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| Thomas Evans kept this photo of Jane Ann inside the back cover of his watch |
Jane Ann Coles was born on the 23rd of November 1854 to John Coles and Mary Hodges Coles. Her birth certificate shows that she was born in Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan, Wales. I find it interesting that Jane Ann's mother could not sign her name as she made her mark on the birth registration form. On her birth certificate it states that Jane Ann's father was a collier which is a coal
miner.
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| A fragment of Jane Ann Cole's Birth Certificate |
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| from www.alangeorge.co.uk/dowlais.htm |
Dowlais, the town where Jane Ann was born, is a village and community of the county borough of Merthyr Tydfil, in Wales. Dowlais is notable within Wales and Britain for its historic association with ironworking; once employing, through the Dowlais Iron Company, roughly 7,300 people, the works being the largest in the world. At one time it boasted that all of the railroad tracks in Europe were made at the Dowlais Ironworks. Richard Evans traveled to Dowlais in 1939 and stated that it was an utterly dreary town.
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| from www.alangeorge.co.uk/dowlais.htm |
These are some old photographs of Dowlais. They show that Dowlais was a
very hilly area and the smoke stacks of the Dowlais Ironworks can be seen. Also
coal mining was a big industry in the district of Merthyr Tydfil
which includes the community of Dowlais.
According to the 1861 census, Jane was the second child with an older
brother William and a younger sister Eliza. By this time Jane Ann's
family lived on Treforest road, Llantwit Fardre parish, county of
Glamorgan. This is close to Pontypridd where she would eventually meet
her husband.
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| Fragment of the 1861 Census of Wales |
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| Avon Gorge Bridge near Clifton, Gloucestershire, England |
Not much is known about Jane Ann Coles as a child. From the History of Thomas Evans we learn that Jane Ann's Parents were English but they lived in Wales. When she was 19 she and her family attended a Methodist church in Pontypridd. Jane met Thomas Evans at church in1873 when Jane Ann was 19 years old. She and Thomas had a standing date to attend church together for 6 months. Then, as Richard Evans stated in his biography of Thomas Evans, "The young lady's parents thought that Jane Ann should make her own way, and she was sent to relatives in Bristol, and she began work as a domestic service in the high-class suburb of Clifton, near the beautiful Avon Gorge and the famed suspension bridge. They felt that this would add something of culture and refinement to her life". I included a picture of the bridge and area because it is very pretty and was probably quite a change for Jane Ann after living in Dowlais.
If anyone has any more information about Jane Ann Coles early life or about her parents John Coles and Mary Hodges I would be glad to see any of it.
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| How are we related to Jane Ann Coles |
Other Posts on Jane Ann Coles
Jane Ann Coles (pt2) Married Live in Wales
References:
A Biography of Thomas Evans by Richard P. Evans (1973)
Certified Copy of Birth Certificate from UK General Register Office
1861 UK Census – Treforest, Llantwit Fardre,
Glamorgan, RG09, Piece 4044, Folio32, Pg.61
Dowlais Pictures from www.alangeorge.co.uk/dowlais.htm
Agon Gorge Bridge picture from fotothing.com
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