Allen Family History

Sources of Information: 1. Llansannan, Denbigh, Wales Parish Registers, West Glamorgan County Record Office, Swansea

Notes:

ROBERT ALLEN RESEARCH REPORT

[allen102903 / 0346] 6 January 2004

Research on both the Lewis and Davies families were split between Swansea in Glamorgan and the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth. The National Library has bonds, licenses, and probates while the local archives have parish registers and other local sources. We started with our search in the West Glamorgan County Record Office at Swansea for the ancestry of William John Lewis. As most records are arranged by locality (parish), we needed to see in what parish Pentre AEstil@ was located. This village is actually spelled APentre Estyll@, and is in the parish of St. John juxta Swansea, in the county of Glamorgan.
The law at the time of John Lewis= marriage to Martha Evans was that all marriages had to take place in the local parish church, either by banns or by license. As most of South Wales were non-conformists (i.e. did not attend the Anglican Church), this is an important source for locating Welsh families. A very important clue for determining an affiliation with a non-conformist church is when we can find the marriage and sometimes the burial, but no christenings for children are found in the parish register. So, we searched for christenings of St. John juxta Swansea for the John Lewis, Margaret John, and Enoch Evans families but did not locate any entries for them in the parish registers. We also did not find the burial dates for any of the pedigree names either. Therefore, they must be non-conformist. We also checked the Probate Index of St. David=s but again could not locate any family members.
While at Swansea we applied for several searches for burial certificates. They did find a death certificate for Martha (Evans) Lewis [document #1]. On the 15th of July 1840 Martha Lewis of Pentre in the parish of St. John died age 50 years, the wife of John Lewis at the Colliery (coal mine) of Pentre. She died of convulsions, and her husband was present at her death.
We checked the Family History Library Catalog to see what was available in Salt Lake City, and there were many other sources there. Therefore we did not pursue these lines further here, since it is more efficient to do research at the Family History Library.
We now turned our attention to the lineage of Jane Davies of Llansannan, Denbigh, Wales. Her family were members of the Church of Wales (Anglican), which is very helpful in our research attempts. We read through the Parish Registers of Llansannan and found the following christening entries: Aug 3, 1817 Catherine, dau of John & Jane Williams of Treflach, farmer, christened Jul 24, 1814 John, son of John & Jane Williams of Pen Trefan, farmer, christened Apr 19, 1812 Elizabeth, dau of John Williams and Jane formerly Jane Hughes of Tir fan, born April 10th, was christened
Feb 25, 1810 Jane, dau of John Williams and Jane formerly Jane Hughes of Ten coed ros, born 22 Feb, was christened May 26, 1808 Mary, dau of John Williams and Jane formerly Jane Hughes of Hendrenenig, born 22 May, was christened Oct 7, 1787 Hugh, sonof David Williams & Elizabeth formerly Elizabeth Davies, of Heskin, born Oct 5th, was christened Mar 26, 1785 John, son of David Williams & Elizabeth his wife formerly Elizabeth Davies of Heskin, born March 26th, was christened Feb 13, 1780 Jane, dau of John Hughes of Heskin and wife Jonnet Mar 9, 1777 John, son of John Hughes of Heskin and wife Jonnet Oct 20, 1751 John, son of David Hughes of Kwyn yGibwr & wife Janae (Joan)

You will note that we have discovered the birth and christening date for John Williams, Jane Hughes, and the probable birth/christening date for John Hughes as well as his parents David Hughes and wife Joan.

We also found the following marriages and burials in the Parish Registers of Llansannan: May 3, 1776 John Hughes & Jonnet Pierce, both of this parish, published banns 14th, 21st, 28th Apr; John signed the register and Jonnet signed with a mark (X). Witnesses: James Price, Rector and Charles Watken Mar 9, 1785 David Williams of this parish bachelor and Elizabeth Davies of this parish spinster married by License (in the banns register!); both signed with a mark (X); witnesses: John Roberts, William Jones Apr 20, 1785 John Roberts bachelor and Margaret Williams spinster both of this parish married by banns, both signed by mark (X); witnesses: David Williams, William Lloyd {these two entries in 1785 were adjacent to each other}

We did not find the license there, but you will note that the name of David Williams wife was given as Elizabeth rather than Catherine, as was listed on the pedigree chart we were given. Margaret Williams appears to be a sister to David Williams or the daughter of David Williams (Sr.) as a person by that name is the witness to her wedding. In addition, we verified the marriage data for John Hughes and Jonnet Pierce.
However, we did not find the marriage of John Williams to Jane Hughes in the parish registers. We then turned to the Burial Register of Llansannan, and found the following: John Williams of Tan y Fron buried 2 January 1846, aged 8 years John Williams of Cefn Treflach buried 25 March 1851 aged 70 years Subsequent research has shown neither one of these entries is ancestral. While at the National Library, we checked the Marriage License and Allegations Database and ordered a record which appeared to theirs. It was in two parts - the license and the bond:
Marriage License of John Williams to Jane Hughes, dated 23 September 1807 (SA/152/45) [document #2]: John Williams of the Parish of Llansannan, Farmer aged 21 years and upwards, batchelor; intends to marry Janes Hughes of the same parish aged twenty-one years, spinster License to solemnize marriage in parish of Llansannan Both were residents of Llansannan for the past 4 weeks. Signed by John Williams witnesses: Robert Davies, farmer, Llansannan & Thomas Davies

Marriage Bond for John Williams of the Parish of Llansannan Farmer (SA/152/45)[document #3]: Bond between John Williams of Llansannan and Robert Davies of the same parish, farmer Bond of ,100 with William, Lord Bishop of St. Asaph Dated 23 September 1807 Signed: John Williams and Robert Davies

We now searched for probate records for the Williams and Hughes families at the National Library. We checked the Probate Index for St. Asaph first for John Williams, and found three potential entries for him: John Williams, SA/1851/116/W John Williams, SA/1851/115/B John Williams, SA/1846/127/WX

We ordered all three, and discovered the 1846 will was indeed for the ancestral John of Rhydidion Bach in Llansannan parish.
There were three different documents in this folder, which are as follows:
1. Request of John Williams of Rhydidion Bach in Llansannan parish 1 May 1846 for Robert Davies to write his will (SA/1846/127). Affidavit signed 25 August 1846. [document #4]:

2. Will of John Williams dated 13 May 1846 (SA/1846/127/W) [document #5]: bequeath to daughter Catherine ,10 bequest to daughter Mary ,10; md ----- Jones, ,3 to her daughter Elizabeth bequest to daughter Elizabeth ,10 bequest to daughter Jane ,10 personal estate to son & daughter Anne and William signed with a mark (X) Executor: William Williams 25 August 1846

3. Inventory document [document #6]

We then turned back to the Probate Index for St. Asaph looking for entries for David Williams and any earlier Williams that may be related. We found several potential entries, and examined each of them: David Williams, SA/1688/130/B John Williams, SA/1725/80/B David Williams, SA/1741/97/W David Williams, SA/1762/140/WI David Williams, SA/1781/117/B

The first entry was not relevant to our search, but we ordered copies of the other four. The first of these was for John Williams, and contained two documents - a bond and an inventory: Bond of Margaret Williams 1725 (SA/1725/80/B)[document #7]: widow and relict of John Williams late of Llansannan in Denbigh She signed with (X) Witnesses: Robert Wynne, John Edwards

Inventory of John Williams 22 October 1724 (SA/1725/80/I)[document #8]: Five Bulloccs and two Heifers ,9 5 pence Four cows ,6 15 pence Fforty Sheep being Ewes, weathers, yearlings, and lambs ,4 15 pence Sold two Bulloccs att ,3 15 pence Three Horses att ,3 15 pence A Sow pigg at 7 shillings Impliments of husbandry being one plow three yoaks draks and appurtanences att 8 pence One Cock and a Hen ? pence Three spades and two pikeforkes and four rakes att 1 shilling Wool and woollen thrid att 10 shillings Sakes and baggs in number six att 9 shillings Two large chests and a small one with a small quantity of Oat meal att ,1 15 shillings Five sheets att 5 shillings Two coverletts att 3 shillings Three Blancketts att 4 shillings One boulter att 5 shillings One Bedstead and one ? 1 shilling Two spinning wheels and one ? 1 shilling One saddle 1 shilling, etc.

The next entry we looked at was that of David Williams of 1741/1742:

Will of David Williams of Pen Cy Y Cwm in Llansannan 27 October 1741/2 (SA/1741/97/W)[document #9]: Bequest to brother Thomas Williams 20 shillings Bequest to sister Ellin Williams 20 shillings Bequest to sister Gwen Williams 20 shillings Bequest to sister Mary Williams 20 shillings Bequest to sister Jane Williams 20 shillings Bequest to nephew William Roberts ,2 Bequest to nephew Robert Jones 20 shillings Bequest to nephew David Williams 20 shillings Bequest to nephew Thomas Roberts 20 shillings All goods and chattells to wife Gwen David, she to be Executrix Witness John Thomas of Chwibren, John Thomas Owen, William Williams

The next entry was for David Williams of Brun Bygad in Llansannan, with a will and inventory: The will of David Williams of Brun Bygad in Llansannan in county of Denbigh dated 6 January 1753 (SA/1762/140/W) [document #10]: bequest to son William Davies ,10 bequest to son Robert Davies ,10 bequest to daughter Mary Davies 5 shillings bequest to daughter Anne Davies 5 shillings residue of personal estates etc. to loveing wife Anne Roberts wife executrix of will will proved 1762

Inventory of personal estate of David Williams of Brynbigad in Llansannan, dated 19 July 1762 (SA/1762/140/I)[document #11]: in the Hall ,5 in the uper chamber ,2 in the butri ,1 in the lowr chamber ,2 in the loft 10 shillings two cart & two Harow and all that belong two them ,5 for seven cows ,15 for twelf small cattall ,18 for four calfs ,1 11 shillings for two Horses ,7 for the sheep ,18 for the goats 9 shillings total sume ,70 3 shillings Appraised by John Parry of Hislford and John Thomas

The final entry for this type of source was that of David Williams, which contained three documents - a bond, two versions of the inventory, and an administration: Probate bond between Mr. David Williams the Elder of Newchurch parish in Radnor Clothier and David Williams the younger of the same place Clothier (BR/1787/51/B)[document #12]: Bond of ,500 with Edward, Lord Bishop of Saint Davids 14 June 1787 To be administrators of Rees Williams late of the said parish of Newchurch

Inventory of Rees Williams of Newchurch dated 6 June 1787 (BR/1787/57/I)[document #13]: Farming apparel ,2 an old horse ,1 one shears 2/6 one hand 3 shillings 6 pence 2 tuns of Timber ,1 3 Remnants of Cloths ,2 A watch, one box, cash ,1 16 shillings Lease of a Mesne Tucking Mill with the appurts(appurtences) in the parish of New church in the said county granted by Richard Owen Cambridge, Esqr to the sd Rees Williams for 500 Years worth about ,30 Total ,57 19 shillings 6 pence

Inventory of Rees Williams Clothier 6 June 1787 (BR/1787/57/I2)[document #14]: Late of the parish of Newchurch Wearing Apparel ,2 An old Horse ,1 One Shears 2/6, one hand saw 1 shilling 6 pence Two Tuns of Timber ,1 Three Remnants of Cloths ,2 A Match, one Box, Cash ,1 16 shillings A Lease of a Messuage and Tucking Mill with the Appurtenances in the Parish of Newchurch in the said county granted by Richard Owen Cambridge Esquire to the said Rees Williams for five hundred years worth about ,500 Total: ,57 19 shillings 6 pence witnesses: James Marshall, David Davies (X)

Administration of Rees Williams of Newchurch 15 June 1787 (BR/1787/5 A)[document #15]: Administration granted to David Williams of Newchurch Tucker his Father Prepares to perform inventory witnesses: James Marshall, David Davies (X)

On the Davies line, we verified the marriage data for William Davies and Elizabeth Williams in the Parish Registers of Gwytherin as 9 August 1834 by banns, with the witnesses as: Harry Davies (X) and Margaret Williams (X).
There were also two marriage bond entries listed in the Marriage Bonds & Allegations Database at Aberystwyth. These entries were as follows:
Robert Thomas of Llanfydd yeoman & Catheirne Jones of the same widdow married 23 May 1720 (SA/7/201) Robert Thomas of Gart garmon yeoman & Catherine Jones of Tir y Abbad in the parish of Llannfydd 16 June 1726

Neither of these appeared to be ancestral. Since the parish registers we needed to search were actually in Denbigh and we had not scheduled time to travel that far north, we stopped our research on that line until returning to Salt Lake City.
Before finalizing this report, we checked a couple of internet sites to see if anyone else had worked on this line. First we checked FamilySearch.org, and specifically examined the Ancestral File entries, but these were the same as what we already had. We then moved to the Ancestry.com website, and found several entries there. We printed out the information from one of these for future reference and study [document #16].
It has been a pleasure to assist you in researching and documenting your family history. We look forward to continuing research according to your instructions. _2003 Price & Associates Incorporated JMK/mh

ROBERT ALLEN RESEARCH REPORT

[lewis120404 / 0346] 17 December 2004

The first part of this project was to review the correspondence back from Wales on two death certificates B both of which were negative [document #1-2]. This was done prior to our trip to the National Library of Wales, where we focused on trying to extend the Lewis line to the seventh generation. We started with verifying the marriage of John Lewis to Martha Evans in the Bishop=s Transcripts of St. Johns Swansea. The marriage entry for John Lewis was as follows: John Lewis of the Parish of St. Mary Yeoman and Martha Evan of the parish of St. John spinster, married by banns with consent of parents 1 May 1813. John signed and Martha signed with an (X). The witnesses were: Enoch Evan (her father), Lewis Evans, and Jeremiah Jeremiah. We then checked for the marriage of John Lewis and Margaret John, which by law should be recorded in one of the state churches. We searched an index to these, and only found one: John Lewis and Margaret John 12 July 1782 at Colwinston parish. This fits chronologically, but is a long ways from either Llangyfelach and St. Johns Swansea, so we do not want to accept this as ancestral yet. We also checked the Orders of Faculty from 1693-1750, but no marriage was located for the above couple.
Next on our list of items to do was to verify the burial record of John Lewis. We found John was aged 69 years at the time of his death and his residence was Forest fach. Next we focused on the burial of Margaret John at St. Johns Swansea as per the client=s pedigree chart. Much to our surprise it was not in the Bishop=s Transcripts of St. Johns Swansea. We then decided to check the Llangeyfelach Bishop=s Transcripts, which is where we located the record. The record is as follows: Margaret John buried 21 September 1840 ae 64 years at Llangyfelach, but her residence was at Pentre, St. Johns Swansea! This leads us to believe she might actually be from this parish rather than Swansea. We also checked the Llangyfelach Parish Registers, but they did not add anything new to our search. Turning our attention now to the Evans line, we searched the registers of St. Johns Swansea and Llangyfelach Bishop=s Transcripts for Enoch Evans marriage or christening, but did not locate him. We checked St. Johns Swansea Bishop=s Transcripts burials from 1813 to 1842, but again no mention of Enoch. While in the later burials, we searched for the burial of Susan Williams but were unsuccessful.
We then checked the Llangyfelach Bishop=s Transcripts for the possibility of the burial of Susan Williams, but did not locate the entry. The only burial of any name close was a Susannah Rees, buried 25 November 1843 age 66 there. Previous research had proposed Susan Williams was the daughter of a David Williams, which we think is correct. We searched for a marriage of a David Williams in the Llangyfelach Bishop=s Transcripts and Parish Registers and only found one that was chronologically appropriate B David William married 27 May 1769 at Llangyfelach to Mary Lancelot.
While at the National Library, we were able to access the International Genealogical Index, which is quite popular in Britain. What is good about the International Genealogical Index is the marriages of Wales (when located) were put in the database. We noticed other Lancelots were in the Llangyfelach Bishop=s Trancsripts, which would be closely related to Mary. One of these families were Jeremiah Lancelot and Anne Williams. Their children were: Anne, William, Elizabeth, and Mary. Mary Lancelot, wife of David William, would have been born about 1748 or so, and there was a Thomas born about 1743 and the above Jeremiah who may be brothers.
The other line we worked on was the Davies line, trying to extend the lineage of Eleanor Owens. We checked both the Llangernyw Parish Registers and the Llangernyw Bishop=s Transcripts, but could not locate a viable candidate for her parents. The next step in attempting to push the ancestry of these lines back farther would be to search estate records at some point at the National Library.
It has been a pleasure to assist you in researching and documenting your family history. We look forward to continuing research according to your instructions. _2004 Price & Associates Incorporated JMK/mh

Notes: 1. Married by license