Hello all,
I'm trying to find out more about Gwen (or Winifred as she seems to have
been known in English records) JONES. She died in Liverpool in 1849 and
going by her age at death was born about 1792. On son Nicodemus' baptism in
1830 in Carnarvon, her parish before marriage is listed as Llanbadarn
Fynydd.
She married Michael WIDDY in 1828 (Shropshire) but we believe she was a
widow before this marriage. She had four known sons to Michael - Charles
1828, Nicodemus 1830, Michael c 1833 and Richard 1835. On the baptisms of
Nicodemus and Richard her status before marriage is given as Widow. We've
found her in 1841 living with her sons but no husband near Cynwyd, in an
area that was part of Gwyddelwern parish. When she died she was the widow of
Michael Widdy, so Michael may have already gone to a better world by 1841 -
Gwen was Of Independent Means and not born in the county.
My questions are:
Would JONES be her family name or her first husband's name? I don't know
what the custom is in Wales. We have a transcription of her marriage to
Michael, and we have viewed the banns book, but there are no hints there.
Does anyone else know of Gwen JONES of LF and/or Michael WIDDY? Michael was
described as a Gardener in later records but in 1830 was a Pedlar. One of
the baptisms shows his parish before marriage as blank, the other has
Foreigner written in this space! No birth or death has been found for
Michael senior or junior. Nicodemus married and had children but we haven't
found any living descendants or a death record for him. Charles emigrated to
Aus and has loads of descendants who are planning a reuinion next year.
Many thanks,
Loretta
in cold, stormy Melbourne, Australia