Greetings to all of you,
I am a new subscriber and need some advice from the experts. I am
somewhat experienced in U.S. and German genealogy (12 years), but am
just beginning to explore the documentation of Wales, so any advice
would be most appreciated.
My gg-grandfather was LEWIS HUMPRHEY ROBERTS, born of Welsh parents in
Boston on February 26, 1831 [or possibly other years from 1829-1833; I
have not found a birth record for him or his brother, nor a marriage
record for his parents, nor, definitive city directory identification
for the family in the Boston records at NEGHS). Lewis was the son of
David ROBERTS and Catharine HUMPHREY, and had a slightly older brother
(said to have been born in Wales c. 1827) named David. Lewis's 1915
obituaries claimed that he "traveled extensively, going to Wales when a
young man and was at Liverpool in 1851 and saw Prince Albert and the
Duke of Wellington lay the corner stone of the Victoria and Albert dock"
and "when still a youth moved with his parents to Wales. When a young
man, the family removed to" the U.S.
Recently thanks to the new
Ancestry.com digitized immigration indexes, I
discovered what I am fairly sure was my ancestors' family, coming TO
Boston FROM Caernarvon (today, Caernarfon), in northwestern Wales,
arriving in Boston 15 May, 1846 on the barque (ship) “Hindoo”:
David Roberts, 38, male, Grocer, from Wales, to inhabit the U.S.
Catharine Roberts, 38, female “ “
David Roberts, 18, male “ “
Lewis Roberts, 16, male “ “
Margaret Roberts, 10, female “ “
John Roberts, 8, male “ “
Robert Roberts, 9 mo., male “ “
Catharine Smith, 24, female, Servant “ “
[NARA microfilm roll M277, roll 20,
Ancestry.com]
This would seem to sort of match up with an 1850 Boston, U.S. census entry:
David M. Roberts, Truckman [produce merchant/grocer?], 40 yrs., born in
England
Catherine, age 39, born in England
Margaret, age 12, born in England
John, age 9, born in England
Robert, age 5, born in England
(Knowing how inaccurate U.S. censuses can be, including substituting
"England" for "Wales," this could well be them.)
Then in checking the online 1841 Welsh census, I think I found a family
in Dolgelley (Dolgellau), Merionethshire, that possibly may have been
the same bunch, although the ages do not match:
in Waterloo Street:
Catherine Roberts, 65, Ind [independent? or “Wd” = widow?], born in the
same county
next door to:
David Roberts, 35, Tea Dealer, born in the same county (Merioneth)
Catherine, 30, born in the same county
David, 10, born in the same county
Lewis, 10, born in the same county
John, 4, not born in the same county
[UK Census collection, 1841 Wales,
Ancestry.com]
Question: How careful or stringent were the Welsh censuses in requiring
that ages and birthplaces be correct? I do know that "my" Lewis and his
brother David were not twins, as this census implies, and that Lewis was
supposedly born in Boston, not Wales, as older brother David supposedly
was. But could this family possibly be the same, and if so, how could I
determine that by doing more research when I visit Dollgellau for a day
or so this spring? I cannot find any better match anywhere else in the
Welsh 1841 census, nor can I find the above same family seen in the 1841
Dolgelley census again in the Welsh or English 1851 census via the
Ancestry.com digitized indexes.
What sources could I check to further research this Welsh 1841 family in
Dolgelley? Newspapers (would there be ads for this "tea dealer"?),
church or cemetery records (which ones?), business licenses, emigration
or travel papers or passport applications, perhaps? Has anyone already
researched the ROBERTS/HUMPHREY families in Dolgelley of that era? I am
not sure of the church affiliation but when Lewis was married in 1868 it
was at a Methodist Episcopal church in New York State.
What should I focus on when I visit Dolgellau for the very limited time
I will be there? Besides the scenic beauty and charm of the people, I mean!
Thanks so much for whatever help you can provide.
--Michelle Stone