This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list.
Author: IwanLloydJones
Surnames: Richards,Roberts
Classification: biography
Message Board URL:
http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.britisles.wales.mer.general/335.2.1...
Message Board Post:
Hi Catherine
Christmas Roberts and Robert John left either Llanymawddwy or Dinas Mawddwy (South of Bala
& Dolgellau)
and emigrated to Alberta Canada in the 1900s.
Robert John had 6 children in Canada including Edward Roberts and William Roberts who live
in Drayton Valley,Alberta,Canada today.
Both brothers have visited Wales in recent years to visit my mother 81 yr mother,Gwyneth
(the oldest daughter of Edward "Ted" Roberts who was 4 yrs old on the 1891
Census) and Alun and Emyr Puw who are from Dinas Mawddwy but both now live in
Llanuwchllyn.
Their grandfather was Thomas Roberts, son of Magdalen who was a farmer who moved to Dinas
Mawddwy and was a poet whose poetical name was "Llafar" - Llafar is also the
name of the valley of Parc,Llanuwchllyn.
I was not aware that John Richards is the son of Richard & Jane Griffith but knew from
the Census he was living in Brynmelyn, Llanuwchllyn with his family including daughter
Magdalen in 1851.
In this period, the old Welsh/Celtic tradition was used of being named after your father
i.e the son of. In earlier times they used "ap" between both names but by
17C/18C this appears to have been dropped and by 19C the Welsh seemed to adopted the
Anglo-Saxon tradition of surnames. This means tracing your ancestors becomes more
difficult in this period.
Hence, when we saw Magdalen Richards and John Roberts marriage cerificate John's
father was Robert Mathew and not for example Robert Roberts. Mathew may have been
John's grandfather in the Celtic tradition of knowing who you were related to i.e your
ancestry which was more important to the old Celts than for example your social class e.g
middle class or upper class like the English.
I was not aware of the link to Rhiwaedog - will make enquiries - or that John Richards
died 1869 at Plas Deon, Llanuwchllyn - but it is possiblee as these places are in Penllyn
and the Bala area.
Hope this helps
Kind Regards
Iwan
Important Note:
The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply
to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.