My mother was evacuated to Treherbert/Treorchy in The Rhondda Valley between 1940 and 1944/5. She stayed with a Mrs Tancock (no first name known, age not known but probably over fifty during the war, and a widow). In 1956 when I was eight we all went as a family for a week's holiday with Mrs Tancock and stayed in the same house. I don’t remember the address. I want to record my mum's time in Wales but I cannot track Mrs Tancock down. She does not appear in the 1939 register, nor can I identify her in the electoral registers before the war and between the end of the war and 1956 (and beyond). I even checked all the Hancocks in case there was a mis transcription somewhere but no-one of either name comes up in either of these two villages. She probably died sometime in the 1960s as I remember my Nan making a comment that she hadn’t had a Christmas card for two years running so assumed Mrs Tancock had died. There are no death records that I can identify as her but she may not have been in the same district at her death. What am I missing here? If anyone can offer any suggestions as to why an elderly lady is seemingly not recorded in the place I know she lived, I would be grateful for any suggestions.
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Missing Tancock in South Wales
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Hi Susan, I have used my own rules I apply when searching for record along with the info you have provided, Treherbert and Treorchy are in Glamorgan, 50ish in 1940/5 means probably born about 1890, so marriage would have taken place about 1910 give or take 5 years, below is the TANCOCK marriage for Glamorgan 1910 to 1930 and one in Monmouthshire:
Forename Surname Potential Spouses District Registered
Charles Tancock Olive H Matthews
Cardiff, Glamorganshire October - December 1914
William H Tancock Jennet Morris
Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorganshire October - December 1922
Mark Tancock Jane Philpin
Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorganshire July - September 1923
Albert V Tancock Dulcie L A Boyes
Swansea, Glamorganshire April - June 1924
Francis T G Tancock Florence G White
Neath, Glamorganshire October - December 1927
Albert E Tancock Diana Jones
Neath, Glamorganshire October - December 1928
Annie D Tancock Thomas H Griffiths
Pontypridd, Glamorganshire October - December 1928
May B Tancock Thomas J Bath
Swansea, Glamorganshire July - September 1930
Found 8 Results.
Monmouthshire
Reuben L Tancock Gladys E Smith
Bedwelty Monmouthshire Mar 1922.
Obviously you can ignore the record when its a female TANCOCK marrying, and I think the SWANSEA and NEATH records. can you remember any children's names.
Robert
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maybe she was evacuated there too so maybe not in Wales in 1939
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I'm wondering about this one in the absence of records for Treorchy/Treherbert. Was Mrs Tancock a widow at time of your mother's evacuation? If not there is a family living in Treharris, in 1939 husband Rbt a Colliery Foreman (incapacitated) b 1875 d 1945, wife Ethel nee Gray b1892 d 1989 Newport and daughter b 1834 d 1988 Newport. The couple marry Pontypridd reg 1933.
Vera
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I can't help, but here are a few random thoughts to throw into the pot.
1911 census returns for Tancock in Glamorganshire (suggested in an earlier post) produces only 4 results, all of whom were born in Devon. To me, this suggests that it is not a "Welsh" surname and that Mrs Tancock's husband, and his family, may have originated from outside of Wales.
The outbreak of war and the following year were uncertain times, with many people moving around the country for a range of reasons - wanting to get away from "dangerous" cities and ports, women with husbands in the forces wanting to find a place near where husband was based, other women wanting to move back to their roots and family etc. So, Mrs Tancock may have only moved into that area 1939 0r after.
We do not know when she was widowed - during WW1, in the interwar years, or during WW2. In the 1940's, to a child, a woman in her 40's probably seemed "old."
If you visited the house where your Mum had been evacuated, what are your memories of it and the place? Did it have a garden? Back yard?Was it in a terrace? Did you go straight in off the street? Do you think it was in a village/small town etc?
I'm not very clever with the code numbers for the 1939 register - can anyone find the codes for these two settlements? A lot of the residences for Tancocks living in Glamorganshire are listed according to Rural Districts rather than their village locations.
Can you think of anything else to give us a lever on Mrs Tancock's origins?
ETA following on from Vera's post, Newport was in a different county at that time (Monmouthshire??) - there has been a lot of reorganisation of Welsh counties and I'm afraid I'm not familiar with either the old or new counties and their boundaries.
JayLast edited by Janet in Yorkshire; 12-11-18, 12:06.Janet in Yorkshire
Genealogists never die - they just swap places in the family tree
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Have you tried the 1939 register with an asterisk in place of the c or maybe also the k? That would find possible mistransciptions such as Tannock and Tannoch.Last edited by GallowayLass; 12-11-18, 13:35.
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Wow, a wonderful lot of suggestions, thanks to everyone. Much of what has been suggested or records found I have found myself. The extras I do know... My memory of the house is that it was a terrace straight off the pavement. The houses on the opposite side of the road possibly had a bit of frontage/low walls in front. Mrs Tancocks house was on the right as you came up the road. The view up to street, opposite the way we drove in, had a green hill arching over the houses on the left hand side. Smooth, no trees as far as I can remember. I remember the street as being very steep (my father put wooden blocks behind the back wheels in case the hand brake failed!). The crest of the road beyond her house blocked the view of what was further along. Looking back down the street towards the way we drove in, there were buildings along the bottom with advertising on them. It made a T junction. The garden dropped away at the back and the house next door was noticeably higher. The children living there looked down on us when we spoke to them.
I have never been aware of Mrs Tancock having any children, they were never spoken about if they existed. She seemed a lot older than my Nan who was 60 in 1956. She had grey hair in a bun, was small and slight and wore long black skirts.
there was a sense of Mrs Tancock having been in that house for quite a time and my Nan sent Christmas cards annually to the same address, which I never took any notice of (sigh). I have scoured Google Earth and street view and cannot find any road that matches my memory. I can’t even find a road there that is steep enough to match my memory even if other criteria fit!
My mother attended the local chapel, Penuel (? Calvinistic) in Ysywen (village or locality between Treorchy and Treherbert) and I have a Welsh language New Testament of my mother’s with a dedication and the date of February 1944 given to her when she finished Sunday school there (due it being too old for that, probably).
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That last post of mine froze before I could finish....
My memory of the road is that you turned left off the Main Street as you travelled up the valley, east to west, then right into the road itself.
I have used the resources of the local library, Mid Glamorgan Archives etc and have even sent a message to the local Rhondda Valley FHS (but never received any response from them) asking for ideas about where else I might search.
My only other clue, if you can call it that, is that I have a feeling Mrs Tancocks first name may have begun with an E. Edith, Emily, Emma or somesuch. No idea why I have this feeling, maybe from seeing her name on a Christmas card envelope.
Thanks for all the suggestions. I will study them all carefully to see if there is something I can try that I haven’t already.
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Elaine
Looking for Ward, Moore, Hunt, Warren...and who was Gertrude Wills
http://leicestermoores.tribalpages.com
http://wardnottsleics.tribalpages.com
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In 1965, Nerissa and John were living in 166 Palmer Road, Enfield, Middlesex. This is significant for 1939 Register and 1911 census.
John was a child of Charles TANCOCK and Florence SEYMOUR who married 1925 Edmonton, Middlesex. In 1939, the Charles and Florence were not in Wales but in 8 Ivy Cottages, Ivy Road, Southgate, Middlesex with the SEYMOUR household, presumably Florence’s parents? Charles is a Southgate Council carman.
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1911 census Charles is with his siblings and parents at 10 Council Cottages, Highfield Road, Winchmore Hill, Southgate, Middlesex. He was born Winchmore Hill as were the two previous siblings but the first two and his parents are from Ilston, Somersetshire.
So the TANNOCKs were not Welsh. I wonder if the folks in Wales in 1939 were the PARFITTs, Nerissa’s family?
Nerissa died 2009 Ferndale, Rhondda Cynon Taff and John Edward TANCOCK died 2011 Ferndale, Cardiff. Obviously a change in registration district name between 2009 and 2011.
Nerissa had a brother born 1929 so cannot name him as he appears to be still alive? He married and had a son according to a public ancestry tree. The spouse is unknown but you could maybe contact the tree owner and ask if she can help you?
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Google maps and my iPhone are having a tussle and the phone is losing LOL This is as close as I can get. Is this it?
1F98C634-5719-4860-B47E-1CE8F8280A58.jpgLast edited by GallowayLass; 13-11-18, 23:08.
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Unfortunately that address is in Ferndale in the parallel valley.
Capture1.JPG
The letter codes are XKD to XKI Rhondda UD Glamorgan - XKD, XKE, XKF etc
There is not an Rural district for Rhondda - the villages all come under the Urban District.
I cannot see a way to search for a specific village within the UD. ie at the top of the image only the Code and street address is given.
On FMP as opposed to Ancestry, you can scroll down the transcription page to the map which pinpoints the address and therefore the village. It is most annoying not to be able to search a particular village within the UDKat
My avatar is my mother 1921 - 2012
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I see you think Mrs Tancock may have died in the 1960's. I've just looked at Tancock deaths in Wales 1961 - 1971. I found only 3 females
Alice Tancock 1882 - 1963 reg Neath Glamorganshire
Clara J Tancock 1878 - 1962 reg Bridgend Glamorganshire
Gladys A Tancock 1896 - 1964 reg Bedwellty Monmouthshire
There was also this one
Elsie Maud Tancock 1892 - 1972 reg Swansea Glamorganshire
You might like to do a bit of cross referencing to see if you can discover a male Tancock marrying an Elsie M. I found Harry J Tancock marrying Elsie M Pike in 1924, Bristol reg dist.
There was an Elsie Maud Pike birth reg Frome Somerset 1891. Possibly 2 sons born Bristol area in the 1920's.
JayLast edited by Janet in Yorkshire; 14-11-18, 09:23.Janet in Yorkshire
Genealogists never die - they just swap places in the family tree
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