EV-0224 — 1881 census, Llandough (RG11/5288 p.2): “Llandough Home Farm”, John Williams household
| EV ID | EV-0224 |
|---|---|
| Title | 1881 census, Llandough, RG11/5288 page 2: “Llandough Home Farm”, John Williams, farmer |
| Date of document | Census night, 3 April 1881 |
| Type | census enumeration page (England and Wales, 1881) |
| Evidence label | PRIMARY RECORD HELD (photograph of the census page) |
| Repository / reference | The National Archives, RG11/5288, page 2. Folio: SOURCE PENDING. Enumeration district: SOURCE PENDING. Civil parish: Llandough. Town or village: Llandough. Urban Sanitary District: Penarth. Ecclesiastical parish: Llandough. |
| Status | HELD (photo). Transcribed by Tab from the photo, 19 Oct 2026. |
| Provenance | Photographed by Sion Buckler; supplied 19 Oct 2026. |
| Related evidence | EV-0223 (earlier pending lead on the 1881 wording); EV-0212 (John Williams rated for a farm, 1870s); EV-0211 (Tŷ Mawr and the separate “Llandough Farm” in the D 219 catalogue) |
About this page type → Read the Docs
The 1881 census records, on this page, schedules 5–7 at 2, 3 and 4 Bute Cottages; schedule 8 at Llandough Tollgate (Robert Thomas, toll gate keeper); schedule 9 at “Llandough Home Farm”, the household of John Williams, 53, farmer; and schedule 10 (“Do”), a lodger, the curate of Llandough. Total of houses on the page: 5.
Transcription, schedules 9–10 (verbatim; “Do” = ditto; [?] = uncertain reading)
| Sched. | Road, street, &c., and No. or name of house | Name and surname | Relation to head | Condition | Age (M) | Age (F) | Rank, profession or occupation | Where born |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | Llandough Home Farm | John Williams | Head | Mar. | 53 | Farmer of 170[? or 120] ac. employing 1 man and 1 boy | Glamorgan, Leckwith | |
| Mary Do | Wife | Mar. | 51 | Do, Cogan | ||||
| Ellen Do | Daur | 14 | Do, Llandough | |||||
| John Do | Son | 13 | Scholar | Do, Do | ||||
| David Do | Do | 9 | Do | (not legible in the photo) | ||||
| Martha Hunt | Boarder | Unm. | 30 | Sussex, Lewisham | ||||
| Jane Jenkins | Serv. | Unm. | 18 | Serv. | Middlesex, London | |||
| 10 | Do | Thomas Hill Lowe[?] | Lodger | Unm. | 32 | Curate of Llandough | Devon, Colaton Raleigh |
Uncertain readings: the acreage (best read as 170, possibly 120) and the lodger’s surname (Lowe). EV-0223 records a dictated variant of the farm name.
Note on the farm name: The enumerator recorded the Williams household at “Llandough Home Farm”; the name “Great House Farm” does not appear on this page. Per Sion Buckler, this entry is Great House Farm (Tŷ Mawr) and the census confused it with the separate Llandough Farm; the 1871 and 1891 entries are SOURCE PENDING. The wiki records that separate 166-acre “Llandough Farm” from the D 219 catalogue (EV-0211).
Note on the family link (inference): The son John, 13 (born about 1868), matches the note by Mrs Nancy Buckler that “Her father was John Williams of Great House Farm. He would have been born about 1867” (Glamorgan Archives D/D XJF 64/30; EV-0155). That suggests the head, John Williams, 53, was her grandfather. This is an inference, not stated on the census page.
Proves: A John Williams, 53, born at Leckwith, farmed at Llandough in April 1881 with his wife Mary, born at Cogan, and children born at Llandough.
Does not prove: On its own, that the holding is Great House Farm, nor any tenure, title or rights.
Corroboration
Gathered by Tab on 19 Oct 2026 from the University of Leicester Historical Directories and Welsh Newspapers Online. Quotes are verbatim from the linked pages.
John Williams at “Great House”, trade directories 1868–1901
- Slater’s 1868, p.902, Llandough: “Rees Thomas, Llandough Penarth … Williams John, Great house” (directory)
- Worrall’s 1875, p.324, “IN LLANDOUGH PARISH. David Job, Merry Harrier / Rees Thomas, Llandough / Williams John, Great house” (directory)
- Slater’s 1880, p.533, “IN LLANDOUGH. David Job, Merry Harrier / Rees Thomas, Llandough / Williams John, Greathouse” (directory), the year before the census
- Owen’s Cardiff Directory 1887, p.209: “Williams John, Great House farm, Llandough” (directory)
- Owen’s 1891, p.237: “Williams John, overseer, Great House farm, Llandough” (directory)
- Cardiff Directory 1901, p.309: “Williams John, Great House farm, Llandough” (directory)
- South Wales Star, 10 Jun 1892: geese stolen, “the property of Mr. John Williams, Great House Farm, Llandough, on November 11, 1891” (article)
Name trap: Slater’s 1880, p.390, “Thomas David, Great House” is Llandough near Cowbridge, not this parish (directory).
The separate Llandough Farm: the Rees family
- 1841 tithe apportionment (National Library of Wales tithe records): Thomas Rees, tenant of Bute, about 141.5 acres; John Williams about 119.7 acres, yard beside the churchyard (John Williams’s holding: EV-0215). That Rees’s holding was Llandough Farm is an inference, supported by the press below.
- Cardiff Times, 17 Mar 1865: “Mr. Jenkin Rees, second son of Mr. Thomas Rees, Llandough Farm” (article)
- Weekly Mail, 6 Nov 1886: Thomas Rees, aged 89, “removed … to Llandough Farm, which he rented from the Marquess of Bute, and which he held until his death” (article)
- Evening Express, 22 Jun 1898: rick fire “at Llandough Farm, the property of Mr. Evan Rees” (article)
- Evening Express, 1 Feb 1910: death “at Llandough Farm, Cardiff, Ann Rees” (notice)
The press confusing the two farms
- South Wales Echo, 21 Jan 1895: “Robert Williams was the son of Mr Williams, Llandough Farm, one of the oldest tenants of the estate” (article)
- Barry Dock News, 15 Feb 1895: “John Williams, Llandough Farm, charged John Johnson with allowing a dog … to worry two sheep” (article)
- Cardiff Times, 16 Jul 1904, p.1: “Mr John Williams, of Llandough Farm … He succeeded his father in the tenancy of the farm in 1855 … Saturday was his 102nd rent audit.” (article)
Inference: The Rees family held Llandough Farm through 1841–1910, while the directories place John Williams at Great House farm from 1868 to 1901. So the John Williams called “of Llandough Farm” in 1895 and 1904 is probably the Great House John Williams. If so, the press made the same kind of mix-up Sion Buckler describes in the 1881 census. This is an inference, not proof.
Cuts against
- No other source found uses “Home Farm” for Llandough: not the newspapers 1804–1919, the trade directories, the OS 25-inch map (which shows “Ty-mawr” and “Llandough Farm”), or the Bute catalogues. It reads as a one-off label by the enumerator.
- The acreage: 170 fits Llandough Farm (166 acres in the D 219 catalogue, EV-0211); 120 fits Great House (about 119.7 acres in 1841).
- Unexplained: Weekly Mail, 28 Nov 1903, “son of Mr. William Williams, of Llandough Farm” (article), and Barry Dock News, 3 Apr 1914, “Mr. Jenkin Morgan Williams, Llandough Farm, Llandough” (article). These may be a different Williams family.