Hi Kate,
Nice to hear from you again.
I have been searching for my ggrandparents. My ggrandfather, William Williams's
marriage cert. gives his father as David, but the only William Williams I can find in the
Rassau area is in 1861 aged 7 (which is about right) with his mother, Margaret, 38,
unmarried, born Sirhowy.
This may be the daughter of David and Ann, with them in 1851 aged 27.
I have the scanned images of 1841 but much of the data for Rassau is illegible, so it
hasn't given me any leads.
You can find my William in 1881 with his wife Margaret (nee Davies) aged 20, in Rassau,
then in 1891 with his children, including David Howell Williams. By 1901 they are at the
Miners Arms, where the family remained until about 20 years ago, by which time it was a
private house.
It may be that William was illegitimate and put his grandfather's or uncle's name
as father.
My mother had no knowledge of any Williams relatives, but her grandfather, William
Williams, was always known as Williams Ty Meddyg, though I haven't been able to
establish any connection with Ty Meddyg farm.
Your suggestion of Selside, Westmoreland, seems perfectly feasible to me, so I shall
follow it up and let you know of any developments.
Pam