I found possible ancestors, William and Hannah Owens among the handfull of residents of that surname living in the Hamlet of Uchlaw'r Coed, Bedwellty District, Monmouthshire, in 1841 census. I don't know if they're related to my great great great grandparents, Thomas and Jane Owens, but the couple is the right age to be Thomas' father and mother. William lists his employment as "independent," so I don't know what occupation he might have pursued in his working career. It would be interesting to know, since occupations tended to be passed down in families for generations.

One clue to William and Hannah possibly being Thomas' parents is the fact that he and Jane named their second daughter Hannah.

I think it's probable that all the Owens clan living in Uchlaw'r Coed are one big extended family. Continuing with that reasoning, I also found potential relatives, Owen Owens and his wife, Sophia, as well as a maybe brother, David Owens, living in Uchlaw'r Coed in 1841. Owen and David are the perfect ages to be William's brothers.

Much more research in this area will prove me right or wrong.

Great great great Grandfather, Thomas Owens worked in the Welsh iron industry and lists his job in 1841 as, "Baller." Here's the description of a "Baller:"

"When the metal begins to melt it is the business of the puddler to watch it from time to time until it is ready for what is technically called BALLING, i.e. dividing the metals into separate balls or quantities or puddle-rolls; which having been done, are handed over to the shingler, who has the direction of a large and heavy hammer worked by steam or water power, and the rough hot metal is, by repeated blows brought to a more compact form for the rolling mill."

As I've shown, Thomas and Jane and their three daughters are living in the hamlet of Uchlaw'r Coed in the Bedwellty District of Monmouthshire. I found the following quote on the Web, originally from the Sirhowy Valley News: Following the success of the Sirhowy Ironworks, partners matthew Monkhouse and Richard Fothergill sought to expand their business interests. A tract of land south of Sirhowy and east of the [Sirhowy] River at Uchlaw y Coed (same as Uchlaw'r Coed) was an attractive site... In March 1800, a new lease on Uchlaw y Coed was signed by the Morgans granting Homfray Monkhouse and Fothergill the right to operate a new furnace on the site. In deference to Sir Charles Morgan, the new works would be named Tredegar Iron Works, after the Morgan's ancestral home at Tredegar Park, Newport. Two furnaces were in blast for light smelting operations by 1802 but wit hteh completion of the Sirhowy Tramroad in 1805, the works was able to go into full production for the first time. Puddling furnaces and rolling mills were added in 1807 and now bar-iron was being produced for use such as railway lines; output now reached 4,000 tons per annum. By 1810, 2 new furnaces had been constructed and the fifth and final furnace was added in 1817. In 1840, the works was at peak output: 5 blast furnaces producing 15,000 tons p.a. along with ancillary rolling mills, puddling furnaces, foundries, coke yards and brickworks. This was the new Tredegar: fields, meadows and woods now gone - in their place a smoking, noisy giant born of the industrial revolution.

It seems that Thomas Owens didn't last long in the iron industry (which on the 1841 census form below is identified as the "Rhymney Iron Works), for by 1851 he's no longer listed in the census record with his wife, Jane. Instead, Jane is going by the surname, "Richards," still living with her daughters, and listing her occupation as, "confectioner." She continues to live at the Rhymney Iron Works. But even though Jane declares herself as "married," no Mr. Richards is in evidence on the census form.

Using Ancestry.com, I found a listing for an 1845 marriage for a Jane Owens. Listed directly above her is a David Richards. At this time I have no proof that this Jane Owens is my great great great grandmother. Nor do I know if David Richards and she married each other, rather than just ending up on the same marriage roster together.

I tried looking for a death notice for Thomas Owens. But so far the only Thomas Owens that I have found who died before 1845 (so Jane could be married by that date to Mr. Richards) is a Thomas "Owen" who died in the Pontypool District in 1844, and another Thomas "Owen" who died in the Abergavenny District in 1845.

There was a cholera epidemic in the Tredegar District in 1849.

1841 CENSUS FOR UCHLAW'R COED, BEDWELLTY DISTRICT, MONMOUTHSHIRE, WALES
Great great great grandfather, Thomas Owens family

1851 CENSUS FOR UCHLAW'R COED, BEDWELLTY DISTRICT, MONMOUTHSHIRE, WALES
Great great great grandfather, Thomas Owens Family