Advice sites on how to start/carry out your research
Professional researchers.
Here is the gateway page to the Wales Lookup Exchange which has separate sections for;
- All Wales
- Cardiganshire
- Carmarthenshire
- Glamorgan
- Pembrokeshire
- One Name Database
- Mid Wales Lookup Exchange
There is a lot of authoritative information about UK birth,
marriage and death certificates and how to obtain them, including
details of registration districts, addresses of offices, fees, etc.
on GENUKI
And there is a specific short introduction on civil registration in Wales at: GENUKI
Or you can read all about it on John Ball's excellent site WFHA, then follow the BDM certificates link.
Ordering certs from the
ONS online
http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/ Use credit/debit cards.
Ordering certs from the
ONS by post , fax or
Email
See also Registration Districts
This response below from the ONS was copied to the Glamlist on 7 Oct 2000 and should be taken as the
then current definitive guide to ordering BMD certs..
"This is an automatic response that contains information about the
records this office holds and the ways you can purchase birth, death
and marriage certificates.
NO FURTHER ACTION WILL NOW BE TAKEN ON YOUR MAIL. PLEASE
RESUBMIT YOUR REQUEST INSERTING THE APPROPRIATE CODE FROM THE LIST
BELOW INTO THE SUBJECT HEADING OF YOUR MAIL.
To avoid receiving this reply each time you mail us, please
insert one of the following codes in the subject of any future e-mails:
QR For applications when you are supplying the GRO index reference.
STD For applications when you are not supplying the GRO index reference.
RFD When you have a query about a refund that we have issued
RDR When you are enquiring about an order you have placed but not yet received.
GQ When you have another question not covered by any of the above.
PLEASE NOTE - THE CODE SHOULD BE ENTERED AS A SINGLE WORD IN THE SUBJECT LINE, SEPARATED FROM THE REST OF THE SUBJECT BY SPACES.
The records of this office relate mainly to births, deaths and
marriages registered in England and Wales since 1 July 1837. The
records are not linked so we are unable to compile family trees or
pedigrees or trace people. The only information that we can supply is
in the form of birth, death and marriage certificates.
Our records are not computerised or available for searching on
the Internet. Our website contains general information about our
services and can be visited at http://www.statistics.gov.uk
If you would like us to do the search, you should complete the
relevant application form(s). You must, however, supply full
particulars about each event as we do not undertake searches of an
indefinite or protracted nature. For the fees quoted we do a three
consecutive year search but need you to tell us which three years to
look through. Please be as accurate as you can, as no alterations or
amendments are possible once an order has been placed.
If you wish to order by post please send your application to,
The General Register Office, PO Box 2, Southport, Merseyside, PR8 2JD
Payment for your order may be made by sterling cheque (made
payable to'ONS') or by quoting your credit/debit card details,
including expiry date and issue number (if there is one). Alternatively
you can fax your order to 01704 550013 or telephone 0870 243 7788,
quoting your credit or debit card details. We do not currently have a secure site and do not
encourage customers to place orders via email. If you are paying by
credit card, your account will not be debited until the result of the
search is known.
If you would like to look at copies of our indexes yourself
please tell us whereabouts in the world you are and we will be able to
let you know if there is a public body such as a library near you that
has purchased our microfiche indexes.
If you wish to order a certificate using our priority service, please email priority.certificates@ons.gov.uk
Alternatively you can fax orders on 01704 568315 or telephone
0151 471 4572. If you are posting a priority order please mark the
outside of the envelope 'PRIORITY' to ensure that it is dealt with
immediately. Due to the 48 hour turnaround priority service if you do
not receive an acknowledgement please refrain from re-faxing,
re-emailing or telephoning to check on the status of your order as it
causes duplication of work and can lead to delays.
All certificates are sent by first class post. However, if you
live overseas and would like your order to be delivered by "Swift Air",
this service costs £3.84 (3.84GBP). The "Swift Air" facility takes the
same length of time as air mail but has a bar-coded tracking facility.
If you would like us to send your order using "Swift Air" please let us
know when you place your order.
Providing you know full details and the area in which the event
was registered, it is often possible to make an application direct to
the local register office. Certificates ordered in this way cost £6.50
(6.50GBP), but the length of time they take depends on the work load of
the particular office. If you know the district concerned we can give
you the telephone number and address of the relevant local office.
Replies to this message must be addressed to certificate.services@ons.gov.uk "
[End of ONS response.]
In South/West & Mid-Wales which are affiliated to the FFHS
To prevent double counting, people were listed at
the addresses where they were on census night, or to which they
intended to return the following day after a night's work or travel. It
is simplest to refer to the separate censuses by the dates either side
of the midnight of census night.
- 6-7 June1841
- 30-31 March 1851
- 7-8 April 1861
- 2-3 April 1871
- 3-4 April 1881
- 5-6 April 1891
- 31March -1 April 1901
For an in-depth reading on the background of this subject I recommend
Making Sense of the Census Revisited by Edward Higgs.
University of London School of Advance Study/Inst. of Historical
Research/TNA, 2005. 232p. ISBN 1 905165 00 5.
Available from TNA (The National Archives)
Brief overview
A census of the population of England & Wales was first taken in
1801, followed by others every 10 years except for 1941 when the
country was again at war.
When decennial census taking was first mooted in 1800, the country was
at war with France and was suffering bad harvests and food
shortages - it would not be surprising if government wished
to find out more about the makeup of the population at large. The
range of questions asked were added to as the century progressed
and social and medical scientists came to the fore.
After each census an official Census Report was issued including all manner of statistics and commentary.
Apart from 1841 the censuses were held in the spring to avoid
distortions caused by seasonal movement of agricultural workers in
the summer months - see Census dates above
1801-31
These were taken for statistical purposes and contained no individual names as such (with some local exceptions).
They were organised by one John Rickman who worked for the House of
Commons,the parish based data collection being
devolved to the officials of the Poor Law system and the
established church.
Although there were differences between the 4 returns, the questions broadly revolved around ;
- numbers of inhabited/uninhabited houses, occupied by how many families
- numbers of persons to be found in the parish, male/female
- numbers of people employed in agriculture, manufacture, retail, mining, fishing, servants, retired/disabled/
The clergy were also required to provide data on baptisms, marriages
and burials for a range of dates over the previous century.
An additional question in 1830 was the number of illegitimate children born in a parish.
1841 (The TNA reference is HO 107)
Following the establishment of a civil registration system,
responsibility for census taking was taken over by the GRO in 1840. The
census was also based on the new registration districts, themselves
modelled on the older Poor Law unions which sometimes overlapped 2 or
more counties - this latter fact should be kept in mind if having
difficulty finding a particular place in what may seem to be the
obvious enumeration district. See this British-Genealogy
site for further comment
All that remained was for the registrars to divide their
sub-districts into smaller enumeration districts (maximum 200 inhabited
houses), and appoint an enumerator for each one.
Enumerators had to be able to read and write, be temperate,
orderly and respectable - as an example, my gg grandfather, Benjamin
Evans, schoolmaster, seems to have been the enumerator for Llanybyther
in Carmarthenshire for the 1851 census.
See here for the detailed Instructions to the Enumerators from the 1841 Census
The census was held on a single night of the year (to avoid
double counting), the idea being that they would include every person
at a house "that night" - one apparent omission (in 1841 only) was not
to give clear guidance to include night workers who would be returning
to that residence next day, another was how to deal with lodgers and
boarders.
Household schedules (with instructions) were to be issued to each
household ahead of census night, to be completed by the
householder and collected by the enumerator the day after census
night. A Welsh translation of the schedule was available from 1841
onwards but the data provided had to be written in English.
Should the householder have difficulties with completing the schedule
the enumerator was required to assist and no doubt ended up completing
some entirely - for example, it is recorded that in 1871, in Anglesey,
the enumerator completed the majority.
The schedules were then to be copied into printed books - it is digital
copies of these enumerators' books that are now used for
searching/transcribing/indexing.
This first 'named' census could be seen as something of a
'suck it and see' affair, it was designed to be as simple as
possible - the principal difference between it and those
that followed is the absence of relationships shown between the
residents; the requirement that ages were rounded down to the nearest
multiple of 5, unless under 15; and that the place of birth question
was only to say whether born in "the same county or not" (also
whether born in Scotland, Ireland
or Foreign parts).
All factors which we genealogists now gripe about !
No named account was made of the crews/passengers of merchant
vessels for this census, unless they were ashore of course. A head
count was carried out.
Neither was any count taken of those aboard fishing vessels in
this census, likewise itinerants/travellers which was unfortunate given
the census was taken in June when annual movements were well under way.
Royal Navy personnel ashore on census night were fully
enumerated as households or institutions. The position with those on
board ship isn't clear, a head count was carried out - if
they existed no named returns seem to survive for 1841/51.
Soldiers serving abroad were never fully enumerated until 1911, those living in barracks within the UK were.
On this page on Ancestry.com
(scroll down, down) there are details of 'known problems with the 1841
census' for Wales (work back to find the England page)
1851 (HO 107)
This census was a considerable improvement on 1841 - "relation to
head" being introduced, also marital status, and "where born" to
include county and parish/town in that order. A straight forward
"Age" question replaced the convoluted rounding down
of 1841. The number of a house in a street was now to be
included although that assumed that 'proper addresses' existed at
all at this time in most places.
The first medical question appeared - householders were now asked to indicate if anyone was deaf, dumb or blind.
The position with the merchant marine, fishing vessels,
inland navigation vessels, itinerants & travellers from 1851
onwards is too complex to describe here - the book mentioned
above has chapter and verse.
See here for Census instructions for 1851
1861 (RG 9)
The storage of the 1861 returns in particular could be described as
haphazard in the extreme and they didn't get into the safe hands
of the PRO until the 1960s, unfortunately sections are
permanently missing.
From 1861 commanding officers of Royal Navy ships, either in
home of foreign waters, were required to fully enumerate their officers
and crews.
On this page on Ancestry.com
(scroll down, down) there are details of 'known problems with 1861
piece numbers' for Wales (work back to find the England page)
1871 (RG 10)
The medical question was expanded to include those who were 'imbeciles, idiots or lunatics'
1881 (RG 11)
This return has been indexed/transcribed for the whole of the UK, a
combined undertaking by the Genealogical Society of Utah [Mormons] and
the FFHS, it is available on Cd from the LDS as well as online on their own site.
See 1881 census place name index
for details of 1881 census Registration District overlaps for All
Wales/Mon and a place name index for the Dyfed and Glamorgan
counties only.
1891 (RG 12)
In 1891 & 1901 an extra question was introduced in
Wales only to ascertain whether people spoke only Welsh, only English,
or both.
Additional questions were introduced, namely boxes headed Employer/Employed/Neither
1901 (RG 13)
See www.1901census.nationalarchives.gov.uk for a fully searchable index online .
See the Genuki page Directions to Enumerators on the completion of 1901 Census Enumeration Books, and Genuki for other census related odds and ends
1911
The position with this census, (its release date, system for early one off requests etc ) is described on http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/1911census/
General research notes and guidance
The Census Returns become available for public inspection after 100 years.
The 1931 returns were destroyed by fire in WWII.
The 1941 census was not taken because of the war.
See the British-Genealogy site for an explanation of census return pieces, folios etc.
Next time you look at the 1881 census cd make note of the way in which the TNA/PRO reference is displayed e.g
<PRO Ref RG11 Piece 5383 Folio 36 Page 8
See Abbreviations for Relationships to heads of household on census returns
There is an extensive list of places and parishes within the
Dyfed counties with their respective hundreds and census
registration districts on the Dyfed FHS website.
For Glamorgan , there is a Class List produced by the PRO
of places included in each part of each census on this site under Glamorgan
Genuki
has an index to the place names in the censuses and this covers Wales,
England and the Isle of Man . For each place listed is shown the county
and registration district in which they were situated during the years
1837-1930.
See also Genuki
There are a number of commercial organisations, as well as Family History Societies such as Glamorgan FHS, who
sell Cds, or online access, of/to various UK censuses. Some are
name-indexed with transcriptions, others are only the digital images of
the enumerators' books, mostly with some sort of street index etc.
[Or crematoriums].
Private cremations were first recorded in the UK in the 1870s
and were thought to be probably illegal initially with the prosecution
of a man in Cardiff in 1883 for burning his 5 month old
illegitimate child.
The first legal cremation in UK was probably in Woking in 1885
at a crematorium built by the Cremation Society of England, other
crematoria followed at Golders Green,London in 1902 and the City of
London Cemetary in 1905.
Crematoria must all keep registers in a standard format, the headings are;
- 1. Cremation number (consecutive from the first cremation in the establishment)
- 2. Name of the deceased
- 3. Address of the deceased
- 4. Name and address of the person applying for the cremation to be carried out.
- 5. Date of cremation
- 6. Registration district where the death was registered
- 7. Names and addresses of the doctors/coroners who signed the necessary medical papers.
- 8. How the cremated remains were disposed of.(e.g. scattered, buried in a grave, etc.)
The medical papers for the deceased are not available for inspection
unless you are one of a select band, namely chiefs of Police, a medical
referee appointed by the Home Office, etc
Here are some tips on using a range of maps & gazetteers available
online that I use personally, there may be others
I won't explain who owns what, or repeat the detailed descriptions and advice
which each site should have in it's own Help section - unless some
clarification is needed
For an overview of maps, including an explanation of OS
grid references, then see John Ball's WFHA
site
See Wales Genuki
for more on maps in general
Most map sites require your browser to have javascipt enabled
Maps
The
attraction of this site is its historical mapping from Ordnance
Survey's County Series at 1:2500 & 1:10 560 scales dating from 1840
to 1948., the exact data range varies with the area, the default
scale is 1:10,560, some options at 1:2500
Click on Maps, if you know the x,y co-ordinates (as in 275000:195500) for
the place then use them.
If it's a village/hamlet/town then type in
the name, if each phase seems to take a time with nothing obvious happening,
get used to it
If you are presented with an option of places, highlight
the right one .... and wait.
With village etc place names you can also click the
Gazetteer (GAZ) button, then county, then village etc.
Searching on Cwmgors in Llangiwg, GLA (but near CMN border) produced
11 map options as follows; 1891 CMN; 1883 GLA; 1878 CMN at 2,500; 1907 CMN;
1901 GLA; 1906 CMN at 2500; 1898 GLA 2500; 1921 CMN; 1921 GLA; 1918 CMN
2500; 1953 CMN.
The zoom in/out control is on the left, the top level being the
largest but the one below it being the most useful.
You can pan by using
the arrows on the sides of the map - they don't get you very far each
click
A black area means a missing map but a white one means a county border
and you can try the adjacent county for it.
The red and blue edged rectangles on
maps are only relevant to the area of Decorative Maps which can be purchased.
This site gets very busy, if page refreshes are taking longer
than about 20 secs (on broadband) then give up and try another time/day.
These modern OS style maps are very detailed - down to individual
field level for instance, with named roads
Click on the Mapping option which takes you to a map of
Wales, then change the map size to Large.
From here I prefer
to use the Zoom-to tool in the tool bar, the Z, which opens
up the search dialogue options
You can either search on a village
name etc (using the built in drop down gazetteer), or on a postcode or OS
grid ref (as in TQ200700)
Now use the zoom-in tool which you
can take down to a detailed large scale map.
Click the pan button
and then move the cursor on the map to get around, the OS grid reference
is shown at the bottom of the browser window (IE7) and changes with movements
of the cursor.
The blue dots indicate
items of potential interest, if you use the Selection tool (far right in
tool bar) to create a smaller section this will bring up a Report page
showing all the items within such section. These entries then have
links to the relevant page in the Coflein text database e.g
chapels, churches, ancient structures
Some of the latter have links to
photographs e.g Carmarthen, St Peter's Church
This site also gets very busy, or at least slows
down for whatever reason
A modern road type map with aerial view option, you can search by street name/town
or post code (NOT by grid references of any sort)
The control for panning and zooming is in the top right corner of
the map, top left are options to switch to aerial/hybrid views,
the latter allows panning using a mouse left click and has zoom options
with a right click.
In the bottom right of the map is a small overview
map - another panning tool (left click rectangle and move about)
There is an option to switch to OS maps at zoom levels 13-15 - which
are roughly three quarters of the way up the zoom bar
To see if they
are available hover cursor over the Map button in top left corner, if small
OS map appears then click on it.
There appear to be no grid references of any kind indicated
A modern road type map
You can search by Street, Telephone area code, OS grid reference (x,y),
Post code, Landranger (as in TQ200700), place name, Latitude/Longitude (see
their Hints page for explanation)
An useful facility on this site is to be able to convert co-ordinates
to a OS grid ref or postcode (right at bottom of a map view)
Pan and re-centre the map with a mouse left click, or use arrows at sides
Zoom tool bottom right, if you click on the + sign this should switch
to a view with street names.
A modern OS map - you need to make sure you can see ALL the page by switching
to full view in your browser
Click on 'I want to Get a Map now' - search on place name, postcode or grid reference
(as in TQ200700) to bring up an OS map of the place
Zoom/Navigation tools on the left, including re-centre, default appears
to be 1:50000, zooms down to 1:25000.
The grid ref at the map centre is given at the bottom of the page
The viewable map is quite small without using the zoom up facility in
your browser (IE7)
"The first web-based interactive map to bring together geographic information on
key environmental schemes and designations in one place "
This site has a good set of search options but is a bit slow
whenever I've used it (and sometimes completely static) - yet the OS
style maps are really very detailed and it's worth persevering.
Use
the Interactive maps, and search on Great Britain in Step 1 (the Administrative
areas option excludes Wales)
One feature is that map coordinates/grid refs etc are given at the bottom
in line with moving the cursor
I recommend a good read of the comprehensive on-site tutorial
Apart from being slow, its next most annoying feature is a reluctance to allow you to
leave the site using the browser's back button.
A modern road style map, with satellite/hybrid options
Zoom/pan tool top left and overview map bottom right
- latter allows panning. Zooms down to named street level
You can right click to centre the map and zoom.
One attraction of this site is that it has parish based maps with the boundaries
marked on them
- although the C19th map options don't have anything like the detail of Old-maps
(above)
If you want to see parish boundaries then ignore the Historical Mapping button
as these don't have them.
For the record, those maps are the 1806
Smiths New Map of the UK, and the 1904 OS 10 mile to the inch
version
So, for parish boundaries, in Step One (Select a location) - search by
place name or post code, I find it most useful to search on parish names.
On
the parish page, scroll down to Administrative Units, under Unit click on
parish name AC/CP.
Scroll down to Historic Boundaries, click on
that.
You now have a choice of maps, C20th and C19th OS first series
looking the most useful.
Zoom in to required level and then use browser
(IE7) to enlarge the whole page and keep in focus.
Has the OS C19th County series of 1:10,560 scale maps.
Search on place name or post code
The Zoom control has Min/Low/High/Max options, Min is not that useful -
unless it's just my eyesight.
Pan by left clicking with mouse to recentre.
Gazetteers
Genuki
- Genuki. An index of place names from the 1891 census
- Genuki
There is a place name gazetteer search box on each Genuki page
for WALES, CGN, CMN and PEM etc. This covers the whole of England,
Wales and Scotland and can be searched by place-name (or part of a
place-name) or Ordnance Survey Grid Reference (six-figure, eg
NZ183848). If there are multiple place-names matching the name you
enter, you will initially be presented with a drop-down list of the
matching place-names with their distances and bearings from
Cardiff, Wales.
- Each Genuki parish page for CGN, CMN, PEM and GLA has, under
Description and Travel, place name extracts from the parish map on the CD of Historic Parishes of
England and Wales: an Electronic Map of Boundaries before 1850 with a Gazetteer
and Metadata [computer file]. (Kain, R.J.P., Oliver, R.R.)
- Each Genuki county page has a gazetteer showing the parish
that places within that county are in.
-
- On Genuki (PEM) there is a database
with grid co-ordinates of 10,000 place names from the 1891/1901 censuses for
certain parishes in PEM,CMN & GLA (Gower)
-
- Place names in Cardiganshire that have alternative spellings, or have changed completely
- Place names in Carmarthenshire which have alternative spellings - or have changed completely
- Place Names in Glamorgan which have alternative spellings or have changed completely over time
- Place names in Pembrokeshire that have alternative spellings , or have changed completely
Others
Now renamed the National Archives, the principal Record Office for England & Wales.
Their database contains digital images of original registers, entry
books and indexes, you can search the database for free and view images
from as little as 20 UK pence (approx 32 US cents) and save and print
copies. As at December 2003 the material online includes the following
with more being added;
- Estate Duty Office Indexes to Death Duty Registers 1796 to 1903
- Registers of Births, Marriages and Deaths at Sea 1854 to 1890
- Index to Divorce and Matrimonial Causes 1858 to 1903
- Registers of Names of Passport Applications 1851 to 1903 (in practice, 1851 to 1862 and 1874 to 1903, as 1863-1873 are missing)
At the Documents Online
site you can search (free) an index of the entire collection of wills
proved at the PCC between 1384 and 1858 (over 1 million wills). Digital
images of wills found can be downloaded, there is a charge.
See http://www.1901census.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ for 1901 census online access.
For lists of Glamorgan Nonconformist Registers held here check out INDEX
The PRO Catalogue is on http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/default.asp .There
are descriptions of over 8 million documents in the Record Classes of
the PRO. The scope and content of the Record Classes are described
along with a link to Class List and further links to descriptions of
the individual Class Listings. Here is the index of PRO information
leaflets
It is located at Ruskin Avenue, Kew , Richmond, Surrey TW9
4DU [ Tel no 0181 876 3444 ]. It is open Mondays-Saturday from 9.30 [10
am on Tuesdays] to 5 pm [ 7pm Tuesdays & Thursdays].
It was established in 1838 to preserve the government's and law
courts' records and other national archives , contains a wealth of
information for family historians.
The records previously held at the PRO's old building in
Chancery Lane, London have been moved to Kew except for microfilm
copies of the census, some wills and administrations up to 1858, death
duty registers and non-conformist registers, which are all now held at
the ......
Family Records Centre;
Family Records Centre http://www.familyrecords.gov.uk
This is situated at 1 Myddleton St, London, EC1R 1UW. The telephone number for the PRO searchroom is 0181 392 5300.
The Family Records Centre holds the following records;
Indexes of births, marriages and deaths in England and Wales since 1837
Indexes of legal adoptions in England and Wales since 1927
Indexes of births, marriages and deaths of some British citizens abroad from 1761, including deaths in the two World Wars
Certificates can be purchased of any entry in the above indexes.
Microform copies of Census [of Population] returns, 1841-1891, a full surname index of the 1881 census.
Microfilms of Estate Duty Office death duty registers from 1796-1858, with indexes from 1796-1903
Microfilms of registered copies of wills and administrations for 1383 to 1858 from the Prerogative Court of Canterbury
Non-parochial [non conformist]registers from 1567-1837
Indexes
Births and deaths at sea since 1837 on any UK registered ship
Deaths in the Boer War, 1899-1902
Deaths of English and Welsh servicemen in World Wars 1 & 2
Registrar General's miscellaneous returns of births, marriages and deaths of Britons at sea or abroad, 1627-1960
Births and deaths in UK registered aircraft since 1949
Births and deaths aboard British registered hovercraft or on off-shore installations
Births, marriages and deaths of British subjects in foreign and
Commonwealth countries, registered by Consuls or High Commissioners
Indexes to Somerset House wills from 1858 to 1943 on fiche.
A recent set of electoral registers
Access to the Scottish indexes of births, baptisms and marriages
from 1553, deaths from 1855 to date, divorces from 1984 onwards, and to
the censuses for 1881 and 1891.
For Northern Ireland there is an index of births from 1922 to 1993.
The IGI is held, also a range of supplementary indexes and publications
Certificates of Births, Marriages, Deaths and Adoptions
In order to know which is the correct regional Register
Office to address a request for BMD certificates you
need to know the composition of the civil registration districts which
commenced 1st July 1837 , and of course exactly where the registers are
now.
The name of a registration district may not be familiar, or
even seem to relate to an adjoining county, this is because
registration districts took the name of the local Poor Law Unions,
which did sometimes span county lines .
The Genuki site is a good place to check out which district individual towns fall under.
The Dyfed Family History Society site has a list of places in CMN,CGN & PEM showing which parish and hundred they fall under.
For details of which indexes are held at
some Glamorgan
Register Offices, see Not everyone knows this..
Also check out Registration District details and county overlaps on the 1881 census place names indexes
There are links to the individual county pages on Genuki On each county page you will find a list of parishes contained within each of the Registration Districts in that county.
To purchase certificates from the
ONS at Southport , see Getting certificates [GRO/ONS]
Below you will find the contact details of
regional Register Offices in each county in South/West Wales, there are also offices in some sub districts which aren't listed here.
Here is a description of what local Register Offices have to offer to personal visitors
Glamorgan;
- CARDIFF 48 Park Place, Cardiff CF10 3LU Tel : 029 2087
1680
Registrars@cardiff.gov.uk
- VALE OF GLAMORGAN 2-6 Holton Road, Barry CF63 4HD Tel : 01446 700809
- BRIDGEND Register Office, Sunnyside, Bridgend CF31 4AR Tel : 01656 642391
- CAERPHILLY Register Office,Ystrad Mynach , Hengoed CF82
7SF Tel : 01443 863478
MASTED@CAERPHILLY.GOV.UK
- PONTYPRIDD Courthouse Street, Pontypridd CF37 1JS
Tel : 01443 486869
registrar@rhondda-cynon-taff.gov.uk
- MERTHYR TYDFIL Register Office,Ground Floor,Castle House,
Glebeland Street, Merthyr Tydfil. CF47 8AT.
Tel. 01685 - 723318.
dianne.green@merthyr.gov.uk
- NEATH 119 London Road, Neath & Port Talbot, SA11
1HL Tel: 01639 760021 Fax: 01639
760023
- SWANSEA County Hall, Oystermouth Road, Swansea SA1 3SN Tel: 01792 636188
Fax: 01792 636909
registrars@swansea.gov.uk
Carmarthenshire
- CARMARTHEN Parc Myrddin, Richmond Terrace, Carmarthen, SA31 1HQ Tel: 01267 228210
Fax
01267 228215
Registrars@carmarthenshire.gov.uk
- LLANELLI 2 Coleshill Terrace, Llanelli, Carmarthenshire SA15 3DB. Tel: 01554 774088
Cardiganshire
- CEREDIGION, NORTH County Hall, Aberystwyth, CGN, SY23 2DE Tel: 01970 633580
- CEREDIGION, CENTRAL 21 High St, Lampeter, CGN, SA48 7BH Tel:- 01570 422558
- CEREDIGION, SOUTH Glyncoed Chambers, Priory St, Cardigan, CGN, SA43 1BX Tel: 01239 612684
Pembrokeshire
Monmouthshire
See Not everyone knows this..
The boundaries and names of many counties in England and Wales
changed both in 1974 and again in 1996. This can make it difficult to
locate parishes and records.
This is an outline summary of the boundary and name changes in
Wales in 1974 and 1996. In 1996 some new County Boroughs were also
formed in some urban areas. However be aware that those counties which
reverted to their pre-1974 name in 1996 may not have reverted to
exactly the same geographical boundaries.
The changes may also be seen in map format by clicking the links below
PRE
1974
1974-1996
1996
|
Anglesey
/ Ynys Mon |
Gwynedd |
Anglesey |
|
Breconshire/Brecknock |
Powys |
Powys |
|
Caernarfonshire |
Gwynedd |
Gwynedd |
|
Cardiganshire |
Dyfed |
Ceredigion |
|
Carmarthenshire |
Dyfed |
Carmarthenshire |
|
Denbighshire |
Clwyd |
Denbighshire
Wrexham County Borough |
|
Flintshire |
Clwyd |
Flintshire
Conwy County Borough |
|
Glamorgan |
South Glamorgan
Mid Glamorgan
West Glamorgan |
Bridgend
Caerphilly
Cardiff
Merthyr Tydfil
Neath Port Talbot
Rhondda Cynon Taff
Vale of Glamorgan
County of Swansea |
|
Merionethshire/Merionydd |
Gwynedd |
Gwynedd |
|
Monmouthshire |
Gwent (included a small part of Glamorgan) |
Monmouthshire, Newport, Blaenau Gwent,Torfaen |
|
Montgomeryshire |
Powys |
Powys |
|
Pembrokeshire |
Dyfed |
Pembrokeshire |
|
Radnorshire |
Powys |
Powys |
The recent changes in the county boundaries and names mean that
some records have also been moved causing problems for Family
Historians, therefore recommended reading for anyone researching in
Wales is:
" RESEARCHING FAMILY HISTORY IN WALES" by Jean Istance and
E.E.Cann., Federation of Family History Societies (Publications) Ltd.
1996. ISBN 1-86006-030-7.
This book provides the following information:
- 1) A brief history of the pre 1974 counties and details of the changes made in 1974 and 1996.
- 2) Addresses, phone nos., opening times and holdings of all Record Offices.
- 3) Addresses, phone nos., and holdings of all libraries and museums.
- 4) Addresses and phone nos., of all LDS Family History Centres.
- 5) Addresses and phone nos., of all Register Offices.
- 6) Addresses and phones nos. of all Tourist Information Offices.
- 7) Details of local attractions of interest to local historians.
These are mainly books I have personally, there are many others available.
Listed in no particular order
- 1. Welsh Family History: A Guide to Research, 2nd ed, chapters by
various authors. Edited by John & Sheila Rowlands. Published
by the Assoc. of Family History Societies of Wales and the FFHS.[ISBN
1-86006-065-X] 1998, 325 p. The chapter titles are: Introduction,
Archive Repositories in Wales, Family History Societies of Wales,
Parish Registers and, Bishop's Transcripts, Civil Registration and the
Census, Nonconformity, The Surnames of Wales, Place Names, Some Basic
Welsh for Family Historians,
The IGI for Wales, Estate Records, Maritime Records, Wills and Other
Records of Inheritance, Education Records, Parochial Records, The Welsh
at Law, The Records of the Courts of Great Sessions for Wales, Printed
and Manuscript Pedigrees, Migration
- 2. Researching Family History in Wales by Jean Istance and E Cann
1996. Detailed information about the Record Offices and Libraries of
Wales. [ISBN 1-86006-030-7]
- 3. The Surnames of Wales for family historians and others, by
John & Sheila Rowlands 1996 A description / analysis of
the development of surnames within Wales down to modern times. ISBN
1-86006-025-0.
"The dominance of a small number of common surnames in Wales can be a
major stumbling block for those researching their Welsh ancestry or
those wishing to distinguish between individuals within a given
community as part of a local history study. This book attempts to
dispel the myths that surround the subject of surnames in Wales - such
as the widely-held belief (outside Wales) that nearly everyone is
called Jones - by describing the development of surnames within Wales
down to modern times. Equal emphasis
has been given within the text to common names found throughout Wales
and to rarer ones found only in specific localities. [The survey given]
of surnames in Wales in the period 1813-1837 can be used to suggest a
place of origin within Wales for groups of people (a minimum of two)
about whom all that is known is that 'they came from Wales'. For many
people whose ancestors left Wales for other parts of Britain or the New
World this predictive method could offer the first real opportunity for
making progress in
tracing those elusive (and often seemingly anonymous) Welsh ancestors
by narrowing down the potential search area."
- 4. The Family Tree Detective 3rd ed, by Colin Rogers 1997. Tracing your Ancestors in England and Wales. ISBN 0-7190-5213-0
- 5. Basic Sources for Family History. 1: back to the early 1800s, by A.Todd 1989. 2nd ed.[Allen & Todd]
- 6. Ancestral Trails . The Complete Guide to British Genealogy
and Family History. by Mark D. Herber 1997.
[ISBN 0-7509-1418-1] Published
by Sutton Publishing/S.O.G. 674 pages.
There is a revised and updated 2nd edition published in 2004. (CN 120647)
- 7. Second Stages in Researching Welsh Ancestry, 1999,
edited by John and Sheila Rowlands. ISBN 1-86006-066-8. 'Success
in researching our Welsh ancestry requires some understanding of the
social, cultural , religious and economic background to the
communities in which our ancestors lived, this book aims to broaden
that understanding, especially for the period before 1800......'
- 8. -
- 9. Tracing the History of Your House, a guide to sources. By Nick Barratt. PRO, 2001. ISBN 1-903365-22-8
- 10. Tracing your Ancestors in the PRO. By Amanda Bevan. ISBN 1-903365-34-1. 6th ed, PRO, 2002. 524 pages.
- 11. The Local History Companion. By Stephen Friar. ISBN 0-7509-2722-4. Sutton Publishing, 2001. 506 pages.
- 12. The Welsh Almanac. By T D Breverton. 2002. ISBN
1-903529-107. Crammed with facts about Wales and Welsh events, a most
informative book
- 13. Making Sense of the Census Revisited by Edward Higgs.
University of London School of Advance Study/Inst. of Historical
Research/TNA, 2005. 232p. ISBN 1 905165 00 5
The following have been recommended by other researchers;
- 1. The Family Historian's Enquire Within by Pauline Saul & F.C Markwell (FFHS 1991)
- 2a The Oxford Guide to family History
2b The Oxford Companion to Local and Family History
Newsplan Cymru Search here on a place name and it will report on which newspapers cover the area and where extant copies are held
The British Library Newspaper Library http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelprestype/news/
holds the national archive collections in the United Kingdom of British
and overseas newspapers. They are the only large, integrated national
newspaper service in the world, combining facilities for the
collection, preservation, and use of newspapers all on one site. Their
collections, which also
include popular magazines and periodicals, are made available in hard
copy, in microform, and on CD-ROM in The Newspaper Library Reading
Rooms in Colindale, north west London. Subject to restrictions,
facilities are available for the photocopying, microfilming, and
photographic and film reproduction of items from the collections in our
care. The site also contains a History of British Newspapers section
and much more.
The Cambrian was
the first English language newspaper to be published in Wales
running from 1804 - 1930. Swansea Library Service has a computerised index to the
contents freely available to search online
Welsh Newspapers Welsh Library, University of Wales, Bangor
"Newspapers are a priceless source, and one which is used
extensively for all types of research, academic or otherwise, for
subjects such as local and family history, social history, advertising
and sport. The collection of the Welsh Library at Bangor is one of the
most comprehensive in Wales"
Online Newspapers Wales - provides links to Welsh newspaper web sites.
ABYZ News - links to Welsh newspaper web sites
Western Telegraph, Old Hakin Road, Merlins Bridge, Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, SA61 1XF; tel editorial 01437 763133.
Tivy-Side Advertiser http://thisistivyside.net Email; tivy_newsdesk@gwent-wales.co.uk
South Wales Argus
South Wales Evening Post Has an email button on site for the Letters page..
Western Mail & Echo Not entirely obvious whose site it is ! Lots of information. Their email address for letters to be published is readers@wme.co.uk and for feedback feedback@total.wales.com
The Cambrian News group have local sites which do have an email button to submit letters for publication;
Email; edit@cambrian-news.co.uk
http://www.cardigan-today.co.uk/ITW/index2.cfm - This one is for Cardigan, has menu to take you to any of the other local sites of the Cambrian News group
Newspaper email addresses only;
The Mercury, 92 Charles Street, Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, SA73 2HE; tel 01646 698971; fax 01646 693941 e-mail Readers@Mercury.Prestel.co.uk
And USA based Welsh subject newspapers ;
Y Drych EMail: ydrych@minn.net Welsh newspaper for North America
Internet Library of Early Journals ; A digital library of 18th and 19th Century journals which currently include;
- Annual Register
- Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine
- Gentleman's Magazine
- Notes and Queries
- Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society
- The Builder
History of the United Kingdom -- Primary Documents Various online transcripts including some newspapers and periodicals eg London Gazette, Penny Magazine.
What is Genuki ?
The aim of Genuki is to serve as a large virtual reference
library of genealogical information that is of particular relevance to
the UK and Ireland. It is a free service using computer resources
that are kindly provided by various universities and individuals.
Its front page can be accessed at Genuki with an useful Frequently Asked Questions page on FAQ.
Or go direct to the Wales page .
There are separate county Surname Lists reached via Welsh genealogy, these are for you to post your own interests, and check out the names other people are researching.
David Hawgood has written a book on Genuki and it is also available online in its entirety on http://www.hawgood.co.uk/
See also Getting certificates [GRO]
See also Registration Districts
Otherwise known as the General Register of Births, Deaths and Marriages or the G.R.O . Here is the GRO's own site for Births, Deaths and Marriages.
By Act of Parliament , civil registration of births, deaths and
marriages was begun on 1 July 1837. For the first time these events
were entered in a single register in England & Wales. In 1851 there
were 623 registration districts, registration was compulsary but at
first there was no penalty(until 1874) for non-observance and
some parents failed to register their children's births .
The registers are bound in quarterly indexes, they were at one
time held at St Catherine's House, London, hence the name still
used by some "oldies" like me, St Caths Index. Copies of
the indexes are held at
local Registry Offices and also on fiche at county Records Offices, but not all.
The Free BMD project
has a list of where copies of any part of the civil registration
indexes are held in UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New
Zealand .
Free BMD, http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/ a database being actively developed and standing at over 80 million entries in mid 2004
Findmypast http://www.findmypast.com/HomeServlet - the complete BMD indexes for the GRO. There is a charge for viewing the images of the indexes.
Copy certificates may be obtained from either the GRO or the local ROs, the latter are cheaper, see Getting certificates [GRO/ONS] and Registration Districts.
The records held at the GRO are COPIES of the original
registers, which were sent by the Superintendent Registrars to the GRO
on loose forms.
Until 1852 each quarter's marriage records were arranged in 27 volumes, and after that date in 33 volumes.
Within volumes 26 [XXVI] and 27 [XXVII] (
until 1852) - the area DYFED listers are interested in - the Superintendent Registrars' areas are in this order:
- Vol XXVI -Carmarthen,Llandilofawr, Llandovery,Llanelly,Haverfordwest,Narberth, Newcastle Emlyn and Pembroke.
- Vol XXVII-Aberayron,Aberystwith,Cardigan,Lampeter, and Tregaron
Within volumes 11a and 11b (
after 1852) - the area DYFED listers are interested in - the Superintendent Registrars' areas are in this order:
- Vol 11a-Llanelly,Llandovery,Llandilofawr,Carmarthen,Narberth,Pembroke and Haverfordwest.
- Vol 11b-Cardigan,Newcastle Emlyn,Lampeter,Aberayron,Aberystwith and Tregaron.
And for Glamorgan listers;
Pre 1852
Vol XXVI-Bridgend,Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil, Neath, and Swansea
1852 onwards
Vol 11a-Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil, Bridgend, Neath and Swansea
The International Genealogical Index is a
database containing well over 100 million names , mainly baptismal
entries from parish and non-parochial registers all over England &
Wales, together with a smaller number of marriages. Neither deaths or
burials are included.
The Index has been compiled and computerised by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.[See LDS ].
It is arranged under counties, the entries are listed in alphabetical order of surnames grouped under spelling
variations as decided on by the compilers.
The surnames themselves are arranged in alpha order of forenames and then chronologically.
Marriages are indexed under the names of both parties.
The coverage of any given parish is not necessarily complete.
In Wales the LDS has not been allowed to microfilm or index the parish
registers so the Welsh IGI contains only a small number of entire
registers. But this is less serious than it seems as they have been
able to use the BTs instead.
The IGI can be a most useful resource
but should be used as a finding aid only, indexed entries should be checked to the actual register etc.
There is a problem peculiar to Welsh research in that the method
adopted to cope with the patronymic system,when registers pre 1813 also
contained no surname column , assumed incorrectly that in all
cases a son took his father's christian name as his surname.
For example, a 1783 bapt for William son of John Thomas would be indexed under John, not Thomas in the Surname Index.
It gets worse, if there are
more than 2 father's names, the rest are discarded completely, so the
actual surname may not appear at all never mind in the wrong place.
There is also a Given Name index, where, for example, all the Williams are grouped together.
The
IGI is available on fiche for searching at many Records Offices,
and some FHS centres, as well as the LDS FHCs where name extracts
are increasingly downloadable to CD for taking away with you.
[see also Patronymic)
LDS refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or Mormon Church - see their home page on http://lds.org/welcome/0,5373,1,00.html .
They place great importance on finding members of their families, so as
to have them baptized in their church, and rejoin them in heaven. To
assist this function they have set up Family History Centres which can
be used by anyone of any faith or none. These centres have libraries of
film, books and CDs devoted to genealogical records. They will also
allow requests of material listed in their catalogue from their main
library at Salt Lake City.There is a small charge for ordering material
which is not already
at the particular Family History Centre.
The LDS produced the IGI
For information about LDS Family History Centres in South Wales go to LDS S/W Wales
Their main website on LDS, but see below for IGI etc
The 1881 census is online
Their online catalogue is on http://www.familysearch.org/Search/searchcatalog.asp
IGI and Familysearch is a searchable database.
IGI Batch Numbers-British Isles
Manually typing the batch numbers into the IGI search screen can
be tedious. Hugh Wallis has made an exhaustive search of the
likely ranges of batch numbers and created a database of those numbers
and the source records that they apply to. A very powerful feature
included is a hotlink from each batch number to the actual search
engine provided at the Family Search site, including the ability to
enter the surname you are looking for. This makes it very easy to
search all the batches for a particular geographic
location using just the last name you are searching for - something
that is not possible directly from the LDS site without doing a lot of
typing.
Hugh Wallis's site is on http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~hughwallis/IGIBatchNumbers.htm#Page
Some sites with links to many other Welsh language sites;
http://www.anoeth.demon.co.uk/cyfall.html#CADG "Cymraeg, a Dysgu'r Gymraeg" (Welsh, and learning Welsh)
http://www.gwybodiadur.co.uk/
"These pages are designed to help you find books, tapes, CD-ROMs
and online resources to do with the Welsh language, focusing
particularly on Welsh dictionaries. They are aimed mainly at Welsh
learners and therefore written in English. You won't find much here
about Welsh literature, music, history, politics, genealogy, tourism,
mythology, recipes, Celtic jewellery or whatever, although some of the
links will still be useful
to you........."
http://pcfcij.dbs.aber.ac.uk/cymraeg/welsh.html Twll - the Welsh Learners' Links
Welsh/English and English /Welsh online dictionary (Univ of Wales, Lampeter)
http://www.cymraeg.org.uk/
"apertium-cy, the first free automatic translator for Welsh"
These notes are based on responses made to specific enquiries of certain Register Offices in March 2005
Cardiff RO
- Members of the public are not allowed access to the actual registers deposited at Register Offices.
- There is ' general search' facility available whereby a person
can pay a fee of £18 and search through the index books of births
deaths and marriages for a period up to 6 hours. Registration staff
then check each reference against the register to determine whether or
not it is the 'correct' entry.
- Indexes at each RO are complied by RO staff from the actual
registers in their custody. An index book will only show the full name
and page number in the register; they are in date order
and then broken down into alphabetic. No maiden name or spouse/ parents
names are shown in an index book.
- There is a £7.00 fee for the issue of the certificate.
- Some offices are so small, or facilities so poor, that they
are not able to let the public search and it is often easier for staff
to search themselves. Staff are obliged to search a five year period
free of charge.
- Some offices have been lucky enough to compile their own
computer data base and most offices have been computerising all current
records since the mid nineties.
- Marriages are the hardest to find as there are individual
registers for each Anglican Church and each registered building where
an ' authorised person ' has been appointed. At Cardiff they have
the majority of their marriage records on a computer data base but
most offices haven't yet. Cardiff have been compiling a yearly
index for marriages irrespective of which Church the marriage took
place at but this has only happened for about the last 10 years.
- The reference taken from the GRO indexes is a national
reference not a local one and means nothing to the individual register
office; the quarter year is the only thing that helps them.
Swansea RO
- An appointment may be made for a General Search of our manual indexes, for which a fee of £18.00 a day is payable.
- Registers are not available for public inspection, but any
entries found may be verified or certificates issued at the standard
cost.
- All our indexes have been computerised, enabling us to locate entries, and the manual indexes reflect this.
- As the GRO indexes are held by the West Glamorgan Archive
Service, in the same building, it is a service we are rarely called
upon to provide, as no additional information is given on our local
indexes.
- If you need further clarification, please contact us on 01792 636188