Wales Beginning Research

Beginning Welsh Family History
17 October 2009

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1. Welsh History
2. Jurisdictions: Civil & Ecclesiastical
3. Sources for Previous Research
4. 19th Century Records
5. Tips & Strategies for Searching
6. Family History Library Catalog

Welsh History

Look at history from three levels:
National
County
Parish/community

Events and life during the 1700s had a direct impact on the lives of our ancestors in the mid to early 1800s.
Much of the difficulty withtracing Welsh families before 1851 relate to the customs and circumstances of earlier generations.

Castles in Wales and the borders 1066

Castles in Wales and the March 1215

Welsh Jurisdictions

Three critical levels of jurisdiction:
Country
County
Parish
Directly west of England & from 1536 – 1974 had 13 counties
Counties contain many parishes, most court records are at the county level.
Parishes were the main record generating jurisdiction until 1834 – 1837 when the civil government started new programs.

Historic Counties 1536 – 1974

Glamorgan 1536 – 1974

Sources for Previous Research

Welsh Mormon History
Dr. Ron Dennis has worked for a number of years to collect and share information about the Latter-day Saints in Wales. His website provides:

Pedigrees
Family group sheets
Biographies
Journal transcripts
Histories

Historical Books Online (48,910)

Family History Societies

Local history & county family history societies exist to assist you with your research.
Membership in a society will provide you with additional benefits.

Shewen Pedigree from Glamorgan FHS

Community Family Trees

Community Family Trees: 1 Million Names

German Royal & Noble Tables 9,468
French Polynesia 4,283
Iceland 144,677
Norway 61,228
Knowles Collection (Jewish) 60,000
Welsh 251,785

Familysearch Research Wiki

19th Century Records

Census
1841-1901 is available on a variety of websites such as Ancestry.com, FindMyPast, The Genealogist, FamilySearch and others.
From 1851, details for an individual include:
Name, age, marital status, relationship to head of household, occupation, birthplace
Census records group families together
This is one of the more complete

Civil Registration
Civil registration of births, marriages and deaths began on 1 July 1837.
Events were registered at the local registration office and four times each year a copy of all certificates were sent to London where an index was created.
Start your searches at FreeBMD.
Order certificates from the local registrar whenever possible.

Tips and strategies for searching
Always use indexes.
Never trust an index to be complete or accurate.
Remember that patronymics is a blessing.
Search by given name.
Kill off your ancestor.
Research the collateral family members.
Never hesitate or wait too long to ask for help!

Searching the Family History Library Catalog