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UK & Ireland |  |
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WALES |
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GENUKI is organised on the basis of historic counties.
To find which GENUKI pages cover more modern counties and county boroughs, please see: Modern and Administrative Counties and County Boroughs.
Here is a substantial Wales related bibliography of books of General Interest for Family Historians
Books from the Past - A Culturenet Cymru /Welsh Books Council project ; Books from the Past is an on-line collection of books of national cultural interest which have long been out of print.
David Lloyd George's Diary for 1886. The National Library of Wales 'Treasures' series.
The Welsh Biography Online presents the lives of eminent Welsh people who have made a significant contribution to Welsh life. It is an electronic version of the volumes published by the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, together with new articles commissioned by the Society.
Grave Matters - Jill Muir's site on transcribing memorial inscriptions
The Find-a-Grave (Wales) page gives details of the graves of the rich and famous together with biographical information.
Graveyard Welsh - a guide to interpreting Memorial Inscriptions.
England and Wales - Census - links and information.
Wales - census aid - piece numbers etc to allow a TNA search (for area descriptions etc)
NHS 1939 Register Service - The 1939 Register Service enables you to request data (for a fee) held on the 1939 Register for England and Wales, as recorded on the 29 September 1939. However, data will only be released for individuals who have died and are now recorded as deceased.
There is an extensive Timeline on Gareth's Help Page
Wales - A Brief Timeline, From: Owen Edwards. A Short History of Wales (T. Fisher Unwin, 1906).
Welsh Chapels & Churches - on Jill Muir's site
You may also find it worthwhile searching in the GENUKI church database.
Capeli - The Chapels Heritage Society. Particularly see under Publications/Local Information Leaflets
Churches of the World - Phil Evans' site with high resolution old and contemporary photographs of Churches and other places of Worship in Wales
Theological Colleges attended by Welsh ministers and priests. An exercise to discover which theological colleges Welsh nonconformist ministers and Anglican church priests attended in Wales (and England).
The Clergy of the Church of England Database 1540-1835 - "launched in 1999 and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, makes available and searchable the principal records of clerical careers from over 50 archives in England and Wales with the aim of providing coverage of as many clerical lives as possible from the Reformation to the mid-nineteenth century........."
Charles Surman's biographical card index of Congregational ministers .........
"was given to Dr Williams's Library in 1960. The Surman Index Online makes the contents available electronically via the internet for the first time. The index includes the names of about 32,000 ministers, and, where known, their dates, details of their education, ministries or other employment, together with the sources used. It covers the period from the mid-seventeenth century to 1972, and though it focuses on England and Wales, it includes Congregational ministers serving abroad provided they trained or served as ministers in Britain. Although intended as an index of Congregational ministers,
it also gives details of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Presbyterians."
Unitarian Obituaries 1798 to date - The obituaries were published in journals which are held in the library at Harris Manchester College.
Baptist Historical Society - index of Baptist Ministers' Obituaries
A listing of JONES entries from the clergymen's database on Crockford's Clerical Directory of 1885. Compiled by Gareth Hicks from the CD published by Archive CD Books.
Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300: volume 9 - The Welsh cathedrals (Bangor, Llandaff, St Asaph, St Davids). On the British History Online site
Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1300-1541: volume 11 - The Welsh dioceses (Bangor, Llandaff, St Asaph, St Davids). On the British History Online site
Welsh Abbeys and other Religious Sites - information and photographs provided by Jeffrey L. Thomas.
Llanvaches, the oldest nonconformist chapel in Wales
Independent Chapels of Wales: History Books and Pamphlets On the NLW's site
The Baptist Historical Society site
The Baptist Union of Great Britain site
The Baptist Union of Wales - has a church finder facility
Quakers in Britain (then search on Wales)
Coleg Trefeca - A centre for lay training, conferences and retreats owned by the Presbyterian Church of Wales
National Synod of Wales The National Synod of Wales of the United Reformed Church, is one of thirteen Synods that cover England, Wales and Scotland.
Books marked # have an entry on the separate 'Review/Contents' page.
See also under Religion and Religious Life below
National Library of Wales. Manuscripts and Records. An online searchable index of Marriage Bonds and Allegations.It contains details of some 90,000 marriages by licence which took place in Wales between 1616 and 1837.
The UK Church Directory Information on 35,000 Christian churches and chapels
The Clergy of the Church of England Database 1540-1835 - launched in 1999 and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, makes available and searchable the principal records of clerical careers from over 50 archives in England and Wales
Parish register copies (Wales) in the library of the Society of Genealogists.
Quaker Records in Wales An introduction to the type of records that are available by the Quaker FHS
IGI and Familysearch Here is the searchable LDS website
IGI Batch Numbers-British Isles
It is not always easy to locate your ancestors on the IGI using the search mechanisms provided at the above LDS site. 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. This is Hugh Wallis's site
and here is Archer
Software's site which states "Though this site doesn't
offer all the information provided by the excellent IGI Batch Numbers website
created by Hugh Wallis in 2002, it updates and amplifies much of that information."
The A2A database of pre 1858 probate entries for the Welsh dioceses is at the National Archives site
The Crime and Punishment database on the NLW site comprises data about crimes, criminals and punishments included in the gaol files of the Court of Great Sessions in Wales from 1730 until its abolition in 1830. The Court could try all types of crimes, from petty thefts to high treason. In practice, most of the petty crimes were heard at the Courts of Quarter Sessions, whose records are held by the Welsh county record offices. Details about these records can be searched at Archives Wales. The records of the Court of Great Sessions do not include cases tried in Monmouthshire since that county formed part of the Oxford Assize circuit, whose records are held by the National Archives. There are, however, a number of cases of Monmouthshire interest on this database.
There is a Wales related Crime and Punishment section on Gareth's Help Page
Held at Ceredigion Archives;
Digital Library of Historical Directories A Project by the University of Leicester. In March 2006 there were 54 entries for Wales on there
Kelly's Directory South Wales 1910. Sections from this CD by Archive CD Books are extracted as follows;
- General description of South Wales together with a breakdown of the Poor Law Unions. Also details of the 3 District Probate Registries.
- List of the Principal Seats in South Wales
- Principal Markets and Fairs in South Wales
Welsh in Australia - on the NLW site
Welsh Australians - in 'The Australian Dictionary of Biography' - on the NLW site
History of the Welsh in Minnisota - A list of short biographies from "The History of the Welsh in Minnesota, Foreston and Lime Springs, Ia. Gathered by the Old Settlers". Editors: Rev. Thomas E. Hughes, Rev. David Edwards, Hugh G. Roberts, Thomas Hughes. Published in 1895
On Caryl Williams's site - Passenger list of the Barque "Gwen Evans" of Wales 1842 entering the Port of Boston, 15th August 1842
Welsh-American Genealogical Society
The British Presence in Southern Patagonia (Argentina & Chile). A really useful site - lots of databases and history
The Welsh Settlement in Patagonia - on the NLW site
Patagonia - on the NLW site
Welsh Mormon History Immigrants section contains database of names, birth date/place of origin - almost 4000 entries
The Welsh in Oneida County, New York . By Paul Demund Evans. This is an electronic version of a book which is often cited by scholars and historians as a source of information on the Welsh in New York State.
THE DIARY OF KETURAH DAVIES. Part of the Welsh Family History Archive. " A transcript of the original diary written on board the emigrant vessel Schah Jehan which departed from Plymouth, England, 23rd August 1860, and arrived at Port Adelaide, Australia, 2nd December 1860. "
Some of the reasons behind Early emigration from Wales (from Data Wales).
The Welsh and Slavery in America . A Data Wales site
Researching from Abroad A Genuki page
The Wales-Ohio Project a NLW sponsored site
Australian Newspapers online - historic Australian newspapers 1803-1954 (work in progress)
Newspaper notice in the 'Cambrian' Newspaper 29th August 1873. "New South Wales Government - Emigration; The New South Wales Government has resumed Emigration. The classes for whom passages will be provided are those who can pay one-third of their passage money. Married couples, not exceeding 35 years of age, mechanics, farmers, miners, vine-dressers, labourers and domestic servants, not excluding small WORKING CAPITALISTS in any branch of colonial industry. They must be of sound mental and bodily health, and of good moral character. Applications either in writing or personally at No. 3 Westminster-chambers, Victoria-street, Westminster, S.W. --- Charles Cowper, Agent General
Tallis's Topographical Dictionary of England and Wales, published in 1860 in six vols, editor E. L. Blanchard. See Welsh Family History Archive which includes county maps (showing the hundreds)
From the preface;
"In the following pages will be found fully described the past history and present aspect of every place of any significance in England and Wales, forming a work of permanent importance to the commercial world, of ready service to the tourist of the "In the following pages will be found fully described the past history and present aspect of every place of any significance in England and Wales, forming a work of permanent importance to the commercial world, of ready service to the tourist of the day, and of constant interest to the general reader, who may derive from this source a large supply of entertainment, as well as of information for the amusement and instruction of a leisure hour."
A searchable database of places in the 1891 census. This covers England, Wales and the Isle of Man and returns the County, Registration District, Registration Sub-District, PRO Piece Number and LDS Film Number.
The National Gazetteer of Wales A site by GeogData: Geographical Data Services. Includes OS grid references
Vision of Britain - the site has the full descriptive text of 3 C19th Gazetteers (over 90,000 entries)
Return of Owners of Land 1873 - on the cefnpennar site
Welsh Ruins site
British Listed Buildings - "an online database of buildings and structures that are listed as being of special architectural and historic interest"
Say Something in Welsh - sign up includes free lessons and message board
http://www.cymraeg.org.uk/ "apertium-cy, the first free automatic translator for Welsh"
Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru. A Dictionary of the Welsh Language.
Wales Language Guide provided by Britannia
A site for Welsh learners
Welsh/English Dictionary from BBC Wales - part of their Learn Welsh site
Welsh Language Board Details of schemes and publications, including Cysill (Welsh spellchecker) and CysGair (Welsh/English dictionary).
Sounds of Wales Listen to the pronunciation of over 200 Welsh place-names - on John Ball's site.
The Story of Welsh - on BBC Wales
Voice Recordings - on BBC Wales A series of recorded interviews in Welsh and English from different parts of Wales
Gwybodiadur - A Welsh Informationary from Harry Campbell - "a directory of language resources for Welsh learners and teachers, offering reviews, listings, links, pages of background information and useful contacts".
The Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts: Manorial Documents Register: lists the whereabouts of manorial documents in England and Wales. The register for Wales is indexed, this is searchable by county then individual manor.
Countryside Council for Wales - includes useful interactive maps
Welsh county maps by Samuel Lewis published in 1833
Ordnance Survey 1:10,560 maps - on the British History Online site. Full Welsh coverage
Lewis Morris and William Morris Charts of the Welsh coastline by Lewis Morris (1701-1765) and his son, William Morris
Thomas Taylor The Principality of Wales exactly described [...] published by Thomas Taylor (fl. 1670-1730) in 1718 was the first published atlas relating entirely to Wales
Maps of England and Wales in 1643 (808k) and Maps of England and Wales 1660-1892 (479k) which were obtained courtesy of Ancestry, who retain copyright and reserve all rights in them.
Old-maps.co.uk The uniqueness of this site is its detailed C19th & early C20th maps - dated between 1840 and 1948, the exact data range varies with the area, the default scale is 1:10,560, some options are at 1:2500
The Data Wales Maps Page provides several very useful and interesting maps of the principality.
The National Library of Wales, Department of Pictures and Maps holds one of the main historical and contemporary collections of Welsh mapping. Their pages lead to a growing body of online information about the collection.
Maps of Wales, provided by John Ball, shows the location of Wales within the British Isles and the positions of its pre-1974 counties and towns.
'A Vision of Britain through time' contains both C19th & C20th maps which have
parish boundaries marked on them
Search on a parish name, then scroll down to Administrative Units/parish name - AP/CP, click on that link, scroll down to link Historic boundaries which takes you to the map section.
Coflein (Royal Conmmission on the Ancient & Historical Documents of Wales) The site has very detailed modern maps - down to individual field level for instance, with named roads
An exceptionally useful set of maps showing parish boundaries, on a one inch to the mile scale,was until 2007 available on CD-ROM - see: Kain, R.J.P., Oliver, R.R., Historic Parishes of England and Wales: an Electronic Map of Boundaries before 1850 with a Gazetteer and Metadata [computer file]. Colchester, Essex: History Data Service, UK Data Archive [distributor], 17 May 2001. SN: 4348. See also details of a name extraction project covering various Welsh counties.
The British Army's Museum site Absent Voters Lists There was a General Election in 1918. All those away from their place of residence (so including all men in the army) were listed on a Absent Voters Lists
The Royal Regiment of Wales was formed in 1969 by the amalgamation of two of Wales' most famous and distinguished regiments, namely The South Wales Borderers (24th Foot) and The Welch Regiment (41st/69th Foot).
The London Gazette. A most useful site, there are records of medals and honours from 1900 to date. Also citations, mentions in despatches, promotions etc for soldiers, sailors and airmen from 1914 - 1920 and 1939 - 1948
The War Diary of the 17th Battalion The Welsh Regiment - The First Glamorgan Bantams - 1916-1918 together with orders and reports etc from the PRO file.
South African War [Boer] 1899-1902 , Welsh casualty List. Published by Glamorgan Family History Society.
Place names in south Wales - Deric John's growing authoritative collection of place names
The National Gazetteer of Wales
Glossary of Welsh Place Name Elements - on John Ball's site
Welsh Origins of Place Names in Britain - on the Ordnance Survey site
Welsh Surnames - on the Data Wales site
Welsh Names and Surnames an article by J B Davies reprinted from the South Wales Family History Society Journal (Spring, 1979) III:1.
A Simple Guide to Constructing 13th Century Welsh Names by Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn [Heather Rose Jones] The information in this guide is taken from a tax roll called The Merioneth Lay Subsidy Roll of 1292-3.
Medieval Names Archives; Welsh and Cornish Names Several related links
The SOG has an online leaflet on names generally
Surname Profiler Project "A recent research project based at University College London (UCL) has investigated the distribution of surnames in Great Britain, both current and historic, in order to understand patterns of regional economic development, population movement and cultural identity. This website allows users to search the databases that we have created, and to trace the geography and history of their family names......."
Table of Common Surname Variations & Surname Misspellings
1851 and 1891 censuses - a database of Jewish Surnames in Wales
Newsplan Cymru Search here on a place name and it will report on which newspapers cover the area and where extant copies are held
Y Brython. National Library of Wales 'Treasurers' series. A Welsh-language magazine published in Tremadog between 1858 and 1863 under the editorship of Alltud Eifion (1815-1905) and D. Silvan Evans (1818-1903). "The Welsh-language magazine, Y Brython (1858-1863), has been digitised by the National Library in order to consider the amount of work involved and the issues which might arise from a project to digitise the whole of the Library's collection of pre-1900 Welsh and Wales-related periodicals on preservation microfilm....."
Online Newspapers Wales and Online Newsagent - links to Welsh newspaper web sites.
ABYZ News - links to Welsh newspaper web sites
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"
The British Library Newspaper Library It holds the national archive collections in the United Kingdom of British and overseas newspapers.
Welsh Journals Online
provides students, teachers and researchers with free online, searchable, access
to a selection of 19th-, 20th- and 21st-century Welsh and Wales-related journals
held at The National Library of Wales and partner institutions. These materials
cover a very wide range of subject areas, including humanities, social sciences,
science and technology.
As at Jan 2012 there were c 45 journals available
online.
Brython: A Welsh-language magazine published in Tremadog between 1858 and 1863. On the NLW's Digital Mirror site.
"The Welsh-language magazine,
Y Brython (1858-1863), has been digitised by the National Library in order to consider the amount of work involved and the issues which might arise from a project to digitise the whole of the Library's collection of pre-1900 Welsh and Wales-related periodicals on preservation microfilm"
Internet Library of Early Journals ; A digital library of 18th and 19th Century journals which currently include;
History of the United Kingdom -- Primary Documents Various online transcripts including some newspapers and periodicals eg London Gazette, Penny Magazine.
For a list of denominational magazines and historical periodicals see under Religion and Religious Life
David Lloyd George's Diary for 1886. The National Library of Wales 'Treasures' series.
The National Assembly for Wales
Crime and Punishment Database - at the NLW.
"Comprises data about crimes, criminals and punishments included in the gaol files of the Court of Great Sessions in Wales from 1730 until its abolition in 1830. The Court could try all types of crimes, from petty thefts to high treason."
The Workhouse - on Peter Higginbotham's site
County Asylums in England and Wales
Hospital Records Database A Joint Project of the Wellcome Trust and the National Archives. This database provides information on the existence and location of the records of hospitals in the U.K. Currently over 2,800 entries can be found by searching the database
Index to "Paupers in Workhouses in England & Wales in 1861" (10% sample)
Wills and Probate Records at the NLW.
Wills, which were proved in the Welsh ecclesiastical courts before the introduction of Civil Probate on 11 January
1858, have been deposited in the Library. The old indexes produced by the courts themselves have now been replaced by a new online index.
Post-1858 wills for England and Wales are accessible at the Probate Dept of The Principal Registry Family Division:
Probate Search Room, First Avenue House, 42-49 High Holborn, London, WC1V 6NP.
Obituaries - (Of Welsh people of standing) - Cumulated Index: 1992 - 1997 - on the NLW site
The Blue Books of 1847. An inquiry into the state of education in Wales - on the NLW's Digital Mirror site
Welsh School magazines and newspapers - a list on the NLW site
Association of Family History Societies of Wales.
South Wales Record Society - "The society was set up in 1982 with the aim of publishing a regular series of books and other works on the history of South Wales and particularly Glamorgan and Gwent."
The Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion - "........... seeks to promote the practice and development of the Language, Literature, Arts and Sciences of Wales."
For individual Family History Societies see: "Family History and Genealogy Societies: Wales".
Find help, report problems, or contribute information
[Last updated: 15 Jan 2012 - These pages are maintained by Gareth Hicks with help and information provided by a number of other volunteers. ]
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