Wales Online Resources; a selection
FREE
GENUKI: Wales
http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/wal/
Place to start for finding what records may exist and where, but much is not listed.
Wales Family History Societies
http://www.genuki.org.uk/Societies/Wales.html
Worth joining if you have an interest in an area. Often have mailing lists
RootsWeb, mailing lists
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/
Local information and can post questions
Family Search
https://www.familysearch.org/
Excellent learning information
Family Search Research Wiki: Wales
https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Wales
Free BMD
http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/
Best site for vital records search, from 1837
Old Maps
http://www.old-maps.co.uk/index.html
Valuable for “seeing” the land and place names. Looking is free, expensive to purchase
The National Library of Wales
http://www.llgc.org.uk/
Helps to see what is available for research; Digital Mirror
http://www.llgc.org.uk/index.php?id=searcharchivaldatabases searchable online databases, notably, wills with images.
The National Archives
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
http://www.lds.org/topics/family-history?lang=eng
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/
Documents online to view
ARCHON Directory
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archon/
Links to archives by location and to their websites if they have one.
Archives Wales
http://www.archivesnetworkwales.info/
Mocavo
http://mocavo.com/
Genealogical search engine [note, currently does not include USGenWeb and maybe other sites. Does include Ancestry.com and Familysearch.org]
BBC Welsh Family History
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/history/sites/themes/family.shtml
A variety of topics to explore
Google Translate
http://translate.google.com/?hl=en&tab=wT#cy/en/
Instant translation plus “listen” feature
Learning Welsh
BBC Learn Welsh
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/learning/learnwelsh/
Good dictionary
SUBSCRIPTION
Findmypast
http://www.findmypast.co.uk/home.jsp
Especially strong with military and records of the last 150 years. Best place for census research.
Ancestry.com
http://www.ancestry.com/
The best known website.
An example:
Carmarthenshire Family History Society
http://carmarthenshire-online.info/carmarthenshirefhs/
A Few Comments of Welsh Research:
Patronymics were used into the mid 1800s Descriptive nicknames were common Naming pattern: 1st son after paternal grandfather, 2nd son after maternal grandfather, 1st daughter after maternal grandmother, 2nd daughter after paternal grandmother. Not Consistant. Mutations of words where the first latter changes or disappears Census records, ¾ of the people in a parish will be related Searching censuses, always include a given name search About ¾ of the people didn’t belong to the parish church, although they may baptize there. Welsh names were often recorded by English peoples leading to interesting records
The Welsh Society of Oregon is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Your donation is tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law. No goods or services were received in return for this gift. Our Tax ID: 90-0972979
