Clwyd Family History

Clwyd Family History Resources – comprising Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Wrexham

Researchers of Clwyd family history may find the following links of use in tracing ancestors from the county of Clwyd in Wales. Clwyd is one of eight ‘preserved’ Welsh counties – the other counties are: Gwent, South Glamorgan, Mid Glamorgan, West Glamorgan, Dyfed, Powys and Gwynedd. This means that, although Clywd was abolished in 1996, it is ‘preserved’ for certain ceremonial purposes.

The area of Clwyd currently encompasses the unitary authorities of Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire and Wrexham. It takes its name from the River Clwyd that runs through it. Please read on for a range of resources to help you research this region.

Clwyd Family History Society

The was created in 1980 and now has over 1000 members worldwide. The society opened a resource centre in 2004 at Cefn Mawr in the south of the county. Monthly meetings are held and there is a Quarterly Journal published.

Clwyd Record Offices

Record Offices in Clwyd are at hand to offer research assistance. Documents are held at the Flintshire Record Office (established in 1951) and Denbighshire Archives.

Clwyd births, marriages and deaths

Here are some useful links to digital archives from the subscription based website FindMyPast.co.uk:

Births

Flintshire Baptisms
Denbighshire Baptisms

Marriages

Flintshire Marriages and Banns
Denbighshire Marriages and Banns

Burials – including memorial inscriptions

Flintshire Burials
Denbighshire Burials

Clwyd Newspaper Archives

Local newspaper archives and other historic newspaper journals can be a very helpful resource for family historians. They can help confirm dates and locations that have already been unearthed from more conventional family history sources, such as parish records and census returns. They can also help fill missing gaps in these same records. They often provide greater insight into the lives of our ancestors and into what they had been up to (for good or not so good!).

The subscription based British Newspaper Archive has digitised millions of pages of newspaper archives and is adding to its collection all the time. Some of its newspaper archives date back to the 1600s. Check out the site to search for local newspaper archives for Clwyd.