Llewelyn Davies (b.1808) married for a second time in 1861. The bride was Elizabeth Jones.
The wedding certificate is singularly unhelpful. Both fathers are recorded as ‘deceased’. No names are given although Llewelyn is acknowledged as a blacksmith.
Although she is not an ancestor, Elizabeth is an important person in the Davies story. It is through her contesting the change of Llewelyn’s will that we know so much about the early Davies ancestors.
Elizabeth came from the Carmarthenshire parish of Cilycwm. How Llewelyn first met her is difficult to comprehend. Travel at this period was still relatively difficult. Llewelyn’s mother came from the parish of Cilycwm, Carmarthenshire so it may be that he retained some contact with people in this area.
These pages attempt to throw some light onto a person who, due to the Fraud Trial, mentioned in the main section of the web-page, is responsible for much of what we know about Llewelyn.
The first clue is an excerpt, shown below, from the press report of the fraud trial proceedings:
Some time in 1898, Mrs Bolton was left in charge of the senile Llewelyn Davies whilst Elizabeth went off to market in Merthyr Tydfil.
We note in particular that she was a niece of the plaintiff, so she was a blood relation of Elizabeth.
The second excerpt from the same press report tells us more:
Mrs Bolton was Mary Jane Bolton. Somewhat confusingly, in some press reports she is ‘Mrs Bolton’ and in others ‘Mrs Boulton’. In either case she should not be difficult to find because the name is not a common one.
We can find her in the 1901 and 1911 census returns:
From these, despite the different spellings of ‘Boulton’ and ‘Bolton’ , we learn that Mary Jane was born in about 1868 in Cefn, Breconshire.
Cefn Coed is close to Abercar in the parish of Vaynor. Her address in 1901 is Ynysgbornewdd Farm, Merthyr Tydfil.
She was married to James Boulton, Horse Slaughterer. The large family reported in 1901 is at first sight unexpected because in 1911 Mary Jane declared just one child.
We can find James and Mary Jane’s marriage record:
They were married in 1896 so the children of the 1901 census were not Mary Jane’s but by a previous wife of James.
Note that James Bolton had died between the two census takes.
We can find notice of his death:
Note that he lived in Ysgybornewydd Farm (slightly different spelling). Confusingly, the probate document gives a different address.
An Aside
It is worth considering James in a little more detail. The profession of ‘Horse Slaughterer’ is not a commonplace one today. James seems to have been a rather bad lot.
the Merthyr Express June 1910
Mary Jane’s daughter, was cut out of James’ will! Shades of previous family behaviour! This excerpt confirms that Mary Jane was a second wife.
Note that:-
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Mary Jane had left James for reasons which included ‘assault’
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Mary Jane had been bequeathed £20 by an aunt.
This bequest is from Elizabeth who died in 1901. The will is copied below:
It is interesting to note that the brass candle sticks were to be shared! Note also, that Casina Bolton (grandaughter) features in the will.
From the census details we know we are looking for a Mary Jane Jones born in Cefn in about 1868. We can find just such a person in the 1871 census:
She was the daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth Jones who originally came from Carmarthenshire. Note in particular that Samuel was born in the parish of Cilycwm and the census is for the village of Cefn Coed. Samuel was a shoemaker. We can find a birth record for Samuel in Cilycwm in 1836:
He was the son of Thomas and Catherine Jones. He had several brothers and sisters e.g. Mary born 1830 = who we shall meet again:-
Finally (and most importantly) we find a sister:
Thomas and Catherine had a daughter, Elizabeth born in 1820.
All the above records state that father Thomas was a labourer.
However,we can find him in the census of 1841 and 1851:
Thomas was a shoemaker (if not very successful!). If we look back to the census record for Samuel in 1851 we see that he, too, was a shoemaker. It is all consistent. What is more we can find census records for all the male children. They, too, were shoemakers.
However, it is Elizabeth, the daughter, that we are really concerned with. This must be the future wife of Llewelyn. Samuel being her brother, makes Mary Jane Bolton (nee Jones) Elizabeth’s niece which is the relationship we set out to show.
Further proof of the relationship can be found. When Elizabeth was widowed in 1891, she returned to Nantgwine Fach and lived there with her sister, Mary (b.1830) [described above] and the latter’s husband, John Morgan, as shown in the 1901 census:
Further proof of these relationships can be found from the 1891 census return. Living with John and Mary Morgan was Mary Jane Jones:–
Note also the two nephews, Gwilym and John Morgan who were the executors and beneficiaries of Elizabeth’s will.
An Aside
If the press article [see Davies’ web page] on Llewelyn being attacked in his pony and trap is read carefully, then two things stand out:-
1. He was driving from Cefn.
2. One of the witnesses was a Mary Jane Jones.
One of the reports of this incident states that Mary Jane Jones was a servant at Abercar:
Finally, we still do not know how Llewelyn met Elizabeth. Perhaps she visited brother Samuel in Vaynor on the day that Llewelyn went to buy a pair of shoes!
Our family Trees 
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