Julie
Thank you for your very detailed and useful reply.
I can see I have a fair bit of work ahead of me - but it looks like there is
fair chance I can find out more about my Montgomeryshire BREEZE ancestors -
the information about surviving records gives me great encouragement. I am
seriously considering joining one of the FH societies you mention - not
least because I feel pretty ignorant about the local history and it is good
way to get some excellent facts and impressions. In my experience, if you
can start to see what was going on with the local economy etc., you can make
better guesses about what people did and what might have driven them to move
around.
I suspect the draw of the iron towns at the Heads of the Valleys was too
strong for my Breezes' to resist, and like nearly all of my ancestors (bar a
few indiginous Monmouthshire folk), they were drawn to South Wales Valleys -
probably between 1830 - 1840,
Best Regards
Mark Breeze
----- Original Message -----
From: "Julie Preston" <juliefpreston(a)sbcglobal.net>
To: <WLS-MONTGOMERYSHIRE-L(a)rootsweb.com>
Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2005 2:35 PM
Subject: Re: [WLS-MGY] BREEZE / BREESE in Newtown circa. 1820's
Mark,
I'm sure none of us meant to leave you out there, "hanging in the breeze",
so to speak ;-)
Actually, I have BREEZE ancestry but it's way back in the mid-1700's in
Trefeglwys and probably originated in Llanbrynmair. I know there are other
BREEZE researchers -- some are on the Powys list, as well -- but they may
not be currently working that line or aren't currently monitoring the list
postings, for whatever reason. Things are a bit slow at the moment.
I'm sure it's no surprise there were more of them in Newtown by 1851 but
they came from other parishes and there was a very big early concentration
of them in Llanbrynmair originally. I think they fanned out from there. By
the 1850's, many people who previously worked in cottage "woollen
manufacturing" were put out of business by the large flannel manufacturing
companies in Newtown and Llanidloes. Perhaps that is what took your BREEZE
family there?
You didn't state the birthplaces of everyone in the family (including the
parents) -- this might point you to another parish such as Llandinam, Carno,
Trefeglwys, etc.
The surviving records are quite good but the LDS (IGI) coverage for
Newtown
isn't particularly good, for some reason. They usually worked from
the Bishop's Transcripts (BT's) held by the PRO but the Newtown BT's appear
to be only at the NLW, Aberystwyth, with microfilm copies at Denbighshire
and Flintshire Record Offices.
Powys County Archives has a microfilm of the original Parish Registers
(PR's
held at the NLW) and will do lookups, although it's not quite the same
as going through the film yourself. They cover chr./marr./burials for the
following years:
Original PR - Newtown
Chr. 1660-75, 1679-1971
Marr. 1660-75, 1679-1958 (incl. Banns 1887-1971)
Bur. 1660-75, 1679-1993
If you haven't already done so, I strongly suggest you join one or both
family
history societies for this area -- I belong to both Montgomeryshire
Genealogical Society and the longer-lived Powys FHS -- memberships which
have given me the most valuable assistance as well as put me in touch with
other researchers, many who are not (and never will be) "online" but who
have spent decades already researching the same families.
Reply back to the list if you have any questions so others might join in
the
discussion if they pick up on this thread.
Regards,
Julie Preston
juliefpreston(a)sbcglobal.net
----- Original Message -----
From: Mark Breeze
To: WLS-MONTGOMERYSHIRE-L(a)rootsweb.com
Sent: Wednesday, October 12, 2005 5:04 PM
Subject: [WLS-MGY] BREEZE / BREESE in Newtown circa. 1820's
Hello List
Is anyone else researching BREEZE / BREESE in the Newtown area?
It seems that my g g grandfather John BREESE was born there in about
1825.
Courtesy of another researcher and my own deductions of later census
(51) he
had siblings: -
Ann b ~ 1822, MGY
Williiam b ~ 1831 RAD
David b ~ 1833 RAD
Thomas b ~ ?? ???
Their mother was Ann and (from Ann's marriage entry) their father Samuel
BREEZE. There is an IGI entry that fits for my John which records his
birth
as 11th December 1825, Newtown, Montgomery (which matches his 1861
census
entry).
The spelling varies from BREES, BREESE to BREEZE at various times.
I'd like to hear from anyone with any information or interest in this
family - and anyone who can explain the apparently intense concentration
of
BREESE's in the Newtown area! Also, what are records like for
this area
circa 1800?
Best Wishes
Mark Breeze in Derbyshire