Obviously one of the challenges in doing research on the Jones branch of my family (or branches, as I have a separate line also named Jones) is sorting them out from other, unrelated families named Jones. Knowing specific locations for William Jones’ family back in Westhope/Diddlebury helped a lot.
First, I was able to identify christening records for William and his siblings in Diddlebury, identifying their parents as Edward and Sarah Jones:
- William, chr. 15 June 1823
- Sarah, chr. 5 August 1823
- Jane, chr. 30 October 1825
- Ann Marie, chr. 29 July, 1827 (this is likely Mary)
- Edmund, chr. 13 November, 1831
- Emma, chr. 29 September, 1833
- Mary, chr. 31 January, 1836
- John, chr. 27 May, 1838
- Sarah, chr. 24 November, 1839
Of course, the first two raise a question. It could be that two separate Edward and Sarah Jones families are being conflated or perhaps the first Sarah was a bit older when christened (although it still doesn’t make sense she would be christened after her younger brother) and died before the second Sarah. In that none of the other birth’s to an Edward and Sarah in Diddlebury are unaccounted for, I don’t have a good explanation.
Looking at marriage records in the relevant time period and place, they identify the location by Hundred (an administrative region), and Diddlebury is in the Munslow Hundred. The Edward Jones and Sarah marriage in Munslow is of Edward Jones and Sarah Maund (12 Aug 1822). This, plus the fact that a William Maund, age 16, is living with Edward and Sarah Jones in 1851 makes me think the strong likelihood is that this is the marriage record I am looking for.
Census records only go back to 1841, and at that time William was around 18 and no longer living with his parents. The family in Westhope, other than Edward and Sarah, were:
- Jane, age 15
- Meriah (this appears to be Ann Marie), age 13
- Edmund, age 10
- Sarah, age 2
Missing are Emma (then about 8), Mary (about 5), and John (about 3). Could these be children of a different Edward and Sarah Jones? Based on the 1851 Census, that’s unlikely, as there Edward and Sarah have the following children at home:
- Ann Maria, age 23
- Edmund, age 19
- Emma, age 17
- John, age 12
Also in 1851, Jane, age 25, and Mary, age 15, are living with William and identified as his sisters born in Diddlebury, Shropshire.
My American Journeys 
My mums maiden name is Jones but I wouldn’t know where to start as no living relatives left apart from mum
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It really depends on where she was born and what records exist. I think I only got anywhere with my dad’s family because he knew his dad’s birthplace and birthdate (and I think his grandparents’ names) and the birthplace was a pretty small town. I was lucky that it was possible since my grandfather died when I was 5 and the great-grandparents before I was born (and my dad and his father were estranged even before that). Doing this I discovered a bunch of relatives on that side I didn’t know about before.
Jones is hard, though, no question.
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