Dedication
My father, Gwyn Smith, was a serious Welsh nationalist. Coupled with a love for his country, was a desire to find out more about his own family background. He never achieved this (though he was to write later that he had once signed up for a genealogy course but was prevented from doing it by time-tabling difficulties).
When my daughter, Brigid, decided to tackle the same project, Gwyn was applied to for all the information he could provide. He took it seriously and contacted cousins who were quite unknown to us. The result was three long, rambling letters. They are full of names and places and hints but very short on hard facts such as dates and relationships. Everything was presented in an apparently random order and we were quite unable to make much headway with the project which gradually ground to a halt.
Years later, when my own granddaughter, Elsa, persuaded me to re-open the research, we had web-based search engines giving easy access to important information such as census results and baptism and marriage records. The family tree blossomed and it was only when we had achieved a fairly good knowledge of our ancestors that we returned to those letters from Gwyn. In the light of what we had discovered, they made far more sense and indeed were crucial in the detailed understanding and for extending our discoveries.
The results are presented here and it is only fair that this work is dedicated to Gwyn who, I am sure, would have been delighted if he was still here to read it.
—–*****—–
Introduction
This then is the story of the ancestors of my father’s side of my family – The Smiths – who lived in what was Denbighshire, North Wales. The area is detailed in the map below:
Places of special interest (Wrexham, Rhosllanerchrugog, Ruabon, Hope) have been highlighted.
We will start with my parents, Gwyn and Gweneth, and gradually work back in time.
My Parents
My father was named Enoch1 Gwynfryn Smith [the 1 is because we shall meet earlier ‘Enochs’ who will be 2,3,etc].
He was born on the 18th July 1910 in Rhosllanerchrugog (abbreviated as Rhos in future), in what was then Denbighshire [see map].
Enoch1 Gwynfryn only ever used the name ‘Gwyn’, though he signed himself E.G.Smith. I think he hated ‘Enoch’.
In 1939 he married Gweneth Margaret Davies who was from Breconshire. They met, and married, in Barnet, Hertfordshire (north London).
In many ways it was an unusual ceremony. Gweneth was one of a family of 9 children. All of them had had formal marriages with a great host of family members gathered for the ceremonies. Gweneth and Gwyn married with none of their families present. There was no formal wedding dress and it is suspected that it was not in a church.
For more information on Gweneth and her family, visit the Morgan/Davies part of this web site:-
https://wordpress.com/post/morgdavfamtree.wordpress.com/3
Gwyn was a teacher, then a head teacher and finally a lecturer at Bangor Normal College (where he had studied as a student) and a lifelong Welsh nationalist and socialist.
Gweneth died of TB in 1961. Without her, Gwyn lost the anchor that held him. He gave free rein to his strong wanderlust. Without the stability provided by Gweneth, he flitted – from Birmingham to Rhayader, Paignton to Anglesey, Crawley to Long Itchingdon. Nowhere satisfied him.
This then is his ancestral story.
Enoch2 Smith (b.1886)
[Gwyn’s father]
Placing Enoch in history
1885: Karl Benz patents the first successful gasoline-driven automobile.
We will start with the census return of 1911:
Gwyn was just 8 months old. His father, also called Enoch, was 24 years old and worked in the Hafod coal mine, Rhos, as a hewer. This was the position at the coal face where the ‘hewer’ wrested the coal from the face. It was dirty, dangerous, work.
Gwyn’s mother was Margaret Jane (see 1911 census above) – although she was always known to me as ‘Nain’ – the Welsh for Grandmother.
Finding the family ten years larer in the 1921 census presents difficulties. Strangely, they were not all living together but were living with three other families in Rhos.
This census shows Enoch2 living on his own with an unknown aunt (possibly one of Margaret Jane’s relations?)
Meanwhile, Gwynfryn was living with his grandparents (Yet another Enoch! – Enoch3) in 1921.
There are two slightly puzzling facts with this document:
1/. Enoch3 writes his name with a ‘k’ . There is no ‘k’ in Welsh. It may well be that he did not fill in the census form himself.
2/, Gwynfryn is listed as a nephew which is surely an error on the part of Enoch3 or the person filling the form.
At the same time, Enoch2‘s wife, Margaret Jane and daughter Megan were living with her sister, Martha Tunnah.
Shortly after this, a younger sister, Eirwen was born.
It is hard to explain this separation of the family but it may well be that Enoch2 was preparing to emigrate to America and had sold their house (for further details of Welsh emigration to the US, see the Aside below) because some time around 1922 the family did emigrate to the US.
Aside
My family no longer has much evidence of their life in the United States. The photo of the family on holiday in Atlantic City (see below) is one piece.
The other item which has survived is shown below:
ThTh
This is an early Kodak Vest Pocket camera and was first produced in the 1920’s and is now owned by my daughter. Such an item would be a rare find in Rhos and it almost certainly was bought in the USA during their stay there. Most of the photos of the family shown below were probably taken with this camera.
The family didn’t all travel to the States together but father Enoch went first and then the rest of followed in small groups – presumably so that the cost could be spread. Strangely, Gwyn did not go. He stayed behind, probably for educational reasons, and was living with his grandparents in the 1921 census shown above..) The rest of the family stayed for 9 years in America before returning to Rhos.. Quite why they returned is not known.
There was another later attempt to live the American dream. Enoch2 went out for a second time but did not stay more than a year.The story is not certain, but one member of the family was found to have TB (presumably Eirwen – see later) so the rest of the family couldn’t follow and Enoch2 returned to Rhos.
The family is pictured here (without Eirwen and Megan). A very youthful Gwyn with his arm around Margaret Jane and Enoch2 alongside. The two other seated men could possibly be Enoch2‘s brothers. This photo must date from about 1937.
The whole family (without Enoch) are pictured below in about 1946:
Pictured here going from left to right are:-
In the background- Nain (Margaret Jane), daughter Megan Williams, a sister of Margaret called Mary and Gwyn.
In the foreground :- Gwyn’s two children, John (the author!) and Richard, sandwiching daughter Eirwen and cousin, Michael Williams (Megan’s son)
Eirwen died at a very early age:
Finally, Enoch1 Gwynfryn died in 1993. His ashes were scattered on a hillside in his beloved Wales not very far from Rhos.
So what more can we add to our picture of Enoch2 (the father)?
We have his school admissions record:
This tells us a lot. Enoch2 Smith’s father was also Enoch [Enoch 3– the third column of names] as we discovered earlier. Enoch2 was born on 16 Dec 1886 and left school 1st Dec 1899 so he spent 8 years at school and then would have started work in the mines at the age of 13. By the time of the 1901 census, he was already working at the coal face. At that time, most male Welsh youngsters in Rhos had just this one option for employment – coal mining. To escape it, they needed to be academically gifted and gain scholarships to study Law or train as a teacher. The latter profession was Gwyn’s route.
We should note here that girls had few options. Most were listed on the census forms as “dressmakers”. This implies that much of the family’s clothing was home made. Girl’s options were two-fold: marriage or, at least when they were young, to go into service in richer households.
Enoch2 had married Margaret Jane Jones in 1909 in Wrexham. We will discuss her ancestors later.
We can find Enoch2‘s record in earlier census returns. That of 1891 is particularly informative:
Three generations who were all living in the same house! This is a genealogist’s dream but it is also an indication of their poverty. Robert Williams, a widower, (b. 1833 in Amlwch), Anglesey, was head of the household. We will return to consider Robert Williams later. Below him are two sons and then Enoch3 Smith [n.b. different Enoch], son-in-law, born in 1866, with his wife Mary Elizabeth Williams (b.1867) and there amongst the grandchildren is young Enoch2 Smith (b.1886) who we were discussing.
Enoch2 (b.1886) died in 1939.
Obituary from Rhos Herald June 24 1939
Note the tribute from the USA. We will discuss this elsewhere.
Margaret Jane, his wife, lived until 1958. They are both buried (with Eirwen) in Rhos.
Enoch3 Smith (b.1865)
[Gwyn’s grandfather]
Gwyn’s grandparents, Enoch3 and Mary Elizabeth, married in 1884 and had a large family. There were 14 children according to Gwyn’s letters :-
Robert Ellis(b.1884), Enoch2 (b.1886), William (b.1888), Ann(b.1890), Sarah(b.1891), Esther (b.1894), Mary Elizabeth(b.1895), Caroline (b.1898), Joseph (1901) Hannah(b.1902), Florence(b.1904), Blodwen(b.1906) , Joseph (b.1909) and Daniel (b.1911).
The first Joseph died at the age of 10 months.
Most of the boys were coal miners and the girls are all described as ‘Dressmaker’ in the 1911 census [even the 2-year-old Joseph!]. Somehow, daughter Ann is described as “Coal Miner” which is an obvious mistake.
We know very little about them [apart from finding their records of admission to school] with the sole exception of wife, Mary Elizabeth Smith (b.1895)
Mary Elizabeth with a very young Gwynfryn
She was probably bright. Her school record says ‘Transferred to Seniors’ in 1906.
We also know little of Enoch3 (b.1866). Enoch3 seems to have been a leading light at the Literary meetings judging by two clippings from newspapers in 1885 and 1890:
According to Gwyn’s letter, he was first chairman of Rhos Labour party and also Chairman of his Colliery Works Committee. (see also Enoch2 obituary above for confirmation of this).
There was another side to his character. Gwyn’s letter continues: “Enoch3 was once invited to a celebratory dinner by the Hafod coal mine owner. Not being used to wine (a Methodist) he got rolling drunk and had to be carried home. He was so ashamed that he never attended chapel again.” However, drink seems to have remained a problem:-
Enoch does not seem to have been totally abstemious. Note the presence of his sister, Caroline Hughes (nee Smith) which helps identify him.
Enoch3 died in 1934. He left £148-5s in his will:
Mary Elizabeth, his wife, was very much the family matriarch.
In the 1881 census she is recorded as “acting housekeeper” to her father, Robert Williams, although she was only 13 years old! Not many 13-year-olds would be capable of running a family home.
She eventually had 14 children (nearly one every two years from 1884 to 1911). She must have been a very strong personality. The problems of feeding, clothing and bringing up such a large family in a miner’s cottage were huge. It is very hard to imagine how they all managed to squeeze into the average miner’s cottage.
She died in 1939. We have her will but is not very interesting. She divided her estate equally amonst her children. What is more interesting is her signature:
She was buried in Rhos alongside her husband , Enoch, and a son who died at a very early age.
Her funeral rated almost a whole column of the Rhos Herald.
At the end of this article is a list of the people who attended the funeral service and a brief address. It included the following :
Her brother Robert, wife Mary & children USA
Her brother Daniel, wife Ann & children USA
Aside
At this time, coal had been discovered in Wilkes-barre, Pennsylvania. The town grew rapidly in the 19th century . Many welsh miners emigrated to the USA to take advantage of this. Mary Elizabeth’s brothers, Robert and Daniel, were amongst those who joined the Welsh immigrants. In 1903, together with their families, they boarded the White Star liner “Oceanic” at Liverpool bound for New York.
How many Welsh emigrated can be judged by the fact that the population of Wilkes Barre in 1890 was about 37,000 and yet the town boasted 6 churches/chapels with the word “Welsh” in their title.
We can find the brothers in the United States census take of Wilkes Barre in 1910.:
It is a curious fact that Robert returned with his family to Rhos in time for the 1911 census there. He obviously returned to the USA soon after as evidenced by his address given in Mary Elizabeth’s obituary.
Mary Elizabeth and Enoch’s youngest son. William (b. 1888), like his uncles, also emigrated to the United States.
The Rhos Herald 1947 —-This small excerpt from the newspaper reads:
” In memory of my brother, William Smith, son of the late Enoch and Mary Elizabeth Smith, Swan St., Rhos who died in Wilkesbarre, USA at 29 years old. Also for his beloved bride Sarah Hannah died in Detroit, August 1947.”
William, like his uncles, was typical of the large number of young men from the coal fields of North Wales who went out to seek their fortune in the mines of North America. He did not succeed but fell victim to the flu pandemic and died in 1918.
Aside 2
Enoch’s eldest son, Robert Ellis, went down the mines like his brothers. His eldest daughter, Mair Eluned (b.1910), went into service in a house near Chester. Unfortunately, she somehow set fire to herself whilst working in the kitchen and subsequently died of burns.
Enoch’s eldest son, Robert E
Ellis Smith (b.1828)
[Gwyn’s great grandfather]
Pursuing our journey back in time, consider next Enoch3 ‘s parents.
We can find Ellis in the 1881 census:
The young Enoch3 aged just 15 is listed here and already is described as a coal miner. His parents were Ellis and Sarah Smith, both from Rhos. Note that Enoch3‘s eldest boy was named Robert Ellis after his two grandfathers.
Ellis was, inevitably, a coal miner. He was born in 1828 and we have a record of his baptism and marriage:
Note two things:
1. In both cases his father was John Smith, a collier.
2. Both Ellis and Sarah signed with a cross. They were illiterate.
Ellis had a large family:
Elizabeth (b.1853), Sarah (b.1857), Enoch (b.1859), Caroline (b.1861), Hannah(1863), Enoch 3 (b.1866), Joseph (b.1867), Mary (b.1869) and Ann (b.1872).
Enoch (b.1859) died at the age of 3. Enoch seems to have been a popular name amongst the Smiths. They used the name again in 1866!
Sarah, his wife, was the daughter of Edward Jones, a ‘mine burner’ (?? ).
Note that Edward’s daughter Sarah (Ellis’s wife) was ‘Working on Coal banks’. These were small, so-called bell pits where miners could excavate their own coal. They simply dug a shaft down to the relatively shallow coal layer and then excavated as much of this layer as they could. This resulted in a bell-shaped excavation and inevitably led to accidental collapses of the roof. Accidents were frequent.
In the 1901 census we find them all living next door to each other:
On this census form we find:
i/. Hannah Smith apparently living on her own and described as ‘dumb’. She was the daughter of Joseph Smith (b.1817), one of Ellis’ brothers.
ii/. Then we have Joseph Smith (b.1867) [one of Enoch3‘s brothers]
iii/. William Tunnah, who married Ann Smith, [one of Enoch3‘s sisters] and his family.
iv/. Finally, there is Ellis, now a widower, looked after by a his youngest daughter,Sarah Smith (b.1885). Sarah is also described as daughter in the 1891 census but this would make her mother’s age 54 at her birth! It is probable that the child was an illegitimate granddaughter.
Ellis died in Dec 1901:
We can be certain it is the correct person because son, Enoch, certified the death.
An Aside
We have Ellis’s will. It is a most complicated document. His estate was valued at about £200 (worth approximately £13,000 at today’s values). This estate included no less than seven cottages. Unfortunately, Ellis had eight children, so he left a cottage to each of them with the exception of Caroline. He then stipulated that each of the seven lucky ones should each pay £3 to Caroline, the £21 being in lieu of a cottage!
This values a cottage at about £1300 at today’s values which seems absurd. One must remember that a miner’s cottage was not a thatched little retreat with all mod cons. A typical miner’s cottage would be very small, have no running water and the toilet would be a shed at the bottom of the garden. Cooking and heating would be by an open coal fire. They were often built by the miners themselves.
Ellis further stipulated that the seven lucky families should pay rent to his wife, Sarah, while she lived even if they would eventually inherit the cottage.
Finally, echoing Shakespeare, he left the “old feather bed” to his wife whilst she lived and then it would become the property of Elizabeth. In fact Sarah predeceased him.
Ellis’s personal life is largely unknown We do have a small excerpt from the local Rhos paper in 1869:
The £1 fine in 1869 would be equivalent to £100 at today’s values. Thomas Salisbury was a bailiff and was presumably trying to collect some debt. This obviously enraged Sarah and Ellis ! The sight of Sarah with a poker must have really frightened Thomas Salisbury. It does serve to show that some of the early family members were quite rough and ready characters.
John Smith (b.1796) [Gwyn’s great, great grandfather]
So now we may look back to Ellis’ father, John Smith.
He is difficult to tie down. He may well be the person married in 1816:
We cannot be sure. We do know that John married an Elizabeth and they had the following children:
Joseph (b.1817), John (b.1821), Ellis (b.1823), Enoch 4 (b. 1825), Ellis (b. 1828) [the first one died], Thomas (b.1833), Mary (b.1835)
We have failed to find a baptism record for John. Unfortunately, the baptism records of this period are fragmentary and there are, of course, no census returns to help us traces John’s ancestors. We can, however, make a reasonable guess at John’s forebears. The diagram below sketches out this part of the family tree.
The green boxes are direct ancestors of the Smith ancestors discussed previously. To make the connection between this diagram and those ancestors, John appears as the third down this line and his son, Ellis, is included to make this obvious. Joseph and Hannah’s other children are coloured blue as are the children of the second Joseph(1765). The children of John’s generation are coloured yellow. The purpose of this diagram is to show how family names were repeated in succeeding generations:
- The Children of Joseph and Hannah include Joseph, Ann, Mary and John
- The children of Joseph (1765) include Joseph, John and Mary
- The children of John (1796) include Joseph, John and Mary
John has a similar choice of names for his children. This repeat of family names was common practice at this period.
The evidence for John (1796) having the two Josephs as father and grandfather is sparse but can be summed up as follows:
- There is a time gap after in the birth of children for Joseph and Hannah after Ann(1793) which is filled by John (1796)
- They lived near Rhosllanerchrugog
- John (1796) and his supposed siblings used many of the ‘family’ names
An Aside.
We have met one of the daughters of Joseph (b.1817) when discussing all the family entries in the 1901 census. Hannah Smith (b.1847) was described as dumb. We can also find her in the census return for 1851:
Living with Joseph are his brothers, Ellis and Thomas, and sister Mary.  Joseph and his wife Mary have two daughters, Elizabeth (b.1842) and Hannah (b.1837). Both are described as ‘Deaf and Dumb’. Presumably they suffered from congenital deafness and, in an age where hearing aids and modern medical practices were unheard of, they never learned to talk.
Other family members
At this point we will return to Mary Elizabeth Williams (b.1867), the wife of Enoch Smith3 (b.1866) and will consider her Williams ancestors.
So far we have concentrated on following the Smith line of ancestors. Inevitably, there are other family members with different names who are branches on the family tree. We cannot discuss them all but will restrict our story to a few of the major branches. First we will discuss the Williams’s branch.
Robert Williams (b. 1833)
[Gwyn’s great grandfather]
Placing Robert in History
1833 UK Parliament passes Act to abolish slavery
Mary Elizabeth appeared on the 1911 census reproduced earlier. She was married to Enoch3 and they had 14 children. We know her father was Robert Williams from the 1891 census which we considered above. It is easy to find Robert on all the census returns from 1841 to 1901. Robert originated from the town of Amlwch in Anglesey but moved to Rhosllanerchrugog.
Here is the 1851 document:
18 year old Robert was living in Amlwch with his parents, Henry and Margaret Williams. He is described as ‘Watchmaker’ – something that is incompatible with information on other census returns. In 1861 he is described as ‘Carpenter’ which follows his father. In 1863 he married Ann Taylor. We know little about her [but she proves important – see later]. She died at an early age in 1877 . She is reputed (Family legend) to have been combing her hair whilst looking in a mirror and she turned her head sharply and broke her neck! As mentioned previously, her daughter, Mary Elizabeth, took on the role of mother for the 4 children (see 1881 census below) where the 13 year old Mary Elizabeth is described as ‘acting housekeeper’ as we have previously mentioned.
Robert Williams died in 1902. He is buried with his wife, Ann, in Salem Chapel in Penycae.
We have Robert’s will:-
What is very strange about his bequests is that all his goods are left to his two sons, Daniel and Robert. There is no mention of his daughter Mary Elizabeth who acted as his housekeeper when she was just a teenager. There may have been a falling-out. We shall never know. One possible explanation does present. In the 1901 census, then Smiths and Williams were living next door to each other.
It may be that Robert had already gifted a house to Enoch and Marie Elizabeth and did not need to make a further bequest.
Both Daniel and Robert (the sons) emigrated to the US in 1903 as we have alread mentioned. For further details, view the website on Welsh ancestors of the Williams in Wilkes Barre, US with the link below:-
morgdavfamtree.wordpress.com/2022/12/30/welsh-ancestors-of-the-williams-families-in-wilkes-barre-us/
Aside
This aside is really an indication of the difficulties in determining a family tree based on sparse information.
Robert and Ann Williams are buried together in the cemetary at Penycae and their gravestone gives brief details of their lives.
According to the headstone, Ann was born in 1842 and died at the young age of 35 in 1877. These figures are supported by the one census return that we have for Ann:–
This 1871 census return records Ann and Robert living in Rhos and they have a son, Daniel, aged 1. Ann’s birth year is given as 1842 which agrees with the headstone. However, the same document gives Robert’s birth year as 1833! The headstone gives a figure of 1837.
Have we got the right family for our census document? We believe we have because in the 1881 census Robert is recorded as being a widower (as expected) and son Daniel is now 11 years old.
Robert’s birth year is again given as 1833 – not the 1837 suggested by the headstone! Something is wrong. We are confident that the census returns for Robert are for the correct family because in the 1881 document we see daughter Mary Elizabeth as expected.
We cannot offer a solution to this riddle. The gravestone’s recording of Robert’s age at death of 65 seems wrong.
Finally the census returns of 1891 and 1901 support the finding that Robert’s birth year was 1833.
Henry (b.1807) and Margaret Williams
[Gwyn’s great, great grandparents]
Placing Henry in History
1810 US declares war against Britain
Henry and Margaret Williams (Robert’s parents) lived in Amlwch, Anglesey with their large family (13 children). Henry was a ship’s carpenter. At that time Amlwch was a thriving port. We have a marriage certificate which might be theirs:
We can find them in the census returns for 1841, 1851, 1861 and 1871.
Ann Taylor (b.1842)
[Gwyn’s great grandmother]
Now we will return to Ann Taylor. We have given little evidence so far that Robert Williams did marry Ann Taylor. Indeed, in  letters from my father, Gwyn, it is suggested that Robert married a certain Hester Taylor. We have found no evidence to support this. However, it is possible to find an Ann Taylor living near Wrexham in the 1851 census:
She was the daughter of William and Esther Taylor (which would make them Mary Elizabeth’s grandparents if we have the correct lineage). [We believe Esther Taylor is the same person described by Gwyn as Hester Taylor. The generations got confused and the names are very similar].
Importantly, in the 1871 census [very poor photograph]:
Living with William and Esther is a Mary E. Williams (aged 3) described, as expected, as granddaughter, which proves the family relationship that Robert did indeed marry Ann Taylor. Note that William is described as ‘Farmer & Lay Preacher’. This has some bearing on the life of at least one of his sons as we shall see.
As already mentioned, Mary Elizabeth seems to have been a very capable girl. We can find her in the 1881 census return for her father, Robert Williams:
Already, at the age of 13, as mentioned above, she is described as “acting housekeeper” for her widower father.
An Aside:
Notice in particular, in the census document for 1851, shown above, William and Esther’s son, George Taylor (b.1840).
He had a spectacular career. His father, William, who belonged to the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Church and was a lay preacher, wanted him to become a clergyman but to no avail. At the age of 14 George left school and eventually left for London.
In 1862 he boarded the ‘Annie Archbell’ and he emigrated to Australia. There he found a position as a draper’s assistant in Melbourne. Also, he married Victoria Isabella Cook who was another recent immigrant.
Marriage-Notice* 13 May 1865 TAYLOR—COOK—May 9th, by special license, by the Rev. John Graham, at Congregational Church, Pitt-street, George William Taylor, Esq., Newcastle, fifth son of the Rev. William Taylor, Rhos, near Wrexham, North Wales, to Victoria Isabella Cook, second daughter of George Cook, Esq., Westminster, London.
They had 8 children, four of whom died in the same year.
He set up as an Estate Agent and quickly found success. By 1877 he had gained a seat on the municipal council of Prahran, Melbourne and by 1884 he was elected Mayor. He is credited with creating Victoria Park (named after his wife) in Prahran, Melbourne.
His business ventures were highly speculative. In particular, he bought (cheaply) several vacant paddocks on the northern outskirts of the city. Together with an associate, he floated ‘The Australian Assets Purchase Co.’ – nominally worth approximately £80,000,000 at today’s values. Thousands of people invested. The real purpose of the company was to buy out Taylor’s assets at vastly inflated prices (he was paid £463,000 (value at that time) for his properties). Over the next two years, Taylor liquidated his holding and then disappeared from the colony. The company was eventually declared bankrupt. He went back to Rhos and flaunted his wealth with extravagant gifts to chapels, etc.Â
He died in 1913 leaving over £10,000 in his will – worth about £900,000 at today’s figures.
Margaret Jane Jones (b.1886)
[Gwyn’s mother] and her Ancestors
We will now discuss another side branch of the Smith family.
Gwyn relates an interesting story about his grandmother (Margaret Davies b.1843) in his letters:-
She lived in the Ffrith – an area just north-west of Wrexham [see map]. Her parents were reasonably well-off farmers. She went into Wrexham regularly and there met one Daniel Jones (inevitably a miner but also a publican). The upshot of this was they married, despite her family objecting strongly. Gwyn goes on to say that they kept a pub called the Royal Oak in Poncian (a part of Rhos).
In the 1881 census we find Daniel Jones (b.1844), coal miner and publican, living at the Royal Oak with his wife Margaret.
In the 1891 census, Margaret was described as a widow:
With her were sons Daniel, John and David, (who also appeared with Margaret in the earlier 1871 census). There was also, in addition, a daughter, Margaret Jane Jones, aged 6. This was Gwyn’s mother.
Daniel (b.1844), her father, was the son of Richard and Sarah Jones.
Daniel’s wife, Margaret, had ancestors that are more difficult to find. She was born in 1843. We can find a candidate for this description in the census for 1861:
She was the daughter of Ellin Davies of the Parish of Hope which fits everything. [Ellin is sometimes spelled ‘Ellen’ – census recorder’s error]. Daughter Margaret is aged 18.
Margaret’s baptism record is unusual:
Her father was William Davies and they lived at Rhanberfedd near Hope. Apparently they were not married at the time and Williams name has been scratched out and Ellin described as ‘spinster’. This little document surely hides a much deeper story! Margaret’s brother William (b.1849) has both parents on his baptism record. In the 1861 census above Ellin describes herself as a widow.
Conclusion
The most noticeable feature of this family is perhaps the number of the male ancestors who worked down the coal mines. It was dark, dangerous and badly-paid work and fatalities were commonplace as was the incidence of lung disease from inhaled coal dust. Few of them lived to a ripe old age. For example, Thomas Ward was killed with several others at the Wynstay Colliery in Rhos in 1865. He was just 13 years old.
This is the Smith family tree as we have discussed it:-
I would like to thank Caroline Roberts (a Smith-family member) for considerable help in refining this story. I would also like to thank Marie and Enoch for making my trip to Rhos so informative and enjoyable.
Our family Trees 
Hi I believe we are related.
My nain was Enoch Smith and Mary Eliz Williams daughter, Caroline (they called her Carrie). I am named after her.
Caroline x
LikeLiked by 1 person
Caroline,
It is always exciting when contacting a relation that one never knew existed. I think I have your parents on the family tree. Was your father William Evans? There is a contact page on the web which you can use or you can scroll down the list of comments and find my e-mail address. I look forward to hearing more about your side of the family.
Regards
John
LikeLike