William Parry, mariner, Portmadoc

[Glynm]

William Parry a mariner married my 2x Great Grandmother, Jane Jones, on 9th November 1841 at St Cynhairn Church near Pentrefelin, Ynyscynhairn. Other than this marriage I have very little information about him. At the time he was full age, occupation mariner, father Harry Parry and residence Portmadoc.
From the 1851 Census (HO107/2512/547/47) Jane and her 3year old son Henry Parry were living at No. 1 Constitution Hill, Portmadoc. Jane was born in Abererch not Portmadoc as shown on the Census. I cannot find William, he may have been away at sea.
By the 1861 Census (RG09/4327/33/17) Jane is a widow still with her son Henry and now with a 7year old daughter Jane Jones (illegitimate).
I assume that William died between 1848 and 1853 although not guaranteed.
Any help in finding where and when William was born and when and where he died would be much appreciated.
Glyn

[CaroleW]

What was Harry (possibly Henry) Parry's occupation - if shown on marriage cert.   Have you checked the 1841 for a possible entry for Harry?

Have you found William on the 1841 - he may have been at sea but you never know

As they married in 1841 it seems strange there was only one child aged 3 in 1851

[Glynm]

Hi Carole
Thanks for the advice. Harry was a labourer which was a catch all for any one doing manual work. In the 1841 Census for for the whole of Caernarvonshire there are only two are old enough to be Harry However there are many Henrys. Although not stated Harry might be dead.
I only checked Portmadoc (Ynyscynhaiarn) for William with no success.
I agree it is strange there was only one child in 10 years. I know the sailors in Portmadoc could be away for a year or more which could be one reason but another may be because it was built on reclaimed land and susceptible to typhoid. Previously I have found  a family who lost 3 children to typhoid.
I was hoping that someone with knowledge about Porthmadog maritime history might have some info.

Glyn

[Jo Harding]

I have tried to find William Parry in the 1841 but without success up to now. I wonder if a place search might be the answer.

There is a site which covers Welsh Mariners and I did a search for William Parry on that. These are the details:

http://www.welshmariners.org.uk/

http://www.welshmariners.org.uk/search.php

There are a few who were located quite near to Porthmadog. For him to have married in 1841, I should have thought he would have been born c1820 but he could have been born before that. I have tried to put the results of my search here but it failed to work. It is quite easy to do a search for him on that site.

Jo

[Glynm]

Hi Jo
Thank you for the advice. I agree with your assessment that of William's age since Jane was born in 1816. I have therefore checked for William Parry born 1810 +/- 10years born in either Caernarfonshire or Merionethshire without success. I also checked Ancestry Masters & Mates Certificates but rejected the few shown which had paperwork later than 1850 by which time I believe William would have died.
At least it is not too important since I am not related to William since the child Jane was my Father's Grandmother and I do not know who her father was.

Glyn

[Jo Harding]

I did look at this again and searched the 1841 census for William Parry, bc1820. There was one entry that looked interesting. It was the household in Tan Yr Allt, Ynyscynhairn. This was obviously a very wealthy household as there were eight servants in it. The head was Dorothy Carreg, Independent, age 35 and not born in county. One servant was shown as William Parry, age 20, Man Servant, born in county. Then there was a Jane Jones, age 20, Female Servant, born in county.

A few doors along at Tremadoc, there is a household with Ann Parry, age 50, Independent, born in county.

The reference is: HO107/1391/10, Page 18, 57.

The census would have been taken earlier than their marriage in November 1841. I wonder if that is the same William Parry who could have had a change of occupation in between the census date and their marriage. They could have moved to Porthmadog when William changed his job and they were about to marry.

Do you think that might be the same Jane Jones as he married? It seems there is a link to Ynyscynhairn as they married there.

Jo

[Glynm]

Hi Jo
I think you have a very plausible theory but I am not sure how to prove it one way or another. At the time there were a number of girls in my family line who seemed to be sent away to work as house servants for relatives. I will try to find a connection between Jane and the occupants of Plas Tan yr allt . Jane's mother was Phoebe Owen born at Cefnymeusydd Uchaf, near Criccieth and was connected to a number of the local families.
Many thanks for your help.

Glyn

[EmyrBorth]

Hi
There's a grave in Ynyscynhaiarn that seems to fit. Accordng to MI GFHS booklet, theres a William Parry, his wife Jane and son Henry. There's a mistranscription according to Parish Register entry. William does not appear in the P.R.
William Parry, late Master of the Endeavour, Portmadoc, died at Portland --NE, buried 10th April 1858, aged 44. He might be buried at Portland, and recorded on memorial at YCH - he's not in the Parish Register. There's a record of a Mates Certificate for a W.P., born Caernarvon 1st March 1815, sent to him at the Harbour Office, Portmadoc.
His son Henry died 2nd January 1844 (P.R. gives year as 1864) aged 17.
Also Jane, wife of William and mother of Henry, above mentioned, died 23d June 1874 age 54.
Will visit cemetery to check the inscription.
Emyr
 

[Glynm]

Hi Emyr
Once again you have come up trumps. Everything, date wise, seems to fit I am kicking myself since I have microfilm copies of the MI transcriptions and somehow missed William Parry's entry possibly because it is split into a number of sections. I have found the Endeavour in Emyrs Hughes Porthmadog Ships although there seems to be no mention of William. I am assuming NE is short for New England
Thanks again for your help.

Glyn