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My Dismal Family
Martha Jones (1845 – 1890) and James Parry (1845 – 1919)
I always associate this line with darkness, death and woe. Why, I don’t know. It’s just that they always seem to be unfortunate, unhealthy and unlucky people, I suppose. When they had some misfortune, they never seemed to fight back as most of my other lines did. They just appear to have given in. Another reason for my feelings towards them might be that, try as I might, searching for their ancestry before 1800 has been extremely difficult and their brickwalls surround me!
Initially, the information on them appeared quite fruitful. The family bible which I have inherited had their original marriage certificate (well-sellotaped by the time of my trusteeship), death notices and ‘in memoria’ written in a number of hands. These enabled me to get back to the early 1800s on the Jones line when I first looked at the information in the mid-1950s. The Parrys seemed to have lived in the same area on the Welsh borders since the seventeenth century at least. Researching these ancestors should have been relatively easy.
There are very few family memories for me to draw on, which might also explain my lack of empathy with them. My mother told me that the Jones line had originally come from the Llandegla Moors, just south of Denbigh. She remembered going to visit a relative in Ruabon with her mother but, apart from a vague recollection of where they lived, she couldn’t recall the relationship. Her grandfather, James Parry, had lived with the family when she was a child. He was by then an old man who smoked a pipe and lived in the ‘front room’. He was blind. Mum also said that he had at some stage accidentally set fire to the local forge where he and his father had worked.
Martha Jones was born on 14th February 1845 at Gaenen Hir, a remote hill farm on the slopes of Maesyrychan Mountain near Llandynan in the parish of Llantysilio, Denbighshire. She was the third known daughter of Robert Jones and Margaret Jones. At the time of Martha’s birth, Robert was the tenant farmer of this south-facing, upland farm of about 20 acres, overlooking the River Dee. Welsh would have been their first language. He was most probably a sheep farmer, supplying wool for the local woollen trade. The sheep would have grazed on the upland moorland commons. A hay crop was necessary for feeding the stock in winter and they probably kept a cow for milk. Llangollen, about three and a half miles away, was the nearest market. They would have travelled by foot, on horseback or by horse and cart. The canal might well have been used to get from Llantysilio to Llangollen and later the railway could be used from nearby Berwyn to Wrexham and beyond. Supplies such as flour would be brought in from Llangollen or Corwen.
The 1840s were a period of agricultural decline and change. The rentals of leasehold farms were increasing, tithes were being commuted to money payments and there was an increase in enclosures and amalgamations. Locally, the woollen industry in the Dee valley had nearly collapsed. Probably some of these factors had led Robert to give up his tenancy and, by 1851, he, Margaret and their five daughters had moved to Tanycoed. This was a semi-detached cottage much closer to Llantysilio village, although still fairly remotely situated up a steep, winding track. (I have walked both the track to Gaenen Hir and the lane to Tanycoed). Robert was by this time an agricultural labourer. With them was 70 years old Robert Jones, described as a pauper who had been born in Glyndyfrdwy on the opposite side of the Dee valley. I suspect that this might have been Margaret’s father but have not yet found any evidence. They were still there at the time of the 1861 census, Robert is listed as a labourer, while Martha and two other sisters were housemaids, possibly at the nearby Llantysilio Hall or one of the larger farms in the area. The older Robert Jones was not there and had probably died. Their neighbours were David Jones, also a labourer, his wife, Elizabeth, and two sons, William and John. The Llantysilio parish will be described in more detail in the Places page.
Having recently been to the places where they lived, I find it difficult now to imagine what their life was like 150 years ago; trying to ‘get by’ and avoid the Corwen Workhouse. Robert would have endured the more or less constant hard physical work of agricultural labouring (whether small tenant farmer or employee) without any mechanical aids. Livestock would need tending in all weathers: those desolate, upland moorlands can be dangerous in snowy conditions. Life as a domestic servant also meant hard, physical work with little time off. Hands would be chapped and chilblained in winter and knees would be sore from cleaning hard flagstone floors. These occupations and working conditions are discussed in more detail on the Work page.
Sometime before 1871, Martha moved to 59 Abernant, Acrefair, near Ruabon, Denbighshire. In the census of that year she was a cook/domestic servant to the family and staff of Alexander Wilson, a grocery/drapery shop manager. Two of her sisters were also in the area and a third one was to move there later.
Martha’s parents had both died in 1867. A poignant epitaph to them, written by Martha, was found in t he family bible:
The story of Martha’s ancestors continues on the Jones of Llantysilio page .
James Parry (Jim) was the third surviving son of Job Parry and Mary Rogers. He was born on 12th March 1845 at Pontyblew, Chirk, Denbighshire. Job was an ironmaster/forgeman at the local forge. The family lived in one of the terraced cottages which overlooked the forge itself, close to the banks of the River Ceiriog and about three miles to the east of the village of Chirk.
The Parry family are listed in the 1851 Census as living in the end house of this terrace, although which end is unclear. Job is a forgeman and James, aged 6, is a scholar. Also there are his two elder brothers, John and William, younger brother, Job, and Ann Parry, listed as a visitor, aged 63. Ann is most likely to be Job senior’s mother. By 1861, James is the only son living at home. He is recorded as a tailor, aged 15. Ann is still with the family and described as ‘mother in law’.
Obviously James’s venture into the ‘rag trade’ did not last very long (family accounts tell of him having poor eyesight) as he was a collier in the 1871 Census. His father had died in 1867 and his mother, Mary, is recorded as a washerwoman. With them is four year old Mary Edwards, described as a nurse child. I have been unable to identify her in subsequent censuses or find a birth certificate for her.
The story of the earlier generations of James’s ancestors continues on the Parry of Pontyblew page.
Martha and James married in Rhosymedre Church (the neighbouring parish to Chirk) on 10th March 1873. They are both recorded as living at Pontyblew. James’s occupation is ‘collier’. Martha’s occupation is left blank. Maria Jones, Martha’s younger sister, is a witness, along with John Owens.The reason for a Rhosymedre rather than a Chirk marriage might well be explained by the birth of their first child, Sarah, the day afterwards – there would have been fewer prying eyes! Martha had obviously moved in with James at Pontyblew between 1871 and their marriage. Had she possibly been employed as a domestic servant to look after the house and his aging mother?
Their known children were:
Sarah, 11th March 1873 – 6th January 1928
John, 26th March 1876 – after May 1918
Martha and James and their children, plus James’s mother, Mary, continued living in the cottage at Ponyblew until after the birth of John but had moved to Chirk Green by July 1879, when Mary died. The forge had closed finally in 1870.
By 1881 they were living in a four-roomed terraced miner’s cottage at 10 Chirk Green, only three doors away from my Mates great grandparents. (The terraced housing provided for workers at the local coal mines and Pontyblew are described in more detail in the Places page). James is a coal mine labourer and the two children aged 8 and 5, are scholars. A 77 year old coal mine labourer, Richard Edwards, is lodging with them. This is a sharp reminder of the days before State pensions were introduced in 1910: for the working classes, unless family provided for you, you either worked until you died or went to the local Workhouse. The Parry’s neighbours were, on one side, Edward Jones from Llanarmon and, on the other, Thomas Dodd who had been born in Cheshire.
Martha died on 26th February 1890 of influenza and bronchitis. In the family bible, there is an in memoriam piece written by her daughter, Sarah:
The 1891 census shows the family had moved to 53 Chirk Green. James, aged 46, is a ‘labourer in coal mine’ and his daughter, Sarah, aged 18, is a domestic servant, where will probably never be known. No occupation is given for John, aged 15. An Ann Ward, aged 71, is lodging with them. I have been unable to find any connection between the Parry family and either of their lodgers. It might have been simply a case of a lodger bringing extra income for the family.
Sarah married in 1893 and, by 1901, James and John were living with her family at 132 Chirk Green. James, aged 56, was a colliery labourer (above ground) and John, aged, 25, was a coal miner (below) This two up, two down house contained these two, Sarah and her husband and four children. I’m not sure how they all fitted in! Privacy would have been virtually impossible. By 1913 four other children would also be living there, although, by this time, the eldest daughter would be ‘in service’ in Manchester and the two eldest sons would be on shift work at the local colliery. James lived with his daughter and her family until he died of bronchitis on 15th October 1919, aged 74, at Morda Isolation Hospital, Oswestry.
His son, John, never married. He served in World War 1 in the 1/6 West Yorkshire Regiment. His medal card is shown below.
John was captured in May 1918 and, soon afterwards, sent this notification and letter to his sister:
The letter is dated 26th May 1918 from Dülmen, Lower Westfalia. It appears to have been written for John by a fellow POW. It reads:
Dear Sister Just a line at last to let you know I am still in the land of the living, also glad to say I am going on as well as can be expected under the circumstances, which I must admit have been very bad up to now, but am thankful to say are improving, now we are getting a little from the Red Cross funds, which help us a good deal. Well dear sister I hope that you have not been worrying yourself with not hearing from me lately, but better be a prisoner than a dead man, so cheer up and keep on smiling as we will make it all up after the war, that is if I have the luck to come home now that I have got so far. Well Mrs XXXX I hope you will excuse my knowledge of letter writing on behalf of Jack, but what I say here take it as I would to my own, also I hope you have made arrangements for me getting some tobacco every week as it cannot be got here for money, so hope you will oblige on behalf of John. Well, will you remember John to Jim and Douglas (her husband and eldest son) , also send them his best regards also hope that they only have the same luck to be taken prisoner that is if it comes that way than get killed, Well Mrs if you are not certain of what I put on the card and will explain again get somebody or yourself write to Wills tobacconist, also forward some money in letter, and then they will see to the contents of tobacco coming through to him which I will give from experience by now is very acceptable, so at least send 1/2 lb per week, which if only have luck enough will only be pleased to repay you when I get to work once more. Well I hope you have received my previous cards stating me as a prisoner the first (line worn out by a fold) the 19th also this one, so must now bring my letter to a close with tons and tons of love to all the children, and a double share to you, also the writers best respects, Your Loving Brother John xxxxxx
At this time, Sarah had two sons and a husband at the front. Imagine how she must have felt when she received this letter. Interestingly, John does not mention his father at all.
I am still searching for the death of John Parry. According to family recollections, he survived WW1, despite his capture, but died in the subsequent ’flu epidemic.
Sarah died on 6th January 1928 of lobar pneumonia. There was no in memoriam written for her in the bible, just a receipt and invoice for £8.10s for a
large polished oak coffin lined and trimmed, wadding and the hire of hearse from Chirk Green to Chirk.
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Jones of Llantysilio
Parry of Pontyblew
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