I am trying to find the birth place and Parish for John Griffiths listed in the 1851 Census
John Griffiths was living in Llay, Denbighshire, Wales in 1851 The census indicates he was born in Flintshire, but I cannot read or find the town. Can someone read what it says and identify the parish it would be in. Also is his age 70 or 79
Thank you.
Answers
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The age looks like 79 to me. I'm seeing a downward tail on the 9 that is absent from the 0's on the page. (See also the 9 under John's occupation, where it says he is a farmer of 9 acres.)
As for the town, that is a puzzler. It definitely looks like it ends with a y, but I'm having difficulty finding any communities that end in y in Flintshire that look like they could be this word. Maybe somebody who knows Wales better than I can help!
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Thank you. I believe you are correct and that his age is 79. Hopefully someone can help with the place. It may be the name of a dwelling and not a town
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Well it certainly appears to read "Commy" to me! The only place in Flintshire that comes even close seems to be Connah's Quay. A quick look at the town's Wikipedia entry indicates it is known locally as "the Quay" - no indication of any other alternative names / expressions that are / were used by locals to describe it.
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I keep reading it as "Commy" too. I agree that Connah's Quay is the closest match, and it's puzzling, especially since as you mentioned its colloquial name is "the Quay". It may be possible that "Commy" was some relatively obscure nickname for it back in the mid-19th century. I think someone would have to do some research on the history of Connah's Quay to try to find out if it was ever called anything else by the locals.
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I know ancestry.com has indexed this place as "Commy". I don't think it is Connah's Quay. I have looked at the church records for Northop and Hawarden which were the parishes for Connah's Quay prior to 1837 when they had their own parish. There were no Griffiths or Griffidd from Connah's Quay and no John Griffith's that fit the right years. I will have to keep trying
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Could it be Conwy - now known as Conway in North Wales?
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Oh, good thinking! Was Conwy ever associated with Flintshire? The FS research wiki says Conwy was in Caernarfonshire until 1974.
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Old maps also place Conwy in Denbighshire (same county as Llay) Rhyl was in Flintshire and is only 15 miles from Conwy. Maybe folk were vague about counties... or the enumerator of the census just guessed.
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I tried Conway, , Caernavonshire and Llansanffraid Glan Conwy in Denbighshire. Neither place had any Griffith or Griffiths from 1765-1775. Still looking. Thanks for your suggestions
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There is a town named Cymmau in the parish of Hope in Flintshire. It is on the border of
Flintshire and Denbighshire and very near Llay, where the census was taken. I wonder if that is it?
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