David Gillam born c1791; a Chelsea Pensioner in the UK
Whilst the 1856 Marriage Certificate for Mary Ann Gillam (to George Hall) at Cardiff, South Wales, shows her father (David Gillam) having been a 'Labourer', the discovery this week of the same David Gillam on the 1851 Census for Cowbridge in Glamorgan, Wales has revealed a few most interesting points which not only would I like to share with everyone, but which might ring some bells in other Gillam families' history.
Our David Gillam was in 1851 living at The Limes in Cowbridge, Glamorganshire, and besides being aged 60 (which puts his y.o.b. as c1791), he stated that he was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and furthermore, that he was a "Pensioner Chelsea"
David's wife (Elizabeth) was born in Ireland c1804, and of their two children at home, Arthur was aged 22 (bo. c1829) and alledgedly born at Devonport, Devon, whilst John was aged 17 (bo. c1834) and alledgedly born at Brecon (South Wales).A third child, Maryann was aged 25 (bo. c1826), and like her Mother was said to have been born in Ireland (N.B.I say 'alledgedly for where Arthur and John were born, for in later Censuses, Arthur always states his place of birth to be 'Cowbridge', and we can't find John anywhere so that we can confirm his p.o.b!)
Although I have been able to trace Maryann (aka Mary Ann) and her descendants through her marriage at Cardiff, South Wales, to a George Hall, and whilst I've also been able to trace Arthur and most of his descendants through his marriage to a Margaret Davis (also at Cardiff), Mary and Arthur's sibling-John-'disappears' after 1851, as do his parents, David and Elizabeth.
Incidentally, besides the surname of Gillam, I have also tried searching for all family members using other surname spellings of Gillan, Gillum, Gilham, Gillham and Gillain, but whilst this has highlighted Arthur and his family around the UK, there's still no sign for our David, Elizabeth or John, who all seem to have just 'disappeared'into thin air after 1851!
If anyone has any of the above family members in their own tree and/or knows what happened to David, Elizabeth and John, I will be really thrilled to hear from you.