Update on the possible Hereford link
I made a second visit to Hereford archives on 28th July 2011. The purpose of my visit was to follow up two possible leads :
- Leintwardine, Herefordshire 2. Blacksmiths named Jones
1. Leintwardine
The possible Leintwardine connection came from two separate searches of the FamilySearch database and may prove to be no more than a coincidence.
(a) The first case related to Ann Howells who married Elias Jones in Hereford on 20 April 1760. I was trying to gather information about her (marriage, baptisms of children) but drew a blank in all areas except one. FamilySearch showed three entries for baptisms of daughter Sarah, 29 Feb 1772 in Hereford, to Elias and Ann Jones and one of these gives Ann’s birth as “about 1744 of All Saints, Hereford” and Elias’s as “about 1740 of All Saints, Hereford”. I searched baptism records for Hereford for this period for both Elias and Ann without success and can only assume that All Saints, Hereford is mentioned as this is the parish where their children were all baptised. I have no idea where the information for the dates 1744 and 1740 came from and they could be pure guess work on the part of the compiler. However, when searching Herefordshire for baptisms of Ann Howells there is an entry for 15 May 1744 in Leintwardine.
(b) The second case occurred when I was searching FamilySearch for information about any Elias Jones and found a marriage on 19 Jan 1658 of Elias Jones and Ann Taylor at Leintwardine. I wondered whether this Elias Jones could have had descendants (perhaps three generations) who also carried the name Elias, lived in the Leintwardine area and could have known Ann Howells resulting in their marriage in Hereford in 1760.
It seemed rather a long shot but I decided to follow up these ideas. The marriage of Elias Jones and Ann Taylor on 19 Jan 1658 in Leintwardine produced 6 children one of who was named Elias (27 Oct 1667). However, I was unable to find any records involving this new Elias Jones (marriage or children) but it is possible that he moved over the border into Shropshire or even further afield. I did find a burial for Elias Jones of Leintwardine on 27 Nov 1684 who could have been the husband of Ann Taylor.
I found the baptism of Anne Howells in Leintwardine on 15 May 1744, daughter of John and Susan Howells, and also baptisms of her six siblings.
All the above details and those following after this paragraph were initially found on the original version of FamilySearch (which appears to be no longer available) and then verified or contradicted at Hereford archives. Since then I have tried to check the information on the latest version of FamilySearch and have been unable to find many of the records. However, I did stumble across an interesting burial record (which I had not seen before) for Elias Jones, single, who died 12 Jan 1747, residence Ludlow, buried Leintwardine. This record is quite odd and I think needs further investigation because Elias Jones of Hereford was buried in Hereford on 12 Jan 1797 (exactly fifty years later). Is this a coincidence or has the compiler made a mistake?
2. Blacksmiths named Jones
Thomas Jones (Selattyn) was a blacksmith and must have been trained somewhere, possibly by his father. I felt that if I could show that Elias (Hereford, ~1740 – 1797) or John (b 1761, son of Elias) were blacksmiths then the possibility of the Hereford link would be strengthened, although not proved.
Pigot’s directory of Hereford for 1840 under Blacksmiths lists John Jones of Bewell St and the 1830 directory lists James Jones of Bewell St. The first entry in the 1841 census for Bewell St shows James Jones (55) blacksmith with Elizabeth Jones (60) and James Jones (20) blacksmith. Both Jameses were born in the county but Elizabeth was not. Could these James Joneses be descendants of Elias Jones ?
Microfilm MX302 for All Saints, Hereford and FamilySearch show baptisms for daughter Elizabeth on 1 Feb 1818 and son James on 2 May 1819 of parents James and Elizabeth Jones. In each case the father’s trade is blacksmith and the address is Eign Gate (very near Bewell St).
The 1841 census gives James Jones (father) as 55 years old (rounded) which implies he was born about 1786. Could he possibly be the son of John Jones (b 1761, son of Elias Jones) ?
FamilySearch shows a baptism of James Jones, son of John and Mary Jones, on 14 June 1784 at St Martins, Hereford. Also the marriage of John and Mary Jones is shown as being on 3 Feb 1778 at All Saints, Hereford. There is quite a lot of confusion over the information on this page which I discovered when trying to verify it on the microfilms at Hereford archives :-
- The marriage of John and Mary at All Saints on 3 Feb 1778 is on the St Martins microfilm MX129
- I found the baptism of son John Jones on 23 June 1779 at St Martins (MX129) but could not find that of James Jones on 14 June 1784 at St Martins (MX129) or at All Saints (MX302).
- I could not find baptisms of parents John Jones (about 1753) or Mary Bethel (about 1757) both supposedly at St Martins. Of course, if this John Jones was the son of Elias then his baptism was in 1761. Family Search does give two possible baptisms for Mary Bethel in 1763 and 1760.
This offers a somewhat tenuous link from Elias Jones (~1740 – 1797) to James Jones, blacksmith in the 1841 census:-
Elias Jones m 1760 Ann Howells
I
John Jones (bap 1761) m 1779 Mary Bethel
I
James Jones (bap 1784 – not confirmed) m Elizabeth (from outside county)
1841 census – blacksmith (55)
This tree does not really prove anything. A possible way forward is to look at deeds / rental agreements / taxes related to properties in Bewell St that were smithies for the period 1760 – 1840 to see if there are any references to Elias Jones, John Jones or James Jones.
G A J 12.08.2011 (paragraph in italics added 17.09.2013)