William Davies

[max knight]

I am trying to trace my great great grandfather, William Davies. He was born about 1842 in Wales and his parents were Thomas and Ann (maiden name Jones). William married Mary Annie Francis Noy in London in 1868, and they immgrated to New Zealand in 1873 and then in 1880 to Australia. William and Mary had 8 children, 3 of which were born in UK, another 3 in NZ, and the last 2 were born in Australia.

There are literally hundred's of William Davies in the BMD who were born around 1842. Perhaps someone would be kind enough to look up the 1851 and/or 1861 census to try and locate the family. Or perhaps there are some other ways of tracing him. Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Caswell]

Hi Max

As you know William Davies is an extremely common name and in order to have any chance at all of successfully locating him with his parents in the 1861 and or 1851 census records there would have to be just a little more info.

Without knowing which county in Wales William was born there really is no point in doing any look ups.  There will be many William Davies's, with parents called Thomas and Ann.  However, if you can answer any of the following questions, then I'll gladly do some look ups for you.

Have you found William and Mary in the 1871 Census? 

Do you know the names of their 3 children that were born in the UK?  If so this will help in locating them in in the 1871 census (should you not already have done so).

It sounds like you have William and Mary's marriage certificate.  If so, what was William's occupation and what was his father's occupation.

Basically any further information you have will be of use, details from any other certificates, or baptism records - anything that might provide a clue to which county he was born in.

Regards

Caro

[max knight]

Hi Caro,

Many thanks for your reply and your interest in my research of my gg grandfather, William Davies. Additional information that I have includes the following:

William's occupation shown on the documents that I have includes engineer, boilermaker, blacksmith and smith.

Regarding where he was born, all that I have to go on is one of his daughter's (my g grandmother) birth certificate which says "born South Wales" plus the entry on the shipping list that he emmigrated to NZ on which says Glamorgan. The vessel's name is "Douglas" and it sailed from London on June 14 1873. As an aside, the shipping manifest has the family surname incorrectly recorded as "Davis" .

The three children that were born in the UK were Ada Annie born abt 1869, William R born abt 1870, and Charles F whose age is shown as 6 months on the shipping manifest, therefore born late december 1872 or very early jan 1873. I haven't yet tried to find the family in the 1871 census - i need to get access to that data base.

William's father, Thomas, occupation is shown as "Miller" on William's death certificate and William's marriage certificate.

At the time of William's marriage to Mary Annie Francis Noy on March 8, 1868, William's residence is shown as Scouler Street, Popular, Middlesex. They were married in the All Saints Church, Popular, Middlesex.

Thanks again for you interest.

Cheers........Max

[Caswell]

Hi Max

I spent a little time trying to locate William Davies and his family in the 1871 census but had no luck.  I found Mary Annie Noy in the 1861 census living with her parents William and Eliza Noy.  I tried looking for William and Eliza in 1871 in the hope that maybe William and Mary together with Ada Annie and Willam R would be with them.

I couldn't find the Noy's in 1871 but I have found a family indexed as May that I think is them.  They have a granddaughter born 1869 called Ada A living with them.

I shall send you further information via PM.

Regards

Caro

[rhys]

Hi Max
The only similar family i could find was as follows.
 They were in lodgings without Ada

1871 DURHAM
RG10 5001 33 59
Bishop Wearmouth
38 MILLBURN STREET

DAVIS WILLIAM          M    29  Boilersmith   Wales
           MARY  A         W     23                      Norfolk
           WILLIAM R       S      1                      London       


Regards Rhys

[Caswell]

The family Rhys has found could well be them as it does seem Ada was with her grandparents in 1871.  :-)

[max knight]

Hi,

Many thanks to Caro, Rhys and Vicky in helping locate my gg grandparents in the 1871 census. I was hoping that when i found my gg grandfather, William Davies, in the census it would tell me where (town/county) he was born, however the census record only shows "wales" as his birth place. If anyone has any further thoughts or ideas as to how i establish exactly where and when he was born I would be most grateful to hear from them.

Once again, many thanks to Caro, Rhys and Vicky.

Max