Brief Life History of Thomas Davis
When Thomas Davis Giles was born on 28 November 1820, in Blaenavon, Monmouthshire, Wales, United Kingdom, his father, Thomas Giles Jr, was 36 and his mother, Maria Davis, was 30. He married Margaret Thomas on 28 February 1843, in Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan, Wales, United Kingdom. They were the parents of at least 6 sons and 3 daughters. He lived in Llanelly, Breconshire, Wales, United Kingdom in 1851 and Utah, United States in 1870. In 1880, at the age of 60, his occupation is listed as harpist. He died on 2 November 1894, in Provo, Utah, Utah, United States, at the age of 73, and was buried in Provo City Cemetery, Provo, Utah, Utah, United States.
Photos and Memories (31)
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Family Time Line
Sources (61)
- Thomas Giles in household of Thomas Giles, "England and Wales Census, 1841"
- Thomas D Giles and Mary Brown, "Utah, County Marriages, 1887-1940"
- "Thomas Davis" Giles, "BillionGraves Index"
Spouse and Children
Children (9)
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Parents and Siblings
Siblings (13)
+8 More Children
World Events (8)
1821 · Financial Relief for Public Land
A United States law to provide financial relief for the purchasers of Public Lands. It permitted the earlier buyers, that couldn't pay completely for the land, to return the land back to the government. This granted them a credit towards the debt they had on land. Congress, also, extended credit to buyer for eight more years. Still while being in economic panic and the shortage of currency made by citizens, the government hoped that with the time extension, the economy would improve.
1831 · Merthyr Uprising
Sparked by a depression that was going through Wales the previous three years, the Merthyr uprisings were carried out by workers that were in debt. In the process, twenty-four people were killed and twenty-six were arrested. Troops were brought in to stop the protestors.
1843
Dickens A Christmas Carol was first published.
Name Meaning
English (of Norman origin): from a medieval personal name, Middle English Giles or Gile, a borrowing from Old French Gil(l)e(s). This is from Latin Aegidius and this presumably from Greek aigidion ‘kid, young goat’ (alternatively, it could be a Late Latin formation from the Latin personal name Eggius + the suffix -idius). The personal name was widely used in France and the Low Countries, partly through veneration of Saint Gilles de Provence, supposedly a hermit of the 7th century near Arles; he was patron saint of cripples, hence the dedication of Saint Giles Cripplegate in London, though the personal name itself was less common in England than elsewhere in Europe. See also Gilles .
Irish: adopted as an Anglicized equivalent of Gaelic Ó Glaisne, a County Louth name based on glas ‘green, blue, gray’.
French: variant of Gilles , a cognate of 1 above.
Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.
Possible Related NamesStory Highlight
Thomas Davis Giles -"The Blind Harpist"
Thomas Davis Giles was converted to "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" in 1844 in southern Wales through the efforts of his friend, Elder Abel Evans, a local Welsh missionary and recent …
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