Genealogy Chat

Hi all, I am trying to find a Mary Agnes Harvey, all I know is she had a daughter in 1923 at Woolaston Hospital. She was registered as being a domestic servant at Clytha Square Newport. I can't use electoral rolls as only men could vote in 1923 (with some exceptions I know) I have looked at census but with no birth date I can't identify the correct Mary. I have done a tree search for Mary Harveys born c.1900 give or take 5 years which calls up 100's of Mary Harvey's. I started sending messages but it's taking me ages (obviously!) Is there anything I am missing, like an advanced search or a way to send messages en masse? Any advice would be great.
Thanks
Charlie

I don't know of a way to send message en masse, don't think it can be done on here?

Do you have the daughter's birth certificate or marriage certificate?

Is a father listed, could the witnesses be relatives?

PS My dad used to live in Clytha Sq! But not in the 1920's

You could narrow your search by using place keywords such as Newport or Monmouthshire (Clytha Square sounds like Newport Mon, as it used to be known - now it's just Newport, or Casnewydd in Welsh).
This is more useful searching for census details or BMD, not so useful for family trees because people describe places differently.

are you sure it's Woolaston Hospital - never heard of it but there is a St Woolos Hospital in Newport

marriage???
Mary A Harvey James Jan-Feb-Mar 1925 Bedwellty Monmouthshire
Evan L James
There are several births in Cardiff,including:-
Mary A James Apr May Jun 1930 Cardiff Wales

St Woolos Hospital was formerly known as Woolaston House. Name changed sometime after 1933 - info from Google.

I have the daughter-Violet May Harvey's (My Gran) birth certificate but its only the short one and the father is not named. Family myths include the fact that the father was a member of the household. All it says is the mother's name - Mary Agnes Harvey (although I think the 'Mary' is slightly sloppily written and may look like May to some) the DOB 7th April 1923 and the location - Woolaston House, informant J. Ireland (of Woolaston House) and domestic servant of Clytha Square. I am Welsh and have tried many variants of the spelling or mis-spelling of Newport, I have also tried Newport, Gwent as it has been from time to time. My Gran was then adopted by my grandparents and became Violet May Fortey, they lived in Cwm, Ebbw Vale, and I have no idea of what the connection between a domestic servant in Newport and a collier in Cwm could be. I think it's possible that Mary emigrated to Canada, as her daughter - my Gran's half-sister tried to make contact with my Gran 40yrs ago, my Grandad seems to remember they were visiting from Canada, but I can't find any passenger lists.

By the way, thanks for the help!

I'd spotted the marriage to Evan James too...aghhhhhh! This searching can be so frustrating sometimes! I also did a search for Mary Agnes on the 1911 census but Agnes Mary Violet Harvey kept coming up. It grabbed my attention because of the Violet part, however why is it Agnes Mary not Mary Agnes despite me putting it the correct way in the search engine?

If you have the short birth cerificate you should be able to get a full one from GRO (at a cost of £7 of course), but it may not have the father's name on it.
For the father to be "a member of the household" was, unfortunately, not unusual. An aunt of mine was in service and was taken advantage of by a sprig of the family - but at least he took responsibility for the child's maintenance: some girls in that situation got put away in institutions.

By the way Selena...don't suppose your Dad stumbled across a diary of a domestic servant called Mary when he was living in Clytha Square did he?? That would be so useful!!! LOL

I have found a Morena James born to Evan L James and Mary Agnes James (Harvey) and a Keith however they all seem to then vanish. How can I find out if they emigrated?

1911 census.
William Henry Harvey 1868
Thomas 1876
Agnes Jane 1881
Ada 1891
William 1898
Thomas H 1903
William George 1903
Agnes Mary Violet 1908

living Newport Monmouthshire

Might be worth getting the full certificate to see if there are any further clues.

Births Jun 1923
Harvey Violet N Harvey Newport M. 11a 460

Certificates can be ordered online from the GRO for seven pounds using the information above.

www.gro.gov.uk