William Roberts (General)

by Jefff , West London, Middlesex, Wednesday, January 30, 2019, 19:14 (1906 days ago) @ Linda Jackson

Hi Linda,
Don't knock yourself, I for one think it's better to fail trying, rather than not to try at all. Not that you failed of course, plus it's more rewarding doing one's own research. If it's any consolation, and I'm NOT pretending I'm an expert in any way. despite my 10 years experience it's still taken me a few hours finding him, and this was only with the considerable help of the posts above wrt his parents' names etc !

I guess it all depends on what resources website or whatever you've been using when searching the Census', I "only" have FamilySearch to rely on, but even when I had Ancestry subscription I often found it better to use other sites as well when the going got tough. It didn't help that his name isn't the rarest in our area, and sometimes our what initial search input data is too prescise ? Eg maybe your searches were too narrow regarding his age, or locality (often need to include "Monmouthshire" and/or "Wales" when searching the Coleford area), so this maybe combined to stop you finding all the answers, altho' you did find the Baglin link so....

Anyhow, using FamilySearch I eventually found the following;

1861 Coalway Lane End, West Dean, Monmouthshire, England
Household Role Sex Age Birthplace
John Baglin Head M 54 West Dean, Gloucestershire
Charlotte Baglin Wife F 29 Whitechurch, Herefordshire
William Roberts Visitor M 2 West Dean, Gloucestershire
Page Number 7
Registration Number RG09
Piece/Folio 3982 / 68

1861 Coalway Lane End, West Dean, Monmouthshire, England
Household Role Sex Age Birthplace
John Roberts Head M 31 Labourer. Coleford Newland, Gloucestershire
Esther Roberts Wife F 29 West Dean, Gloucestershire
Susan Roberts Daughter F 10 West Dean, Gloucestershire
Lydia Roberts Daughter F 8 West Dean, Gloucestershire
Page Number 6
Registration Number RG09
Piece/Folio 3982 / 67

--

1871 Palmer Flat, West Dean, Monmouthshire, Wales.
Household Role Sex Age Birthplace
Annie Dobbs Daughter F 3 West Dean, Gloucestershire
Jno Roberts Boarder M 45 Widowed. Stonecutter. Newland, Gloucestershire
William Roberts Boarder M 11 Stonecutter. West Dean, Gloucestershire

--

Think this is William's father John born abt 1829, as per the 1861 census, with his parents John & Susanna;

1841 Coalwaylanend, Dean Forest, Gloucestershire, England.
Household Role Sex Age Birthplace
Birthplace
John Roberts M 40-44 Gloucestershire
Susanna Roberts F 35-39 Gloucestershire
Eliza Roberts F 17-21 Gloucestershire
Caroline Roberts F 14 Gloucestershire
John Roberts M 12 Gloucestershire
Emma Roberts F 10 Gloucestershire
Daniel Roberts M 8 Gloucestershire
Henrietta Roberts F 4 Gloucestershire
James Roberts M 2 Gloucestershire
Mary Anne Roberts F 1 Gloucestershire

This site's PR have his baptism, which helpfully confirm's his exact birthdate. and his father's occupation seems to confirm this is indeed our family;

Record_ID: 100720
Entry_Number:
Year: 1835
Month: Mar
Day: 4
Parents_Surname: ROBERTS
Child_Forenames: John
Fathers_Forenames: John
Mothers_Forenames: Susanna
Mothers_Surname:
Residence: Coleford
Occupation: Stonecutter
Officiating_Minister: George Roberts BA Perpet: Curate
Event: Baptism
Memoranda: born August 15 1828
Notes:
Register_Reference: P93 IN 1/5
Page_Number: 5
Parish_Chapel: Coleford
Soundex: R163

There are also PRs for several of his siblings (with many familiar first names), many are on the same day. It may be easier to search the full PRs using just parents' names.

Year Surname First Name Fathers Forename Mothers Forename Event Parish/Chapel More detail
1835 ROBERTS Eliza John Susanna Baptism Coleford More detail
1835 ROBERTS Elizabeth John Susanna Baptism Coleford More detail
1835 ROBERTS John John Susanna Baptism Coleford More detail
1835 ROBERTS Emma John Susanna Baptism Coleford More detail
1835 ROBERTS Daniel John Susanna Baptism Coleford More detail
1835 ROBERTS Mary Ann John Susanna Baptism Coleford More detail
1836 ROBERTS Henrietta John Susan Baptism Coleford More detail
1839 ROBERTS James John Susannah Baptism Coleford More detail

I'm pleasantly surprised to see no obvious signs of infant mortality, suggesting they were well-fed and well cared-for, hopefully the evidence of subsequent PRs continue this happy start to the family fortunes.

eg

1851 Lane End, Monmouthshire, Wales.
Household Role Sex Age Birthplace
John Roberts Head M 52 Quarryman, Newland, Gloucestershire
Sushanah Roberts Wife F 50 Newland, Gloucestershire
Emele Roberts Daughter F 21 Newland, Gloucestershire
Daniel Roberts Son M 19 Quarryman. Newland, Gloucestershire
Henrietta Roberts Daughter F 14 Newland, Gloucestershire
James Roberts Son M 12 Newland, Gloucestershire
Mary Ann Roberts Daughter F 10 West Dean, Gloucestershire
Alford Roberts Son M 6 West Dean, Gloucestershire
George Roberts Grand Son M 8 West Dean, Gloucestershire

etc etc
???