Harry Farr / Merrick - missing coal miner

Question

Hi,

My 2nd great grandparents Thomas Charles Farr and Marion Merrick are reported to have had a child before they were married. My great-grandma Frances Farr said that the boy was called Harry, and he went on to be a coal miner, eventually dying in the Mountain Ash pit in Wales (no date I'm afraid). She also said he may have gone under Merrick rather than Farr.

I am trying to find out what happened to him after 1901, where he is found living with Tom and Marion and family in Hereford. The birth date would be 1891 (ish) from the census date where he was 10. He is down as a Farr on the census, but this doesn't mean he couldn't be a Merrick at some point. It is almost certain he would have been born and registed in Hereford.

There are a few very good possibilities for Harry, but when going through the records, I found that they were very unlikely to be ours for various reasons. I have documented these in the Research area on the profile so I won't repeat them here.

I'm now thinking that THIS might be the GRO record. Whilst she said he was called Harry, I wondered if he might have been named Henry Merrick, 1890 Hereford, no mother's maiden name (volume 06A, page=482

From there I've lost him. There are plenty of records for Harry Farrs in particular, but none I can definitely tie down to this chap.

I did find THIS though: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X7PW-7ZM
which is a 1911 census - Henry Merrick, coal miner hewer boarding at Bedwellty, Monmouthshire, Wales. This is 12 miles by road from Mountain Ash

I'm fast running out of ideas. Is this him? Did he marry? Have children? When did he die? Is he mentioned in any coal mining records anywhere? I have looked but am not getting very far.

Any ideas? I'd love to get to the bottom of this little mystery!

Thanks in advance,

Matt

Comments

I'm not sure any of this will be useful...

It looks like you have direct access to FindMyPast--is that right?  I got a lot of possible results when I did a search.  Sorry, but I didn't have the patience to look through all of them.  I like the site but their marriage records aren't always the best and don't list the parents in many cases so it's hard to know which Harry Farr is the one you want.  I did notice that FMP listed some alternate names, and in my experience Harry is usually a nickname so if you haven't searched for alternate first names (particularly Harold, I would think) that might be useful.

(By the way, I do most of my work with U.S. records, and am not familiar with Herefordshire in particular or English records in general.)

It would be helpful if you add the information from your question here to the profile, so that everything will be in one place.  The record links in your question didn't work for me, so it would be helpful to include a brief summary of the information.

As a minor note, I'd change the headings for the alternate Harrys from level 2 to level 3.  That would comply with WT policy and indent them under the research heading, which seems logical.

Good luck!

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Thanks Julie! Yes I had good look through FMP thanks - couldn't find anything bar the other Harry Farr lines documented. I'll amend the profile as suggested. I think I checked Harold but I'll doublecheck.

Answer 1

Hi,

I assume you’ve noticed on the 1911 census in Bedwellty that there is also a 12-year-old Earnest Merrick noted as “adopted son” (whether of Henry Merrick or of the head of household, it’s not clear). Unfortunately it doesn’t note his birthplace.

Finding the same Earnest in 1901 might be a way to rule in or rule out Henry as a potential candidate.

Comments

One more lead to consider: [https://papuraunewydd.llyfrgell.cymru/view/3579635/3579643/139/]. This death occurred in the right area (Rheola St is in Penrhiwceibr, right next to Mountain Ash) and Henry Merrick is of the right age (24 y.o. in 1915). But: it mentions his brother Albert Merrick, a bunch of other Merricks, and no Farrs.

FUNERAL. The interment of Henry Merrick, 36 Rheola Street, hus- band of Mrs. Lilian Merrick, and son-in- law of Mr. George Fisher, bootmaker, took place in Abercynon Cemetery on Thursday last. The officiating clergy- man was the Rev. J. R. Jones, B.A., Vicar of Penrhiwceiber. The deceased was only 24 years of age, and leaves one child.

 

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Yes, this is almost certainly the guy you’re looking for. He is named as “the late Mr. Harry Farr” in the death notice of his wife, two years later, living at the same address (36 Rheola Street) in Penrhiwceibr.

https://papuraunewydd.llyfrgell.cymru/view/3580661/3580666/55/

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Lilian Fisher, his wife, is listed as single in 1911 so they married sometime between 1911 and 1915.

https://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1911Wales&indiv=try&h=466037

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Henry Lewis Merrick, 36 Rheola Street, buried 29th April 1915.

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/discoveryui-content/view/439177:62105

Lilian Annie Merrick, 36 Rheola Street, buried 7th July 1917.

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/discoveryui-content/view/439258:62105

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Legendary! How did you find that?!!!

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The Farrs in Hereford were bootmakers!

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You've totally made my day! Been looking for this guy for a long time and you knocked it off in such a small amount of time. Thank you.

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I’ve found that the Welsh Newspapers Online site is absolutely essential for Welsh genealogy. That then gives addresses, which are easier to search for than names.

One more record: the baptism of their son (born 13th June 1914):

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/discoveryui-content/view/1005582:62105

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Helps find all the William Williams :)