Charles(1)
Powell, is our first known Powell ancestor as this is the name listed as the father on Charles(2) marriage document. Until recently I knew nothing further about
him, except that he was a labourer (from same marriage document), which
certainly covers a wide range of occupations. Having said that, after 30 years I
realized I had a hint right under my nose. Preparing the family history to publish, I was making sure I had dotted my I’s and crossed my T’s. This led me to wonder what the significance was
of the inscription on Ann (Lewis) Powell’s headstone: ”wife of Charles Powell(2)
of Lion Street”. Why Lion Street? Did Charles always refer to himself in this
way to distinguish him from the other Powells in Abergavenny?
A list of “all surnames in
Abergavenny from the 1881 British census” shows most surnames had 3 – 5 entries
whereas Powell had a whopping 130 entries!
Lion Street sounded familiar so I dug out an 1841 census record I had for the
wrong Charles Powell family, a family too old to be our Charles, BUT they lived
on Lion Street!
This Charles had died in January 1861 at the age of 62 years in the Lunatic Asylum, Abergavenny and he had been a barber. Is this our Charles’s father? I had ordered the death certificate for the older Charles(1), which was why I knew the circumstances of his death. I had sent for his death certificate when looking for the death of his son, not realizing at the time that son Charles(2) had not lived in Abergavenny since he left in 1847 with his young wife.
Charles Powell(1), barber married Sarah Daniel. Our Charles had a son James Daniel (after the paternal mother’s maiden name?) and John Lewis (after the maternal mother’s maiden name.
This Charles had died in January 1861 at the age of 62 years in the Lunatic Asylum, Abergavenny and he had been a barber. Is this our Charles’s father? I had ordered the death certificate for the older Charles(1), which was why I knew the circumstances of his death. I had sent for his death certificate when looking for the death of his son, not realizing at the time that son Charles(2) had not lived in Abergavenny since he left in 1847 with his young wife.
Charles Powell(1), barber married Sarah Daniel. Our Charles had a son James Daniel (after the paternal mother’s maiden name?) and John Lewis (after the maternal mother’s maiden name.
I also
wonder who paid for the headstone for Charles(2) who died in 1857? It
was erected after the death of his wife Ann in 1905. At
that time she was living with her daughter-in-law, Emma. The only siblings left alive that I know of were
James Daniel in England and John Lewis in Vancouver. Did they supply the inscription and pay for
the headstone? Again, why Lion Street? Had they grown up being asked which Powell
family they belonged to? Did they make
the decision to add this to the headstone as well?
So many
questions and how to find some answers.
A letter to the library in Abergavenny yielded some help from a local
historian. His information helped to clarify general
history in the time period I was searching. There weren't any local newspapers[1} prior to 1861, so no help there. The Lunatic Asylum was called Pen-Y-Fal which opened in 1851. Any inmate that died there could not be buried in consecrated ground and so Pen-Y-Fal has its own graveyard. I wrote to the Asylum hoping for some information but was told that
in the early years of the Asylum detailed notes were not kept.[2]
Charles(1), the barber and
Sarah had 8 children – 4 born at Lion Lane and last four at Frogmore
Street. The 1841 and 1851 census shows
them back at Lion Street (name changed to Street sometime between 1799 and 1834).
Back to John’s letters… in his letter dated
Oct 23, 1884 he mentioned visiting his father’s sister in Tydee
“seeing
my brother-in-law about my niece, and after that went over to a place called
Tydee to see my father's sister.”
No name, but could I find her anyway. I knew Charles(1) daughters were Mary, Jane,
Elizabeth and Hannah. If I could find
someone with one of those first names born in Abergavenny, could I work
backwards to see if their maiden name was Powell. I think the ladies at the research centre
thought I should join my relatives in the asylum, but I persevered!
Success, I think… I searched the entire
1881 census for Tydee (which was only about 10 families) but could not find a
woman born in Abergavenny. Next page
though, for Puddlers Lane showed Hannah Hopkins about the right age, born in
Abergavenny. Free BMD showed her maiden name was Powell. On to parish records and I found the marriage of Hannah Powell & Benjamin Hopkins in 1862. Her father Charles was deceased. I had also found Hannah living with Ann, her
widowed mother, in the 1861 census. Charles(1) died January of that year.
Although I would like more substantial proof, I don't
know if I will ever find it, but the above helps to almost confirm the
connection between the two Charles. The
only other hint I have unsuccessfully pursued is the Glifford name. In a letter from Charles(2) he said Glifford was
his sister Mary's fancy name. Did she
make this name up, was she married to a Glifford, did she name any of her
children Glifford? My digging so far has
not turned up anything but lots of Charles descendants have been given this name.
[1]
No newspapers at the time of Charles the barber and Charles the candlemakers
deaths. Papers are missing for 1897 so no obit
for Charles the baker. No obit for Ann Powell
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