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From 1841 on, census day was a Sunday - technically, midnight of Sun/Mon night.
A few days before census Sunday, census forms were delivered to every household on the enumerator's walk, along with booklets for institutions and vessels. After census day, the enumerator collected completed forms, helping out with problems that might have arisen.
For 1841-1901, the completed forms were then copied into the summary books which is what we can see now, and the original forms were destroyed. In 1911, the completed forms were not destroyed, and these are what we normally look at.

So there would be no way to tell if the original form was filled out incorrectly, or was filled out correctly but summarized erroneously.


I had great difficulty finding my ggg gran's death details. Eventually, I found a record of her gravestone, and someone photoed it for me. When I tried to find the d.cert that matched the gravestone the difficuly became apparent.
Elizabeth's death was rego'ed as Christian's. Whether this was a mistake on the registrar's part and not noticed by her son who signed the registration as the informant, or else the son had a brain-freeze when giving his mother's details - well, no one can say now, but whichever it was got sorted by the time her details were added to the gravestone.

Thank you greyghost you confirm exactly what I was thinking.

Always look at the original, not just the transcription. FMP transcript shows her as wife but original says Widow so will be the same on GR

Hi Erica. Thank you for your last note regarding the Elizabeth Davies/Williams saga. I was having difficulty identifying the name on the 1861 census. I have information on census reports prior to 1861 and after where Elizabeth is definately listed as Williams so it would appear that the person who made the entry on the census was wrong.

Another item of interest on your Ancestry details page 23, she is listed as a widow which is probably correct, whereas on the Genes 1861 household census it shows her as wife.

So lets not have words over other people's mistakes, but agree it is frustrating when you spend hours trying to get the correct information.

Thanks

From FMP with places of birth - Elizabeth & Mary reads Mothvey on the original and Elizabeth's r marital status is Widow not wife as transcribed.

1861 England, Wales & Scotland Census
Lewis & Houses, Tabor Road, Vaynor, Merthyr Tydfil, Breconshire, Wales

First name(s) Last name Relationship Marital status Sex Age Birth year Occupation Birth place
Elizabeth Davies Wife - Female 53 1808 - Carmarthenshire, Wales
Thomas Davies Son In Law Married Male 32 1829 Ironstone Miner Vaynor, Brecknockshire, Wales
Mary Davies Daughter Married Female 27 1834 - Carmarthenshire, Wales
William Davies Grandson - Male 3 1858 - Vaynor, Brecknockshire, Wales
David Williams Son Unmarried Male 20 1841 Collier Vaynor, Brecknockshire, Wales
William Jones Grandson - Male 5 1856 - Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan, Wales
Rachel Evans Boarder Unmarried Female 26 1835 Washerwoman Carmarthenshire, Wales


This appears to be the same family in 1851 - Myddfai is another name for Mothvey

1851 England, Wales & Scotland Census
Upper Cefn, Vaynor, Merthyr Tydfil, Breconshire, Wales

First name(s) Last name Relationship Marital status Sex Age Birth year Occupation Birth place
David Williams Head Married Male 50 1801 Labourer Llangadog, Carmarthenshire, Wales
Elizabeth Williams Wife Married Female 42 1809 - Myddfai, Carmarthenshire, Wales
Mary Williams Daughter Unmarried Female 16 1835 - Myddfai, Carmarthenshire, Wales
John Williams Son - Male 13 1838 Labourer Brecknockshire, Wales
David Williams Son - Male 10 1841 - Brecknockshire, Wales
Thomas Williams Son - Male 6 1845 - Brecknockshire, Wales
Jane Williams Visitor Unmarried Female 20 1831 House Maid Carmarthenshire, Wales

2 thoughts -
Elizabeth was widowed post 1851, remarried to a Davies and was then widowed again before 1861
OR
more likely whoever completed the census form mistakenly wrote her surname as that of her daughter and son in law

The GR support team can’t alter what is on the image of a census taken 160 years ago.

Nor can anyone else.

If you wish to try to contact them, send an e-mail to [email protected]

Thank you ladies I can assure you l was not soliciting your help i was merely trying to contact the support team for their assistance, as it was addressed to them. i have always appreciated the help from members, i sensed there was a little attitude in your first response,

Thank you ladies I can assure you l was not soliciting your help i was merely trying to contact the support team for their assistance, as it was addressed to them. i have always appreciated the help from members, i sensed there was a little attitude in your first response,

The image has been transcribed accurately...............................

From Ancestry

Name: Elizabeth Davies
Age: 53
Estimated birth year: abt 1808
Relation: Head
Gender: Female
Where born: Mothvey, Carmarthenshire, Wales
Civil Parish or Township: Vaynor
Ecclesiastical parish: Vaynor
County/Island: Breconshire
Country: Wales
Registration district: Merthyr Tydfil
Sub-registration district: Upper Merthyr Tydfil
ED, institution, or vessel: 32
Household schedule number: 137
Neighbors: View others on page
Piece: 4062
Folio: 29
Page Number: 23
Household Members:
Name Age
Elizabeth Davies 53 Head - widow
Thomas Davies 32 Son in Law
Mary Davies 37 Daughter
William Davies 3 Grandson
David Williams 20 Son
William Jones 5 Grandson
Rachel Evans 26 Boarder


QED

Obviously not!!

That’s a bit rude as the member seems to have joined in 2005

Surely they know how the site works

PM received

"If support team cant research and help members why am i corresponding with you if your not part of that team."

I have tried to explain that the people using the boards are paying members and that GR do not give help - they merely provide the platform, which we all pay to use

Have you looked at the actual census page


It could be an error in reporting

Not seeing the record you have posted can you enlarge on the info

The support team do not look at the message boards

And they certainly can't amend any records compiled by external sources.

Even if they could, not sure how they'd identify the records you're querying, with no location info

On the 1861 census household record it reports the following.
Elizabeth Davies age 53 (1805) wife ?
David Williams age 20 (1841) son
Thomas Davies age 32 (1829) son in law
Mary Davies age 27 (1834) daughter

I believe Mary (daughter) is Mary Williams, sister to David Williams and wife to Thomas Davies. Therefore Elizabeth is the mother of David and Mary and the surname should be Williams and not Davies. All other research appears to confirm this. So the error was made by the person who completed the original census, or the person who transcribed the info on to the search records.

can you please investigate and correct.

Thanking you in anticipation.
Dianna and John Chandler.