What happened to Thomas and Mary?

Today I stumbled over something that had thus far escaped my notice. My Great, great Grandparents, Thomas and Elizabeth Davis, had two children while living in Yorkshire, England, who did not survive. Thomas Davis Junior, born in 1859, and Mary Davis, born in 1861, are missing from the 1871 census. I didn't notice they were not present because my great, great grandparents had two more children once they had returned to Wales and these children were also named Thomas and Mary. Thomas number two was born in 1867 and Mary number two was born in 1869 in the county of Glamorgan.

So what happened to the first Thomas and Mary? I checked for Yorkshire death notices for both children, but found only an 1866 listing for a young Thomas "Davis", not "Davies" as the family was calling themselves while in Yorkshire.

So I checked death notices for the Welsh county of Glamorgan where the family had relocated by 1867. There I found a Thomas and Mary Davies, both born on the correct dates of 1859 and 1861, who had died in the fall of 1866.

Naturally, I started wondering what might have caused both children to die around the same time. I soon discovered that Britain was experiencing the third of three great cholera epidemics in 1866. According to one source I found on the web, as many as 14,000 people died throughout the island. Incredibly, my search revealed that a total of 146 people named Davies died in the same district in 1866.

Now here's the most interesting part. Thomas and Elizabeth Davis, my great great grandparents had a total of five children while living in Yorkshire, England. The two youngest, as we've seen, probably died in the great cholera epidemic of 1866. The next oldest of the five children, young George Davis, somehow survived that tragic time to one day become a very, very important person in my life -- my great grandfather.

UK Trip Update

For those of you who've tuned in late, I constructed this blog to record the myriad of details that have gone into planning for my upcoming trip to Scotland, England, and Wales. The purpose of the trip is to go to all the various towns and villages where my various paternal ancestors lived before they immigrated to the United States in the 1860s and 1870s. At this point everything seems to be moving ahead smoothly as the airline reservations, car-rental, B&B selection, and acquisition of travel passes are in place.

Naturally, since this trip is all about genealogy, what you see in the posting section tends toward observations on my ancestors. Still, you might find some interesting discoveries I have made along the way concerning travel in general.

Please let me know if you notice any errors or inconsistencies in the narrative. My email address is writeguy47@aol.com

Thanks much.

Great Grandfather, George Davis

My great great grandfather named his first-born George. If the name succession listed in the previous posting is correct, my great great great great grandfather may have been a George also. Here's what I found on the Web (part from Wikipedia) about the history of George:

The name George was drived From the Greek name Γεωργιος (Georgios) which was derived from the Greek word γεωργος (georgos) meaning "farmer, earthworker", itself derived from the elements γη (ge) "earth" and εργον (ergon) "work".

In Christian hagiography Saint George (ca. 275-281 – April 23, 303[2]) was a soldier in the Guard of Emperor Diocletian in the Roman Empire, venerated as a martyr.

Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Churches, and the Eastern Catholic Churches. He is immortalised in the tale of George and the Dragon and is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. His memorial is celebrated on 23 April.

St. George is the patron saint of Aragon, Catalonia, England, Ethiopia, Georgia, Greece, Palestine, Portugal, and Russia, as well as the cities of Amersfoort, Beirut, Bteghrine, Cáceres, Ferrara, Freiburg, Genoa, Ljubljana, Lod and Moscow, as well as a wide range of professions, organizations and disease sufferers.

Wow, busy guy!

Old English Naming Patterns

Here's something interesting I found on the web that might help me figure out why children received the names they did in my ancestral tree:

The first son was named after the father's father.
The second son was named after the mother's father.
The third son was named after the father.
The fourth son was named after the fathers eldest brother.
The first daughter was named after the mother's mother.
The second daughter was named after the father's mother.
The third daughter was named after the mother.
The fourth daughter was named after the mother's eldest sister.

The Rhydderchs of Llanelli, Breconshire County

My ancestors, the Rhydderchs, claim on their census forms from the mid 1800s to have been born in the village of Llanelli (or Llanelly) in the county of Breconshire around the beginning of the 19th century. Researching on the internet, I discovered that the population of Llanelli in 1795 was only 500 people. Considering most families had from five to ten members in those years, there would have been relatively few families in Llanelli, perhaps between 50 and 100, when the Rhydderchs started having children there. When I researched how many Llanelli males had the name Rhydderch (or something similar) and also recorded a birthdate sometime around the date of my great, great, great grandfather's in 1810, I found several:

Rosser Roderick, born 1795
William Rytharsh, born 1801
Watkin Rudderch, born 1806.

I suspect that all of these men are Rhydderchs, a name that census-takers tended to butcher unmercifly, and are brothers of my ancestor, Thomas Rhydderch. Thomas was born in 1810. In 1841, he, too, was using the name "Rudderch," just as we find Watkin doing in that time period.

By 1810, the population of Llanelli had jumped from 500 to over 2,000 as the industrial revolution reached southern Breconshire.