the mother of a Sarah Jane Williams born about 1861 in possibly Abersychan Monmouthshire. Sarah Jane Williams married a George Llewellyn in the English Baptist church Abersychan on the 19th March 1888. Her father was William Williams and on the marriage record it says he is a PUDDLER (worker in the ironworks).
1881 census has a Williams family living in Stoke on Trent where a William Williams is a PUDDLER with a wife name Mary, there is no Sarah Jane but a Jane whose age matches. They are at 13 Lord Street Stoke and it looks like the correct family. On the 1871 census they are still in Stoke and showing all born in Abersychan. 1851 census the family are in 3 Elizabeth Row Trevethin Monmouthshire? Not all the names line up in every census, some may have died or married? and I cannot find them in 1861 census. Do you think I have the correct families in all the census records i have found. Wonder where they are in 1861
I have also found on Family Search  a marriage record for a William Williams and a Mary Rowlands for the 22 Dec 1845 in Abersychan. In the census records their eldest son was born in 1846 so this is a possibility.

Any suggestions and guidance, as always gratefully received.

[Skoosh]

Puddling iron was very skilled & very hard graft, working with an iron mass in a furnace was a job for a fit young fella & a lot of them sadly died young.

Skoosh.

[Rena]

I too think you're on the right track.  I have a Welsh boilermaker who took his family to England around the same time.

If you look at the history of Stoke on Trent you'll see the Potteries had become world renowned which meant people with all manner of trades and no trades would be moving there.

[osprey]

sorry, I'm not sure it is the correct family. The family in Stoke is there in1891 & Jane is still with her father & a couple of siblings and enumerated as unmarried. RG12/2172 folio 72 pg 47.
In 1851, that family has a 9 year old daughter Mary, so marriage would be earlier.

There's an amount of missing census pieces around Pontypool in 1861.

[osprey]

what are the details from the 1888 marriage cert? Who were the witnesses and what address is given for Sarah?

If I'm looking at the right couple, George appears on the census as William. and in 1891 Sarah's place of birth is Pontnewynydd.

Possible from the 1881 census
1 Lower Park Terrace, Pontypool RG11/5250 folio 13 pg 19
John Williams head mar 41 Baptist Minister of Crane Street Chapel b. Pembrokeshire
Elizabeth M wife 31 b. Llangattock juxta
Gwendoline M dau 2 b. Llanvrechva Lower
William P son 1 b. Pontypool
Sarah J Williams 20 domestic servant b. Trevethin
Mary A Coombs 16 domestic servant b. Warminster

[osprey]

Possible?

1871 Lower High Street, Abersychan RG10/5333 folio 97 pg 56
William Williams head mar 48 Puddler b. Newton
Margaret wife b. Goytre
William son 15 Und.(?) Puddler
Mary Ann dau 17 general servant
Ruth dau 13 servant - nurse
Sarah J 10 scholar
Thomas Henry son 7 scholar
all children b. Trevethin

1861 Yewtree House, Llanvrechva Upper RG9/4011 folio 14 pg 42
William Williams head mar 38 ag lab b. Welsh Newton
Margaret wife 33 b. Goytrey
John son 11
Mary A dau 7
William son 5
Ruth dau 3
Sarah J dau 7 months
all children b. Trevethin

1851 Browns Row, Nightingale, Trevethin HO107/2449 folio 256 pg 27
William Williams head mar 29 b. Welsh Newton
Margaret wife 23 b. Goytre
John son 2 b. Trevethin

1881 William & Margaret in Lewis St in Abersychan with 2 sons RG11/5252 folio 56 pg 45
1891 William & Margaret in Lewis St RG12/4362 folio 145 pg 31

Given her age of 7 months at the 1851 census, this is probably Sarah Jane's birth registration
Sarah Jane Williams dec qtr 1860 Pontypool vol 11a pg 116

There's more than one possible marriage registration of a William Williams & Margaret in the years before 1851.

[wdytya]

Hi Osprey

Many thanks as I am sure you have found the correct family. You say the 1881 and 1891 census records say that William and Margaret are living at Lewis Street Abersychan. On the 1888 marriage certificate Sarah Jane records her address as Lewis Street but no number. She also states her occupation as a Cook so probably living away from home before her marriage in 1888.

As you say there is more than one marriage record for William and Margaret I guess I should send for Sarah Jane's birth certificate to discover her mothers maiden name.

Many thanks again for saving me going down the wrong track.

[osprey]

that seems to have worked out then.   

Here's the rest of the census info
1881 census 11 Lewis St, Abersychan RG11/5252 folio 56 pg 45
William Williams head mar 58 tin worker b. Newton
Margaret wife 53 b. Goytrey
William son 25 puddler b. Trevethin
Thomas son 17 boot clicker b. Trevethin
Thomas Davies boarder unm 51 tin worker b. Goytrey

1891 11 Lewis St RG12/4362 folio 145 pg 31
William Williams head mar 68 stationary engine driver b. Mon, Buckholt
Margt wife 63 b. Goytre
Herbt Jones loder 15 apprentice boot clicking b. Hampshire, Aldershot
William & Margaret noted as speaking both English & Welsh

1901 11 Lewis St RG13/4946 folio 17 pg 25
Wm Williams head widower 71 stoker at stationary engine b. Mon, Buckholt
12 Lewis St has a widowed Ruth Bryant with some of her children & I'm pretty sure that is Sarah Jane's sister.

William gives his place of birth as Welsh Newton or Buckholt Monmouthshire. Now, Welsh Newton is actually in Herefordshire. Buckholt is on the border, but I think was in the parish of Welsh Newton at the time
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckholt,_Monmouthshire
Possible baptism for William
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NR8P-C8V

Parish baptisms for Goytre are online, but I can't see anything likely for Margaret. There is an illegitimate Margaret Davies bp in Feb 1829, but it looks like she's buried a couple of weeks later. I can't find parish baptisms for William & Margaret's children, so it's possible they were non-conformist, quite likely Baptist as that's where Sarah married.

[wdytya]

Thanks again for completing the census records. I agree they were non conformists as Sarah Jane,s new father in law was a Baptist preacher in Cardiff. I guess Margarets maiden name was Davies given the "lodger" was from Goytre also. Best though to send for some certificates to make sure.