| Welsh Genealogy |
| Sources of Welsh Family History information |
| Following Elfed Owen's interesting and informative talk at the February 2006 meeting he has written the following guide to assist anyone who wishes to embark on such a venture, in particular with regard to Welsh ancestry. He has kindly allowed it's publication on line. This has also been augmented by his further talk at the February 2008 meeting where he is able to trace back 29 generations. Click Here to see a report on the February 2006 meeting Click Here to see a report on the February 2008 meeting |
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| Relatives. The first and most important step is to obtain as much information and recollections from your elderly relatives. Obviously this has to be done tactfully and the important thing is to record every detail that is said , preferably using a tape recorder . What may initially appear to be irrelevant information may later turn out to be a vital piece of information for unravelling your family history. Check if other members of your family have already been researching your ancestors. Births, Marriages and Deaths Registers. The next step is to work back in time from the information you have. Registration of Births, Marriages and Deaths started in July 1837 and the birth certificate provides a persons full name, date of birth as well as the name of the father and the mother�s maiden name, occupations and abode. The indexes of the Births, Marriages and Deaths are available in the Family Records Centre in London or at the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth. From the index information the relevant certificate can be purchased. More recently some of these indexes are becoming available on the internet and there is a current volunteer project to index all the North Wales Births , Marriages and Deaths in North Wales from 1837 to 1950 which is free to access on the internet. Census Records. By far the easiest way to start the research of a person who was alive in 1881 in this country is to visit the Chelmsford Library, where there is an indexed copy of the 1881 census. All that is necessary is to have the persons name and approximate year or birth. The result provides you with the age of the person from which their year of birth can be deduced, the relationship to the head of the household, occupation, birthplace and their address. This 1881 census is also available free on the internet. Having found the relevant information of a person on the 1881 census it is then advisable to progress to search for that person on the other census records which are available for every 10 years starting in 1841 to 1901.Later census records than 1901 are not available because of the 100 year rule. Many of these census records are now available on the internet, but there is usually a fee to use them. The Chelmsford library has copies of local Census records, but to see copies of the Welsh Census records it is necessary to visit Archives in the area in Wales you are interested in. The National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth and The Family Records Centre in London have all the Welsh census records. Parish Registers. If, for example, information about an ancestor has been found in the 1841 census and that the person was say, 25 years old and born in Aberystwyth , then he or she would have been born in 1816. The registration of births, marriages and deaths only started in 1837, so it is necessary to search in the Parish registers of Aberystwyth for the baptism of this person. Most of the original Parish registers date back to about 1660 and are now held in various Archive Record Offices throughout Wales Many of these Parish registers have been transcribed into booklets by various Family History Societies or individuals and are very reasonably priced and can save hours of researching handwritten registers. However it must be remembered that transcriptions are only as good as the transcriber and errors can be made, so it is always wise to check the original registers if you have any doubt. The Clwyd Family History Society, for instance, has published the Parish registers of 110 parishes covering from approximately 1660 to 1837, in the old counties of Flintshire, Denbighshire and part of Merionethshire. |
| Welsh Genealogy - continued |