Mary (Evans) Watkins (abt. 1799 - 1885)

Born about 1799 in Hay, Breconshire, Wales

Wife of Joseph Watkins — married 5 Oct 1822 in Hay, Breconshire, Wales, United Kingdom

Descendants

Died 16 Mar 1885 at about age 86 in Nelson, Nelson, New Zealand

Biography

Mary was born about 1799 at Hay, Breconshire, Wales.

Her husband was Joseph Watkins; they likely married 5 October 1822 at Hay. ^[1]

She and husband Joseph were the parents of (at least) the following children, who moved to New Zealand:

• Ann (Watkins) Prosser (bef.1825-1897)
• Joseph Watkins (1831-1898) of Wakefield, Nelson
• Mary (Watkins) Wadman (abt.1833-1894) of Nelson
• Emma (Watkins) Chubbin (abt.1840-1908)

She passed away 16 March 1886 age 86 at the residence of her daughter Mrs. Wadman, Bridge-street, Nelson. "Relict of the late Joseph Watkins". ^[2]

She was buried at Wakapuaka Cemetery. The same plot contains Richard Harper, Samuel Bertram Harper, William Henry Harper, and Rosetta Mary Louisa Harper. (These are her daughter Emma's family). ^{[3] [4]}

Research Notes

It is not known when or where her husband died, or what became of her eldest son James.

Children - NZ

Mary Wadman's will names siblings: Joseph Watkins of Wakefield, and Emma Chubbin. This confirms Joseph, Mary and Emma listed above were siblings; and this profile's death notice confirms that the parents of those siblings were called Joseph and Mary.

The same will also names Elizabeth (Prosser) Buchanan (1853-1946) as a niece, confirming that Ann is also a sister.

Maiden name

William Evans (abt.1807-1896)'s will names Joseph Watkins as nephew and also names Emma Chubbin , although without stating a relationship.

That narrows this profile down to either being an Evans or a Walls (William Evans' wife's maiden name -- nephews of a spouse could also be referred to as "nephew").

There does exist a GRO birth registration at the time expected for daughter Emma based on her NZ age at death -- in 1839, showing mother's maiden name as EVANS. There were no registrations for an Emma to Watkins + Watts.

Marriage

The cited marriage in 1822 is the only record found by an online search for Joseph Watkins + Mary Evans for the time period expected. The fact this happens to be at Hay, the bride's birthplace, is a good sign that it is the right record, although we can never be sure that there were not other marriages whose records are not readily available online.

Censuses

There do exist 1841/51 censuses for a couple Joseph + Mary Watkins, with children Emma and Joseph of matching ages, and they live in the same civil registration district as the 1839 birth registration for Emma mentioned above.

That district is HAY UNION which refers to Hay-on-Wye, Brecknockshire; which is at a triple-point of Brecknockshire, Radnorshire and Herefordshire.

Mary

The only issue here is that there is no daughter Mary on those censuses. However, it was common for young children to work as live-in servants in the area. There is actually an 1851 census for a Mary Watkins age 18 in Radnorshire; working as servant in a Thomas household. The name Evans occurs in the household as another servant and a lodger. However that is not particularly strong evidence since they are common surnames for Wales.

Children - Other

The following series of baptisms exist at Hay to parents Joseph + Mary Watkins, they are listed in both Familysearch and Ancestry but only the latter has the register images:

Seeing as these form a well spaced chronological order, starting from the marriage year, and the two born after civil registration began have records showing mother's maiden name EVANS, it seems very likely that these are all children of the same couple. The fact that Ann appears in the list with exactly correct birth year is a good corroboration.

Price

The surname Price occurs as a visitor or relative on the 1851 census for daughter Ann; and on the tentative 1851 censuses for James and Mary. They could be relatives of some sort.

Sources

1. ↑ Marriage: "Brecknockshire, Wales, Anglican Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1994"
   Archives Wales; Wales; Brecknockshire Baptisms, Marriages and Burials
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 62099 #279755 (accessed 11 January 2024)
   Joseph Watkins marriage to Mary Evan on 5 Oct 1822 in Hay, Breconshire, Wales.
2. ↑ 1885 Newspaper: "Papers Past, National Library of New Zealand"
   Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XX, Issue 62, 16 March 1885, Page 2
   "Death" (accessed 11 January 2024)
3. ↑ Nelson Cemeteries Search - Watkins, accessed 11 Jan 2024.
4. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #143738924

• 1841 Census: "1841 Wales Census"
  Class: HO107; Piece: 1370; Book: 18; Civil Parish: Llanigon; County: Breconshire; Enumeration District: 2; Folio: 6; Page: 4; Line: 7; GSU roll: 464301
  Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry uk Record 8979 #15023215 (accessed 11 January 2024)
  Mary Watkins (35) in Llanigon in Hay registration district in Breconshire, Wales. Born in Breconshire, Wales.
  • Joseph (40, butcher, not born in county), Mary (35), Joseph 910), Victoria (4), Emma (2).
• "England and Wales Census, 1851," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SGCJ-YD1 : 12 September 2019), Mary Watkins in household of Joseph Watkins, Llanigon, Breconshire, Wales; citing Llanigon, Breconshire, Wales, p. 8, from "1851 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.
  • Joseph (57, butcher), Mary (52), Joseph (19, Hay), Emma (11, Llanigon), Margaret (9, Llanigon)