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I have a little mystery someone might be able to help with. I'm researching my G x 3 grandparents Evan Jones (b.1826) and Margaret (nee JOHNS, b.1829), who emigrated from Wales to Victoria, Australia in c.1855. I've found quite a bit of information on them from various (mostly Australian) sources including old newspapers, cemetery records, death certificate, etc. But I can't see them in the 1851 census anywhere.

According to Margaret's death certificate, they were married in c.1849 in Glamorganshire, and her parents were Thomas Johns & Catherine (nee Davis). They seem to have had strong connections to the Llantrisant/Pentyrch area of Glamorgan. Their eldest daughter Catherine was baptised in May 1851, ie. just a few months after the census, at Llantrisant. Then their son John was baptised at nearby Pentyrch on 11 Aug 1852-- their abode at that point was stated as Llwyn-y-brain-bach (a house between the villages of Pentych and Llantrissant). Much later in 1872 their daughter Catherine, who seems to have stayed behind in Wales, was married at Llantrisant.

I've search the 1851 census record for Llwyn-y-brain-bach-- but it shows a different family living there.

Am I missing something? How reliable are the census records? Or perhaps they were not in the same dwelling on census night for some reason.

Hi,
Can anyone help me decipher what it says in the 5th column of line 734 of this parish baptism record for Pentyrch, Wales? The column title is 'abode', so presumably it's a location somewhere near Pentyrch. I've also attached the full page image for comparison purposes.
Thanks,
Scott

Hi all,

I'm thoroughly confused; I hope someone can help me.

I've found two separate Methodist records recording the birth of John Cockroft at Ambler Thorne, Yorkshire West Riding, in May 1805.

The first entry gives the birth date as 23 May 1805. The parents are recorded as Jesse and Tamar (National Archives record TNA/RG/4/3284-- YORKSHIRE: Ambler Thorn (North Owram): Methodist New Connexion) Births & Baptisms. The Findmypast page has a link to the image-- to my untrained eye this looks a rather strange record which skips all over the place chronologically. It doesn't give a date of baptism, unlike other entries on the page.
The link to the record is here: https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=TNA/RG4/BAP/1072510

The other entry is in the same style of ledger and in what looks to me to be the same handwriting, but which gives 22nd May 1805 (ie. not 23rd) as the birth date, and this time also gives a baptism date (13 July 1809). The same father's name is given, but this time there is no mother's name recorded. On Findmypast, the same national archives ref. is given as for the entry I've described above. Here is the link: https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=TNA/RG4/BAP/1072422

My question is-- what's happening here? Is this the same person, and if so, why was it seemingly recorded twice but with slightly different details?

(PS: It's probably not relevant to my question, but this may well not be the John Cockroft I'm actually interested in-- my ancestor gave his birthplace consistently in later census entries as Ovenden, which is close to Ambler Thorne, but isn't the same place).

Thanks,
Scott

I'm trying to find the parents of my 2nd great grandfather Morven SMITH, born in Tasmania(?) about 1853. He lived in the Cygnet area, at least in the final years of his life.

I have this info from the Colonial Tasmanian Family Links database:

SMITH, MORVEN
Gender:   Male
Birth   By 1855 -    [AO]
Marriage/Relationship:   1881 - FRANKLIN, TASMANIA  (  JACKSON, SUSANNA  )  [AO]
Death:    
FAMILY INFORMATION
Children:   
268715   SMITH FRANK   1882
268716   SMITH GEORGE   1884
268718   SMITH ELLEN   1886
268717   SMITH ALFRED   1888
268713   SMITH ALBERT WILFRED   1891
268711   SMITH MILDRED SUSANNAH   1894
268712   SMITH ARTHUR CLYDE   1896
268714   SMITH CHARLES WALTER   1899

Also this from the State Library:
Headstone of Morven SMITH . Died in 1917 aged 64yrs. Source: Cygnet St Marks Anglican

I've also found him at the NLA website in family notices in the Mercury, and references to him in the war records of several of his sons-- but nothing about his parents.

Any help would be much appreciated.