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hi im trying to find my grandfather emlyn williams who i have never met, the only information i have on him was that his last known address was 47 briton ferry, neath glamorgan. i dont have a birth date for him but he is the father to my mother pauline and her brother haydn, my moms mom was named alice who he met when he came to the midlands looking for work in the late 1930s to early1940s, my moms mom died when my mom was six years old and he returned back to wales, if my grandfather is still alive or anyone knows of him i would love to hear from them if only i could get a photo of him to put with my other grandparents regards julie
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If you'll tell us your mum's birthdate, Julie, I'll find her birth in the untranscribed index, and then you'll know her mother Alice's surname. It's probably Evans or Jones ;) -- but it might be something that could help in some way. (Oops, no, I was confused -- Alice wasn't from Wales!)
Of course, if you know Alice's surname, tell!
I could then look for their marriage in the images, and if I could identify it, you could obtain the marriage certificate and learn his father's name, and that might help find his family. With his age, you might even be able to identify his birth among the gazillion Emlyn Williams-s born in Wales.
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Ah, that makes it very tough. Very tough indeed.
You do have your mum's birth cert -- and it gives his name as just Emlyn Williams? i.e. not David Emlyn Wiliams or any other name?
I searched for Emlyn Williams-s in trees here at GR and you seem to have the only one. You think he was born abt 1910 -- based on your grandmother's age, probably?
He is probably deceased now, of course, as that would make him nearly 100.
The only approximately matching death record - for Emlyn Williams died in Neath 1984-2006, assuming, of course, that he stayed in Neath - is this one:
Name: Emlyn Williams
Birth Date: 6 May 1909
Death Registration Month/Year: Jul 1986
Age at death (estimated): 77
Registration district: Neath
Inferred County: Breconshire, Glamorgan
Volume: 27
Page: 1596
You might see whether you can obtain a copy of that certificate, just in case it provides any info you could follow up on -- the name of the informant for instance. There might be an indication of a family member's name on it.
If not, you would have a date of death and could search newspaper archives for an obituary. But ah, you're in Australia I think. Makes that a little tough. But if you thought that might be your man, you could get a third party to do it.
What was the date of that last known address? Way back when, when he went back to Wales? Or more recently?
The address still exists -- you can look at it on google maps (use the satellite view and you can see the house). I imagine you have tried writing to "occupant" there to see whether anyone connected with him is still there, or whether they could give you names of previous owners. You could also try writing to neighbours, in case there are any old timers, or their kids, still around, who might remember him. Just address the letters to 49, 45, etc., Briton Ferry.
I'm sure you've seen the births you have to choose from:
Births Dec 1907
WILLIAMS Emlyn Rees Neath 11a 963
Births Mar 1908
Williams Emlyn Jones Neath 11a 1034
Births Jun 1908
Williams Emlyn Neath 11a 1070
**Births Jun 1909
Williams Emlyn Neath 11a 1066
Births Sep 1911
Williams Emlyn (Davies) Neath 11a 2123
Births Dec 1911
Williams Emlyn (Walker) Neath 11a 1878
Births Mar 1912
Williams Emlyn (Vaughan) Neath 11a 2113
The one I've asterisked would seem to be the one who died in 1986. If your estimate of your grandfather's birthdate is good, he'd probably also be the one closest to that.
I searched the 1881 census by address (the only one that can be searched that way) and there were Williams households at
3 Briton Ferry
5 Briton Ferry
11 Briton Ferry
21 Briton Ferry
60 Briton Ferry
79 Briton Ferry
86 Briton Ferry
A very lot of Williams-s on Briton Ferry Road.
This was the household at 47 Briton Ferry Road:
Name: David Davies
Age: 52
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1829
Relation: Head
Spouse's Name: Jane
Gender: Male
Where born: Neath, Glamorgan, Wales
Civil Parish: Neath
County/Island: Glamorgan
Country: Wales
Street address: 47 Briton Ferry Rd
Condition as to marriage: Married
Education: View Image
Employment status: View Image
Occupation: Shearer In Tin Works
Registration district: Neath
Sub-registration district: Neath
ED, institution, or vessel: 15
David Davies 52
Jane Davies 51
Mary Jane Lloyd 16 - niece
But they seemed to be gone after that census.
Okay, I tracked down one of the 1881 households on Briton Ferry in 1891, and went back through the images and found number 47.
Aargh, still David Davies, with new wife Bridget.
Now, speaking of Davies, you note that one of the Emlyn Williams-s born around the right time (1911) had mother Davies.
So ... I track down their neighbours, the Thomas Rees household, in 1901. And number 47 is occupied by:
David J Challacombe 13
Harriet S Challacombe 45
Isaac Challacombe 45
Isaac G Challacombe 18
Margaret A Challacombe 22
Sarah S Challacombe 25
William H D Thomas 55
So all in all, that hasn't helped us.
But there were so many Williams households on the street in 1881 ... there could be a connection.
In 1901 there is still a Jones household at 55A with stepchildren named Williams, and that seems to be the last address on the street that year:
Charles Jones 59
Mary Jones 45
Theresa Lewis 16
Ann Williams 25
Hannah Williams 20
Howel Williams 17
Richard Williams 23
Given the 45 years, or more, between that census and when your Emlyn was last at the address ...
Doing an "advanced search" at
http://www.thephonebook.bt.com
for surname Williams on Briton Ferry in Neath, you get (I'm omitting the names and phone numbers):
Williams
103 Briton Ferry Rd, Neath, SA11 1AS - Map
Williams
Millers House Briton Ferry Rd, Neath, SA11 1AA
So many Williams-s and so many years, but you could always send some letters.
And I'm afraid those are about all the things I can think of to suggest!
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Don't know what the deletion is about -- fortunately I had the info in front of me when I was doing all the work ...
-- Okay, got the PM with the info. For future ref, it is a lot more useful to have it in the thread for reference!
I did mean to mention the possibility of house number changes. Hard to know whether that would match number 47 up with any of the households in the censuses up to 1901.
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Just out of total interest,
Could this be the actor Emlyn Williams,who i also believe was an author.
May be worth a look.
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Sadly, likely not! Another indication of the common-name problem, though. ;)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emlyn_Williams
George Emlyn Williams CBE (26 November 1905–25 September 1987), known as Emlyn Williams, was a Welsh dramatist and actor. He was born into a Welsh-speaking, working-class family in Mostyn, Flintshire, Wales. At the age of 11 he won a scholarship to Holywell Grammar School. At the end of his time at the grammar school he won a scholarship to Christ Church, Oxford.
In 1927, he joined a repertory company and began his stage career. By 1930, he had branched out into writing, and his first major success was with the thriller Night Must Fall (1935), which was made into a film in 1937 and again in 1964. His other great play was very different: The Corn is Green (1938), partly based on his own childhood, and also later filmed. In addition to stage plays, Williams wrote a number of film screenplays, working with Alfred Hitchcock and other directors.
Goodness, The Corn is Green! Maybe he's a cousin; you never know. Seems to be from a different bit of Wales, though.
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