PRICE of Herefordshire

[vic1]

The leominster  chapel  circuit records are held  in leominster as well ,as are the weobley ones and the kington ones. I know this as I went to the records office specifically to, look at these and was told they were held in Leominster . they also hold copies of the north edition of the hereford times. . ~The archivist at Hereford has checked this for me  as my family is well entwined with the weobley chapel  circuit going right back to my great grandfather x 5 being shot at in 1804 . a nd i wanted to research  them in depth. I will get there this summer holiday ( I only live in Hereford but have had a stress ful year or so  ) this  how i know leominster holds a  small amount of records. however they  tell me they do not hold complete records as sometimes happen with chapels . Also  when i  wanted certificates they referred me to the office where registration had taken place from Hereford  so i had to ring the local office in kington and a very nice man  found the entry i wanted immediately and it was in my familys posssession in  less than 15 minutes which is a good job as the office is only open 1 day a week. so youn need to do some phoning before setting out to find out  where you need to go.

[Bosuns Call]

I've now spoken with the parish vicar and I can confirm that Puffcat was correct about finding the registration of my great granddad's death.

George Henry Price died 9 Aug 1936 at Green Lane, Staunton-On-Wye and he was buried at St. Mary's at Staunton-On-Wye on 12 Aug 1936.

His wife Louisa Price was also buried at St. Mary's on 8 Jan 1953 but no sign of this on the FreeBMD.

Now that I know this is my great granddad's death certificate I shall order a copy. I know the date of birth is incorrect on the certificate but it might give a different place of birth. It shall be interesting to see what else I can learn from the certificate.

Best wishes,

Bosuns Call

[Bosuns Call]

I received a copy of George Henry Price's death certificate in the post today. No joy there for me. Date and place were confirmed as previously mentioned. His occupation was listed as Gardener (domestic) and cause of death was 1 [a] Myocardial degeneration and Senility. In other words he died of old age which was given as 84 but he must have been about 91 years old in 1936.

Granddad George J R Price also living at Green Lane was the informant but no mention is given to the place of birth of George Henry.

I've had a run of luck researching the Hyett family while the Price family have proved difficult. I think for now I shall try and research other family members and come back to this puzzle when I've learned a few more genealogical skills. It's sad but I have to face the fact that I can't find George Henry. At least this scrap of paper proves that George Henry was real.

Best wishes,

Bosuns Call

[Puffcat]

A long shot perhaps, but Kinnersley and Shobdon, as George's father is working at Kinnersley Castle, is he also working on another estate owned by the same family in or near Shobdon ?
And if he is a skilled gardener did he move somewhere else for a while for the same family perhaps, and George Henry was born in Shropshire or Radnorshire ?
There must have been a reason to work between the 2 places because it is an awfully long commute with roads so poor at this time !!

Just a thought.

[Bosuns Call]

Hi Puffcat,

I too am puzzled by the movement of James Price. Being born in Staunton-On-Arrow and marrying Susannah from nearby Shobdon makes perfect sense. Being employed as a 'hired servant' in work at Kinnersley Castle while living in Shobdon makes little sense unless he was already employed by the same family, or some other similar situation in Shobdon.

Funny that you should mention Shropshire. I find George Henry in the Kinnersley area in the 1851 census and in the 1881 census but I have trouble finding him in the intervening two census returns.

In the 1871 census I did find for Totterton Hall, Lydbury North, Shropshire a George Henry Price:

Class: RG10  Piece: 2733  Folio: 26  Page: 4

This George Henry Price is stated as being a 24 year old footman, born in Herefordshire. I do wonder if this could be my great-granddad?

This was the census report:

Emily Augusta Parry 30 Wife born Balham, Surrey
Mary MacDonald Parry 9 daughter born Bath, Somerset
Emily MacDonald Parry 7 daughter born Bath, Somerset
Thomas MacDonald Parry 5 son born Hereford, Herefordshire
Lidnes Carew McDonald Parry 4 son born Hereford, Herefordshire
Grace MacDonald Parry 3 daughter born Lydbury North, Shropshire
Lucy Hannah 38 Governess born Bath, Somerset
Mary Ann Solomon 35  Cook born Cardiganshire
Emily Annie Jarvis 26 Head Nurse born Wiltshire
Sarah Jones 20 Under Nurse born Bala, Merionithshire
Catharine Thomas 23 House Maid born Bala, Merionithshire
George Henry Price 24 Foot Man born Hereford, Herefordshire


So I thought I would do some detective work. I thought if I could trace either of the two Parry sons on census I could find out where in Herefordshire the Parry family lived and if my great-granddad could be connected to the area.

Looking in the 1881 census I found Lidnes Carew McDonald Parry as Sidney Carew McDonald Parry, wrongly listed as Sidney Carew Noradward Parry.

In the census Class: RG11  Piece: 2650  Folio: 77  Page: 15 for Parsonage House, Shropshire, Sidney is a boarder and scholar who lists his place of birth as Kinnersley, Hereford.

Continuing with the 1881 census I found Thomas MacDonald Parry as Thomas M Parry a boarder/scholar at Llantrissant House, Clifton, Gloucestershire. The census is Class: RG11  Piece: 2483  Folio: 15  Page: 26 and Thomas is wrongly listed as being born at Kinnersley Cote as on the census return itself it records as his being born at Kinnersley Castle!

With James being the gardener of Kinnersley Castle I believe this would mean that this George Henry Price is indeed my great-granddad.

Out of interest I though I would track the Parry family further back so I looked for them in the 1861 census and found them at Walcot St. Saviour, Somerset Class: RG9  Piece: 1692  Folio: 62  Page: 8

Thomas M Parry 21 Head Landholder born Argylshire, Scotland
Emily Parry 20  Wife born St Mary's Cay, Kent
John MacDonald 40 Uncle Landholder born Argyleshire, Scotland
Hannah Webb 39 
James Pike 15 
William Janlas 20 

This all helps build a picture but it still doesn't help me get any nearer to discovering the birth place of George Henry Price. It does prove though that I've definitely been bitten by this genealogy bug!

Best wishes,

Bosuns Call

[Puffcat]

Did this family rent Kinnersley Castle I wonder, and also the place in Shropshire?  The parents seem to have dropped off the radar by 1881 unless I am being obtuse. But well done, that was fascinating bit of detective work.
Parry senior certainly collected staff from all over the place, and how far is Argyll to Kent for a wife

Still think Kinnersley Castle could hold the answer if they still have any records or the records are in the Recods Office.

Even big houses were rented out at this time and had a big turnover of occupiers.

[Bosuns Call]

Hi Puffcat,

I believe I've found Emily Augusta Parry in the 1881 census but she is listed as Edith A Parry. The census is Class: RG11  Piece: 2442  Folio: 31  Page: 14 and she is living at 8 Portland Place, Walcot, Bath.

Edith A. Parry 38 Widow Receiver Of Dividends born Balham, Surrey
Mary M. Parry 19 daughter born Bath, Somerset
Emily M. Parry 17 daughter born Argyleshire
Grace M. Parry 13 daughter born Shropshire
Mary A. Soloman 48 Cook Domestic Servant born Wales 
Eliza Gamblin 17 
Lavinia White 22 

The family employed the same cook in the previous census.

I've also found her in the 1891 census, still in the Walcot, Bath region Class: RG12  Piece: 1937  Folio 146  Page 22

Emily A M Parry 50 Head Widow living on own means born Balham, Surrey
Grace M Parry 23 daughter born Lydbury, Shropshire
Augusta G Fearon 61 Lodger born Madras, India

In the 1901 census Class: RG13  Piece: 1039  Folio: 132  Page: 3 Emily A Parry is aged 60 and living in Bournemouth with her brother a retired army Colonel. I can't make out his name, could be George A Strover? It looks like Ldm in the one section for Emily, so would that make her a lunatic and dumb?

I can't find either of the sons after 1881. I'm guessing they either died or emigrated.

If the family had sufficient funds to rent Kinnersley Castle, Totterton Hall and properties in Bath too, then they probably rented land in Kent/Surrey. Possibly they rented land all over Herefordshire and that's why James Price was working in Shobdon?

I'm now definitely going to write a snail mail letter to the present owners of Kinnersley Castle to ask if they hold any records of the staff of this time period. It would be great to build up a picture of their working lives.

Best wishes,

Bosuns Call

[Puffcat]

It does look as though Emily's maiden name was Strover.

Maybe James was part of the Garden Makeover fashion of this part of the C19. Some of the large houses in Herefordshire and around were landscaping their grounds with trees and so on at this time.

Going back to George's birth - his Mum was born in Radnorshire. Do you think she might have gone home to Mum to have George if perhaps it was a difficult pregnancy, James was working away, or the other kids were driving her mad ?  There are 3 possibilities on Free BMD, 2 in Presteigne and 1 in Hay.  Worth a phone call to Register Office perhaps ?

[Bosuns Call]

Hi Puffcat,

The birth and identity of George's Mum is just as confusing as her son.

1891 census she is Susan born Shobdon.
1881 census she is Susan born Presteign, Radnorshire.
1871 census she is Susanah born Presteign, Radnorshire.
1861 census she is Susan born Staunton-On-Arrow.
1851 census she is Susanah born Shobdon.

While in the Kinnersley parish records she was recorded as Susanna in 1843 and Anne in 1847.

Name changing does seem to be a common theme for some family members which is worrying. George Henry's daughter, my great aunt Elsie Susan, was also known as Eliza, Susan Lucy and she was Lucy to my family. So in the end she went by a completely different name. I do fear that George Henry was christened under another name. When it comes to names I think they must have changed their minds constantly. As I've mentioned previously, when I looked at the Kinnersley parish records themselves and I found the baptism of Arthur 14 Feb 1847 the paper was damaged as you could clearly see that the name George had been written in then the ink soaked up and the name scrubbed out to be replaced by Arthur. With the family already having one son named George why name another son George? That makes me worry that perhaps George Henry was baptized under a different name.

If I were to apply to the Register Office, which one would it be? I know Hay like the back of my hand but I also know it's a dog's dinner when placing it under the relevant authorities. Over the years of course it has come under the authority of Brecknockshire, Radnorshire, Herefordshire and Powys. Even now the postcodes are HR for Herefordshire but depending upon which side of Cusop/Clyro you live then Brecon, Leominster (Hereford) and Llandod can all have a claim on Hay and that region. So I'm completely lost when it comes to applying for BMD certificates in that region.

Come to think of it, does anyone know where the Records Office is for the old Radnorshire district? If I search the parish records first I could save myself a small fortune.

Best wishes,

Bosuns Call