Jen You are right -- I had read the introduction to William Evans' Diary of a Welsh Swagman 1869-94 (Macmillan, 1975) too carelessly (and some years ago!) and assumed that the reference to Blaenplwyf was to the village near Aberystwyth. I was mistaken, which is good, as it makes my newspaper reference more likely to refer to his family. I note from the intro to the book that he was born in 1818 and at the age of 28, married, and moved to Trecefel, Tregaron. So whether the article really referred to him or not I'm still not really sure, but it must surely be his family. Evans, who edited the diary extracts, was his grandson, and an eminent cardiologist. Fascinating book, too! The odd thing about your census extract is that (as I understand it) in the 1841 census most ages for people above 15 were rounded to a figure divisible by 5 (whether rounded up or down I don't know), whereas Joseph's age is given as 22, which seems about right. You asked about the newspaper reference. Well this was one was in a Maitland newspaper (not Melbourne, as was an earlier extract I posted). Maitland is a small city on the Hunter river north of Sydney (and in a coal mining area). I suspect the newspaper merely reproduced the item from a British newspaper---perhaps just as a space filler. David Canberra On 24/10/2009, at 3:38, Jennifer Cairns wrote: > Dear David > > Thank you for the rat catching episode... fascinating... how > horrible ! > > Joseph Jenkins (The Swagman) WAS from Blaenplwyf, Ystrad (now known > as Felin Fach) > The farm known as Blaenplwyf is at the Gartheli and Betws Bleddrws > end of the parish. > > BUT there is a bit of a mystery as in 1847 Joseph J would have been > 28. He was resident in Blaenplwyf in 1841 and still resident there > in 1847 although married (his wife living with her parents) and > moving to Trecefel, Tregaron in 1848. > > [all info above from Bethan Phillips book Pity the Swagman 2001] > > So I dont think there was any connection with the village of > Blaenplwyf. >