Birth in Llangafelach early 1800's
I went to West Glamorgan archives a few weeks ago, while there I looked at the Llangafelach Church Registers I know my gg grandmother was married in the church I was hoping to find her birth registration there but was disappointed not to find it. I know back in early 1800's that there were not many churches in the area, but I would have thought that she would have married in the church where she would have been baptised?
Is i possible that she wasnt baptised in the same Church. her father was living in 1841 in Clydach Swansea . Was there more than 1 church. I know there was a Bethania Chaple/Church at the top of Quarr Road/ Bethania Road. Could that have been the church?
Answers
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I recommend that you research Llangyfelach in the FamilySearch Catalog at https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/results?count=20&placeId=28581&query=%2Bplace%3A%22Wales%2C%20Glamorgan%2C%20Llangyfelach%22.
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She would have to marry in an Anglican church [unless she was RC or Jewish] until 1837 - but a lot of Welsh people weren't Anglican in the early 1800s; the family may well have been non-conformist and baptised into their own tradition.
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Thanks Ben
I will take a look
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She married in 1840 in the Parish Church of llangafelach, But not sure which church that actually was, but when I seached for the birth is the same section of registers nothing came up.
But when I go down there next time I will see if I can find some other registers of nearby churches.
They were not RC . Thanks Elaine
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The Llangyfelach area had many nonconformist chapels. Once the parish church registers are searched for the christening the next step is to look at the nonconformist records in the area.
The best list of surviving chapel registers will be found in the book, Cofrestri Anghydffurfiol Cymru/Nonconformist Registers of Wales. The book is arranged by county then by region. It looks like many of the chapels in Llangyfelach are listed under the Pontardawe region. There are several chapels that may have the christening you are looking for.
What year was your ancestor born?
What was her name?
The best online database to start searching for nonconformist christenings is https://search.findmypast.co.uk/search-world-Records/england-and-wales-non-conformist-births-and-baptisms although not all chapels are included. The same database is on Ancestry. The index is on FamilySearch but not the record images.
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Hi Darris
Her name was Alice Williams, born c 1817 Llangafelach
Married in Llangafelach Parish Church 1841
Julie
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Her father was Thomas William/s
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I see that you have Alice Williams in Family Tree 9HBG-VLQ which is very helpful. It looks like Thomas Williams probably died between 1851 and 1861. One thing you should do is find the death certificate for Thomas Williams.
You can compare what you learn from the death certificate with a search in Glamorgan Burial Index produced by the Glamorgan Family History Society. If your Thomas William/Williams burial is not listed in the Glamorgan Burial Index that is a very strong indicator that the family were nonconformist.
If you discover that Thomas Williams was likely a nonconformist then it will be very important to identify the chapels near where he lived and the dates they began.
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Thanks Darris
I will try and find the death cert, but Thomas Williams is a popular, so will ahve a go
Julie
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I looked at the options to see if there might be a strategy to working this problem and I think there is. You have Thomas William in the 1851 census. Search the 1861 census to see if he was still alive. If he is not in the 1861 census then search the GRO death index.
The GRO death index provides the age at death and you have the birth year for Thomas from the 1851 census. The GRO index only allows a search for the year of death + or - 2 years. You can narrow the search by including the volume number. Volume 11A covers South Wales. Because Thomas Williams lived in Llangyfelach and his death could have been registered at Neath or Swansea.
You can search the GRO death index from 1851 through 1861 and should find about ten Thomas Williams deaths registered who are close to the correct age. I found four that seem like very close matches. Make a list of the reasonably close matches to work from.
With a list of possible death certificates there are two options. If you live close to Swansea & Neath you could visit the local register office. They can't use all the details from the GRO index but they can look for the person in the year and quarter and then look at the record to see if the age and other information match with what you know.
Another option is to order the three or four closest index matches from the GRO. That will cost a little more money but give you the chance to see each record and decide for yourself if you have a match or not.
The occupation and place of death are two clues on the death certificate that can help you be sure you have the correct death record. The name of the informant and their residence and sometimes relationship are the clues you may find on the death certificate to help you be sure you have the correct certificate.
Once you have the death certificate there are additional searches that can be done in other records in the area.
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Thanks Darris
That info is really helpful,
I will take a closer look, I live in Glais so only a mile from where he lived, and can have easy access to Swansea and Neath which are both I have used in the past, unfortunately I am having surgery tomorrow so it will have to wait a while, but will keep this email for reference.
Thanks
Julie
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