One of my g grandfathers has given me a lot of problems, but I think I may be getting
somewhere at last. From his children's birth certifcates and the 1891 / 1901
censuses, I've found out that:
his name was was John Davies, sometimes given as David John Davies;
his birth year was either 1853 or 1854, probably the latter;
his probable place of birth was Swansea as on the 1891 Census (not Clovelly, his
wife's birthplace, as stated on the 1901 Milford Haven Census);
he was a "marine fireman" in Swansea in 1882, when he lived at 81 Watkin St.,
and when his first son, Matthew John, was born;
he was a "steam tug engine driver" in Swansea in 1890, when he lived at 76 Fuel
Rd. (renamed Pentreguinea Rd. by 1891), St.Thomas, when his first daughter, Ada Gertrude,
was born.
Between April 1891 (Census) and October 1892 (birth of my grandmother) the family moved to
Milford Haven.
I can't find his marriage to Mary Jewell on the GRO Index, but I know from Clovelly
parish records that they didn't marry there. Neither can I find a likely Mary Jewell
or Mary Davies on the 1881 Census, though the likeliest John Davies is living at Pillar
Treboeth, Penderry, in 1881. If so, his father was Matthew, a coalminer, (which fits
with his son's name), and he was then a "Rollerman (Tin)".
So it seems that between April 1881 (Census) and April 1882 (birth of first son), he got
married (or just began to live with) Mary Jewell, changed his job, and moved into the
Mount Pleasant area of Swansea.
Can anyone add any background details to this (eg, the tinplate works where he might have
been working, the tug firm he might have worked for), or suggest likely further lines of
enquiry? I'd particularly like to find out whether he did make an honest woman of
Mary (especially as some of my elderly aunts are getting very nervous and touchy about
this), not least because that should confirm or reject my hypothesis about his 1881
Penderry parents.
And what is the meaning of the address "Pillar Treboeth"?
Barry Johnson
Monmouthshire.