Piecing together the family tree (4) - finding roots in Co. Cork ... and Llanddeusant?

This is the last of four posts setting out what I have pieced together about my ancestry during my summer research, working back from my paternal grandparents. While the previous three posts traced back my grandmother Isabella's family roots to Carmarthenshire, this post updates what more I have gleaned about my adopted grandfather, Thomas.

The mystery of Thomas' exact ancestry is one that I have written about before - indeed, it's probably the reason why I started looking into my family ancestry in the first place. I set out some initial ideas a couple of years ago in a post that looked into the family lore that his actual father had been one of the sons of the owner of the St.Donat's estate near Llantwit Major - where his birth certificate states he was born. It also wondered about the possible identity of the mother identified on the birth certificate as "Mary Powell formerly Davies".

The riddle to be solved - my grandfather's birth certificate

In another post, I showed how those St.Donat's landowners had made their fortune from slavery - and so was pleased to then find that my DNA matches suggested the actual father was more likely to be an Irish emigrant, Timothy Burke, as I set out in my previous post on the issue. I am now even more convinced that this is the case:

Timothy Burke - my great grandfather: a labourer, then miner, from Ireland

BIRTH JULY 1838 • Kilbrittain, Cork, Ireland

DEATH 4 AUG 1915 • Bridgend, Glamorganshire

CERTAINTY: HIGH - based on the DNA evidence, census, parish and probate records

Who was my grandfather's father? There will always be some parts of this riddle that will be hard to solve. Why was this illegitimate boy from Llantwit Major adopted and so well looked after by the Davies family in Pontypridd? Did they have some previous connection with either Mary Powell or the child's father? Was there any truth to the family lore about it being a wealthy young man from the St.Donat's estate? After all, a wealthy father might see to an adoption being arranged and for the child's well-being to be paid for (if that was in fact the case - nobody knows!). However, the DNA evidence is too strong to ignore the case for Timothy Burke. 

Timothy Burke was one of the ten children of William and Mary Burke, a couple who must have left Ireland for South Wales in the early 1840s. Timothy, his parents and most of his brothers and sisters, are listed in the 1851 census for Llandow, part of an enumeration district which included St.Donat's itself. While Timothy, now married, was living a little further away in Bridgend in the year when my grandfather was conceived, he would probably still have had links with the area around St.Donat's and Llantwit Major - where he could have met Mary Powell.

The 1851 census showing the Burke family, in the area that includes St.Donat's.

Of course, this is only 'circumstantial evidence'. DNA links seemed to be the best way to confirm if he is the likely father. However, DNA is always passed on from parents to their children in a random way. So, to check that I wasn't missing some possible links, I checked what matches my cousin James had from his DNA results. Sure enough, we had some common matches where my 'centimorgan' score (showing the amount of probable genetic linkage) was low but his was high - and vice versa. That's why averaging the scores may give a better picture:

Our top four paternal matches with searchable trees

The results only point the finger at Timothy Burke even harder. A majority of our top ten averaged matches suggest a link through Irish ancestry in general, some to Timothy Burke in particular. The top matches are high scores - suggesting perhaps 'second cousin links' - stronger than any matches that I have traced to my known paternal ancestors (apart from my cousin James of course!). In contrast, no DNA link of any kind has been made with the Nicholl Carne family tree - the landowners of St. Donat's at the time. Of course, there's always still the possibility that one of them thought they were the father - but the DNA says not!

The top four aggregated paternal matches with publicly searchable family trees (in the table above) all turn out to be from individuals with family trees that can be directly linked to the Burke family. Two are direct descendants of Timothy, through one of his daughters, Mary Jane. The other is a descendant of John Burke, Timothy's oldest brother. (I'll return below to the case of the fourth match, 'BJ'). There are also a number of other corroborating matches, with lower centimorgan 'scores', but also from known descendants of the Burke family. Timothy Burke must be the father!

William Burke and Mary Walsh - my 2nd great grandparents

BIRTH • Co. Cork, Ireland

DEATH • Glamorganshire, Wales

CERTAINTY: GOOD - baptism records match census records

I know from probate records that Timothy Burke died on 4th August 1915 in Park Street, Nantymoel. However, up until recently, I have had nothing to help give me any more information about his Burke family's origins more specifically than 'Ireland' - as it simply states in the census records. But that fourth match - to 'BJ' from Dublin - provided an answer. His tree contained ancestors named Burke, hailing from Kilbrittain in County Cork. Our common DNA link must be from around there.

Searching through the Catholic Parish registers that can be found online for Kilbrittain, I have now been able to trace a baptism record for a 'Timothy Burke' that is a good match to the expected birth year of my probable great grandfather. It also gives the names of his parents - so my second great grandparents - as being William Burke and Mary Walsh - matching their first names in the 1851 census:

Timy Burke - baptised, Kilbrittain, 21 July 1838

But it's not only Timothy's baptism that can be traced like this - so can all bar one of his other Irish-born siblings from that 1851 census - and all to the same parents. James was baptised in Kilbrittain to William Burke and Mary Walsh on 9 June 1834, Thomas on 3 May 1840, Mary on 27 August 1831, Margaret on 27 May 1833. The records are well matched to the later census records. This must be the same family.

The baptism of Thomas Burke, 3 May 1840, Kilbrittain, Co. Cork

It may well be possible to take the family tree further. For example, there's a 1794 baptism record for twins William and John Burke in St. Finbarr's South, Cork that would probably link my family tree with that of the DNA match 'BJ' ... but that's for further research ...

Mary Powell (formerly Davies) - my great grandmother

BIRTH as Mary Ann Davies, 1854 • Glynneath, Wales ?

DEATH - as Mary Powell (?) • Unknown

CERTAINTY: UNSURE - evidence linked together by conjecture!

So I'll finish my search through ancestry records with the place where they began - trying to find the identity of the mother recorded on my grandfather's birth certificate. I may be a little further to solving the riddle - but it still remains unsolved.

Even the birth certificate throws up difficulties for ancestry research. At the time of my grandfather's birth she was 'Mary Powell' - but previously was 'Mary Davies'. Both of those are very common names to look for in Wales census records! 

By best guess still starts with the 1881 census record listing a laundrymaid 'Mary Powell' at St.Donat's Castle. It gives her birth details as Glyn Neath around 1855:

The 'Mary Powell' that could be my great grandmother

I have made various attempts to match those details with births around 1855 in Glynneath - situated in the Cadoxton parish that ran along the Neath valley - with the name 'Mary Powell' or, 'Mary Davies'. After plumping for - and then rejecting - a few options, the 'Mary Ann Davies' listed in this 1861 census for Ystradfellte, Cadoxton Juxta Neath, is now my best bet:

Mary Ann Davies Boarder/Lodger, aged 7, born Cadoxton Juxta Neath, Glamorgan

The name, date and birthplace are all a good match to the 1881 Census record - presuming 'Davies' has changed to 'Powell' along the way. But there's another supporting clue as well. She is living in the household of a shopkeeper, William Davies, born in Llanddeusant, now in the Brecon Beacons National Park, in 1823. He may well be a way to build a link to some otherwise unexplained DNA matches.

I have a cluster of unexplained "3rd cousin" DNA matches that have to be linked in some way to my family tree. Three of them are descendants of a miner, William S Davies, a miner born in Cadoxton Juxta Neath in 1859, who emigrated - as so many did - to Scranton, Pennsylvania, to build a new life in the United States. Their common ancestor is his father, David Davies, also born in Llanddeusant in 1829. These DNA matches suggest David must - somehow - also be linked to my family tree too. 

A possible part of my family tree that explains the DNA links

So is there a link between William, the shopkeeper heading Mary Ann Davies' 1861 household, and David, my probable common DNA ancestor? After all, they are both recorded as being born in the small community of Llanddeusant. The earlier 1851 census for the shopkeeper in Cadoxton Juxta Neath provides a possible clue. It suggests that David and William may be cousins:

1851 census: David Davies - cousin to William Davies

Filling in the gaps from here, however, relies on conjecture. Could David have had an illegitimate daughter - my great grandmother Mary Ann Davies? Was she then looked after as a 'boarder/lodger' by his cousin at the shop in Ystradfellte? Did she then become the same Mary Powell listed on my grandfather's birth certificate and in the 1881 census? All of this is guesswork but there is, at least, some supporting evidence.

If this tale is true, then my great grandmother must have a had a difficult life. It would make her an illegitimate child who then became an unmarried mother. And there's no clear trace as to what became of Mary later in life either. It remains a puzzle without a clear solution - and perhaps will always remain so ...