Thanks BillyF, I need to develop something and make sense of it all. I certainly get confused with location, middle name and surname all being Laugharne, then Howell cropping up all over the place.
In compiling the register, could it be transcribed incorrectly, writing 72 instead of 77? FreeBMD have simply taken it from the register. I would have thought the newspaper article to be right, but her age has been incorrect so many times. If I bought the death certificate, would be more accurate?
I believed those named on the gravestone were my family, and still could be, because it is in the chapel graveyard. I have found several children baptized, the first in Llansadurnen and then moving to the chapel, but chapel records are limited to a few years and both Margaret and Margaret are not listed. Since finding the death recorded of Margaret Williams, who I know is the right person, it would seem less likely, though probability there is a connection; I just have not found it yet.
To add further confusion; the Margaret Williams I initially asked about, her maiden name was Howell. I kept finding this record and digging a little deeper, I answered some questions, but as usual it opened up a few more questions.
Carmarthenshire, Parish Registers (online)
Margaret Howell Williams
Burial . 30 Dec 1916
Laugharne, Carmarthenshire, Wales
Age 56 . Birth Year (Estimated) 1860
From the actual church records Margaret Howell Williams of Gosport Street, was buried in their graveyard on 30 Dec 1916.
BillionGraves Index
Margaret H Williams . Saint Martin Church, Laugharne . Death 24 Dec 1916
By then, the chapel may have gone out of use, or Margaret H Williams was not a regular chapel attendee, when the chapel had a right to refuse burial and they would then go to the church.
It is also not the chapel gravestone; which reads Margaret Williams died Aged 77 [Damaged] ? 9th 1916, Birth Year (Estimated) 1839. There is damage, but the actual date number clearly ends 9th.
This new Margaret Williams seems to be:
1911 Census . Laugharne Township, Laugharne, Carmarthenshire
Margaret Williams . Head . Married . Dressmaker
Age 51 . Birth Year (Estimated) 1860 . Laugharne, Carmarthenshire
Number in Family 1
RG14 . Schedule 5 . Piece/Folio 9 . Page Number 1
In being married, I searched for Howell and Williams.
Marriage: Apr-Jun 1886
Margaret Howell . John Williams
Carmarthen 11a 1123
My hunch would be, they were related, but I need to look deeper. Marriages between cousins and half-cousins seems to be common practice in this family. A brother of my great-grandfather was John Howell Williams and these two seem to be the same generation. My father was also John Howell Williams. In another part of my family tree, I found a James Laugharne Richards and looking back further, his mother was Martha Laugharne. It seems to be a family trait in connecting families.
Wales, Carmarthenshire, Parish Registers
Baptism: Margaret Howell
10 Apr 1859 . Llanfihangel Abercywyn, Carmarthenshire, Wales
(That is 2 miles north of Laugharne, near to St. Clears)
I found her on the 1861 Census, with father being Thomas born c.1830. On the 1841 census, he is 9 years old and living in Laugharne. Then in 1851, he is living with his married sister in Laugharne, unmarried and a ‘Rough Rider’, but as yet I cannot place him in the family tree, or the definition of a Rough Rider.
The Howell family are significant in the area, but on the edge on my family search, but now want to know more. My family tree is spreading, which will probably show other family connections.
