Notes on Thomas Jones from Ruabon

The idea that Thomas Jones named one of his sons Elias after his father or a close relative or friend has revealed the following baptism.  Thomas, son of Elias and Elizabeth Jones of Christionedd Kenrick, Ruabon on 22 April 1770.  This date fits in with his age of 59 years when he was buried in Selattyn on 30 April 1829.  As well as his father being named Elias, this Thomas also had an older brother named Elias which would have given him an extra reason to use the name for his own son.

Thomas Jones of Selattyn was a blacksmith and it would be quite likely that he learned his trade from someone in his family.  Parish records for baptisms, marriages and burials sometimes give the trade of those involved so I searched all those records involving his father, Elias (bap 1733), and also those involving his brother, Elias (bap 1756).  None of these records mentioned any reference to a blacksmith in the family.  His grandfather, Simon Jones, had twelve children but with all these baptisms and his marriage and burial there was no reference that he was a blacksmith either.

However, Thomas had an aunt, Arabella (bap 1730, daughter of Simon Jones), who married John Lloyd from Chirk in 1768 and in the Chirk parish baptism record for their second child his trade is given as blacksmith.  I have also found a burial in Chirk in 1799 for John Lloyd, blacksmith along with those for his wife, Arabella (1791), and his daughter, Arabella Valentine (1796).  John Lloyd was also mentioned in 1787 as a beneficiary in the will of William Lovett and was described as blacksmith from Chirk Bridge.  In another version of the will he is described as being from Chirk Bank which is on the Shropshire side of the River Ceiriog.  I have looked at the 1840 Tithe maps for Chirk, Denbighshire but could not find evidence of a smithy near Chirk Bridge.  I must now check the Tithe maps for Chirk Bank, Shropshire when next in Shrewsbury.

The area of Christionedd Kenrick lies on the west side of Ruabon and includes Cefn Mawr and Rhosymedre.  These are near to Newbridge where the road crosses the River Dee and then it is only a short distance to Chirk.  Selattyn is a couple of miles on the other side of Chirk.  John and Arabella Lloyd, as far as I can tell, only had two children, both daughters, born in 1769 and 1770.  Thomas was about the same age and John Lloyd may have taken his nephew as an apprentice and then later on Thomas could have become blacksmith at Pantglas near Selattyn.

The Thomas Jones who married Catherine Holland in 1796 at Llangollen was from the parish of Selattyn.  I have checked the Selattyn baptism records 5 years on either side of 1770 and the only records for Thomas Jones are in 1765 which I feel is far too early.  This suggests that Thomas was not born in Selattyn but moved there later in life which would support the idea of him coming from Chirk or Ruabon.

None of this information is conclusive but I feel that it shows much more promise than my earlier idea of a Hereford link.

G A J        26 Jan 2015