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Francis married Elizabeth Jones (b1860) on the 25 Dec. of 1883 ( Merry
Christmas) and they had four children, namely Thomas John
Francis b1885, Amelia Francis b1886, Francis Francis b1888, and
the youngest James. In 1901 the three oldest children are found
in the union cottage homes in Bryncoch, Blaenhonddan, and James
living with William John Rees, b1865 Cadoxton and his wife Sarah
Jane, b1866 Maesteg, at 22 Main Rd, Catwg (Cadoxton). James now
Francis Rees is down as cousin to William and also there is Anne
Rees aged 5 down as a cousin. I have not established that they
were first cousins.
In trying to establish why James was adopted, I have found the
death of an Elizabeth Francis (wife of Francis Francis) on the
sixteenth of January 1893 of Puerperal Fever (a fever following
childbirth and caused by uterine infection), registered in Neath
aged 33 which seems to tie in, and the death of a Francis
Francis in Swansea in Dec 1897 aged 36.
The Jones Family
Elizabeth
’s parents were John Jones a gardener b1816 in Llantrisant,
Monmouthshire. (two censuses give his birth 1811 and another two
1816) John is found in Neath in 1841 lodging with Samuel Lewis a
tailor at 23a London Rd. John married Elizabeth and they are found
at
Water St.
in 1851 with their three children, David b1846, Jennet b1849 and
Margaret b1850. By 1861 the family has grown with James1854, Mary
b1856, Zephaniah b1857, and
Elizabeth
b1860 all living at
Mexico
Rd.
which was off
Wind Street
. In 1871 they are still at Mexico Row No13 with the addition of
Lucy b1864, Elizabeth the wife is employed in butchery. When we
look for them in 1881 the family is scattered, John is dead,
Elizabeth a travelling vegetable saleswomen, Lucy is living with
Zephaniah and his new wife Eliza at 57 Windsor Rd. and Elizabeth
is a servant to her sister Mary and her husband John Thomas (a
Butcher) at 53 Windsor Rd. from where Elizabeth is married in
1883. At the same time Bemjamin Snow and family are at
55 Windsor Rd.
(Gertrude’s great uncle.)
The Francis Family
James married Gertrude Mabel Snow in the Sept Qtr of 1909 and they
had six children, Vida, Phylis, Olga, Marion, Maldwyn and Harold.
Going further back James’s father Francis was born in 1861 to
Thomas Francis bc1834 in Neath or Neath Abbey and Margaret Thomas
bc1839. Thomas was an
iron moulder and also ran the White Lion at
10
Cattle Street
Neath in 1881. They were married on Dec 23rd 1855 at St
Thomas’s parish Church and had at least 11 children, Jenkin
b1858, Francis, Sarah J, Elizabeth, William, Margaret, Martha,
Lucy A, Thomas, Jessie, and the youngest, Harriet b1881. They were
at
No. 2 Cattle Street
in 1871. Thomas may have
died aged 55 in Neath in the Sept Qtr 1889, and Margaret in the
March Qtr of 1890.
In 1891 Margaret junior is found with the younger children (and no sign
of Thomas and Margaret), at 52 Water St where she is a general
servant and niece to the head John Hill b1837 Neath a collier. Is
Margeret the mother called Margaret Hill? No!
The Thomas Family
On the marriage certificate of Thomas and Margaret we find that
Margaret’s father John Thomas was a carpenter, which helps us
find the right John Thomas in the 1851 census. We find John b1809
in Neath and his wife Margaret b1807 Neath at
Union Road
with their children, Sarah b1834, Margaret b1838, David b1841,
John b1844,
Elizabeth
b1846 and Leyshon b1850. In 1841 they are at
22 Wind Street
. In1861 we find them in “The Merra” in Neath (by Water St)
and Shem is added to the family b 1854, but Sarah and Margaret
gone probably both married.
The Mera & The Latt was housing put up by Sir Humphrey
Mackworth to accommodate the increase in population from the
opening of his mines in the Gnoll area during the late 17th and
early 18th centuries. The common land known as the Mera was
transformed into Victoria
Gardens
in 1896-7.
Going back another generation Thomas Francis’s father was also
Thomas b 1808 in Cadoxton, also a moulder, his mother was
Elizabeth Griffith b1808 Cadoxton. They had 10 children,
Elizabeth
b1827, Francis1829. Jane 1831, Thomas1834,
Margaret 1835, Mary 1838,William 1841, Catherine1843, Sarah1844,
Martha 1850, They lived in James Street in Neath in 1841,
and in the Latt in 1851 and 1861.
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