Greetings from Australia,
My husband's ancestor is Thomas MORRIS THOMAS. He said he was from Denbigh,
born about 1840-1844 (going by his age at various life events). I have a
copy of a handwritten tree which says he and his sister Ellen were the two
surviving children of nine born to Morris THOMAS (whose parents were Thomas
MORRIS and Sioned ROBERTS) and Ellen JONES. Ellen (the daughter) stayed in
Wales and married 1) Walter SIMON (d 1888) and 2) Thomas PARRY.
Thomas MORRIS THOMAS came to Australia and married Emma PRICE. Together they
had eight children, whose births are all registered under both THOMAS and
MORRIS THOMAS. This tree is a very nice thing to have because it is the only
information we have about the family in Wales, but has nothing useful like
dates or sources or locations on it except for Walter SIMON's death date!
I really want to find TMT's birth certificate. I don't understand enough
about the Welsh naming system to know whether I should look under THOMAS or
MORRIS. I'm not even sure why Thomas had a double-barrelled surname - is
that usual? (a quick look at the GRO indexes on microfiche under both names
was terrifying - hundreds and hundreds of Thomas Thomases and Morris
Thomases and Thomas Morrises. I don't even want to think about trying to
find Ellen JONES...). Morris was given to children in Australia as a middle
name for several generations but was gradually phased out.
Would there be any hope of finding this family in the 1851 Census without
knowing an exact location? Maybe that would give a more exact birthdate. The
family would consist of Morris and Ellen THOMAS or MORRIS THOMAS (aarggh!),
TMT himself as a boy, and perhaps Ellen, although I don't know when she was
born. TMT didn't come to Aus until sometime in the late1860s, arriving as a
mariner but becoming a farmer.
Many thanks,
Loretta
Melbourne, Australia