Research you Family History on Anglesey, in North
Wales.
Genealogy on Anglesey.
My Grandfather - Maurice Evans - 1891-1950
Researching your family history on Anglesey could not be easier,
as all the resources are kept under one roof at Llangefni Archives.
The address is: County Record
Office, Shire Hall, Glanhwfa Road, Llangefni LL77 7TW. Phone 01248 750280.
Hours Mon-Fri 9am-1pm and 2pm-5pm. Closes annually first week in November.
There is an half hourly charge for research enquiries sent in by mail, but
no charge for visits in person.
How do I start my family history research?
Some
of you might be considering investigating your family history
for the first time, if so, welcome to the rewarding world of
family history. I would
like to
tell you where you might start. Nothing to worry about, the net and local libraries
abound with information.
Step 1. - Find out what you can from family and friends. The
older they are the better. If your grandparents and/or parents
are alive, get as much information about your family history
as you can from them, including names, ages, addresses etc, and
then
please
keep
in
mind that
the key
to successful research is accurate recording of information.
Ask them for all the information that they know or believe to
be true, and also discover if they have any birth, death, or
wedding certificates in their possession. Ask for copies of any
old family photographs, and record the names on the back in pencil.
Later, you will consider buying a computer family history program,
which will store and present the information in ways you would
not believe possible.
Step 2. - In the meantime, using just a pen, ruler, and paper,
write down your family tree as you now believe it to be. It will
all have to be verified and confirmed by certificates, which
you will obtain either from your local registrar or from the
G.R.O. at General Register Office, PO Box 2,
Southport, Merseyside, PR8 2JD.
Step 3. - If your information takes you back before the latest
released census (currently 1901), then you can begin your census
research. If not, you need to obtain birth, and/or wedding certificates
of the oldest relatives that you know, and from them you may
obtain enough information to continue with your research. Every
10 years, beginning in 1801, a population census has been carried
out on every household in Britain. For the most part, the only
censuses (I always think that should read Censis) that are of
practical value are from 1841 onwards.
Step 4. - It is now time to start looking through the censuses.
Start with the 1901 census and search using any known names and
ages. Remember to allow for a few years differential from the
ages you believed your ancestors were. The simplest way is, if
they were born on Anglesey, just pop along to the archives at
Llangefni - they have every census from 1901 right back to the
1841. The staff are friendly, and informative, and will point
you in the right direction. You may also view old photos of the
villages and the people that once lived therein. A typical census
will give you the head of the household, partners name, children's
names, and any boarders or visitors. It will of course tell you
the address, all occupants ages, and their occupations. It will
give each persons relation to the head. It will also tell you
where each of them were born. You will agree that it is a lot
of information, and it is essential that you get a copy of the
census for your records. Assuming that you were searching for
a child initially, you now have the parents, and so it goes on
with each previous census.
My great Aunt and Uncle - William James Howells and Elizabeth
Ann Howells
Step 5. - If you have successfully looked at one or more census
reports, it is now time to put `meat on the bones`. Either via
Llangefni registrar office, or directly to the GRO at Southport,
apply for whichever certificates you feel would give you most
help in your research, or however many you can afford. If your
ancestors were not born on Anglesey, then you will need to apply
to the local registrar in the area that they were born/married/died.
Most certificates obtained from a registrar in the relative (excuse
the pun) area cost just £7. They are a little more expensive
from the GRO. The anticipation of receiving a new certificate
with all the mystery it may contain is one of the most rewarding
of this obsessive pastime. Had I mentioned that it was an obsessive
pastime before? Believe it!!
Step 6. - Online research. As I previously mentioned there is
a wealth of information online, I will tell you about the most
useful online tools, that will help you no end in your research.
If you want to know more about learning how to trace your family
history, there is a new website here that
is free and looks as if it will help lots of people trace their
family history.
Since we have already discussed the census reports, here are
the computer links to find them. The 1901 census for the whole
of England and Wales - a pay by search service is here. The
1881 census is available free online thanks to the LDS (Latter
Day Saints) site here. Should
you wish, you could join Ancestry one
of the best online resources on the net. There is a fee, but
it does have several
more of the census reports, and a multitude of searchable resources.
Since 1837, the registration of births, deaths and marriages
has become enforceable by law. Before that year, it is not possible
to obtain a certificate (other than a baptism certificate). However,
from that year to approximately 1910 it is possible to search
at no
cost
for
any
event between
those dates. The site is called Free BMD (births etc). There
are upwards of 110,000,000 records. They are here. As
the records held are not absolutely complete you might like to
search the complete 1837 to 2002, but at a fee. Their site
is here.
Step 6. - Prior to 1837, the records that you would probably
search through to get further back are the church parish records.
Once again the LDS church has recorded an enormous amount of
information from these records. This is known as the I.G.I (
International Genealogical Index). This is also available online
here and click on
search. A word of warning. As members of the LDS church can input
their own family
histories, there are a LOT of erroneous and duplicated entries.
So again, the rule of thumb is once you have found information
online, verify it for yourself by checking the registers. In
the case of Anglesey parish records they still survive going
back several hundreds of years in most cases. They are of course
held at the Anglesey Records Office at Llangefni.
Unindentified members of my family
Useful Websites:-
Rootschat, an English and Welsh online forum here.
The Anglesey Gen Web site is here.
One major UK family history site worthy of note is Genuki.
Follow the link to the site here and
then search for the county you are researching.
Pay particular attention to the lookup request pages. This
section names volunteers who are prepared to look up various
records
on your behalf.
Daily news about the world of Genealogy, named Genealogy
and How may be found here.
Looking 4 Kin is a genealogy links and chat site here.
For a surname search linking to a directory of sites try Cinnamon
Toast Genealogy here.
There are resources on the net far too numerous to mention,
take a look and see what you can find. My last piece of help
is this..........
Join your local family history society. Anglesey's is the
Gwynedd Family History Society. You will get all the help
you could
possibly need, and in addition, they will have many books
and cd`s for sale,
which contain lists and databases of records which members
have spent years putting together. I do hope that I have
given you
just enough background to start the amazing journey of discovery
that will reveal to you exactly who you are.
Good luck with your research.
Anglesey Today
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