Notes on Thomas Jones of Selattyn
There have been some possible developments in establishing details of the marriage of Thomas Jones to Catharine and also to where he may have come from. These developments are due to the increase in parish records that have recently been made available on the internet. Previous to these developments I had thought that Thomas may have come from the Hereford area but now I have reasons to believe otherwise.
Hereford or Ruabon
Thomas Jones is an extremely common name and I had realised that it could be difficult identifying him. Noticing that he had a son with the rather unusual name of Elias gave me the idea that his father, or a near relative, may have also been named Elias. I had searched the internet for a baptism around 1770 for Thomas Jones with father Elias Jones and the only likely result I found was in Hereford. Further investigation in the Hereford area showed hopeful possibilities and so I put in a lot of effort trying to follow up various leads (see notes on Hereford). However, even though some findings seemed plausible, none were definite and I had not given up on finding a baptism elsewhere.
I was aware that there was a small cluster of Elias Joneses in Ruabon but had not been able to link any with the necessary dates and a son named Thomas. However, using the internet, some recently released records have revealed a possible connection in Ruabon which is not far from Selattyn. It is for the baptism of Thomas Jones on 22 Apr 1770, son of Elias and Elizabeth Jones of Christionydd Kenrick, Ruabon. This date is consistent with Thomas being 59 years old when he died and was then buried on 30 Apr 1829. Further research is needed in this area to see if I can find more evidence to confirm the connection (see notes on Ruabon).
Marriage in Stottesdon or Llangollen
The marriage in Stottesdon was the most likely in the Hereford area but I had only seen a transcription of the record. I have now seen the actual record and have noticed that neither Thomas nor Catherine (Cook) signed their names. This fact does not discount it as the marriage but, bearing in mind that four of their children went on to become school teachers, it makes it more doubtful. The children would have had a basic education at school but I feel that they must have had some extra help at home suggesting a degree of literacy from their parents. Also, the Stottesdon marriage was only four months before the birth of their first child in Selattyn which does not rule it out but does make it more unlikely.
Recently, I have discovered another possible marriage. It is in Llangollen between Thomas Jones of the parish of Selattyn and Catharine Holland of the parish of Llangollen. This marriage on 11 Dec 1796 was nine months before the birth of their first child and is also much nearer to Selattyn. They both signed the parish register and Catharine appears to have started her name with a ‘K’ before rubbing it out and signing Catharine. This could be important because at the baptisms of her last two children she was referred to as Kitty. Catharine died on 27 Feb 1848 at Pantglas and was buried on 2 Mar 1848 in Selattyn. There seems to be some doubt about her age when she died. Her death certificate, made out on the same day as her burial, gives her age as 75 years whereas her burial record has 74 years. These ages would imply that she was born between Mar 1772 and Feb 1774 but I have been unable to find a suitable baptism in this range. The best two records for a baptism for Catharine are both for Kitty Holland and are in 1774 but later than February.
Kitty Holland [1] was baptised on 15 Mar 1774 at Aston by Sutton (which is near Frodsham, Cheshire) with parents Thomas and Margaret Holland. This date just about fits if she had been a few weeks old when baptised and if she had only just turned 74 when she died. There were two couples named Thomas and Margaret Holland living in the Frodsham area at that time and it is not easy to separate the families. The following are the names of siblings from the two families - names of siblings, parents and close relatives often get reused in later generations :- Mary, Margaret, Betty, Elizabeth, Alice, Edward, Thomas and John.
Kitty Holland [2] was baptised on 7 Aug 1774 at Great Sankey (which is near Warrington, Lancashire) with parents William and Ellen Holland. This date is about six months too late but she may not have been baptised straight away or Catharine’s age at death may have been wrong (not uncommon and there does seem to be some confusion over her age). The names of her siblings are favourable :- John, Isaac, Ellen, Betty, William, Joseph and Thomas. John Holland was witness at the Llangollen marriage and most of these names were used for the Selattyn children (in particular Isaac which was not very common).
G A J 19.03.2015