Struggling to find family

[DCB]

In case you don't have access to Ancestry, these are the censuses for Richard's family in the tree mentioned by Cas:-

1891 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:4P5P-ZW2
1901: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X9BW-552
1911 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X7VF-JFH

The GRO confirms that all of the births have mmn Griffith

The 1921 census confirms that Richard was born in LLanllyfni

David

[nestagj]

Thank you all so much for your replies; apologies for the late response.

I've made further enquiries and where we were originally told that the children moved to South Wales to work it should have been told "the younger children moved BACK to South Wales for work"

Yes I knew of the migration because my mother's family did the same - back and to from Merionethshire and the Tonypandy area; some finally settled in the South and others in the North depending a lot of the time on who they married.

A tree on Ancestry has Richard born 22 DEC 1891 in Penygroes, Caernarvonshire
Another has Catherine born on 20 MAY 1895 in Llandwrog, Caernarvonshire, with a photographs of her, her father, John Griffith Jones, and grandfather, Griffith Jones. That side of the family back to 1759-1765. Also photos of Catherine's siblings. Yes - the female side seems to be well-documented and is confirmed using DNA. No such luck on the father's side.

I have applied for the marriage certificate to see what I can find out.
Nesta




 

[Cas (stallc)]

Hi Nesta,

Keep us updated on marriage details if possible

I also have the Trealaw burial index which is the main cem for the surrounding area of Tonypandy, opened in the 1880s if you would like a look up of possible family members.

A few of my own family are buried there.

Cas

[nestagj]

Will do 

Thank you for the offer - I'll keep it in mind when I get back onto that side of the family.

Thank you very much
Nesta

[DCB]

We can't post details of the 1921 census but there are some interesting links:-

https://coflein.gov.uk/en/site/415049/

https://collections.swansea.ac.uk/s/black-friday-and-the-1921-lockout/page/lockout

You can see the house where they lived on Google Street View

David

[nestagj]

Wow - thank you very much that's really interesting. My friend and her family will be thrilled.

Did you notice the crossed out section that said "locked out miner"; that's really interesting for me because in the 1921 census my grandfather and his family (a different family and village) were up in North Wales with his parents and is described as underground worker at Cambrian Colliery (on strike). They must have returned to Clydach Vale as all their children after 1921 were born there according to our family bible.   I believe they finally gave up and came home to North Wales during 1931 when he began to suffer with his chest and after my North Walian g/grandmother died and as my g/grandfather up North was unwell they came home to care for him;  he died in 1932.

More rabbit holes are appearing for me to burrow into !
Nesta

[Deirdre784]

Many miners were listed as ‘out of work’ on the 1921 census - but with their colliery recorded - as they (more than a million miners) had been locked out by the mine owners on 1 April 1921 following a national strike re pay and local negotiations.

[nestagj]

Many miners were listed as ‘out of work’ on the 1921 census - but with their colliery recorded - as they (more than a million miners) had been locked out by the mine owners on 1 April 1921 following a national strike re pay and local negotiations.

Yes - It was a hard period historically, as soon as my mother's siblings were old enough they would visit North Wales to their grandparents because as my aunt and uncle used to describe to me there was a lot more food up here. I am so privileged to have been able to sit down with my aunts and uncle to hear their verbal history of those days; I just wish I had recorded it rather than just writing it down.  My grandfather was also a troublemaker and used to stand on the street corners encouraging the miners.  His olderchildren inferred that he was a communist but my Conservative aunt and uncle never said it outright !! My mum was too young to remember properly.

They used to tell me about the soup kitchens and the poverty and how if their north wales grandparents had sent some money down they would bicycle down to Tonypandy last thing on a saturday evening and buy the cut price meat and vegetables and then hitch a ride on the back of the bus home for Nain to cook them up a huge feast as the food would only keep for a couple of days.

I can't even find my step/great grandfather his wife and children are in the family home in Trealaw but no sign of him....he's an Evan Evans, not the easiest person to find.
Nesta