Verifying if Census belongs to my family
 

Hi

Wondering if someone can help. I am getting the hang of things but I don't want to make assumptions.

My great granddad was David Jones born abt 1863 in Ruabon Wales. He went on to marry a Mary Ann Potter (obvsiously my g grandmum) and Mary Ann was also born in Ruabon (b. 1866). I am doing ok with the Potter side (not great but ok) but having difficulty with David's side of the family.

Ancestry seems to be pointing me to David's parents being David Jones (b. 1835) and Ann Jones (b. 1830). Ann's maiden name might have been Phillips (if I have the right census). It is these census's that are throwing me...

If I look at a particular 1871 census then all looks good. But how can I verify this is the correct family? If I then look at the 1861 census (this is where I got that maybe Ann Jone's maiden name was phillips) then again all looks good. Other trees do match but I have been unable to get hold of the tree owners. My dad and Auntie have no idea, so how can I verify that these census records do indded belong to my David and Ann Jones?

I also use GRO and freeBMD which have helped me a great deal.

Thanks for any help. I am getting quite familiar with the whole process but still learning.
Nick

Do you have David and Ann's marriage?

It sounds that you don't have the marriage certificate for David Jones. I would always advise sourcing it as it has information you need.

FindMyPast have Denbighshire PRs.

First name(s) David
Last name Jones
Age 23
Birth year 1863
Event year 1886
Banns year -
Marriage year 1886
Marriage date 06 Feb 1886
Marriage place Rhosllanerchrugog
Father's first name(s) William
Father's last name Jones
Spouse's first name(s) Mary Ann
Spouse's last name Potter
Spouse's age 20
Spouse's birth year 1866
Spouse's father's last name Potter
Spouse's father's first name(s) Richard
County Denbighshire
Country Wales
Event Marriage
Page 91
Record set Denbighshire Marriages And Banns
Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Subcategory Parish Marriages
Collections from Wales, Great Britain

https://search.findmypast.co.uk/reco...F880065169%2F1

I have posted the link to the image.

David's father was William Jones collier.
Mary Ann's father was Richard Potter collier.

David was 23.
Mary Ann was 20.

Hi Nick, welcome to the forum!

First off, do you have David b c 1863's marriage certificate to confirm that his father was called David?

Also, were ther any useful witnesses (ie family members)

The marriage was at Rhosllanerchrugog, not far from Ruabon.

There is this baptism there:

https://search.findmypast.co.uk/reco...F879251940%2F1


First name(s) David
Last name Jones
Birth year 1862
Birth date ? ? 1862
Baptism year 1862
Baptism date 13 Jul 1862
Place Rhosllanerchrugog
County Denbighshire
Country Wales
Father's first name(s) William
Mother's first name(s) Sarah
Page 32
Record set Denbighshire Baptisms

A witness was Absalom.

This looks like the family in 1881:

William Jones Head Married Male 50 1831 Coal Miner Denbighshire, Wales
Sarah Jones Wife Married Female 40 1841 - Denbighshire, Wales
David Jones Son Single Male 19 1862 Coal Miner Denbighshire, Wales
Absalom Jones Son Single Male 16 1865 Coal Miner Denbighshire, Wales
Mary Jones Daughter Single Female 15 1866 Scholar Denbighshire, Wales
William Thos Jones Son Single Male 4 1877 Scholar Denbighshire, Wales

Note that it is quite likely that this Sarah is a second wife unless a lot of intervening children died.

Here are GRO birth registrations for the right period with mothers' maiden names on the right:

JONES, DAVID JONES
GRO Reference: 1861 J Quarter in WREXHAM Volume 11B Page 334
JONES, DAVID JONES
GRO Reference: 1861 J Quarter in WREXHAM Volume 11B Page 343
JONES, DAVID JONES
GRO Reference: 1861 S Quarter in WREXHAM Volume 11B Page 282
JONES, DAVID BELLIS
GRO Reference: 1862 J Quarter in WREXHAM Volume 11B Page 342
JONES, DAVID DAVIES
GRO Reference: 1862 J Quarter in WREXHAM Volume 11B Page 355
JONES, DAVID PHILLIPS
GRO Reference: 1862 J Quarter in WREXHAM Volume 11B Page 347
JONES, DAVID ROBERTS
GRO Reference: 1862 J Quarter in WREXHAM Volume 11B Page 318
JONES, DAVID ROGERS
GRO Reference: 1862 J Quarter in WREXHAM Volume 11B Page 341
JONES, DAVID ROGERS
GRO Reference: 1862 S Quarter in WREXHAM Volume 11B Page 319
JONES, DAVID JONES

I looked for marriages between William Jones and Sarah with any of these surnames.

I found this:
First name(s) William
Last name Jones
Age 26
Birth year 1835
Event year 1861
Banns year -
Marriage year 1861
Marriage date 21 Dec 1861
Marriage place Rhosllanerchrugog
Father's first name(s) David
Father's last name Jones
Spouse's first name(s) Sarah
Spouse's last name Bellis
Spouse's age 20
Spouse's birth year 1841
Spouse's father's last name Bellis
Spouse's father's first name(s) Absalom
County Denbighshire

It looks as though

William Jones married Sarah Bellis, whose father was Absalom.

The parish is the same as before.

William's father was David Jones.

1851 Census
Street Rhos, Morton Above, Wrexham, Denbighshire, Wales
Absolom Bellis Head Married Male 40 1811 Coal Miner Ruabon, Denbighshire, Wales
Martha Bellis Wife Married Female 35 1816 - Ruabon, Denbighshire, Wales
Sarah Bellis Daughter - Female 9 1842 At Home Sert Ruabon, Denbighshire, Wales
Mary Bellis Daughter - Female 4 1847 At Home Sert Ruabon, Denbighshire, Wales