In article <F85HN387i5pwpb7Cn9F00004e84(a)hotmail.com>,
Barbra Pappas <the25th(a)hotmail.com> wrote:
I've hit the brick wall! I'm researching my
g-great-grandparents.
Hi Barbra,
This must be your lucky day! I'm going to knock out some bricks in your
wall! :-)
Jonah Tovey b. 1847 - Father William
Elizabeth Bowdich b. 1852 - Father James
married Sept. 25, 1871
Parish Church Mynyddislwyn, Monmouth
Witnesses William Rogers/Ellen Rogers
Both fathers & Jonah were from Abercarn.
I saw the names TOVEYand BOWDICH and thought, 'I bet those families were
from Somerset'. And I was right!
I have searched everywhere and they don't appear on any census,
passenger
lists, immigration, etc.,other than their marriage certificate. Cannot
find their parents,siblings or children.
This is going to be a rather long post, but I'm sending it to the list to
show that the means of breaking down those brick walls are out there
somewhere!
Those who are not interested in reading it, please delete now :-)
I looked up James BOWDICH, the bride's father, in the 1881 census and found
that he was a 54-year-old coal miner, born in the parish of Cameley in the
county of Somerset.
At the time of the 1851 census James BOWDICH, 24, his wife, Mary Ann, 25,
and their daughter, 4-year-old daughter Ellen, were still living in the
parish of Cameley in the next household to Betsy BOWDICH, 53. (Betsy was
described on the census as wife of Stephen a coal miner, but Stephen
wasn't at home on census night.)
James BOWDICH, the son of Stephen and Elizabeth BOWDICH, was baptized at
the church of St. James, Cameley, on 22nd. October 1826. Parents' abode was
Temple Cloud, Cameley and father's occupation was labourer.
I looked in the Cameley parish register and found the marriage of Stephen
BOWDIDGE (sic) and Elizabeth MAGGS, both of the parish, who were married by
banns on 8th. February 1819. Both bride and groom gave a cross as their
marks and the witnesses were Priscilla SHEPPERD and William MAGGS who
signed their names.
Looking in the Cameley baptism register, I found the baptism, on 9th. March
1794, of Stephen, son of John BOWDITCH (sic) and Mary his wife.
The previous baptism in the register was that of William TOVEY, the
grandfather of Jonah TOVEY the bridegroom of the TOVEY/BOWDICH marriage in
1871!
William TOVEY, son of William TOVEY and Sarah his wife, was baptized on
17th. January 1794.
I couldn't find the younger William TOVEY's marriage in the Cameley parish
register, so came to the conclusion that he and his bride, Martha DUDDEN,
went off to Bristol to get hitched. They did!
I drew a blank with the first couple of churches I tried, but then I found
their marriage, by banns, on 7th. April 1818 in Temple Church, Bristol,
which is also known as Holy Cross Church. Both were said to be of Temple
parish, though many couples said that and were probably winging their way
back home, after the wedding, on the next carrier's cart! (Or perhaps
walking.)
I already knew the bride's name was Martha DUDDEN, as the middle names of
some of their children was Dudden in the Cameley baptism register.
It wasn't long before the couple's first child arrivedd. Eliza TOVEY was
baptized at Cameley on 15th. November 1818.
Eliza TOVEY was the mother of Jonah TOVEY, the 1871 bridegroom. He was
baptized at Cameley on 7th. May 1843 and base born was written against his
name in the register, as he was born out of wedlock. Eliza gave him the
middle name Wyatt. Perhaps his father's surname was WYATT. There were a
number of WYATT families in nearby High Littleton at this time.
Jonah TOVEY was living in the household of his grandparents, William and
Martha TOVEY, in the parish of Cameley, at the time of the 1851 census.
Also in the household was his mother Eliza and five of her brothers and
sisters.
There are some photographs of St. James' Church, Cameley on my website.
Click on 'Josephine's Family History', then on 'Index of Places', then
on
'Somerset' and they will come up.
There's also a piece on 'Crossing the Severn in 1850', which may be of
interest to you.
Both my husband's and my 'Welsh' ancestors crossed the Severn from Somerset
to reach Wales. It wasn't until a few years ago, that I found out I wasn't
as Welsh as I thought I was and it was only last year that my husband found
out the same. We now find we are related to each other through our Somerset
ancestors!
Josephine
P.S. Ellen ROGERS, witness to the marriage of Jonah TOVEY and Elizabeth
BOWDICH, was probably Ellen, Elizabeth's sister. A widowed 34-year-old
Elizabeth ROGERS, born in Clutton, Somerset, was living in Monmouthshire at
the time of the 1881 census. The other witness may have been her husband.
--
___ _|______________________:_ __________________________
\___|___Glas y Dorlan________|____ / Josephine Jeremiah
|________________________________/ / (Acorn RiscOS User)
http://www.argonet.co.uk/users/ianandjo ianandjo(a)argonet.co.uk