Hi all,
Yes, I'm still here, I'm just very, very shy ;)
Anyway, I think I've managed to link to a second family of THOMASes in
the Sneggie area, so I thought I'd ask if anyone had any further
information. As usual, I'm going to talk the long way round and give
you as much useless information as possible and a few asides to make
life interesting.
My great great grandmother was Rachel MATTHEWS. She married William
Frederick THOMAS of Nantgarw in 1883 in Pontypridd. He was 18 and she
was probably only 16 or 17, they both lied and said they were over 21.
William went on to work at the Universal Colliery in Sneggie. He was
the overman interviewed as part of the inquest following the first
disaster and they later moved into 1 Phillips Terrace, which I'm told
was the manager's house.
Family tradition said that Rachel had been a barmaid in a pub before
she met him and I found her on the 1881 census as the servant of Alfred
and Jane PAYNE at 4 Old See Lock (Sp?) Public House, Cardiff
(RG11/5278/160/35), which is close enough for me.
Family Tradition also insisted that her parents were lock-keepers. I
eventually found her family with the aid of the GlamFHS Eglwysilan
parish indexes checked against the 1861, 1871 and 1881 censuses. Edward
and Ann MATTHEWS spent their later years in Nantgarw and Rhydyboithan,
but their first lock-keeping post was at Gabalfa Lock near(ish)
Llandaff. Edward was born c.1835 in St Mellons, but Ann born in
Whitchurch or Llandaff, also c.1835.
In fact, I have Ann matched up to Ann HARRY or HARRIS, the daughter of
Edward and Ann HARRY, who in 1841 were also the lock-keepers at
Gabalfa, although Edward had become an ag lab the 1851 census. From
the censuses, I have their births as c.1791 Whitchurch and c.185
Eglwysilan respectively. I also think that I have found a marriage
that fits. This is the marriage of Edward HARRIES and Ann THOMAS in
Eglwysilan on 20th July 1833.
And the main point of writing all this out, does anyone know anything
else about any of these people? Have I made the right connections?
Thanks,
Jo
Joanne Thomas
journeymouse(a)yahoo.co.uk
http://www.geocities.com/journeymouse/
___________________________________________________________
24 FIFA World Cup tickets to be won with Yahoo! Mail
http://uk.mail.yahoo.com