One of my Welsh Great Grannies was born Sarah Jane Jones (sigh). There are 2 family members still alive who remember the lady- she died, I believe in 1941. However, I'm looking for information around her birth in Carmarthen in 1859, and ESPECIALLY about her parents.
Sarah Jane married my g.grandfather David Phillips in Llanelli in 1886 and they had numerous children, one of whom was my Grandma Gwen Phillips. All of this is clear and we have all the info about the family at this point.
However, it has been more difficult to solve a mystery around Sarah Jane's birth. Her mother was Sarah Jones (believe that was also her maiden name) born 1820. Sarah was married to John Jones, and they had several children, the oldest Daniel who,like his father became a stonemason, worked in Pembrokeshire where he met his wife, and their part of the family also ended up in Llanelli.
There is a suggestion that Sarah Jane was not only the youngest child, but also had a different father from the others. This man is supposed to have been DAVID Jones, ALSO of Carmarthen- a merchant seaman lost at sea when the ship 'Nova Scotia' of which he was skipper, was lost with all hands. This information was apparently found out by a 'professional researcher' paid by one of the senior members of the family, now deceased himself. BUT he seems to have been given the info. with no provenance and there is no contact info for the person who did the research (about 20 years ago), so can't double check it.
Again, we have plenty of documentation about David-including his Master's ticket and record of his death. Problem is that there is no evidence that he had any 'intimate' link with Sarah, or that he was father of her last child. In fact he died a year before her husband John. Sarah (the mother) does claim at one point to be the widow of a seaman, and there does seem to have been a period when she and John were living apart- though that could just be because of a need to go where the work was...
Sarah Jane's birth cert. lists John as her father- I've wondered if that was just a face saving exercise...
Thing is that A DAVID (a sailor) is the subject of the family ghost story, known to all branches of the family, and Sarah is supposed to have been his wife- and so visited after his death.
So I really want to find out what link if any the story has with reality. in the past I have wondered if he and John were brothers- or perhaps the ghost story first saw the light of day in a previous generation and has been tacked on to later names.
Sarah Jane married my g.grandfather David Phillips in Llanelli in 1886 and they had numerous children, one of whom was my Grandma Gwen Phillips. All of this is clear and we have all the info about the family at this point.
However, it has been more difficult to solve a mystery around Sarah Jane's birth. Her mother was Sarah Jones (believe that was also her maiden name) born 1820. Sarah was married to John Jones, and they had several children, the oldest Daniel who,like his father became a stonemason, worked in Pembrokeshire where he met his wife, and their part of the family also ended up in Llanelli.
There is a suggestion that Sarah Jane was not only the youngest child, but also had a different father from the others. This man is supposed to have been DAVID Jones, ALSO of Carmarthen- a merchant seaman lost at sea when the ship 'Nova Scotia' of which he was skipper, was lost with all hands. This information was apparently found out by a 'professional researcher' paid by one of the senior members of the family, now deceased himself. BUT he seems to have been given the info. with no provenance and there is no contact info for the person who did the research (about 20 years ago), so can't double check it.
Again, we have plenty of documentation about David-including his Master's ticket and record of his death. Problem is that there is no evidence that he had any 'intimate' link with Sarah, or that he was father of her last child. In fact he died a year before her husband John. Sarah (the mother) does claim at one point to be the widow of a seaman, and there does seem to have been a period when she and John were living apart- though that could just be because of a need to go where the work was...
Sarah Jane's birth cert. lists John as her father- I've wondered if that was just a face saving exercise...
Thing is that A DAVID (a sailor) is the subject of the family ghost story, known to all branches of the family, and Sarah is supposed to have been his wife- and so visited after his death.
So I really want to find out what link if any the story has with reality. in the past I have wondered if he and John were brothers- or perhaps the ghost story first saw the light of day in a previous generation and has been tacked on to later names.
Unless there is a paper trail somewhere i doubt anyone would be able to confirm or eliminate who the father was.