Following back the family tree to a miner from the 1780s

William, son of David Jones, Miner, by his wife, Rachel, Cilycwm, 1786.

In my previous post, I explained how a combination of ancestry records and DNA matches had helped me to finally 'fill in the blanks' that had long existed on the family tree for my adopted grandfather, Thomas.

Thomas' mother's name had been given on his 1880 birth certificate as "Mary Powell formerly Davies, a dairymaid". This dairymaid, Mary, is therefore my great grandmother:

My grandfather's birth certificate

Jane and David, my second great grandparents

Now, as explained in that previous post, if I have put the puzzle pieces together correctly, I am fairly certain that Mary's father must have been David Davies (2GG), a blacksmith originally from Llanddeusant in the Black Mountain area of what is now the Brecon Beacons National Park. I also believe that her mother was Jane Davies from Llywel, a village about ten miles from Llanddeusant. However it appears that Jane - who later emigrated to Australia - was not married to David Davies at the time of Mary's birth.

If this is correct, Jane and David Davies were my 2nd great grandparents. But can I put together some more puzzle pieces to follow back the family tree even further? 

In this post, I will follow back the ancestry records further back into time from my second great grandmother, Jane Davies.

Sarah and David Davies, my third great grandparents in Breconshire

The church records for the Saron Welsh Independent Chapel in Cwmwysg, situated just to the south-west of Llywel, record Jane Davies' date of birth as being November 6th 1834. Her mother is given as 'Sarah' and her father as being another 'David Davies'. This would make Jane's parents, Sarah and David Davies, my third great-grandparents. 

The chapel register also records that David is in fact also another blacksmith. This map from 1885 records both the Independent Chapel and a Smithy at nearby Pont ar Hydfer, matching the description of David's place of work in the church record above.

There's also a November 1827 Anglican church marriage record from the Parish of Defynnog (or Devynock), the parish bordering Llywel to its east that appears to record David and Sarah's marriage, with Sarah's maiden name listed as Sarah Jones (Non-conformist churches weren't licensed for marriages at this time):

The June 1841 census confirms that the family are living at Pont ar Hydfer, with David as a smith, and Jane aged 6 - matching the birth information above. Her parents' ages are both listed as being 35 - giving their birth year as around 1806 but they are both described as NOT being "born in the same county" - so, if not from Brecknockshire (Breconshire), which county did they both come from originally?

There's another entry in the register of the Saron Independent Chapel in Cwmwysg that gives a first clue to at least David Davies (3GG)'s origins. This records the birth and baptism of Jane's elder brother Timothy (who sadly died in his infancy) in 1831:

The record also records Sarah and David as being mother and father, but as well as recording David as being a Smith at Pont ar Hydfer adds further "He being from [the] Parish of Cayo". This confirms that he had arrived in the area from Caio - or Cynwyl Gaeo - which is indeed in Carmarthenshire, not Brecknockshire.

There's further evidence of both David and Sarah's places of birth in the 1851 census record. This shows that the Davies family has moved to Ystradfellte, a village about ten miles to the south of Defynnog.  David and Sarah are both listed as being from Carmarthenshire and, although the spelling varies from that used today, it states that both their birthplaces are in Cilycwm, the neighbouring Carmarthenshire parish to Cynwyl Gaeo. The parish records for Cilycwm are therefore the obvious places to look at to try and trace the family tree back further:

 

(As I explained in my previous post, Jane is not listed amongst the other children in the 1851 census as she is now working as a servant on a farm on the other side of Ystradfellte).

Sarah and David Davies, my third great grandparents in Carmarthenshire

Cilycwm is a small village, with fewer than 500 inhabitants, with the church of St. Michael in its centre, which dates back to the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Its parish registers contain more clues to my family tree.

David Davies is a common enough name in any Welsh parish register but no baptism record exists for this name in Cilycwm for 1806 - as would be suggested by the 1841 and 1851 census records. However, the later 1861 census record suggests David is actually a little younger than his wife Sarah, and may have been born in 1808 - and a record CAN be found for a baptism on 28th February 1808:

His parents - my fourth great-grandparents - are listed as being (another!) David Davies, and his wife Hannah.

A baptism record for Sarah Jones also appears in the Cilycwm register but for the year 1803, where it appears as one of two 'illegitimate' children baptised on 18th September, although both parents - William Jones and Elizabeth Augustus - are recorded. However, they are presumably unmarried at the time of the birth:

Sadly, a later burial record for 1803 - for the neighbouring parish of Llandingat (Llandovery) - suggests that this Sarah does not live for more than a few months:

However, a baptism in the same parish of Llandingat, with the same parents, and the same daughter's name IS recorded for March 10th 1805 - and I believe this records the birth of my third great grandmother, Sarah:

So these records also suggest that William Jones and Elizabeth Augustus are also my fourth great grandparents.

There's a lot more that I would like to know about David (3GG) and Sarah - for example, Did they know each other first of all as children living in Cilycwm? When did they move to Breconshire - did David move there first in his work as a blacksmith for example? When and why did they become non-conformists? Sadly, those questions won't ever be answered - but I can now trace my family tree back a further generation:

David Davies and Hannah Williams, my fourth great grandparents

The 1808 Cilycwm baptism register for David Davies (3GG) - above - records David and Hannah Davies as being my fourth great-grandparents. A Cilycwm marriage record (for "Saint Michael Killy Combe") for the previous year, 1807, is very likely to be this same couple:

The record contains two interesting nuggets of information. Firstly that Hannah's maiden name was Williams, and, secondly, that David Davies (4GG) is a "Trumpeter". 

The term 'trumpeter' certainly implies that David Davies (4GG) was a soldier, although it's not clear to me if the term implies he was just a ''private' or a more specific trumpeter used to sound military orders in battle. David does not seem to have lived as long as the 1841 census - as his wife Hannah is then recorded as living in Lower Street, Llandovery, with only her daughter, Elizabeth - and then, in 1851, is also definitely listed as a widow from Cilycwm:

This Cilycwm burial record for a David Davies on 5th January 1837 might therefore record his death, at the age of 62:

If that is David Davies (4GG)'s 1837 burial record, then his year of birth must be around 1775. While the date doesn't match entirely - although they rarely do - then this could be the record of his baptism in Llandingat on 17th January 1779:

If so, then I even have the names of my fifth great grandparents - John and Martha Davies from Llandovery.

But, to finish this branch of the family tree, what else can I find out about Hannah Williams, the Llandovery widow shown in the 1841 and 1851 censuses as having been born around 1781? Again, there is a baptism record in the Llandingat parish register for 16th August 1781 that could be Hannah's:

If this is the right one, then the names of some further fifth great grandparents are William and Catherine Williams from Cwmbaddwr in the 'Forest' area north of the the town towards Cilycwm - still shown on this old map from 1904:

William Jones and Elizabeth Augustus, my other fourth great grandparents

Going back to the records above for Sarah Jones', then my other set of fourth great grandparents in this branch of the family tree are William Jones and Elizabeth Augustus.

Elizabeth's distinctive name makes it fairly easy to track down relevant ancestry records, particularly her and William's marriage in Cilycwm on 21st December 1804 (a date which also explains the 'illegitimate' nature of the other birth above in 1803):

Her baptism record can also be traced to 15th February 1785, also in Cilycwm, and, while her mother's name isn't given, her father, my fifth great-grandfather, is recorded as being Rees August:

Finally, looking for a baptism record for a similar date and place for 'William Jones' produces this Cilycwm record for 10th September 1786:

This entry records the names of my final set of fifth great-grandparents as being David and Rachel Jones. What's more, David is described as being 'a miner'.

His work would not have been on mining coal, however, but metal ore, probably lead. I have already traced back another branch of the family tree to the Nantymwyn lead mine at nearby Rhandirmwyn - although, in that case, only as far back as the mid-nineteenth, century. 

As I posted then, quoting from 'rhandirmwyn.net', "records show that the mine was in production in 1304 but it was probably the late 1700’s and 1800’s that was its heyday with a massive extraction of lead  (100,000 tons) and zinc (500 tons)". So it's possible that David Jones was one of those Nantymwyn miners in 1786.

Another possibility is that David was mining on the smaller lead and copper seams that were being worked at the time on Mynydd Mallaen, which rises to the north-west of Cilycwm, or even at the gold mine at Dolaucothi, near Caio.

Either way, one of my oldest traced ancestors took the trade that is so associated with the working people of South Wales - mining.