Genealogy by Hannah Howe

Genealogy

by Hannah Howe

Birth, marriage and death certificates are a great way to add details to our ancestors’ lives. Once you have established the names, locations and relevant dates of your ancestors from family knowledge, BMD indexes and the ten yearly census, you can consider ordering birth, marriage and death certificates.

Birth certificates offer the following:

• When and where a person was born. • Father's name - when acknowledged. • Mother's name. • Father's occupation.

The birth certificate of my great uncle, Edward Robert Jones, triggered a mystery - the name of Edward’s father was not listed. According to the family, Margaret, Edward’s mother, became pregnant while working as a maid at Laleston House, the manor house in the village of Laleston. Speculation centred on the owner of the house, and his adult son. Whatever the truth of this rumour the fact remains that when Margaret moved away from Laleston to establish a family with her husband, Thomas, she named her home ‘Laleston House’.

On a marriage certificate you should find:

• The date that the marriage took place. • The bride and groom’s full names. • Their ages • Status at marriage. i.e. widowed, divorced or single. • Their profession. • Their residence. • The bride and groom’s fathers’ names. • The bride and groom’s fathers’ occupations.

Names of witnesses.

The marriage certificate of my 3 x great grandparents, William Howe and Mary Hopkin, revealed that they married on the 24 August 1850 at St James’ Church in Pyle with Mary’s sister, Margaret, and Catherine Lewis as the witnesses. William signed the marriage certificate with a cross, so he was not

literate, while the date established that Mary was pregnant when she married William. Despite this ‘shotgun marriage’ William and Mary enjoyed a long union and when Mary died, William placed the following words on her gravestone, ‘To walk in honour to the land of peace. May the good lord return her soul to me.’

Finally, death certificates, which record the following:

• When and where a person died. • Their age. • Their occupation. • The cause of death. • Details of the informant.

While birth and marriage certificates offer joy and excitement, death certificates are sad. Nevertheless, they do provide genealogists with vital information. My ancestor, Mary Ann Howe, died on 25 January 1886 of ‘cardiac syncope’ or heart failure. Her brother, Hopkin, a Methodist Minister, was at her side. She died at Alexandria Road in Pontycymer, fourteen miles north of her home in Corneli. What was she doing there?

Further research revealed that in 1882, the people of Pontycymer built the Bethel Methodist Chapel with modifications added in 1885. It seems highly likely that Hopkin was visiting the chapel, accompanied by his sister, Mary Ann. Mary Ann fell ill and was taken around the corner to a house in Alexandria Road where she died.

A word of warning. Certificates can be expensive and are non-returnable, so before placing an order you need to do as much research as possible to ensure that you have identified the correct ancestor. If you are researching on a tight budget, there are other options, which we will explore in future articles.

Hannah Howe is the author of the Sam Smith Mystery Series, the Ann's War Mystery Series and the #1 international bestseller Saving Grace. Hannah's books are published by Goylake Publishing and distributed through Gardners Books to over 300 outlets worldwide. Her books are available in print, as eBooks and audiobooks, and are being translated into ten languages. Discover more on Mom's Favorite Reads website:

https://moms-favorite-reads.com/moms-authors/hannah-howe