View Full Version : Evan James from Pontypridd, Glamorgan.
Evan is a grandfather of my late husband's.
I'm searching for his death and definitely need help.
It would be nice to do this without having to spend money on a marriage cert to find his year of birth.
This is what I can tell you :
He lived with his wife, Edna, in Pontypridd and was killed in a road traffic accident on the way to work in the mid/late 1950s.
The roads were icy, so I guess it was not summer.
The assay marks on his gold pocket watch tell me that it was made in 1955 and we thought it might have been some kind of retirement gift.
One SIL thinks he died when she was abt 10 which would have been c1956.
Evan married in 1920 ~ Pontypridd, Glamorgan and their first child was born there the following year.
Some time ago, I earmarked possible parents for Evan ~ Evan James and Sarah (Potter ?) on the 1901 census in Ystradgynlais, Glamorgan but I'm not sure they fit. Their son, Evan was born c1895.
I've looked on the Nat Probate Calendar and didn't find him.
kiterunner
10-09-12, 08:08
A couple of possibles:
Apr-Jun 1956 Pontypridd age 72. (Could have died at the end of March, so the roads could still have been icy? )
Jan-Mar 1959 Pontypridd age 58.
Jan-Mar 1962 Pontypridd age 63.
Those are the ones without a middle name - your Evan has no middle name on the marriage index entry, but he could have one on the death index, I suppose, in which case there are lots of other possibles.
But I'm a bit confused as to how he could have been on the way to work if he was retired? Or did he take another job after retiring from his main one?
That's what I was thinking about the retirement/going to work!
Is Edna May his wife? I wondered if that's her probate entry then persuing a burial for her might find his burial (if they were buried, that is)
Forget that - that Edna May is too young!
So, your Edna May died in 1982?
kiterunner
10-09-12, 08:25
Bit of a shot in the dark, but having looked at the possible names of Evan and Edna's children, could this be Evan's parents' marriage?
Marriages Dec 1894
Bollen Elizabeth Pontypridd 11a 751
Brinley Sarah Ann Pontypridd 11a 751
James William Pontypridd 11a 751
Rains John Pontypridd 11a 751
kiterunner
10-09-12, 08:27
Never mind, I've found that one on FamilySearch now and William James married Elizabeth Bollen!
The watch being a retirement gift is hypothetical.
They were not a wealthy family so we don't know why he would have bought it for himself.
Sorry if I've mislead you both
I could pm you the names of his children if that helps at all
Do you know if his wife was buried?
kiterunner
10-09-12, 08:36
Could the watch have been a long service award, Rachel?
So, your Edna May died in 1982?
Yes I believe that's her
kiterunner
10-09-12, 08:38
There are a few public trees on ancestry showing his death as 1960 or 1961, but none has an exact date.
Could the watch have been a long service award, Rachel?
Yes that's a possibility but would something that valuable be given ?
Or was Welsh gold cheaper in those days ? :)
There's a family on the 1911 living at 83 Charles St Rhondda with a son aged 2 with the same name as your couple's first child. This boy has an elder brother Evan James aged 12. If (massive If!) this was the right family then this death:
Jan-Mar 1962 Pontypridd age 63.
which Kite listed might be likely.
There are a few public trees on ancestry showing his death as 1960 or 1961, but none has an exact date.
I'd not thought to look there Kate
Can you give me a link ?
Ancestry has changed a bit since I was last there and I'm easily lost anyway
OK ignore that ~ found Public Trees thanks
Well there is one that fits.
Are they allowed to put the names of living people on public trees ?
There's a family on the 1911 living at 83 Charles St Rhondda with a son aged 2 with the same name as your couple's first child. This boy has an elder brother Evan James aged 12. If (massive If!) this was the right family then this death:
Jan-Mar 1962 Pontypridd age 63.
which Kite listed might be likely.
Hmmmm another reasonable possible :)
Will email BIL and see if he knows where they might have been living.
The 1960s would make SIL a teenager ...... :confused:
I don't know if we are looking at the same tree. The one I am looking at has correct wife details but no parents, no exact date of death, but does have a fairly exact pace of birth (wonder how they know that?)
There isn't a death reg in the year they state for someone of the right age for the birth year they give, but the death Kite posted earlier and I quoted in my last post could be a death in 1961 as the reg was Q1 1962, but wouldn't tie in very well with a birth in 1895 - better with the boy I found who was 2 in 1901!! (not saying it's him though!)
Would anyone have any memory of his siblings? Some quite unusual names in the family I found - Welsh ones and an Annetta! (EDIT - maybe that's Welsh too, Id not come across it before)
Would anyone have any memory of his siblings? Some quite unusual names in the family I found - Welsh ones and an Annetta! (EDIT - maybe that's Welsh too, Id not come across it before)
I've asked about siblings and hope that someone will contact 'auntie' who's a bit younger than MIL
will pm you and KR with the Ancestry tree I'm looking at
I think they'll have to go for the marriage cert.
I think they'll have to go for the marriage cert.
I honestly think it would be worth it - at least then you would have a better chance of accurately picking him out in 1901/11 and establish his proper age.
I was thinking about funerals I went to between the ages of 8 and 18 and other than the knowledge I now have about the deaths of family members from research, the main memories I have regarding my age at the time comes from what I was doing when I had to ask permission to go - junior school, senior school, sixth form, work. If I imagine the scene at the funeral itself I could easily be off by a few years.....Just a thought regarding your Sis-in-law's age.
As he died as the result of a traffic accident, the incident may have been reported in the local newspaper.
I was going to say that might be difficult without a date, but I have to admit that at my local library they have a series of little scrap books (alphabetical for each year) of interesting events regarding local people from 1946 to about 1980 taken from the local paper. Things like accidents seemed to be included, so you never know what they might have at the relevant Welsh library if you don't ask!
I did find one of OH's relatives from Wolverhampton who was killed by a lorry on his way to work in the 1930s in The Times, so I did look just in case, for Evan, but didn't see anything.
I honestly think it would be worth it - at least then you would have a better chance of accurately picking him out in 1901/11 and establish his proper age.
I was thinking about funerals I went to between the ages of 8 and 18 and other than the knowledge I now have about the deaths of family members from research, the main memories I have regarding my age at the time comes from what I was doing when I had to ask permission to go - junior school, senior school, sixth form, work. If I imagine the scene at the funeral itself I could easily be off by a few years.....Just a thought regarding your Sis-in-law's age.
Yes that's true :) SIL (oldest sibling) and BIL were having a friendly dispute about where they were living at the time.
Shona ~ that's something I'd not thought of ~ thank you
Have to go out soon but a big thank you Merry and KR for the pms
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