Alice DAVID, late 18th century

[garlands]

Alice DAVID was bap in Cadoxton juxta Neath on 23 Jul 1797, father John. Who was her mother?

Between 1787 and 1797 I have located 15 marriages in that area with a groom named John DAVID, so I've looked for the names of any daughters of Alice, (m William FRANCIS in 1816), and census data has yielded details of 6 children in all:-

William    ca  1816
Mary       ca  1819
Hannah   ca  1821
Jonah     ca   1826
Matthew ca   1831
Sarah     ca   1831

Interestingly, I've only been able to find a baptism for William.

Of the aforementioned marriages, 3 brides were named Mary, two were Sarah but there is no Hannah.

Best of all was the marriage between John DAVID and Alice DAVID, but, as this occurred two weeks after the baptism of 'my' Alice, I think I'll have to ignore it.

Any help with sorting this lot will be much appreciated.

[QueenoftheWest]

Identical thread here:
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=871177.0

I'm afraid it is going to be very, very difficult to research a name like John David in Wales. The only possible clue is that John's residence on Alice's baptism is given as Blaen, which - from my quick Google search - appears to most likely be Blaenhonddan in Neath?

The parish registers are held on FindMyPast, so you could flick through them to try and find Alice's siblings. Another thought I had was: who witnessed Alice's marriage? Were there any David witnesses? If you could find her siblings then that could give you a better idea of when John started to baptism his children, which is often a year or so after marriage.

Best of luck.

Queenie 

[garlands]

Correction!

Sorry, I mistakenly gave Alice the wrong husband in my first post, which I have now corrected.

Humble apologies to everyone whom I misled.

[garlands]

Queenie,

Having wiped the egg off my face, I can now turn to your kind reply.

I agree that Blaen almost certainly refers to Blaenhonddan. On earlier excursions into FindMyPast I have come across a great many mentions of Blaen, which I have been studiously avoiding for fear of being overwhelmed, but it's beginning to look as if I shall at least have to dip my toes into that particular pond.

Concerning the witnesses at Alice's wedding, these were Jonah FRANCIS (presumably William's brother) and Samuel JAMES, so not much help there.

[trish1120]

FreeREG has several bapts  Cadoxton juxta Neath in the right time frame, Father JOHN David.

I saw Alices and tried to find only ones that have abode a Blaen but gave up as so many that I got confused

[garlands]

Trish,

It is a daunting prospect which, I suspect, will have me beaten, but I shall try for a while longer before giving up

George

[garlands]

Between 1792 and 1809 there were no fewer than 26 baptisms in Cadoxton-juxta-Neath which give the father's name as John DAVID; only post-1806 is the mother's name noted.

As for residences, these are confined to 1796 - 1803, 9 in total of which 5 were 'Blaen'.

One tragic, even macabre, entry is for Richard (15 Feb 1807). This gives his mother's name as Margaret and has the note 'baptized on his mother's coffin'!

In 1797, there were baptisms on:-

29 Jan - William
14 Feb - Thomas
23 Jul  - Alice

so obviously 3 families headed by a John DAVID.

I hate giving up, but am I right in thinking that this is a hopeless task?

[trish1120]

Maybe put it away for awhile and try again later.

Yes I did note that sad bapt also.

[garlands]

I'm afraid I shall have to accept your advice and give-up on Alice's antecedents.

Thanks for your interest and assistance

George