Contents

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Introduction

Welcome to my family history website.  This page covers the family of Harriet Ellen Jones' father, Sgt. Richard Evan Jones and his parents, John Jones and Ellen Evans. The Jones family were industrial working-class folks from Flintshire, Wales where their ancestry can be traced back to the late-1700s.  If you are just arriving here for the first time then you may wish to start here.

Please Note: This page is intended only as a narrative historical overview of this family.  There is additional detailed information available for almost ever person presented on this page.  To avoid the unnecessary work of double-entering some data, the additional information can be found in the accompanying GEDCOM database.  Please make sure you click on the INDEX button at the bottom of the page so you don't miss out on potentially valuable additional information.

Acknowledgments

The research presented on this page is not mine alone.  It contains information submitted by all the Fellow Researchers listed below.  I am indebted to them for their generous contributions.  This page is intended as a place for researchers to freely and cooperatively share our research with each other.  It would be too cumbersome a task to reference each piece of data as to which researcher it has come from.  The information shown on this page should be understood as a product of ALL of the Fellow Researchers.  I am merely the editor and not the sole author. - Ryk

Origins Of The Surnames Jones and Evans

Jones and Evans are both patronymic surnames. Jones is an abbreviation of "Johnson" which means "son of John". Under normal circumstances this would mean that our Jones family is probably descended from an ancestor whose father's name was John, which could easily be the case as John is one of the most popular male names in the world. However, in the case of the Welsh there is a different story, which we'll get to after we look at the name Evans.

Evans is an abbreviation of "Evanson", which means "son of Evan". Evan is a Welsh form of John (related to the Scot's Gaelic "Ewan", the Germanic "Johan", and the Russion "Ivan"), so Evans also means "son of John". Thus Evans and Jones are etymologically equivalent names.  Evans and Jones are also by far the two most common Welsh surnames.

Prior to the imposition of English naming customs in Wales, the Welsh people, like their Celtic cousins in Scotland and Ireland, used patronymic surnames such as "Evan ap Dyffyd", which means "John, son of David". ("Ap" is the Welsh form of the Gaelic "mac" meaning "son of".)  Legend has it that when the English imposed their surname system on the Welsh, the Welsh responded by having everyone take the name Evans or Jones, which to the Welsh were really just the same name.  This was apparently done just to confound the English bureaucrats. Whether this legend is based in truth or is just folklore to explain the popularity of the two names may never be known, but it's certainly a good Welsh tale.

Click here to learn more about surnames.

Our account of our Jones family in Wales begins with William Jones in the town of Flint, Flintshire, Wales.

William and Elizabeth Jones in Flint, Flintshire, Wales

William JONES, b: 1769 in Flintshire, Wales.  The relationship of William Jones and his wife Elizabeth to the rest of this family is not confirmed. William and Elizabeth are found in 1841 residing immediately next door to the younger William Jones (shown here as their grandson by an unknown son). The arrangement shown here is based solely on age and proximity.  William is presumed to have married to a woman named ELIZABETH b: 1767 in Flintshire, Wales, although no record of their marriage has been found.  Her surname is unknown.  They are suggested as the parents of:

1. Unknown JONES, b ABT 1790 in Flint, Flintshire, Wales.  This son's name is unknown.  Based solely on geographical proximity and chronology the following sons are suggested to be brothers of each other.  That is, John, Edward, William and Henry Jones are all found residing very close to each other in early census records and their ages suggest that they could easily come from one family of origin.  However, we have no birth information on any of them and census records show no likely candidate to be their father.  Census records do show the elderly William Jones (above) residing with the younger William Jones (below).  It's possible that the elder William could be the father of these sons, but his age would suggest that he is more likely to be their grandfather.  As such, it is suggested that the father likely died prior to 1841.
   1. John JONES b: ABT 1811 in Flint, Flintshire, Wales.  John Jones' relationship to the rest of this family is not confirmed. He and his wife and children are found in 1841 residing within 6 houses of William Jones Sr, the younger William Jones, and Henry Jones. Given proximity, onomastics, and ages, William, Henry, Edward and John are presumed to be all brothers to each other and sons or grandsons of William Jones Sr. These relationships are subject to further research and verification.  John is presumed to have married to a woman named ANNIE b: 1813 in Flintshire, Wales, although no record of their marriage has been found.  Her surname is unknown.  Census records indicate that they were parents of the following children:
      1. Catherine JONES b: 1827 in Flint, Flintshire, Wales
      2. Elizabeth JONES b: 1830 in Flint, Flintshire, Wales
      3. Henry JONES b: 1837 in Flint, Flintshire, Wales
      4. William JONES b: 1839 in Flint, Flintshire, Wales
   2. Edward JONES b: 1818 in Flint, Flintshire, Wales.  Edward's relationship to this family is not confirmed. In 1851 Edward is found residing next door to William Jones. As their ages are close and their children bear similar names and as there appears to be few Joneses in the parish, it is suggested that Edward and William may be brothers.  Edward is presumed to have married to a woman named ELIZABETH b: 1821 in Flint, Flintshire, Wales, although no record of their marriage has been found.  Her surname is unknown.  Census records indicate that they were parents of:
      1. John JONES b: 1845 in Flint, Flintshire, Wales
      2. Robert JONES b: 1847 in Flint, Flintshire, Wales
   3. William JONES b: 1819 in Flint, Flintshire, Wales.  William married to Jemima Williams.
      1. Their descendants are presented below.
   4. Henry JONES b: BET 1821 AND 1826 in Flint, Flintshire, Wales.  Henry's relationship to this family is unconfirmed. In 1841, Henry is found residing 4 houses away from William Jones Sr, 5 houses away from the younger William Jones, and next door to John Jones. Given their proximity in location and age, they are presently all presumed to be brothers.  Henry has not been reliably identified in later census records and it is not known if he married or had children.

William Jones and Jemima Williams in Flint, Flintshire, Wales

William JONES b: 1819 in Flint, Flintshire, Wales, shown above as the son of "Unknown Jones", and grandson of William and Elizabeth Jones in Flint, Flintshire, Wales.  This William Jones has only been confidently identified in census records for 1851. William's son John's death record indicates that John was the son of "William Jones and Jemima Williams", allowing for William to be identified in 1851. In 1841 there are only two William Joneses close to the correct age in Flint. One is married to a Catharine with a young daughter and can therefore be eliminated. The other is residing with the elder William and Elizabeth Jones, shown here as this William's grandparents.  In 1861 William's sons are found residing with "Jemima Griffiths" who is the same age as their mother. From this entry it is presumed that William died between1851-1861 and Jemima remarried to a man surnamed Griffiths.  William and Jemima had the following children:

1. William JONES b: 1846 in Flint, Flintshire, Wales.  In 1861 William is found with his widowed (and remarried) mother and his younger brother John residing in Flint, Flintshire, Wales. William is shown as a bricklayer's apprentice and his brother John is a bricklayer's labourer.
2. John JONES b: 13 JAN 1848 in Flint, Flintshire, Wales.  John Jones married Ellen Evans
   1. Their descendants are presented below.

After William's death it is believed that Jemima married secondly to Unknown GRIFFITHS and had the following child.  Jemima's second husband is not found in any census records and it is believed that he died sometime between 1858-1861.

1. Harriet GRIFFITHS b: 1858 in Flintshire, Wales.  Harriet is found in 1861 residing with her half-brothers, John and William Jones.  It is believed that John Jones named his youngest daughter Harriet after this Harriet, his half-sister.

Jemima Williams' parents are not known.  She is found in 1841 residing in Flint not far from the Jones family.  She is residing with 8 year old Ann Williams and 6 year old Elizabeth Williams, presumably her younger sisters.  It is suggested from this entry that Jemima's parents died sometime prior to 1841 leaving Jemima to raise her younger sisters.

John Jones and Ellen Evans in Lancashire, England

John JONES b: 13 JAN 1848 in Flint, Flintshire, Wales, shown above as the son of William Jones and Jemima Williams.  No birth record has been found for John, however his death record shows his parents as "William Jones and Jemima Williams." Harriett Jones (John's granddaughter) recalled that John was born in 1848 in Flintshire, Wales, with parents: Richard Jones and Unknown Williams. Census records also indicate Flint as his birth place. However John's death certificate gives his parents' names as William Jones and Jemima Williams. It also says that he had resided in Ontario for 60 years at his time of death, which is impossible.

Sometime between 1861-1871 John moved to Manchester, Lancashire, England, where in July 1871, he married Ellen Evans.  As Ellen came from Rhuddlan, Flintshire, Wales, about 15 miles west of the town of Flint, it is presumed that John and Ellen met in Wales prior to moving to Manchester.

Sometime between 1883-1887, John Jones moved his family to the town of Bolton, just outside Manchester (now a suburb of Manchester). Bolton was experiencing a similar industrial boom to Manchester, but being a smaller town was somewhat cleaner and subject to less corruption and exploitation. Somewhat less.

Late 19th Century Bolton, England

Bolton grew slowly over the centuries from a small settlement on the wild Lancashire Moors. The town is best known for its industrial heritage. Local inventions gave enormous impetus to cotton manufacturing and the establishment of Lancashire's mill towns. It grew as a boomtown in the 19th century to become one of the leaders in the Industrial Revolution. Its population grew from 17,000 in 1801 to 10 times that number by 1901. Cotton was king, but other industries flourished also, from supporting trades such as engineering, and the building of the railways which fostered all industry, to the rise and fall of such enterprises as the now defunct mining industry.

For many people, the Greater Manchester area ended up being a hollow and unfulfilling promise of a decent living for a hard working family. It's no surprise then, as Manchester's economy was beginning to implode, that many people immigrated to the "New World" and particularly to the industrial heartland of Canada, that is, Hamilton, Ontario. In 1907, most of the extended Jones and Liptrot (see below) families, immigrated to Hamilton.

John Jones married on 2 JUL 1871 in Manchester Cathedral, Manchester, Lancashire, England to Ellen EVANS.  She was born 1848 in 1848 in Rhuddlan, Flintshire, Wales, however her early origins are uncertain.  In 1871, she was working as a household servant in Manchester.  There are no entries in the 1861 census for any Ellen Evans born in Rhuddlan, however two possible entries have been identified.  The first is preferred:

1. Ellen Evans, b: 1849 in Rhyl (2 miles from Rhuddlan), living with her family in Llangelnwen, Angelsey, Wales. Father: Edward Evans is a brick maker. Mother: Jane. Siblings: Edward, John (Ellen's twin), Sarah, & William.  (It could be easy to explain how the daughter of a brick-maker ended up marrying a bricklayer.)
2. Ellen Evans, b: 1848 in Llanasa, Flintshire (about 5 miles east of Rhuddlan), living in Rhuddlan, working as a scullery maid in an inn owned by Owen Roberts. As she is only 13 it is presumed that she is orphaned.

In December 1912, John and Ellen Jones set sale for Hamilton, Wentworth, Ontario, Canada, having been preceded there in March 1907 by their son Richard Evan Jones and his wife, Annie Liptrot.  Ellen died during the crossing and was buried at sea.

John and Ellen had the following children:

1. John Evans JONES b: BET JUL AND DEC 1871 in Manchester, Lancashire, England.  John was born just slightly before his parents were married.  He worked as a bricklayer and married after 1891 to Elizabeth Ann whose surname is unknown.  It is believed they had no children.  They have not been confidently identified in the 1901 census as there are too many possible contenders.  It is not known if they immigrated to Canada with their siblings or not.
2. William Thomas JONES b: 8 JUN 1874 in Manchester, Lancashire, England.  He worked as a bricklayer in England.  He immigrated in March 1907 with his extended family.  In 1915 he enlisted in Royal Canadian Forces and was killed in action in 1917.  William married ABT DEC 1890 in Bolton, Lancashire, England to Elizabeth Alice HARRELL b: 1871 in Preston, Lancashire, England, daughter of Daniel and Mary Ann Harrell.  William and Elizabeth had the following children:
   1. Arthur JONES b: ABT SEP 1892 in Halliwell, Bolton, Lancashire, England.  Arthur married on 05 FEB 1919 in Hamilton, Wentworth County, Ontario, Canada to Mary Ann SUTCLIFFE b: 1894 in Bolton, Lancashire, England, daughter of John Sutcliffe and Mary Hannah Lord.  Arthur and Mary Ann had the following children:
      1. Leonard JONES b: ABT 1920 in Hamilton, Wentworth County, Ontario, Canada
      2. Patricia JONES b: ABT 1923 in Hamilton, Wentworth County, Ontario, Canada
   2. Edith Alice JONES b: ABT MAR 1898 in Halliwell, Bolton, Lancashire, England.  She married George BARLOW.  It is not known if they had any children.
   3. Mary Ellen JONES b: ABT JUN 1900 in Halliwell, Bolton, Lancashire, England.  Mary married on 18 JUN 1924 in Hamilton, Wentworth County, Ontario, Canada to Thomas LODGE b: 1899 in Yorkshire, England  They had the following child:
      1. Living LODGE
   4. Phyllis JONES b: BET 1905 AND 1907 in Halliwell, Bolton, Lancashire, England.  She married to Bruce WALLACE and had the following children:
      1. Beverly WALLACE
      2. Living WALLACE
   5. Irene JONES b: AFT 1907 in Hamilton, Wentworth, Ontario.  She married Jack NICHOLSON and had the following children:
      1. Living NICHOLSON
      2. Living NICHOLSON
3. Daniel JONES b: 1876 in Manchester, Lancashire, England.  Daniel worked as a bricklayer.  It is believed that he never married.  According to his niece, Daniel never married. It is not known if Daniel came to Canada or not. He is last found in the 1901 England census residing with his parents. As his family did not immigrate until after 1911, he is not found in the 1911 Canadian census.
4. Richard Evan JONES b: 6 NOV 1879 in Harpurhey, Manchester, Lancashire, England.  He married Annie Liptrot. 
   1. Their descendants are presented below.
5. Elizabeth Ann JONES b: ABT JUN 1883 in Manchester, Lancashire, England.  She worked as a cotton winder in Bolton.  She married ABT 1905 in probably Bolton, Lancashire, England to James PILLING b: ABT 1880 in Southport, Lancashire, England.  They had the following children.  Elizabeth died giving birth to her fourth child.
   1. Harry PILLING b: 30 JUL 1907 in Hamilton, Wentworth, Ontario.  He is the only one of his siblings to survive to adulthood.  He married Nora Patricia GOW b: 26 JUN 1915 in Hamilton, Wentworth, Ontario.  Nora Gow was the sister of George William Gow who married Mae Angus, who can be found on the Angus Family Page.
   2. Edna PILLING b: ABT 1912 in Hamilton, Wentworth, Ontario.  She died young.
   3. Doris PILLING b: ABT 1915 in Hamilton, Wentworth, Ontario.  She died young.
   4. Child PILLING b: 24 JAN 1918 in Hamilton, Wentworth, Ontario.  This child died at birth
6. Harriet Ellen JONES b: ABT DEC 1887 in Bolton, Lancashire, England.  She worked as a cotton cloth weaver and died unmarried in AUG 1906 in Bolton, Lancashire, England prior to the rest of the family emigrating.

Richard Jones and Annie Liptrot in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Richard Evan JONES b: 6 NOV 1879 in Harpurhey, Manchester, Lancashire, England, shown above as a son of John Jones and Ellen Evans.  Richard Evan Jones (after whom this author is named) was born in Manchester, England, or "Dick" as he was known, but grew up in nearby Bolton. He was very musical.

The Jones family were staunch Methodists and were very active in Ulswater Street Methodist Church in Bolton (or "Allswater").  Dick sang tenor in the church choir which is where he met his future wife Annie Liptrot who was as a "beautiful contralto" in the choir. Dick was very musical and also played the flute (as does his namesake great-grandson).

Dick worked as a bricklayer in Bolton.  According to their daughter Edna, they lived at 345 Blackburn Road in Bloton.

Dick and Annie immigrated to Canada in 1907, though there is some discrepancy over the exact date.  Their daughter Hilda Jones recalled her mother saying it was April Fool's day, while Hilda's sister Harriet Jones recalls it being in March.  However, as the journey would have taken several days, it's likely that they departed sometime in March and arrived on April 1, 1907.  A Liptrot family photo was taken in March 1907 just days before Richard and Annie left for Canada. They were the first of the Liptrot clan to emigrate and were followed shortly by Thomas and Elizabeth Liptrot.

Upon arriving in Hamilton, Dick and Annie stayed with a family named Bryers. It is not known how they were connected with the Bryers.

In Canada, Dick became more than just a carpenter and bricklayer. He began taking contracts to build houses and became moderately prosperous as a building contractor and owned his own private contracting company. Dick built many homes in the present Aberdeen area of Hamilton, including the home that his family eventually moved into on Maple Avenue (now Maplewood) near Gage Park.  Many of those houses still stand today.

The family were very active in Ryerson Methodist Church (later Ryerson United Church) and Dick did the brickwork when the present sanctuary was built in 1915.  Dick played piccolo in a drum and bugle corps in Hamilton and sang regularly in the choir at Centenary Methodist Church and Ryerson United Church in Hamilton.

According to census records, in 1911 Dick had two lodgers residing with him: Elizabeth Morris, b 1861 in England, and Hilda Morris, b Mar 1870 in England. It is not known if they are related to the Jones' family.

In 1916 Dick enlisted as a Sergeant in the 205th Battalion Canadian Expeditionary Force.

Annie died prematurely at the age of 46 leaving Dick to raise their three daughters, aged 16, 19, and 22. He was also caring for his widowed father, John Jones, who had immigrated a few years after Dick and Annie. Dick's mother died at sea on the voyage to Canada.

Richard Evan Jones married on 12 JUL 1902 in Ulswater Street Methodist, Bolton, Lancashire, England to Sarah Annie LIPTROT b: 22 DEC 1880 in Bolton, Lancashire, England, daughter of Richard Liptrot and Sarah Crook.  The story of Annie's ancestors can be found on the LIPTROT Family Page.  Dick and Annie had the following children:

1. Edna Anne JONES b: 24 NOV 1903 in Bolton, England who married on 29 JUN 1929 in Ryerson United Church, Hamilton, Wentworth, Ontario to Clayton Anthony ZURBRIGG b: 2 OCT 1903 in Ontario.  They had the following children:
   1. Richard Evan ZURBRIGG b: 23 MAY 1939 in Hamilton, Wentworth, Ontario.  He died tragically as an infant.
   2. Living ZURBRIGG

2. Harriett Ellen JONES b: 13 OCT 1906 in Bolton, England who married on 5 APR 1930 in Ryerson United Church, Hamilton, Wentworth, Ontario to John Stewart BROWN.  Their story continued on the BROWN Family Page.
3. Hilda Mae JONES b: 10 MAY 1910 in Hamilton, Wentworth, Ontario.  She married on 10 MAY 1910 in Hamilton, Wentworth, Ontario to William James HUNTER III b: 11 OCT 1910 in Ontario.  They had the following children:
   1. Living HUNTER
   2. Living HUNTER

Fellow Researchers

People researching this family include the following.  If you wish your name added to the fellow researchers' list, please contact me.

Index & Personal Information Pages (GEDCOM)

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The index button will take you to my searchable GEDCOM database hosted by RootsWeb's World Connect Project. This allows you to download my GEDCOM in 10-generation chunks.  Then you can import my data directly into your own genealogy program without having to retype it.

Legend

= This person has known descendants.

ABT = "about" and is used in three ways:

1. Where it precedes a precise date of birth, such as "ABT 3 DEC 1855", then it means that the person was baptized on 3 DEC 1795, but his/her exact date of birth is unknown.

2. Where it precedes a semi-precise date of birth with the month only given, such as "ABT DEC 1855", then that means that the birth is recorded in the civil birth registrations for the quarter ending with that month.  Thus the person's birth was registered sometime between the beginning of October 1855 and the end of December 1855, but no baptism record has been found nor any more precise birth record.

3. Where it precedes a year only, such as "ABT 1855", then it means that there is no information on the person's birth date at all and an educated guess has been made that he/she was probably born sometime around 1855.

Contact

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This page was last updated on August 04, 2009