I would go to all the early records "on your side" that you can eg histories,
monumental inscriptions. Does the 1785 will not give any clue? Sometimes, the people in
the same locale will all have come from similar parts of Wales - have you enquired locally
about whether the origins of any other local people at the same time is known? Sometimes
place names will give clues - especially the names of chapels or Welsh-owned farms.
One useful source is the National Library (
www.llgc.org.uk) marriage bond index however
these are only useful for dissenters, widows and widowers and the upper echelons
(including many yeomen so quite - but not completely - inclusive).
I cannot find a Jacob Jones or Stella Vincent there although Vincent seems q a common name
in Oswestry, Shropshire, and Towyn, Merionethshire.
The NLW will index (under family history -> search archival databases) for Stella
Vincent and Jacob Jones is no more enlightening but is worth looking through more
detailedly than I can. I only searched for "Jacob Jones" and "Jacob
John". Note a search for "Jacob" will not throw up the variant
"Jacobs".
Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC) wills are indexed at the National Archives, and
searchable by county as well as by name. (Google "PCC wills").
The National Library also has a general catalogue (under catalogues -> pre 1999) which
is relatively easily navigable.
www.A2a.org.uk is worth a look as it covers the whole of the UK.
Where you have 2 names, you could try the Clwyd Family History Society "Hayes
marriage index" which is in private hands and which is searchable for a period and
place for a fee via Genfair
www.Genfair.co.uk - I have used it for blanket searches
before. It covers Carnarvonshire, Anglesey, the counties of Clwyd (Denbigh, Flint), part
of Shropshire and part of Montgomeryshire. It would not be impossible to search for Jacob
Jones/ Jacob John for a period of 20 years, say 1750-1770, for the 5 counties. Of course,
they might have married anywhere on route to the USA ie Liverpool, Bristol, Ireland!
Lastly, you might try the individual county record offices of Wales. Perhaps
concentrating on Merionethshire first - this is the county which includes Trawsfynydd.
They are very responsive to email enquiries, I have found.
Occasionally, in my reading of Welsh wills, there will be a reference to x "now
abroad" or "out of the country" - of course these could be anywhere in the
world, but perhaps we should start saving them?
Yours,
Ian
Bromley
London
From: genealogy(a)cheqnet.net
To: wls-merionethshire(a)rootsweb.com
Date: Sat, 9 Oct 2010 11:37:01 -0500
Subject: [MER] Jacob Jones of Trawsfynydd
I am new to Welsh research. I have found a reference to a John JONES
being "of" Trawsfynydd, Merionethshire. His birth is given as "about
1765".
How should I go about proving or disproving this information? His father's
name is given as Jacob.
I believe Jacob was born in Wales ca 1735. Family tradition says he was
married there to a woman named Stella VINCENT. Jacob came to the US,
unknown when, but he died in 1785 in Washington County, PA. There are no
death records that early in PA, but I did find his Will.
Thank you for any suggestions.
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