Liverpool & South West Lancashire FHS - Forum

I am attaching an extract from the 1851 Census which has been puzzling me for over three years and I need some fresh minds.

The first named, Caroline Jones, is my gg grandmother and rather unusually the last named, Elizabeth Woolmer, is the head of the household. Elizabeth Woolmer is a member of the family that my gg grandmother was in service to in Stanwix in Carlisle according to the 1841 Census. This extract from the 1851 Census is for Llandegfan just outside Beaumaris. It would appear that my gg grandmother moved to Wales with her employer and her family. Elizabeth's late husband was William Woolmer who was an inspector of mails and I presume his employment may have involved a transfer from Carlisle on the Scottish border to Anglesey on the Irish (sea) border. Elizabeth was widowed sometime between the census dates for 1841 and 1851 but I haven't found his death.

I have independent (baptismal) confirmation for the first two children, Caroline's son John and her infant daughter Elizabeth (obviously not a son as implied in the Census!) but I don't know who Louisa Jones or Llewellyn Bird are. I cannot decipher the relationship for Louisa Jones which Ancestry have transcribed nonsensically as Sat Lonar and Find My Past have not even attempted to transcribe. Nor can I decipher the relationship or find any other vital records whatsoever for Llewelyn Bird which I think is a nom de plume (nom de plumage!) for a child born out of wedlock.

Llewelyn is a name that was used by the family. Caroline, who had been married in 1844 from the same address as in the 1851 Census, actually had two children called Llewelyn. The first was born in 1846/7 and died at the age of three in January 1850 (a year before this census entry) and the second who was born in 1856 was my great-grandfather.

My thinking is that Elizabeth Woolmer, who appears to have had no children of her own, more or less adopted my gg grandmother and her family and that Louisa Jones and the unidentified child are further examples of her patronage.

Whilst I don't think it is of any consequence to my family tree I am frustrated that I cannot work out what the entry says. Does anybody have any suggestions as to what this census actually says?


Class: HO107; Piece: 2517; Folio: 274; Page: 10; GSU roll: 104291.

Just giving the reference for the 1851 census in case anybody wants to see it up closer. HO107; Piece: 2517; Folio: 274; Page: 10

I think the entry for Llewellyn Bird says "Guest" born Bangor, Carnarvon.

Sorry I can't make out the description for Louisa Jones, who due to her age, may be a red herring - let's throw in a fish with the bird except that Llewellyn may be connected with her rather than Caroline because of his entry in the list.

(PS there is somebody further up the page in another family, who is listed as a Sister in Law, but comparing the writing to those words I don't think that is the answer).

Hi Mary,

I think I have identified Louisa in the next census (1861) where she appears to be the daughter of the Parish Clerk but there is no mention of Llewelyn. Either the bird has flown or he was not connected to Louisa.

The daughter of the Parish Clerk would probably be well educated and my gg grandmother was herself the daughter of a French language teacher so maybe the relationship has something to do with education? Alternatively with a baby and a toddler around is it something to do with childcare?

At first I also thought our cuckoo was a Guest but the more I look at it the more I doubt that too!

Perhaps others will wake up soon and give their opinions.

Is the 'relationship' for Louisa a very bad 'Sister of servant'?

My take on Llewellyn 'Bird' is that he is not related to any of the household but is in fact a guest, perhaps being looked after for a friend of Elizabeth Woolmer. There are no Bird 'families' in Caernarvon or Anglesey in 1851. There are 16 un-named Bird births in England between 1847 and 1849.

With regard to when Elizabeth moved to Caernarvon I believe it was after the death of husband William. There are only four deaths, all in England.
WOOLMER, William - London, St. Pancras - 1841
WOOLMER, William - Northamptonshire, Kettering - 1844
WOOLMER, William - Lancashire, Manchester - 1845
WOOLMER, William - Northamptonshire, Kettering - 1850
Because Caroline's children were born in Wales as early as 1846 I assume you could discount the 1850 death. So when and where did Caroline marry?

Hi DS,

Caroline was married in 1844, both she and her husband used the same address as the 1851 Census.

I have several putative siblings for her husband taken from a visit to the Anglesey Archive and a thorough examination of the Parish Register of Baptisms. These include David (1823), Mary (1824), Elizabeth (1825), Ellen (1825), Elizabeth (1827), Grace (1830), Jane (1830) and Rhoda (1834) (Some or all of these belong to another family of exactly the same name; John and Mary Jones). There is no trace of any Louisa Jones save for the Parish Clerk's daughter that I found in the 1861 Census (and also 1841).

Llewelyn's place of birth is given as Bangor which is at the other end of a ferry that ran from Garth, close to the Census address. I can't find any births to a Bird family in the area which is what makes me believe it may be a euphemism for a foundling or to conceal the true identity of the mother.

Caroline was married in 1844, both she and her husband used the same address as the 1851 Census.

I should have asked... Did Caroline marry an Edward Jones in 1844 and was her maiden name Boullen?

Yes but Edward appears to be out of town for the 1851 Census although he re-appears in 1861.

Needless to say we have had no problem researching the Boullen family. They were French Huguenots with Guernsey connections who arrived in Britain in the seventeenth century. The difficulty, as always, is with a name like Jones. As I said in my previous post Edward appears to have far too many siblings and the address and occupation information in the Parish Registers is sometimes so imprecise that it is difficult to differentiate.

I think Elizabeth Woolmer was a lady with money [she describes herself as Lady in the 1851] and may well have been philanthropic by nature. May well have taken in a foundling. She died in 1860, Jun qtr. Llewellyn Bird's mother may have married and in 1861 he has a new surname. The theories abound!