Welsh Family History: Getting Started

Agenda

• Getting started

• Free help

• Records for family history

• Websites

GETTING STARTED

What you need to get started

• A place, the parish name is good

• Having the village or farm name is best

• Name of the ancestor

• Reference tools– Gazetteers– Maps– Book: Parish Registers of Wales

Jurisdictions

• Several levels of jurisdiction applied to the area where your ancestor lived.

• The parish and diocese are very important for family history research.

A great “free” program that handles Welsh naming patterns

FREE HELP

Familysearch.org

RECORDS FOR FAMILY HISTORY

The parish was the center of the world

Before 1834 the parish was the both the civil and ecclesiastical center of life.

Parish Registers

• Recording christenings, marriages and burials went into effect in 1538.

• There are just over 1,000 ancient parishes (created before 1813) but only 71 have records that survive before 1600.

• Many parishes have no registers before 1754.

Key Dates

• 1538 Order to begin recording christenings, marriages and burials

• 1538 – 1732 expect registers in Latin

• 1698 – 1703 some events not registered to avoid taxation

• 1752 the first day of the year is changed from 25 March to 1 January

Key Dates

• 1754 separate, pre-printed forms used to record marriages

• 1597 – 1917 Bishop’s transcripts

• 1783-1794 Stamp Act taxed all registrations

• 1813 printed forms used for christenings & burials

• 1837 parishes use the same form for marriages as civil registration

Christenings

Christenings often show:

• child’s given name

• Father’s name

• Mother’s name

Sometimes included:

• Family residence such as the village, street or farm name

• Father’s occupation

Post 1812 parish register

Bishop’s Transcript

Marriages

Marriages

• Get your bearings

– Map of the country

– Map of the county showing all parishes

– Atlas and Index of Parish Registers

FHL book# 942 E7pa

Start with a marriage index

• Search the Family History Library Catalog by

doing a place search for the county

• Use the IGI

• Marriage and Census Indexes FHL book# 942

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Marriages pre 1754

Pay close attention to all names

Typical post 1753 parish register

Details to watch for 1754-1837

• I’d like to look at a Banns register for 1818 but according to Parish Registers of Wales the records do not exist.

• Note that the BTs start a generation earlier than PRs

Banns register

Banns register

Marriage by license

Nonconformist Records

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FamilySearch Research Wiki

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Carmarthenshire Nonconformist Records

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Glamorgan Nonconformist Records

Census records often group family members together

Census records often group family members together

Census records often group family members together

Record Supplements/Substitutes

• Poor quality or missing parish registers and Bishop’s transcripts may be supplemented by monumental inscriptions.

WEBSITES

The Search page allows you to filter

The Search page allows you to filter

The image page has the option to enlarge & download the image

http://www.slideshare.net/darris