Hi,

I joined this list having been researching my wife's ROBERTS family in Monmouthshire and faced with a few brick walls. There was always some talk that the family actually had its roots in the Forest of Dean rather than Monmouth, so I have started looking across the border.

I have the earliest ancestor to date:

Thomas Roberts (widow) m. Ann Harper St Mary's Monmouth, 14 Jul 1774 BOTP
Witnesses where Thomas Hughes and Eliza GWYLLYM

I have not been able to find a burial record for any first wife of Thomas however. Thomas went on to have six children via his second wife Ann (Harper)

I have not been able to find any trace of Thomas Roberts first marriage in Monmouth. However, in searching the FoD records I came across this entry:

Thomas Roberts of Newland m. Mary GWILLYM of Newland 18 Apr 1761

I was intrigued by the fact that Thomas's witness to his second marriage was an Eliza GWYLLYM and that I had an earlier marriage of a Thomas Roberts to a Mary GWILLYM. I am wondering if there is a link here and that these two Thomas Roberts are one and the same? Would it be at all likely for a member of his first wife's family to act as a witness to his second marriage? Or am I, more likely, just clutching at straws?

Regards,

Stuart