Hello All
I wonder if someone might be willing to offer me a fresh pair of eyes & an unbiased opinion on this.
I will stick to the facts as best I can but before doing so must say I have spent the last twenty years tracing back the wrong JONES family in Oswestry, I only learned last week that I had bought the wrong birth certificate some twenty years ago & as a result of "Ancestry Hints & badly put together trees" is what led to my big mistake.
My Great Grandfather was Edward Jones born Oswestry c1855 he married Ann Williams at Morton Parish Church 21 Jul 1876 aged 24 (1852) & there is a line through the father. Edward's occupation was Collier.
When my Grandmother Elizabeth Jones was born in Oswestry a year later in 1877 father is recorded as Edward Jones a Coal Miner (Edward also appears in some censuses as a Well Sinker).
In the census of 1871 Edward is with a Joseph Jones & wife Elizabeth & down as aged 16 (1855) a BOARDER.
In 1861 Joseph & Elizabeth have a Mathew E Jones aged 6 (1855) BOARDER, birthplace N.K
I cannot find a Mathew E Jones birth, or death or later census for him.
In 1891 Edward is visiting Joseph & Elizabeth & Joseph now calls Edward his SON, he calls Edward's wife his Daughter in law, & Edward's Children as his Grandchildren. So it looks like there was acceptance eventually.
Joseph Jones had been a nightmare because there are two that get mixed up in Ancestry trees, one born 1818 Membury / Oswestry & the other born Whittington 1832
Years ago I went down the 1832 route discovering that that Joseph had been born Joseph Richards to Thomas Richards & Elizabeth Jones in Whittington. That Joseph Jones had married an Eliza Niccolls & I saw Joseph's father as Thomas Richards. In1841 Joseph is Joseph Richards a scholar, in 1851 he is Joseph Richards a Mason & 1871 he is Joseph Jones a Stone Mason, all three of those censuses were on Willow Street.
Like I said that's now the wrong family for me.
The Joseph Jones for me is the one born 1818 Membury / Oswestry, his father was John Jones a Parish Clerk of Morton.
Joseph married on 5 Nov 1841 at St Oswald's, Oswestry to an Elizabeth Jones! so of course her name did not change.
Elizabeth's father was David Jones an AG LAB from Sweeney.
The one & only Child in Joseph & Elizabeth's marriage was Edward c1855 & considering they married some 13 or 14 years prior then that's a long time for a Child, My guess is Joseph was infertile & perhaps Elizabeth was desperate to be a Mother & went & did the deed with a male unknown.
Edward lived mainly around Sweeney, Morton & Nant-Y-Caws as did Joseph & Elizabeth.
For those of you on Ancestry I have built a test tree called "Joseph Jones 1818 test tree" if that helps to understand this mess better!
Despite years of trying I have never found a birth certificate or baptism for the right Edward Jones.
So ultimately my question here is do you think the Mathew E Jones in 1861 is Edward?
Hope someone takes up the challenge & apologies in advance if this one fries your brain!
