Cardiff Wales September 9, 2013
Jul 11th, 2013, 04:28 PM
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Cardiff Wales September 9, 2013
Will be staying in Cardiff for the first time this September. Staying at a B&B on Cathedral Road.
Plan is to see as much history as we can, and do some genealogy digging. Where would we start to look for information about a relative who was born in Cardiff in the late 1800's, and can we reach that by public transit? Not planning to rent a vehicle while there...
Mom and I have no real agenda, just are planning to soak up as much Welsh as we can while there! I tend to be a follow the whim of the day type of traveler and am really excited about this trip, but not sure how well the public transportation will work for us.
Thanks for any and all help!
Plan is to see as much history as we can, and do some genealogy digging. Where would we start to look for information about a relative who was born in Cardiff in the late 1800's, and can we reach that by public transit? Not planning to rent a vehicle while there...
Mom and I have no real agenda, just are planning to soak up as much Welsh as we can while there! I tend to be a follow the whim of the day type of traveler and am really excited about this trip, but not sure how well the public transportation will work for us.
Thanks for any and all help!
Jul 12th, 2013, 02:22 AM
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There's very little useful you can do about tracing your ancestors while you're in Wales.
You need to use family resources to find as much as you possibly can about where and when the relative was in Wales - which if necessary you can do from family memories or records (if the relative died aged 75 in 1940, then he or she was clearly born around 1865).
Then use the General Register Office website for further details. I think there are now privatised competitors for access to these records, but www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/ holds all births marriages and deaths registered in England & Wales since 1837 (for the two or three decades after, that doesn't necessarily mean all). From details on the underlying certificates, you can then trace the houses concerned by looking up the surname on the censuses of 1861, 71, 81, 91, 01 and 11: access details at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/r...us-records.htm. .pdfs of the underlying enumerator survey forms can be downloaded.
In some cases, local record offices (detail in this case at http://www.cardiff.gov.uk/content.as...id=8556&d1p1=1) might give you free access to paid-for websites, though doing such searches while on holiday often wipes huge tranches of time out of your life doing things you'll kick yourself for not having done at home. Without a car, such searches can be highly frustrating: public transport systems aren't designed to get you from the city-centre library to an obscure Burial Services archive in a remote suburb before it closes for the day
You might find baptism records, usually in Wales at the appropriate county archive (nothing useful is usually kept in churches), though coverage of most non-conformist denominations is usually patchy.
The sooner you start this process at home, the better. Your chances of seeing the actual house, or possibly the actual grave (few poor people in the British Isles, especially in industrialised cities, had marked graves in the 19th century), are infinitely higher if you arrive in Wales fully armed with all the online searching possible.
You need to use family resources to find as much as you possibly can about where and when the relative was in Wales - which if necessary you can do from family memories or records (if the relative died aged 75 in 1940, then he or she was clearly born around 1865).
Then use the General Register Office website for further details. I think there are now privatised competitors for access to these records, but www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/ holds all births marriages and deaths registered in England & Wales since 1837 (for the two or three decades after, that doesn't necessarily mean all). From details on the underlying certificates, you can then trace the houses concerned by looking up the surname on the censuses of 1861, 71, 81, 91, 01 and 11: access details at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/r...us-records.htm. .pdfs of the underlying enumerator survey forms can be downloaded.
In some cases, local record offices (detail in this case at http://www.cardiff.gov.uk/content.as...id=8556&d1p1=1) might give you free access to paid-for websites, though doing such searches while on holiday often wipes huge tranches of time out of your life doing things you'll kick yourself for not having done at home. Without a car, such searches can be highly frustrating: public transport systems aren't designed to get you from the city-centre library to an obscure Burial Services archive in a remote suburb before it closes for the day
You might find baptism records, usually in Wales at the appropriate county archive (nothing useful is usually kept in churches), though coverage of most non-conformist denominations is usually patchy.
The sooner you start this process at home, the better. Your chances of seeing the actual house, or possibly the actual grave (few poor people in the British Isles, especially in industrialised cities, had marked graves in the 19th century), are infinitely higher if you arrive in Wales fully armed with all the online searching possible.
Jul 12th, 2013, 10:47 AM
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For family history in Wales, you will want to explore the resources at the National Library of Wales. It's in Aberystwyth (middle of the left-hand coast), so not someplace you'll be able to visit on a day trip. However, it looks like they can offer some research services to you from a distance, and as Flanner says it's worth investigating before you go:
http://www.llgc.org.uk/index.php?id=121
You say that you're looking forward to soaking up Welsh -- do you mean Welsh (the language), or just the culture of Wales in general? If the former, I recommend Y Mochyn Du (The Black Pig) as a pub frequented by Welsh speakers -- and it's just off Cathedral Road.
http://www.ymochyndu.com/index_english.html
How long are you staying? A good daytrip (doable by public transport) to is to St. Fagan's, just north of Cardiff. Buildings from across Wales have been brought there and reconstructed. It's also a thoroughly bilingual place.
http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/stfagans/
http://www.llgc.org.uk/index.php?id=121
You say that you're looking forward to soaking up Welsh -- do you mean Welsh (the language), or just the culture of Wales in general? If the former, I recommend Y Mochyn Du (The Black Pig) as a pub frequented by Welsh speakers -- and it's just off Cathedral Road.
http://www.ymochyndu.com/index_english.html
How long are you staying? A good daytrip (doable by public transport) to is to St. Fagan's, just north of Cardiff. Buildings from across Wales have been brought there and reconstructed. It's also a thoroughly bilingual place.
http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/stfagans/
Jul 12th, 2013, 11:36 AM
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Yes we would love to visit St. Fagans. Do we take a bus or a train there? And once we land in Cardiff will it be pretty easy to figure out how to get places on the transit?
We are looking to soak up the culture in general, and will pop into the Black Pig. We are staying for 8 days.
Thank you flanneruk for the wonderful information. We will get right on that! We have some information already, just was hitting a wall as far as getting info from Wales. Those links will help a lot.
We are looking to soak up the culture in general, and will pop into the Black Pig. We are staying for 8 days.
Thank you flanneruk for the wonderful information. We will get right on that! We have some information already, just was hitting a wall as far as getting info from Wales. Those links will help a lot.
Jul 12th, 2013, 12:12 PM
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I don't think you'll find it hard to navigate in Cardiff. As always, the more research you do before you go, and the better the resources you bring with you, the easier it'll be to figure out how to get around. You've got plenty of time between now and then.
For instance, here's info on how to get St. Fagan's by public transit:
http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/stfagans/visit/
Consider buying or checking out from your library the most recent Rough Guide Wales, which will help you decide what to do and how to get there, and help out with hours, closed days, etc. I think the Rough Guide in this instance is somewhat superior to the Lonely Planet Wales. http://www.amazon.com/Rough-Guide-Wa...gh+guide+wales
By the way, there's a fantastic pub/restaurant called the Plymouth Arms just around the corner from St. Fagan's. I'm not sure if it's easy to get there without a car. Maybe Mucky can advise.
http://www.vintageinn.co.uk/theplymoutharmssaintfagans/
For instance, here's info on how to get St. Fagan's by public transit:
http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/stfagans/visit/
Consider buying or checking out from your library the most recent Rough Guide Wales, which will help you decide what to do and how to get there, and help out with hours, closed days, etc. I think the Rough Guide in this instance is somewhat superior to the Lonely Planet Wales. http://www.amazon.com/Rough-Guide-Wa...gh+guide+wales
By the way, there's a fantastic pub/restaurant called the Plymouth Arms just around the corner from St. Fagan's. I'm not sure if it's easy to get there without a car. Maybe Mucky can advise.
http://www.vintageinn.co.uk/theplymoutharmssaintfagans/
