Williams Family Clues...

While researching my Dad's side of the family tree, I remembered that my Mom had given me this old postcard a few years ago, as I love collecting them. Unfortunately my Grandma loved to cut out the stamps, so the postcard is rather ruined.

But to me it is priceless, because it contains two clues!

The postcard is addressed to my Grandpa, Mr. John G. Williams, of 11 Dorvil Street in Blaenau Festiniog, which is in North Wales. If you enter this address in Google Maps, street view, you can see the house where my Grandpa used to live!

As you will notice, the postcard is written in Welsh, by Maria Williams.

I'd always assumed that she might have been my Grandpa's sister, but thanks to a wonderful website which I discovered a week ago, Ken Davies, moderator of the site has translated it for me.

This is what the Welsh writing says:

"Dear cousin. I'd better send a word or two to you hoping that you are well as I presently am. I received your postcard and thank you for it and I am sending this to you to say that I am a good girl as you were saying, that for me to be . He has commanded his angels for me.

This briefly is from your cousin. Maria Williams. XXX"

Isn't this simply fantastic?

I am so thrilled after all these years to learn that Maria is my Grandpa's cousin, and to know what she wrote to him. I'm sure she was referring to a Bible verse,

"He will give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways."

Psalm 91:11

Here is Ken's website:

PENMON

I found it by entering the words "Blaenau Festiniog" into the Google search engine.

I just adore the internet! Ken's wonderful website popped up, and over the course of one week, he has helped me trace more clues and find information regarding my great uncle William Williams, and also found information from the 1891 and 1901 census.

I hope to learn even more over the next few weeks.

Here is a photo of my Grandpa, John Griffith Williams, as a young man.

He emigrated to Canada in 1910, according to an old income tax document that my Mom found last week. He was married in 1919 to Ellen Egerton. They had a son, Harry, in 1920 and another son, Wallace, in 1922.

 Harry died in 1925 and Ellen died January 6, 1926.

My Grandpa remarried in 1928, to Alma May Palmer, and they had seven children, my Dad being the eldest.

I've put together a binder for my Dad with all this new information. I think he is quite pleased!

By Loretta Williams Houben