Clarify Griffith Jenkins Griffith birth place

Question

Hello,

I am little confused about some of the locations mentioned, I live in south Wales and know the areas relatively well. In the first paragraph it mentions Griffith Jenkins Griffith was born in Bettws Monmouthshire, this is kind of east Wales, east of Cardiff, north of Newport I believe.

The 1851 census says Llanelli, Carmarthenshire where there is also another place called Bettws and that would be west Wales. But the same census mentions Registration district Bridgend and Sub-registration district Maesteg. That would put it close to a third location called Bettws in what may have been called Glamorganshire later mid Glamorgan modern day Bridgend County.

Could you help clarify this please?

Comments

None of the sources relating to Wales make any sense. They probably don't refer to this man - whoever he was. There are no birth records which fit the claimed facts.

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I agree with Matthew. Firstly there’s an uncertainty about his exact birthdate: the second newspaper article says 1852 but the obituary says 1850. If it was the former, then he would not appear on the 1851 census. Either way, it seems likely that the man was born on a farm near Bridgend, not Monmouthshire or Carmarthenshire (Bettws is a common place name in Wales and records have probably been conflated by overeager adding of sources on Ancestry).

I tried searching the GRO site for his birth certificate but (as was common practice) the middle name appears to have been adopted later in life, and almost all entries were for Griffith Griffith or Griffith Griffiths, making it difficult to work out which entry was correct.

Answer 1

He appears to have been born in 1851, not 1850. The census shows he was in Bettws in Glamorgan with his grandparents. I have added these categories to his profile and changed the birthplace to Llanelli, as shown on the census original but incorrectly transcribed. He certainly wasn't born in Bettws in Monmouthshire.

Comments

Hi Steve, thank you for your answer, I'm new at this and not sure if I mark this as the best answer or not since I don't really know what is correct.

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Delighted to help, we were all newbies once. I am responsible for Categories in the Wales Project, as I know a fair bit about Wales. That is not to say I am always right on the button, but here you should not worry. Please come back to me direct if you want further help.