"My great Taid, John Jones was born in Llanfair Caereinion around 1837. The 1841 census has 6 Llanfair Caereinion entries possible for John: Llwychylau (Rhosaflo); Neuadd Fach (Rosaflo); Bonnygewin? (llanfair); Lletty Gwylym (Llanfair); 1st Brynellen, (Brynellen); and Ty Evan Rhys.

My great Nain was Ann Jones. Ann's birthplace was Llanwyddelan, Montgomeryshire.

The 1841 and 1851 census for all Llanwyddelan townships has two (and as far as I can see only two) possible entries for an Ann Jones:

1. (HO1440b p 211) Little Walk Mill -F. Richard Jones 30 yrs, Farmer, b. Montgomeryshire; M. Elinor Jones 30yrs, b. Mont. sibs. Richard 11yrs, John 8yrs, Thomas 3yrs, Mary 9mths.

2. 1851: F. Richard Jones, 59yrs, 'Farmer of 100 acres'; M. Mary Jones, 56 yrs; sibs: John 25yrs, Sarah 21yrs, Edward 19yrs, (Ann 16yrs), Benjamin 14yrs.

Later, John's occupation is noted as a driver/labourer. The 1861 Welshpool census has Ann and John Jones living at 124 Birriew Street "Wheat Sheaf" and both down as Servants at the inn - presumably the "Wheat Sheaf" where they are living.

The 1871 census gives Ann as a "Sausage Maker", Llanwyddalan? The 1881 census gives her as "labourer". I recall too that my Nain told me her father had been an Ostler at the Royal Oak.

1871 census has the family living at Lloyd's Buildings, Broad Street, Welshpool - as Rose was born in Bebb's Passage (described, in conversation with me, as having been "hovels" by a local history scholar in 1975) the move there was comparatively recent.

My Aunt Rose wrote a journal early on in her life and The Journal begins:

'I'll start this journal with the head of my family - my Mother. I call her the 'head' because she was the one who worked hardest, brought us all up to be honest - and that was no mean feat, because there were eleven of us. She was born in Welshpool and her name then was Rose Jones in the year 1868. As I don't remember my grandparents I shall write as remember my Mother telling me of them.

Her parents - my grandparents - were butchers and had a shop in Welshpool, but every summer my grandfather came to North Wales with a handsome cab, which he plied for hire as there wasn't much living out of the shop.

One summer he started drinking, neglected the cart and horse, so my grandmother decided to give up the shop and to settle in Llandudno to keep her eye on him.

They had seven children 5 girls and 2 boys Their names were Evan, Jack, Maggie, Lucy. Polly, Rose (my mother) and Betty. They travelled by boat from Liverpool, and my Mother told me that as there was no pier the boatman carried them across the water to dry land.

They slept that night in the horse's stable. My Mother was 4 years old and Llandudno was just a small village.'

While realising the massive hurdles the joint surname presents, I'd love to find out more and especially about the social conditions they lived under. Any pointers please?"

Article written by Mike Llywelyn Cox

Mike sent us this update in July 2008

Mike:"John Jones' place of birth and early years are no clearer, but I'm much further on with Ann Jones:

ANN JONES: BORN 1835, 34 or 33. Place of Birth Pen Y Gaer, Llanwyddelan, Montgomeryshire.

Getting definite information was made easier by a visit to the area she came from in March of this year. I knew Welshpool but had never been to the rural area around Llanfair Caereinion and Llanwyddelen. I wanted to fill out the sketchy impressions I had of the area from OS maps and rare photos. It doesn't seem to be an area that has ever attracted written description or,equally, thought to have merited photographic or painterly attention. I also went to see what, if any, vibrations (for want of a better word) I would get there. I was knocked out. It is one of the world's uniquely beautiful and almost timeless places with warm, friendly people free of cynicism. And yes, almost immediately I felt I totally belonged there - a natural part of the earth there. Fanciful perhaps, but a great feeling nonetheless.

Llanwyddelan is a small, scattered village centred on a beautifully sited church and cemetry (Church of Wales) set on a prominent hill on the eastern approach. The church has an unusual slate hung gable end where it faces west. The road eastwards through the village, after a mile and a quarter, reaches the village of Adfa. Just about quarter of a mile before you get to Adfa, there is a small lane running up right (north). This lane leads to Y Gaer, an ancient British Hillfort. Following this lane, I found the site of the two Pen Y Gaer cottages with the help of a Cassini 1835 reproduction OS map.

The site location was later confirmed by the Clwyd - Powys Archeological Society. I was told: "I have searched the Regional Historic Environment Record and have found that both cottages are recorded on there. The only survey in which they have been included as yet, is as part of a Tir Gofal Management Plan - a scheme which supports farmers in protecting both the archaeological heritage and natural environment on their land. In this survey, the cottage sites were located within the landscape, their location only being visible today by the way of a slight level platform. Both the cottages and Pen y Gaer hillfort fall within the land of Tynyrwtra Farm..." They also sent the National Grid References for the cottages: SJ0667001199 and SJ0668601197.

The 1841 census records one family living at "Pen Y Gaer" as: Evan Jones age 30 Ag Lab Ann Jones age 35 Ann Jones age 7 Mary Jones age 4 Margaret Jones age 1 Margaret Gittins 80 pauper.

Alun Baines my distant cousin (in both senses) lives in New Zealand. Alun did acres of invaluable fundamental research which he generously shared with me. Following the clue provided by the presence of Margaret Gittins at Penygaer in 1841, he found: "The name Margaret Gittins gave a clue to Ann Jones's parents. Margaret Gittins was buried in Welshpool aged 82 of Penygaer 28 December 1844 ( Her death was registered by a member of the Jones family..." Alun went on to find an important marriage record: " Evan Jones (bachelor) to Ann Gittins (spinster) at Llanwyddelan Parish Church 2nd April 1830 Witnesses Thomas Gittins (signed) and Thomas Owen (signed). [Thomas Owen was a customary witness at this period. Thomas Gittins was Ann's father]. So it turns out my Great Grandmother Ann Jones' mother was originally Ann Gittins. Ann Gittins' father Thomas had the farm Llwyncoppa which is just over the lane and a couple of fields away from Pen Y Gaer. Alun went on to find that: "After their marriage in 1830 Evan and Ann Jones lived at 'Pen Y Gaer' and had a daughter Anne Jones on the 10 October 1830. (This) Anne died age 2 on the 31 January 1833...On the 24 November 1833 a second Anne Jones (sic) was born followed by: Mary born 27 November 1843; Thomas born 19 January 1843; and Evan born 1846" Alun doesn't say where this information came from but if it's accurate, it gives us Ann Jones' exact birthdate.

In the 1851 census, Ann is missing from Penygaer but at Llwyncoppa an Ann Jones aged 17 is recorded as a 'servant.' Interestingly, another servant recorded there in 1851 is John Jones aged 16 - but his place of birth is down as Manafon, not Llanfair Caereinion. Whether or not that is our John Jones, Ann probably married our John sometime between 1851 and 1858. Alun found their first child Evan's birth certificate: " Evan was born at Pen Y Gaer Oct 31st 1858. Ann registered his birth 6 days later in Tregynon a Sub District of Newtown.

Both Alun and I have made futile searches for a record of Ann and John's marriage - an important bit of information to tie things together. In 1861, they, with their son's Evan aged 2 and John aged 3 months are living at the Wheatsheaf Inn, Berriew Street, Welshpool. They are, so far, not traceable via the Welshpool, Llanfyllin (Llanfair Caereinion was in that registry district then) or Newtown registries. I searched the non-conformist indexes at the Montgomeryshire Genealogical Society's office in Newtown when I visited last March - no trace.

On the religious side, Ann and John seem to have used the Church of Wales - their children were baptised at CofW churches. However, there must be some uncertainty: Pen Y Gaer, although technically in the parish of Llanwyddelen, was really nearer and directly geographically linked with Adfa and Llwyncoppa was in Adfa (still is). There is an interesting brief entry in the history of the founder of Adfa Chapel which says the area was strongly non-conformist and before the Chapel was built the people of the area held their services "at local farms like Llwyncoppa."

For other Jones seekers, John and Ann's children were, chronologically: Evan, John, Sarah Jane, Anne, Lucy, Rose (my Nain), Mary (Polly), Maggie, and Elizabeth (Betty).

I'm now, as well as continuing the search for facts, trying to build a picture of how Ann and John lived then - the social conditions, circumstances and environment they would have experienced. A problem is that while there are some excellent and entertaining texts available from the National Library of Wales and others, these range all over Wales except for the area around Llanfair and Llanwyddelen. The social history of the good ordinary people of Wales is, relative to that of the gentry and the celebrity, sadly neglected.!"