Williams of Hereford & Bristol

Why has there recently been such an explosion of interest in the study of one’s family history?    When we started back in 1966 tracing one’s ancestors was known as genealogy, a title not calculated to stir the imagination of the man in the street.    Now it rates as popular entertainment on television.   True in the last forty years information has become more easily accessible but the reason is more likely to be the modern emphasis on where & how people lived rather than just who their parents were.

These Williams’ demonstrate the point.   Initial research had indicated that they were a mundane working class family in the centre of a working city, Bristol, although investigations were hampered by the sheer numbers of people with that surname.   Then we discovered charities funded by resident exiles from Hereford and other counties that provided funds for boys of their county to be apprenticed to a trade in Bristol when their parents were poor.    We found ourselves delving into the history of Methodism, realising our mundane ancestor had probably conversed with the great John Wesley himself.   That same ancestor was a carpenter whose stock-in-trade product, ships’ blocks, were in the late 18C required in such numbers that mass production techniques were needed.   The great engineer Marc Brunel (father to Isambard) invented such a process and the story of his efforts to set up a production line makes fascinating reading, abbreviated here.   This in turn meant our ancestor had to diversify into other products, ship’s pumps among them.   It happens all the time now.   Another ancestor was in the navy during and after Nelson’s time and we found just what information was available to those with the time & patience to delve into original naval records.

These Williams came from Hereford and we anticipated happy hours trawling the picturesque villages & towns there.   However, we could with confidence get no further back there than the early 18C.   But even then our “mundane” Williams had a surprise for us.   One couple married in Hereford Cathedral and not everyone can say that! 

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© 2005 G & B Faulkner