Glamorgan Family History resources | comprising West Glamorgan, Mid Glamorgan and South Glamorgan
The Glamorgan family history page includes links to Glamorgan births, marriages and deaths records, parish records and other essential family history information. Local newspaper archives are another valuable resource; you can often find snippets of information from old newspaper records that are rarely available from other historical sources.
Glamorgan Family History Records
Glamorgan births, marriages and deaths
The subscription based family history website FindMyPast contains the following family history records for Glamorgan:
Glamorgan Marriage Index Pre-1837
These records include marriages held between 1569 and 1869 in the 126 parishes of Glamorgan.
Glamorganshire Marriages and Banns
These contain records of both marriages and the announcement of intended marriages.
Glamorgan Burial Index
Records for relatives buries between the years 1569 and 1983.
Glamorgan Monumental Inscription Index
What was written on your ancestors gravestone? Birth dates and maiden names are just some of the information ready to be found. Records in this index are from the year 1570 until 1976.
Glamorgan schools admissions registers
Glamorgan Schools Admission Registers
These records list the admissions of around 30,000 pupils into 11 schools. Records include WWII evacuees who were sent to the Glamorgan region.
Glamorgan Newspaper Archives
The British Newspaper Archive(£) – owned by FindMyPast – has digitised over 30m pages of archived newspapers. Here is the link for the local newspaper archives for Glamorgan.
Local family history societies, record offices and other local archives can be a great source of information and encouragement. The people who work or volunteer for these organisations are usually eager to help you in your research.
Local family history resources
Glamorgan Family History Society
The Glamorgan Family History Society is a great place to start for anyone researching family history in the Glamorgan area. It has a number of branches based at Aberdare & Cynon Valley, Bridgend, Cardiff & Vale, Merthyr Tydfil, Pontypridd & Rhondda and Swansea. These branches hold many meetings and other events.
The society offers a comprehensive range of resources to members for a modest fee, including a membership pack and regular journals. Members of the society can consult various family history ‘lookup’ indexes, including indexes for burials, memorial inscriptions and municipal burials etc. The Aberkenfig Resource Centre produces a Library and Research catalogue. This centre can also be visited in person.
The society’s website (and family history indexes) is constantly being updated so it is well worth visiting on a regular basis.
Glamorgan Archives
The Glamorgan Archives catalogue, Canfod, is located in Cardiff. It currently includes over 180,000 research items. The Archives also holds regular free events and everyone is welcome to attend.
The County of Glamorgan
The area of Glamorgan has a rich history that is well worth exploring. From the 6th century to 11th Century, Glamorgan was a minor kingdom known as Glywysing. Following the Norman invasion of Wales in the late 11th Century, this region came under the control of the Anglo-Norman Lordship of Glamorgan and it is around this time that the historic Cardiff Castle was built. In 1536, Wales became fully integrated into the Kingdom of England and Glamorgan became an historic county.
Administration
Since Glamorgan became an historic county, it has undergone a number of administrative transformations. In 1888, it became an administrative county – minus Cardiff and Swansea (which became independent county boroughs at this time).
In 1974, Glamorgan was abolished and replaced by the newly created counties of West Glamorgan, Mid Glamorgan and South Glamorgan. Only two decades later, in 1996, these three counties were themselves abolished and replaced by various urban and rural districts. However, West Glamorgan, Mid Glamorgan and South Glamorgan still exist as ‘preserved’ counties for ceremonial purposes.
Places to visit in Glamorgan
If your family history research takes you to Cardiff, do try to spare the time to visit Cardiff Castle. This major heritage attraction was built by the Normans on the same site as an old Roman fort. The original Roman fort dates back to the 1st Century and the remains of the old Roman wall can still be clearly seen.