Mary Brown, born Bangor 1890(ish), daughter of James

[wilcoxon]

First child Harold  any idea why they chose this name.

First son is usually named for paternal grandfather which would be Joseph.
First daughter after maternal grandmother


Who were the witnesses at the wedding, hopefully relatives.

Possibly his brother if this is the right John.


1911  Lavister Rossett
Thomas Shone 45Head
Sarah Alice Shone 37Wife
John Percival Son / step  b Rossett
Harold Percival18 Son / step

[jornage5]

Yes that's right, Harold was his elder brother.

[collwyn ap tangno]

mary brown GRO search: 1887 march Bangor page 423, mother’s maiden name:  Jones

You can buy a digital copy to confirm that this is the correct person. She’s the only one in Bangor in the years around 1890.

You’ll need to register on the GRO and pay £3 for a digital image.

https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/indexes_search.asp#Results

[jornage5]

mary brown GRO search: 1887 march Bangor page 423, mother’s maiden name:  Jones

You can buy a digital copy to confirm that this is the correct person. She’s the only one in Bangor in the years around 1890.

You’ll need to register on the GRO and pay £3 for a digital image.

https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/indexes_search.asp#Results

The father is Alexander Brown and it looks like she went on to marry an Eardley according to Ancestry.

Am I allowed to post the GRO images for all of the searches that I've done here?

[collwyn ap tangno]

The 1901 census has this mary living with a father called alexander brown at tyddyn llwydyn bangor, not James Brown.

She’s at the same address in 1891.

[wilcoxon]

Hello, I'm looking for help with finding birth records of my great-grandmother Mary Brown (later Percival).

Census records of 1921 and 1939 both say she was born in Bangor Caernarvonshire. My mum remembers her being from north west Wales.

On the 1921 census it gives her age as 30 years and 3 months which suggests a DOB of January 1891. On the 1939 it gives her DOB as 25 Mar 1890.

Her marriage certificate of 1916 gives her father's name as James Brown (deceased) and that she was 25 which suggests DOB 1891.

I can't find a Mary Brown in either the GRO online index or on Ancestry that was born around that time anywhere near Bangor. Nor can I find a Mary Brown of around that age living with a James Brown in the 1891,1901 or 1911 census.

I can find a Mary Brown born 1881 in Bangor with James Brown as her father but that is 10 years earlier and I'm struggling to believe that she could have been so wrong about her age. My mum says she wasn't literate and grew up destitute which may explain a DOB discrepancy but 10 years is pushing it a bit.

Is there somewhere else I can look for this information? I live near Bangor so is it worth a trip to the records office at all or would that just be the same information as on the GRO?

Any help of information would be very gratefully received.

Where exactly did the marriage take place.
Where were both couples abode.
Who were the witnesses.

[wilcoxon]

Is this her death. If so then she spent most of her time around Wrexham.

Mary Percival
Death Age 65
Birth Date abt 1888
Registration DateJul 1953 [Aug 1953][Sep 1953]Registration QuarterJul-Aug-Sep
Registration District Wrexham

[jornage5]

Is this her death. If so then she spent most of her time around Wrexham.

Mary Percival
Death Age 65
Birth Date abt 1888
Registration DateJul 1953 [Aug 1953][Sep 1953]Registration QuarterJul-Aug-Sep
Registration District Wrexham

Yes, this is the correct death record, I have the certificate.

[jornage5]

Where exactly did the marriage take place.
Where were both couples abode.
Who were the witnesses.

The marriage was in Wrexham register office. This is a little bit odd because everyone in the family that she married into (the Percivals) frequented and used Rossett church for every occasion. She wasn't pregnant (Harold didn't arrive for over a year) so I did wonder whether she possibly came from a catholic family. It was war time though so maybe this was the reason.

The addresses given are Harold's mother's house in Rossett for Mary and Acton Hall, Acton for Harold (this is a strange bit of information that my mum can't explain).

The witnesses were John and Mary Gibson, friends of Harold.