I am looking for Harriet or Harriet Ann Davies from the Kington and / or Leominster areas born around 1828 +/- 5 years. She "married" William Heritage and they lived in Monmouthshire in the 1850's. William died of smallpox in 1857 in Brynmawr,(then) Breconshire. I can find no trace of Harriet after that. She may also have died then. Their two little girls, Mary Ann 6, and Sophia 4 in 1861, were in Kington workhouse with the surname Davies at that census time.No records exist in good enough condition from the workhouse to say when the girls left, or where they went, although Mary Ann with an illegitimate daughter Elizabeth Ann later married a George Russell from Pershore where they settled. Sophia went back to the Brynmawr area. The girls' parents' origins are a mystery. I feel they must have had relatives in Herefordshire for them to have been taken to Kington workhouse from Monmouthshire.

Have you got the birth certifcates for either Mary Ann, or Sophia? They are registered as Heritage.

Births Jun 1855
Heritage Mary Ann Abergavenny 11a 116

Births Jun 1857
Heritage Sophia Abergavenny 11a 67

In addition, in 1852, there is a Margaret Davies, getting married, in Pontypool, and in the same place there is an Ezra Heritage.

Marriages Sep 1852
Davies Margaret Pontypool 11a 197
Heritage Ezra Pontypool 11a 197

Are you sure of the parentage of the girls?

Hello Crusoe,
Yes I have birth certificates for both Mary Ann and Sophia Heritage but Sophia was born 26th March 1857 in Garnfach, Mon. which is part of Nantyglo and near Brynmawr. Her father William Heritage was an iron miner and the birth was registered by her mother Harriet Heritage, formerly Davies, with her mark on 28th April 1857.
Mary Ann Heritage was born on 5th May 1855 in Blackwood, Bedwellty, to William Heritage, Railroad labourer, and Harriett Ann Heritage, formerly Davies and registered by the mother with her mark on 17th May 1855.
William Heritage died aged about 30,in Brynmawr from smallpox in 1857 and I have his death certificate. Harriet was not in attendance at the death. I have not found a recorded marriage or death for Harriet as Heritage or Davies.
According to family oral history my great grandmother Sophia was found as a baby abandoned on a bridge in Abergavenny (Mary Ann, too?) On the 1861 census she and Mary Ann were in Kington workhouse, Herefordshire, with the Davies surname and recorded as having come from Llangattock near Brynmawr. Hereford records office said the workhouse records are in a very poor state but on a visit to Kington I did see their names recorded on the 1861 census.
Through this research I came across a distant cousin in Australia who had reached the same point as I had and was equally stuck. He pointed out that on the 1891 census,(Sophia and her husband's ages are wrong but my grandfather and his siblings are there), Sophia Jenkins, nee Heritage, our g.g. grandmother, gave her birthplace as Knighton, Herefordshire. I wonder if this is where the Davies family came from, or whether it is a wrong spelling of Kington where she spent her young years? Someone must have known the girls' origins for them to have been taken from Brecknockshire/Monmouthshire to a workhouse in Herefordshire. Sophia went back to Abergavenny to live while Mary Ann married a George Russell and lived in Pershore, Worcestershire.
I recently found a 17 year old Harriet Davies on the 1841 census with several other young people at a house near Staunton on Arrow. If I stop now to look up the exact name I will surely lose all this message!
I don't know where to go from here. Thanks for your help.
Marion.

Have you checked this death:-

Deaths Dec 1857
Davies Harriet Abergavenny 11a 52

If she died very shortly after the birth of Sophia, and her family registered the death, then it may be that they registered her in her maiden name. Also, if someone in her family took the children, (her parents for example) they may have been known as Davies, and for them to get that name in the workhouse, someone had to give it to them. So, did the older one know her name, but did she think it was Davies. All supposition of course, but it could be possible. I will put my thinking cap on, and see what pops up, you never know.

Hello Marion,

I have given some thought to this, and what I am about to say is probably completely wrong -- but, I am a female, and stubborn, and I love a challenge, so, give the following some thought. Sorry if it sounds illogical.

1. I have seen the 1841 record for Harriet in Kington, and I too think this may be your girl. said to be aged 17 years. This is unusual on this census, as they were told to round ages down to the nearest 5 years, so assuming that she has her age correct, she was born in 1824.

I found this baptism, but she was baptised in Montgomeryshire.

Day: 31
Month: Dec
Year: 1824
Title:
Forenames: Harriet Ann Walters
Surname:
Relationship:
Fathers notes:
Fathers title:
Fathers forenames: Thomas
Fathers surname: DAVIES
Fathers occupation: Mercer
Fathers abode: Pool town
Mothers title:
Mothers forenames: Marianna
Mothers surname:
Mothers occupation:
Mother abode:
Mothers notes:

2. On the 1841 census, I can find Thomas, and Marianna, with a lot of children.

DAVIES, Thomas M 50 1791 Montgomeryshire
DAVIES, Marian F 50 1791
DAVIES, Marian F 25 1816
DAVIES, Thos M 20 1821 Montgomeryshire
DAVIES, Emily F 15 1826 Montgomeryshire
DAVIES, Louisa F 15 1826 Montgomeryshire
DAVIES, Edwin M 13 1828 Montgomeryshire
PROSSER, Sophia F 35 1806
BARRETT, Thos M 25 1816
MORRIS, Margt F 15 1826 Montgomeryshire

All of the above ages for the children would be rounded down, the ones with Montgomeryshire beside their names were born in the County, but the others were not.
I cannot find a baptism for Marian. I can find baptisms for the other children, who were born in Montgomeryshire.

Parish Records Collection - baptism
Day: 7
Month: Dec
Year: 1827
Title:
Forenames: Edwin Roberts
Surname:
Relationship:
Fathers notes:
Fathers title:
Fathers forenames: Thomas
Fathers surname: DAVIES
Fathers occupation: Mercer
Fathers abode: Pool town
Mothers title:
Mothers forenames: Marianne
Mothers surname:
Mothers occupation:
Mother abode:
Mothers notes:
Birth Day:
Birth Month:
Birth Year:
Abode:
Place: Welshpool
Dedication:
County: Montgomeryshire
Country: Wales
Notes:
Record source: Montgomeryshire Baptisms
Data provider: Montgomeryshire Genealogical Society

Parish Records Collection - baptism
Day: 1
Month: Jan
Year: 1822
Title:
Forenames: Louisa
Surname:
Relationship:
Fathers notes:
Fathers title:
Fathers forenames: Thomas
Fathers surname: DAVIES
Fathers occupation: Mercer
Fathers abode: Pool town
Mothers title:
Mothers forenames: Marianne
Mothers surname:
Mothers occupation:
Mother abode:
Mothers notes:
Birth Day:
Birth Month:
Birth Year:
Abode:
Place: Welshpool
Dedication:
County: Montgomeryshire
Country: Wales
Notes:
Record source: Montgomeryshire Baptisms
Data provider: Montgomeryshire Genealogical Society


Parish Records Collection - baptism
Day: 13
Month: Jan
Year: 1820
Title:
Forenames: Emily
Surname:
Relationship:
Fathers notes:
Fathers title:
Fathers forenames: Thomas
Fathers surname: DAVIES
Fathers occupation: Mercer
Fathers abode: Pool town
Mothers title:
Mothers forenames: Marianne
Mothers surname:
Mothers occupation:
Mother abode:
Mothers notes:
Birth Day:
Birth Month:
Birth Year:
Abode:
Place: Welshpool
Dedication:
County: Montgomeryshire
Country: Wales
Notes:
Record source: Montgomeryshire Baptisms
Data provider: Montgomeryshire Genealogical Society

SO, the question is, Is this the family of Harriett, with her having left home and gone to Hereford. Marianna, was not born in Montgomeryshire, but she could have been born in Hereford. Living with the DAVIES family in Montgomeryshire, is a woman called Sophia Prosser, and Marianna, and Mary Ann seem to be similar. The question is, are these family names being passed down. AND, your own name and Marianna also seem to go together.

I am probably rambling now, but I would love to try to prove this. Do you think it is a possibility.

Thank you so much for all your work. We are on the same wavelength for I also wondered why Harriet's age had not been rounded up or down. I had given myself a break of about a year in the search for William and Harriett Ann Heritage, then I found a Heritage in Birmingham who had married a Lizzie (Elizabeth) from the Leominster area. I had hoped (in vain) that her name would have been Davies. I must go back over my notes. Do you think Sophia Prosser would have been a sister to Marian(na) Davies? At least I have some more information to try again in Herefordshire.
If you ever come across a death for Harriett around 1857, when her husband died and her last child (Sophia)was born, I would love to know. Someone at the Kington workhouse seemed to know the girls were of the Davies family, but they changed their names to that of their father on leaving there. As William was about 30 when he died I assumed he would have been born around 1827/8. Mary Ann Heritage married in 1875, a George Russell from Pershore and went there to live with her illegitimate daughter Elizabeth Ann Heritage who was born 13th Sept. 1872 in Kington workhouse. (My father said as a boy he thought he had relatives in Persia! His hearing of Pershore)
I found many Heritages in the Evesham/Pershore/Birmingham areas and also Bucks and Oxford and even Frome in Somerset. Many Heritages went to the Welsh valleys looking for work in coal and iron mining and on the railways.
I wonder where Harriett Ann met her William. Details of a marriage have not yet come to light.
I was so happy to have your news and hope this is the breakthrough.
Best wishes,
Marion in Norwich

Hi Marion,

Did you see my earlier message about this.

Deaths Dec 1857
Davies Harriet Abergavenny 11a 52

I wondered if the family could have registered her and put her maiden name.

Nancy

Yes, I have the Dec. Qtr 1857 death certificate for Harriett Davies but she was the wife of Stephen Davies, an iron miner. She was accidentally killed by a fall from a tram waggon, and was 37. I don't think this can be the Harriet I am looking for, even though she lived in the Aberystruth area of Monmouthshire. I wonder if after William Heritage's death she went back to her family in Herefordshire.
Incidentally, on the 1891 census, Sophia Jenkins (nee Heritage), Harriet's 2nd daughter, says she was born in Knigton (Hfd), but this could be a mistake for Kington where she "came from", i.e. where she lived so many years in the workhouse there.
Still struggling!
Marion

OK, I have read this, and will see if I can come up with any other suggestions. You never know, one of them just might hit the nail on the head.