Genealogy Chat

I am new to searching family trees so I ask for your forbearance with this question. I have checked my relatives through census data eg 1861-1901 but have only their first and last names. My problem is to trace the brothers and sisters of my grandmother, Gwenllian Jones. She was born in Penarth Glamorgan in 1889 and her siblings are Benjamin, George, Catherine, William, Edith, David, Charles, Beatrice, and John. I know that Beatrice came to Sydney Australia most probably with Gwen between 1909 and 1915 and it appears John also came but I have little info on him. How do I go about finding their middle names of these Jones' (assuming they had them!) to try and narrow down the search for their birth, marriage and death certificates? I am sure you old hands have a few tricks up your sleeves, any advice is appreciated. John from Sydney

have you looked in birth registrations?

If this is them in 1901: B Jones abt 1895 Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales Daughter Canton Glamorgan Benjamin Jones abt 1850 Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales Head Canton Glamorgan Benjamin Jones abt 1876 Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales Son Canton Glamorgan Charles Jones abt 1891 Penarth, Glamorgan, Wales Son Canton Glamorgan Edith Jones abt 1884 Penarth, Glamorgan, Wales Daughter Canton Glamorgan George Jones abt 1878 Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales Son Canton Glamorgan Gwenny Jones abt 1889 Penarth, Glamorgan, Wales Daughter Canton Glamorgan John Jones abt 1897 Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales Son Canton Glamorgan Sarah A Jones abt 1860 Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales Wife Canton Glamorgan William Jones abt 1883 Penarth, Glamorgan, Wales Son Canton Glamorgan and in 1891: Jones, Benjamin abt 1851 Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales Head Penarth Glamorgan Jones, Benjamin abt 1877 Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales Son Penarth Glamorgan Jones, Catherine abt 1881 Penarth, Glamorgan, Wales Daughter Penarth Glamorgan Jones, David abt 1887 Penarth, Glamorgan, Wales Son Penarth Glamorgan Jones, Edith abt 1885 Penarth, Glamorgan, Wales Daughter Penarth Glamorgan Jones, George abt 1879 Grangetown, Glamorgan, Wales Son Penarth Glamorgan Jones, Gwenllian abt 1889 Penarth, Glamorgan, Wales Daughter Penarth Glamorgan Jones, Sarah A abt 1855 Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales Wife Penarth Glamorgan Jones, William abt 1883 Penarth, Glamorgan, Wales Son Penarth Glamorgan Then in both cases mum has a middle initial recorded, but the others don't!! As Jess says, you need to examine the birth registrations carefully to try and sort this lot out. With so many Jone's you would probably need to actually buy all the certs to be certain.....might get expensive? You could give checking points of the parents names though........ Merry

Hi Merry Monty and Jess. Thanks for your quick replies. Yes Monty, those are the Jones in the 1901 and 1891 census. What I am trying to figure out is what to do next when I search one of the common names in births i.e. Charles Jones, and come up with lots of responses. Without buying lots of certs is there any way of trying to further identify these Jones? Is it common or uncommon for people of this period to have middle names? I know that my grandmother Gwen (Gwenllian) didn't have one on her birth certificate nor at her wedding but seems to have acquired one (Thomas) by the time she died. Given that the census provides house number, street, locality, parents, age etc are there any other records such as electoral rolls or council records for around that period and if so are they accessible in some way? Sorry to be such a muddler but I am just trying to put together a bit of a picture of my Grandmother's brothers and sisters and hopefully then to establish some living relos to contact in Wales Regards John from Sydney

Hi John As Merry and Jess have suggested buying the certs might be the only way. Had a look for you, Canton is Cardiff district and if you narrow the years down there aren't actually that many choices (see below). So with the parents names as 'checking points' as suggested, you shouldn't have to spend too much to find them. Hope these help. Surname First name(s) District Vol Page Births Jun 1876 Jones Benjamin Cardiff 11a 328 Births Jun 1891 Jones Charles Bertie Cardiff 11a 333 Births Dec 1891 Jones Charles Cardiff 11a 403 Births Mar 1884 Jones Edith Cardiff 11a 272 Births Jun 1884 Jones Edith Cardiff 11a 377 Births Dec 1884 Jones Edith Marie Cardiff 11a 275 Births Mar 1877 JONES George Richard Cardiff 11a 302 Births Jun 1878 Jones George Watkin W Cardiff 11a 261 Births Jun 1897 Jones John Alfred E Cardiff 11a 425 Jones John Reginald Cardiff 11a 409 Births Sep 1897 Jones John Hugh Cardiff 11a 314 Births Jun 1883 Jones William Cardiff 11a 322 Births Sep 1883 JONES William Cardiff 11a 227 JONES William Cardiff 11a 279 JONES William Herbert Cardiff 11a 257 Births Dec 1883 Jones William Henry Cardiff 11a 279 Jones William John Cardiff 11a 290 Regards Looby

Thanks Looby Loo You are a gem I was feeling like there were just too many Jones' but you have given me a great new start Thanks again John from Sydney

Could this be John Jones' death in NSW, Australia in 1974? Parents names match: Registration Number, Last Name, Given Name(s), Father's Given Name(s), Mother's Given Name(s) 44246/1974, JONES, JOHN LEWIS, BENJAMIN, SARAH ANN From: http://www.bdm.nsw.gov.au/familyHistory/search.htm You can order the certs online if you wish. Richard

Google seems to pick up the Trying to Find messages on GR. Armed with some concrete details: father's occupation, addresses, names of all the children, advertise your interest on as many family history forums as possible. The more details you put in, the more likely a search engine is to pick something up. Good luck B

You're welcome John Looby

John, do you have any idea if they attended church or chapel. The area is covered by Llandaff Cathedral, and there are a number of chapels. Some chronology of the area is given by http://www(.)angelfire(.)com/ga/BobSanders/CDFF3.html (remove brackets from URL) Maybe there are some records of baptisms. Jim

With JONES on both sides of my family, I sympathise. What about baptisms?.... Can you look for these? You know where at least one child was born so it would be worth searching the nearby church's records to see if her siblings were baptised there. Another possibility is school records. There is a closure date on these but you should be OK with the dates you need.

Hi Looby Loo Thanks for your list of references to births for the Jones gang I am in the process of ordering the likely certs and will let you know my successes and otherwise. Regards John

Hi Richard in Perth Thanks for that reference to the death of John Jones in 1974 in NSW. I have ordered the cert and will let you know if it is the elusive Johnny Jones. If it is the middle name of Lewis will be a big bonus Regards John from Sydney

Hi Jim the Ferrett and Gwyneth in Kent Thank you for the suggestions on churches and christenings of the Jones. Benjamin Jones and Sarah Ann Hayward were married in the Tabernacle Chapel Cardiff 'according to the rites and ceremonies of the Baptists' on 30th August 1875, N Thomas was the Minister. I dont know anything about the Baptists but I will see if I can track down anything further about this Chapel and its records, if any. Gwyneth, do you have any likely sites to enquire about schools in general and in the Cardiff Dock area about 1890-1910 in particular. Tall order I know but just thought you may have chased up schools in the past Kind regards from John in Sydney

You're welcome.