Category: Rhondda
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How to Brake the records
Here is a good illustration of how being open to inquiries on family history can pay dividends. A comment on The Tonypandy that Mum knew article gave some information on a family in that town, living just round the corner from our crew in the early 1900s. A long shot, but could Cutlock and Co come up with any pointers? No harm in seeing if the focus of attention (Florence M Reed) was easy to find in the 1911 census and yes a match came up » »
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There’s no news like old Welsh news
The National Library of Wales has released the beta (not quite finished) version of its Welsh Newspapers Online resource. It is already a brilliant addition to the bookmarks. I found that it was ‘live’ last night, and quickly mentioned the site on the Glamorgan FHS Facebook page. I think a few of the others signed up to that have spent quite some time since enjoying both browsing by newspaper/place and searching for their own family names. One quote “It is great just searching for the parish » »
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Tracing the Osborne inscriptions at Trealaw
The hundredth article on Cutlock & Co {1} is as good as any to re-visit the photographs taken at Trealaw Cemetery back in April 2011 {3}. This time it is a focus on the Osborne side. The grave of great great grandparents William and Mary Ann Osborne was perhaps the easiest to find – right next to one of the main paths. Son Daniel predeceased his parents, age just 19 in 1909. William reached 80 by his death in 1928, with Mary Ann (nee Sibley) » »
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A Farr distant cousin
Making extravagant claims of family connections to famous people or royalty has never been part of my genealogy research, but the idea does still crop up. An Osborne link to the mother of boxer Tommy Farr, the Tonypandy Terror, was suggested and seemed credible given that he was born in Railway Terrace, a few doors from some of our lot. Here’s what the records show. Tommy Farr’s mother was Sarah Ann Owen, born in Rhondda around 1883/85 {1}. Sarah Ann’s father is George, born Clandown (Somerset) » »
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The interconnectedness of Tonypandy Osbornes
Another illustration of how inter-connected the Osborne family was/is in the Tonypandy area emerged recently. For Matilda Osborne, born about 1884 in Misterton to Levi (brother of 2x great grandfather William) and wife Elizabeth, the finished 1911 census records on Ancestry had been awaited to put more flesh on her husband and their children. Annoyingly it is still not clear whether his name is Edwin or Edward Sheldon, but it seems likely that he went by Edward in life, but was born and died as Edwin. » »
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The return and disappearance of the missionary Mays
It has been the best part of a year since I wrote about the Kiwi Cousins – the May branch of the Scott family, mum’s maternal line. As of this article, I have now probably gone as far as I can from the online records, and can only hope to discover a living relative to fill in the gaps. Returning from India What had eluded me until today was pinning down all of the family’s return from India after the Second World War. The Reverend Spencer, » »