Families in South Wales

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All the current Townsley families in South Wales are thought to be descendants of William Townsley and Diana (or Dinah) Williams.

William and Diana were married on 5 September 1859 in Swansea. He was born about 1835, the son of Thomas, and she about 1838, the daughter of David - possibly from Gower. At the time of their marriage they were the only Townsleys in, at least, the southern half of Wales and some families still remain in the same general area. All of this should make for a straight-forward family tree. But some things just don't turn out as expected.

The first problem is that William and Diana do not appear in the 1861 Census for Swansea. William was a mariner fireman and so must have been employed on a steam ship; perhaps one of a significant size. So it is possible that both William and Diana were at sea in April 1861 - or a least in some other port, possibly in the British Isles. Certainly they were missing from Swansea. Finding them in one of the many ports around the British coast is too big a task to contemplate. It is possible that he was home at the time of the 1871 Census but this is a route yet to be pursued - even though it is probably not too difficult assuming the family were near the same address.

The nationwide index for the 1881 Census is more helpful and shows that Diana was at home with the family at 23 Waun Wen Rd, Swansea Town; but, yes, William was away again. Checking the 1891 Census found no Townsley families in this part of Swansea Town. However we now know that Diana died around May 1882 and William seems to have re-married - possibly in 1884 and again in 1893 - so these certificates should provide new addresses.

Not having a Census entry means that we do not know William's place of birth. And this magnifies the next problem. Amongst the Townsley families William is a very common name with around 300 individuals known. And even though we know the name of his father - Thomas - from the marriage certificate, there are around 185 individuals with this first name as well. So, even though we can narrow the options down greatly using their ages, there are still many possible families for our William to have come from. Since William was born just before civil registration started there is no national index of births to go through to try to overcome the lack of a birth place. The fact that Thomas was a brickmaker may prove to be a clue.

The third problem is that no one traced so far seems to have much in the way of family records. And the only clue found is the belief that William may have come from Dumfries, Scotland. So the details of any earlier generations are a mystery at this stage. (Update - through the 1901 Census we now know that William did come from Scotland as suspected)

Going forward from William and Diana is, however, much simpler and the 1881 Census provides a good starting point. This has been combined with information from parish registers and birth records to draw up this list of their children -

The 1901 Census became available online during 2002 and the entries found so far are -

Clearly this now identifies the origins of William and through him the rest of the Townsleys in the area. Despite knowing that William came from Scotland (possible Dumfries) his parents have yet to be traced. It also means that more searches are needed to find any other Townsley entries for the families that seem to be no longer living within the Swansea area. It is even possible that some may have gone overseas, however it also seems increasingly evident that many children died young.

Taking the family tree on from here becomes, mainly, a matter of tracing and then most probably buying a range of birth and marriage certificates to fill in the sections that are not known by the present families.

Registration Searches

Searches for other Townsley family members keep finding entries that are, quite possibly, connected with this branch. So far the searches have produced the following -

1. William Townsley - Marriage 1884/Mar/Swansea/11a/900 (second marriage for William Snr? Possible wife Harriet Rees OR Mary Edwards)
2. Mary Ann Townsley - Birth 1887/Mar/Cardiff/11a/302
3. Hilda Townsley - Birth 1887/Sep/Swansea/11a/728 (parents David & Catherine - see 1901 Census above)
4. Mary Jane C Townsley - Birth 1888/Jun/Cardiff/11a/253
5. Mabel Townsley - Birth 1888/Dec/Swansea/11a/775
6. Reginald Townsley - Birth 1890/Mar/Swansea/11a/850 (parents David & Catherine - see 1901 Census above)
7. William Townsley - Birth 1891/Jun/Swansea/11a/929 (parents David & Catherine - see 1901 Census above)
8. Maud Mary Townsley - Birth 1892/Jun/Swansea/11a/978 and Death 1895/Dec/Swansea/11a/...
9. William Townsley - Marriage 1893/Mar/Swansea/11a/989 (third marriage for William Snr? If so - based on 1901 Census and a death in 1902 it seems to be Jane Thomas. Could also be William Henry & Susan Morgan(s)?)
10. William Townsley - Birth 1893/Jun/Swansea/11a/994 and Death 1893/Sep/Swansea/11a/519 (age 0)
11. Winifred Townsley - Birth 1894/Mar/Swansea/11a/941 and Death 1899/Mar/Swansea/11a/...
12. William Henry Townsley - Birth 1894/Sep/Swansea/11a/885 (parents William Henry & Susan)
13. Agnes Townsley - Birth 1895/Mar/Swansea/11a/1043 twin?
14. Catherine Townsley - Birth 1895/Mar/Swansea/11a/1043 twin?
15. John Voyle Townsley - Birth 1896/Jun/Swansea/11a/1016 and Death 1898/Jun/Swansea/11a/455 (link to David & Catherine?)
16. Susan Townsley - Birth 1896/Jun/Swansea/11a/1028 (parents William Henry & Susan)
17. George Townsley - Birth 1898/Jun/Swansea/11a/1030 (parents William Henry & Susan)
18. Arthur Townsley - Birth 1899/Mar/Swansea/11a/961 (parents David & Catherine - see 1901 Census above)
19. Thomas Townsley - Birth 1900/Mar/Swansea/11a/1026 (parents William Henry & Susan)
20. Elsie Townsley - Birth 1901/Mar/Swansea/11a/1063 (parents David & Catherine - see 1901 Census above)
21. Doris Townsley - Birth 1902/Jun/Swansea/11a/1090 and Death 1903/Jun/Swansea/11a/516
22. Lilian May Townsley - Birth 1902/Jun/Swansea/11a/1071 (see marriage below)
23. Jane Townsley - Death (age 54) 1902/Dec/Swansea/11a/563 (third wife of William Snr likely - nee Thomas)
24. Brinley Edward Townsley - Birth 1903/Jun/Swansea/11a/1080 and Death 1903/Sep/Swansea/11a/479
25. David Edward Townsley - Birth 1905/Mar/Swansea/11a/1142
26. Edward Townsley - Birth 1907/Mar/Swansea/11a/1098
27. Glynn Townsley - Birth 1907/Sep/Swansea/11a/1109 (parents David & Catherine?)
28. Edith M Townsley - Birth 1913/Sep/Swansea/11a/2417 (mother nee Morgan - parents William Henry & Susan?)
29. Reginald Townsley - Marriage 1914/Mar/Swansea/11a/1519 to Mildred E Belt
30. George Townsley - Marriage 1919/Jun/Swansea/11a/2508 to Beatrice H Jones (link to George birth above)
31. George Townsley - Birth 1920/Mar/Swansea/11a/2620 (mother nee Jones see marriage above)
32. Susan Townsley - Marriage 1920/Mar/Swansea/11a/1961 to Richard Merrigan (link to birth above)
33. William F Townsley - Birth 1921/Mar/Swansea/11a/.... (mother nee Jones see marriage above)
34. William H Townsley - Marriage 1921/Sep/Brecknock/11b/133 to x Turner (but perhaps this is nee Coombe?)
35. William D C Townsley - Birth 1922/Jun/Brecknock/11b/... (mother nee Coombe - surely this is the "Turner" marriage above?)
36. William Townsley - Marriage 1923/Dec/Swansea/11a/2151 to x Jones (second Townsley-Jones marriage)
37. Violet L Townsley - Birth 1924/Jun/Brecknock/11b/... (mother nee Coombe)
38. Jack Townsley - Birth 1926/Jun/Brecknock/11b/... (mother nee Coombe)
39. Averil A Townsley - Birth 1926/Jun/Swansea/11a/1962 (mother nee Belt see marriage above)
40. Edna Townsley - Birth 1928/Dec/Swansea/11a/.... (mother nee Jones see second of the marriages above - father William)
41. Lillian M Townsley - Marriage 1930/Sep/Swansea/11a/2322 to James Smale (see birth above)

The two births registered in Cardiff may be a completely different family that only stayed in the area for a few years but the rest are most likely to be descendants of William & Diana.

Guesses at the Family Tree

David Joseph (1862) is thought to have married Catherine Thomson and their possible children seem to be - Hilda (1887), Reginald (1890), William (1891), John Voyle (1896) Arthur(1899), Elsie (1901), Brinley Edward (1903) and Glynn (1907). From the dates of birth it is also possible that Mabel (1888) and Maud Mary (1893) are more of their children.

Based on the registration searches Reginald (1890) married Mildred E Belt in 1914 and William (1891) married a Jones in 1923.

Update - March 2003 & Sep 2006

As a result of the latest birth and marriage findings it seems that the family tree can now be extended using the "jigsaw pieces" from a variety of sources. The proposed additional branch is -

Descendants of William (Henry) Townsley

1 William Henry Townsley b: 18 Oct 1869 Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales d: abt 1930 Blackburn, Victoria, Australia
. +Susan Morgans aka: Susan Morgan b: abt 1873 Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales m: abt May 1892 Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales
... 2 William Henry Townsley b: abt Aug 1894 Swansea, Glamorgan
...... +x Coombe b: abt 1900 Brecknock ? m: abt Aug 1921 Brecknock, Breconshire
........ 3 William Dennis Coombe Townsley b: abt May 1922 Brecknock, Breconshire
........ 3 Violet Lorraine Townsley b: abt May 1924 Brecknock, Breconshire
........ 3 Jack Townsley b: abt May 1926 Brecknock, Breconshire
........ 3 Lilian E S Townsley b: abt Feb 1929 Newport, Monmouth
........ 3 Ivor Henry Townsley b: abt Nov 1930 Coventry, Warwickshire
........ 3 Joan Townsley b: abt May 1933 Coventry, Warwickshire
........ 3 Brenda Townsley b: abt Nov 1935 Coventry, Warwickshire
........ 3 Peter G Townsley b: abt May 1938 Coventry, Warwickshire
... 2 Susan Townsley b: abt May 1896 Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales
...... +Richard Merrigan b: abt 1894 St John, Glamorgan, Wales m: abt Feb 1920 Swansea, Glamorgan Father: x Merrigan Mother: Margaret x
... 2 George Townsley b: abt May 1898 Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales d: abt 1951 Pran., Victoria, Australia
...... +Beatrice Harriet Jones b: abt 1898 Swansea ? m: abt May 1919 Swansea, Glamorgan d: abt 1973 Heid., Victoria, Australia Father: Edward Jones Mother: Dina Reece
........ 3 George Townsley b: abt Feb 1920 Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales d: abt 1975 Esse., Victoria, Australia
........ 3 William F Townsley b: abt Feb 1921 Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales
........ 3 Patricia Pauline Townsley b: abt 1925 Australia ? d: abt 1926 Carlton, Victoria, Australia
... 2 Thomas Townsley b: abt Feb 1900 Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales d: Aft. 1901
... 2 Edith M Townsley b: abt Aug 1913 Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales

However there were some problems creating this tree. The main one being that William Henry's marriage index entry shows his wife as a Turner but all the births are shown as Coombe; and no corresponding Townsley-Coombe marriage (or Townsley-Turner birth) has been found - as yet. Perhaps I transcribed the marriage entry wrongly?

Before the latest information was transcribed it seemed that the family that had migrated to Australia around 1922-24 could have returned. But now the second Townsley-Jones marriage as been found (see 1923 marriage of William) this explains the parents of Edna (see 1928 birth). The latest information suggests that William Henry's family moved to Coventry about 1930 - and perhaps the Ivor Townsley listed in the 1998 Coventry telephone directory (along with 25 other Townsley's) is a link to this branch.

Progressing the Story

If anyone wants to take up the challenge of resolving the structure of this particular branch of the Townsley family tree then they will, hopefully, have a good base of information to start from.

If you want to make a start then you should be aware that the above numbers refer to the registers held at the Family Records Centre in London - they are not the same as those used by District Register Offices. If you need to use a District Office then these reference numbers only give you the year and quarter to ask to be searched. You will need to provide more details - such as parents names for births - to be sure of getting the right person.

Certificates cost 7 pounds sterling (or about $10 US) if applied for in person. If you can only apply by post then they are best handled through a family history agent who covers London - it is significantly cheaper. Some agents accept payment by credit card - making it simpler to arrange than sterling cheques for non-UK residents.

Warning - please ask for the index reference number to be checked at the time of ordering a certificate - I may have made a transcription error!