The best way to find registration of births marriages and deaths in England and Wales after 1st July 1837 up to about 1910 or so is www.freebmd.org.uk . There seem to have been two births of a Mary ASTON in South Wales in the time period you mention. In September quarter of 1847 Mary ASTON birth was registered in Abergavenny registration district, reference volume 26 page 17 . Several areas near Trevethin were in that district before 1861, particularly the parishes covering Blaenavon. In March quarter of 1849 a Mary ASTON birth was registered in Merthyr Tydfil district, a little further away, volume 26 page 421 There were marriages of someone called Thomas ASTON in Monmouth reg.district vol 26 p96 in December quarter 1838 and in June quarter 1838 in Hereford reg. district, not far away. I have a strong suspicion that Mary was born in Blaenavon to a family that seems to have moved between the Forest of Dean, Blaenavon and Trevethin, all iron-mining areas at the time. In 1851 this family was in Blaenavon, in the part of the town in Llanfoist parish Thomas ASTON Head Mar 40 Ironstone Miner b Gloucester Coleford Elizabeth wife Mar 45 b Mon Llanviangel [sic] Emily daur unm 23 b Mon Trevethin Thomas son unm 21 Ironstone Miner b Mon Trevethin Martha daur unm 18 b Gloucester Littledean John son 12 Ironstone Haulier b Mon Trevethin Henry son 9 scholar b Mon Llanfoist Phillip son 6 scholar b Mon Llanfoist Mary daur 3 b Mon Llanfoist Llanfoist was in Abergavenny district. If Emily was 23 that places the marriage back in the 1820s and so before civil registration. There are several Monmouthshire parishes called Llanfihangel. The census reference is HO107; Piece: 2447; Folio: 25; Page: 42 >From the places of birth the family might have been in Llanfoist or Trevethin in 1841 census. In 1861 the younger children are still with parents at 301 Chapel Row Llanfoist, Blaenavon, though Thomas and young Henry are now coal miners, and Phillip a coal haulier (as the ironstone has probably run down) and Elizabeth is shown as born at Llanfihangel Torymynydd, Monmouthshire. You can look forward to seeing the place your ancestors worked at, as Big Pit, Blaenavon, originally an Iron Mine and later a Coal mine, is now a museum and part of a World Heritage Site. Just Google 'Big Pit Blaenavon'. The census reference for the younger children is RG9; Piece: 3995; Folio: 75; Page: 17 and the parents are on the bottom of the previous page RG9; Piece: 3995; Folio: 74; Page: 16 To be sure you have the right family you need to check the occupation of her father on the marriage certificate, and obtain the birth certificate. You may also need to check other possible people with similar names in censuses to make sure this one is the only one with father Thomas in the Trevethin area. Hope this helps Jeff ----- Original Message ----- From: <GG1531@aol.com> To: <MONMOUTHSHIRE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, August 29, 2007 5:00 PM Subject: [MON] Surname: ASTON - Given: Mary > Mary ASTON was born late 1847 or early 1848? The marriage certificate > between Mary and Samual WITCHELL December 26, 1868 gives her age as 21. > The marriage took place Parish of Trevethin (not certain of the spelling) > County of Monmouth. > Mary was born in Wales but her father Thomas ASTON was born England while > her mother (not certain who) was also born in Wales (not certain of that > either). > I would like to order Mary's birth certificate so I can establish who her > parents were for a certainty. > > If anyone has access to any information about her birth I would appreciate > it very much. > > Alice > California > > > > > > ************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL > at > http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > MONMOUTHSHIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >