Following my surgery early January I've been taking things easy at home over the past few weeks. I haven't been able to do much but I've had time to do some sorting of my family history records. Over the years I've undertaken research, or met someone with mutual interest, and have made notes but unfortunately I haven't always spent time ensuring that these notes were in filed effectively. I've now been able to do some of this, but I've got a long way to go!

I've also had time to look at some of the comments that people have sent in. I was really interested in the comments from Belinda (5 February) on her memories of Feed My Lambs in Caernarfon. Belinda, now living in Ireland, has fond memories of Christmases in Feed My Lambs during the mid 1960s. I'm sure that you'll be pleased to know that this 1836 former Infant School is now fully refurnished and back in use by the Church and by the community.

On 5 January there was an interesting contact from Ann Davies who is a great, great grand-daughter of Owen Gethin Jones (1816-83). He was probably the most prominent person to come from Penmachno after the Bishop Morgan who translated the Bible into Welsh. Gethin was a poet and prominent in Eisteddfod circles, he was a local historian and his three essays on the history of the parishes of Penmachno, Dolwyddelan and Ysbyty Ifan published in Gweithiau Gethin after his death are invaluable. He was also a highly successful building and civil engineering contractor in partnership with his brother-in-law William Jones, and his nephew, Owen Jones of Glasgwm Hall, Penmachno, who was one of my great, great grandfathers. The most prominent achievement was the construction of the railway from Betws y Coed towards Blaenau Ffestiniog which includes the long viaduct that takes the railway from one side of the Lledr valley to the other and is still called Pont Gethin on today's Ordinance and Survey maps.

Ann asks for information on Mary Davies, Gethin's daughter who married Owen Davies and lived on in Tyddyn Cethin after Gethin's death. My great grandfather, William Pritchard Williams, would have known Gethin's family well as they were all active in the Wesleyan Chapel, Bethania. In 1909, William Pritchard Williams (WPW), my grandparents and my mother, who had just been born, moved to live in Gwiga which was one of the two closest farms to Tyddyn Cethin. I have a copy of Gweithiau Gethin with WPW's name in it which my mother told me was given to him by Mary Davies.

In the last blog I showed a copy of a Certificate which my mother obtained in the Tŷ'n y Groes Sunday School which was at the bottom of the "road" leading to Tyddyn Cethin. In his valuable reference book on the history of Penmachno, "Plwyf Penmachno", Vivian Parry Williams states that this corrugated iron building was opened in 1912 but closed in 1926. Both my great grandfather and Mary Davies were widowed by 1909 and my mother said that she used to see William Pritchard Williams calling on Mary Davies and escorting her down the rough road to the Sunday School every Sunday. She said that she and Nellie and Jean, the two daughters of the next farm, Erw'r Clochydd, would sometimes be on the other side of the hedge and call "dau gariad" after them which means, "two sweethearts", although I'm sure that it was a completely innocent relationship! Mary Davies died in 1927 and was buried with her husband in grave A030 in St Tudclud churchyard.

The next Gwynedd Family History Society meetings are:
Bangor, 3 March (first Tuesday of each month) 7.00pm at the Quakers Meeting Hall, Dean Street: J Elwyn Hughes, "Characters in 'Un Nos Ola Leuad'"

Caernarfon, 26 February (last Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at The Library, Lôn Pafiliwn: Gwilym Evans, "Hanes Oel Morris Evans"

Dolgellau, 12 March (second Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the Royal Ship Hotel: Rheinallt Llwyd, "Llwydiaid Blaen y Glyn"

Llandudno, 9 March (second Monday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Ebenezer, Abergele Road, Old Colwyn (please note new meeting place):
David Kent, "The Welsh Highland Railway"

Llangefni, 19 February (third Thursday of each month) 7.15pm at Capel Smyrna, Ffordd Glanhwfa: Pat West, "Family History in the Archives"

Pwllheli, 20 February (third Friday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Seion, Lon Dywod:
Noson Aelodau, "Dechrau ar hanes Becws Penta Poeth"

It's amazing to think that a year has gone by since I wrote my first blog on 31 December 2007. When it was first suggested to me, I was very interested in doing the blog but also very apprehensive as to whether or not I could carry on doing it for a reasonable length o time. I thought that I would run out of ideas within a few months but now I find that I completed 21 blogs during 2008 and I realise that there are so many aspects that I haven't yet touched. Back at the end of the 1980s I wrote a weekly newspaper column and that was a struggle to get the copy in on time each week. That was before the days of email and typed copy had to be posted or handed in by a fixed day and time each week. Quite often I'd find myself getting up about 5.30 am in order to complete the column and push it through the letter box of the newspaper office on my way to work! Thankfully, there isn't such pressure with this blog.

This was never intended as a correspondence course in how to trace your ancestors but rather as personal experiences which would hopefully be of help to people who starting to research their family history. It is certainly not aimed at the people who are already experts but I hope that it's been of interest to some people. At least I know of one person who has benefited! She is Madeline Mahoney who turns out to be a third cousin about whom I didn't know anything before she got in touch with me in October. She had actually sent in a comment on a blog in June but unfortunately I hadn't spotted it. That was a time when I was preoccupied with health problems but I realise that I hadn't had time to check the comments at all. One of my New Year resolutions is to check for any messages on any blog and, where possible, respond to them. I'm looking forward to meeting Madeline within the next few weeks and we will have a great deal of information to exchange. Although I didn't set out to find new relations this has been a major outcome for me from the blogs.

I've received the latest edition of CyMAL, the magazine of the Museums, Archives and Libraries of Wales, and found an article on the Gwynedd-Liverpool Exhibition. To my surprise, the lead photo for the article is a photo of my mother as a nurse at the Royal Southern Hospital in 1934. This is the photo, shown in Blog 14 in September, which I'd given for the exhibition and was one of about 6 official photos, which included my mother, at the Southern Hospital. My mother would have been so pleased to know that one of her photos had featured prominently in the exhibition and then in a magazine and that some of her school certificates had featured in the school centenary exhibition. Old photos and documents are an important part of our family history but they are also an important part of our wider social history. If you have such photos and documents, treasure them and, if the opportunity arises, make them available for wider public use. If you really don't want them, then I suggest that you offer them to your local archive office as they may well find them of interest. Before doing so however, make sure that you write clearly on the back of photos what they are otherwise they wouldn't be of much value.

Last time I showed a couple of my mother's school certificates and this time I show one of her school reports (Christmas 1916) and I wonder what "Observation Lessons" would have been. I also show her Sunday School Certificate for 1923-24 which was particularly colourful and another for 1917 which is probably quite rare as it was when she attended the Tyn y Groes Sunday School. This was a small corrugated iron hut on the outskirts of Penmachno for the convenience of the Wesleyans living in that area to save them having to walk to Bethania chapel in the village. It closed in the 1920s.

Unfortunately I have to go into hospital for treatment again next week so there will a gap of a few weeks before the next blog. In the meantime I wish everyone a Happy New Year.

National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth
I've received information from the National Library regarding an exhibition called "Step by Step" they're in the process of preparing which will be opened in March 2009. The Library has a wealth of historical data and exhibition his will be an introduction to family history and presumably how to use the resources of the Library. They are inviting anyone who has interesting stories about their experiences in tracing their ancestors to get in touch. They're looking for volunteers who are willing to share their experiences and there's a possibility that their family tree could be included in the exhibition. Anyone who is interested should contact Catherine Tudor Jones on 01970 632475 or ctj@llgc.org.uk

The next Gwynedd Family History Society meetings are:
Bangor, 6 January (first Tuesday of each month) 7.00pm at the Quakers Meeting Hall, Dean Street: Gwilym T Evans, "Tales of Morris Evans"

Caernarfon, 29 January (last Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the The Library, Lôn Pafiliwn: Dewi Tomos, "Beirdd Gwlad yn y Teulu"

Dolgellau, 8 January (second Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the Royal Ship Hotel: BUT this night. "Noson yn yr archifdy / An evening in the Archives"

Llandudno, 12 January (second Monday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Ebenezer, Abergele Road, Old Colwyn (please note new meeting place):
Peter Brindley, "Bangor Pier"

Llangefni, 15 January (third Thursday of each month) 7.15pm at Capel Smyrna, Ffordd Glanhwfa: But this evening "A workshop in the Llangefni Archives"

Pwllheli, 16 January (third Friday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Seion, Lon Dywod:
Dewi Tomos, "Bardd Gwlad yn y Teulu"

In preparing this piece I noticed that I made a mistake in the last Blog (No 20) in that I used an incorrect census image. The second image shown should have been from the 1881 Census but I put up an image from the 1871 Census by mistake. This error will be corrected and the accompanying comments will then hopefully make some sense. People have told me that it's very difficult to read the census forms that I've shown. This is true but I should have pointed out that by double left clicking on an image it expands to fill the screen which will then make the census from readable. You can also click again if you want to expand the image further.

On Saturday 13 December 2008 I attended an exhibition to celebrate the centenary of the establishment of the Penmachno County Primary School. This was my first school which I attended during the early 1940s when I lived with my grandparents in Penmachno during the war years whilst my father was in the army. It was difficult to judge how many people were there but the small school was absolutely full. The current school children sang and there were speeches by two former headmasters, Ellis Hughes and Dafydd Hughes, and the local Assembly Member, Gareth Jones.

I went there with my friend Geraint Jones, now living near me in Caernarfon but who also lived near me in Penmachno back in the 1940s. Geraint lived in Carreg yr Ast about a mile and a half from the school, whilst my home Gwiga was about just under a mile and it was Geraint, about two years older, who called for me to take me to school on my first day. It was therefore a very appropriate that he drove me to the school on Saturday!

I met many people I hadn't seen for over 50 years and it was lucky that I was with Geraint as he recognised far more people than I did having spent his whole childhood in the village whereas I went back to Liverpool in 1945. This was an exciting experience.

There was a good exhibition covering the 100 year period giving the background to the establishment of the council school following pressure from the Non-conformists who objected to their children having to attend the Church run National School in the village. This was a general pattern throughout Wales during this period and the National School in Penmachno closed in 1921 following the success of the Council school.

The photos covered nearly all periods except the period when I attended! This was probably because it was war time and taking school photos was not a priority. I have no records of my period at the school but I do have two of my mother's certificates and 11 School Reports between 1915 and 1922. I'd given the school copies of these and I was pleased to see that they had used the certificates and two of the reports to form a display.

The first Certificate shown is dated 31 July 1916 and has a splendid colourful frame based on the royal family and the royal castles. It was produced by E J Arnold, the well known educational publishers, and would have been available to all Education Committees in the country. The interior of the Certificate was prepared in Welsh by the Caernarvonshire Education Committee and is presented to my mother, Kate Williams, for her "punctuality, consistency and good work during the year". It has the names of the Committee's officers and the Chairman was William George, brother of David Lloyd George, the war time Prime Minsiter.

The second Certificate shown is all Welsh and the original is nearly A3 size. It says that it is a Certificate (of the First Class) presented by the Caernarvonshire Education Committee to Kate Williams of the Penmachno Council School "in acknowledgement of excellent work and regular attendance, which is an encouragement for growth in the future and a remembrance for the efforts and sacrifice of our Country in this the third year of the War." There are signatures of the same officers on this Certificate. At the same time during 1916 and 1917 my mother was getting postcards addressed to herself, initially from France and then from a German POW camp, from her Uncle Tom who had enlisted in November 1915. Perhaps this had inspired her.

If you want to see the images clearer, then double right click and the image will fill the screen

The next Gwynedd Family History Society meetings are:

Bangor, 6 January (first Tuesday of each month) 7.00pm at the Quakers Meeting Hall, Dean Street: Gwilym T Evans, "Tales of Morris Evans"

Caernarfon, 29 January (last Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the The Library, Lôn Pafiliwn: Dewi Tomos, "Beirdd Gwlad yn y Teulu"

Dolgellau, 8 January (second Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the Royal Ship Hotel: BUT this night. "Noson yn yr archifdy / An evening in the Archives"

Llandudno, 12 January (second Monday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Ebenezer, Abergele Road, Old Colwyn (please note new meeting place):
Peter Brindley, "Bangor Pier"

Llangefni, 15 January (third Thursday of each month) 7.15pm at Capel Smyrna, Ffordd Glanhwfa: But this evening "A workshop in the Llangefni Archives"

Pwllheli, 16 January (third Friday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Seion, Lon Dywod:
Dewi Tomos, "Bardd Gwlad yn y Teulu"

Last time I showed the fairly elementary 1841 census and the format of the 1851 which has been the basis of subsequent Census Records to the 1901 Census which is last that is currently available because of the 100 year confidentiality rule. The format of the 1861 Census is the same as that in 1851.

There is one change in the 1871 Census in that the last column asks the enumerator to note whether a person is "1 Deaf and Dumb, 2 Blind, 3 Imbecile or Idiot, 4 Lunatic". I can't really understand how you differentiate between a person who is an "imbecile or idiot" and one who is a "lunatic", particularly as the enumerators were not medically qualified! Thankfully I haven't, so far, come across any of my ancestors who fitted into these categories but I have seen a person categorised as a "lunatic". I show part of the 1871 Census where one of my great great grandfathers, Owen Griffith, is shown as an agricultural servant at the age of 75 at Tyddyn Gethin, Penmachno the home of Owen Gethin Jones. A little above at Ty'n y Coed a boarder, Elizabeth Davies aged 53 is categorised as a "Lunatic". This seems very cruel.

There are no changes in the 1881 Census but I show and extract from the 1881 census for Cerrig Ceinwen, Angesey, which shows one of my great, great grandmothers, Catherine Morris" living by herself at Hendre Bach aged 71. Under "Occupation" she is described as a "Pauper" which makes me feel really sad. There was, of course, no state pension in those days so ordinary people had to work into their old age as we see Owen Griffith working as a farm servant at the age of 75 or they went to seek charity from the parish and were then categorised as paupers as was Catherine Morris. We should be really thankful for David Lloyd George who started our welfare state through the introduction of the Old Age Pension in 1911, even if it was only five shillings a week at that time!

The 1891 Census saw the question on the Welsh language on the records for the first time. I show the page containing Talywaen, Penmachno, where my great grandfather (born in Glanypwll in 1851, was living with his wife Catherine and four sons; William John aged 15 a quarryman slate dresser; Robert (my grandfather) aged 12 a scholar; Owen aged 8 also a scholar and Thomas aged 4. Under "Language spoken" they all say Welsh as does everyone else on the page except one person who is described as speaking "both" languages. How things have changed!

However by the 1901 Census, Robert, Owen and Thomas are described as speaking both languages so their time at the Penmachno National School was clearly effective.

The next Gwynedd Family History Society meetings are:

Bangor, 2 December (first Tuesday of each month) 7.00pm at the Quakers Meeting Hall, Dean Street: Wynne Roberts, "Aber Ogwen to Ogwen Lake"

Caernarfon, 29 January (last Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the The Library, Lôn Pafiliwn: Dewi Tomos, "Beirdd Gwlad yn y Teulu"

Dolgellau, 8 January (second Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the Royal Ship Hotel: BUT this night. "Noson yn yr archifdy / An evening in the Archives"

Llandudno, 8 December (second Monday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Ebenezer, Abergele Road, Old Colwyn (please note new meeting place):
Members evening

Llangefni, 15 January (third Thursday of each month) 7.15pm at Capel Smyrna, Ffordd Glanhwfa: But this evening "A workshop in the Llangefni Archives"

Pwllheli, 16 January (third Friday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Seion, Lon Dywod:
Dewi Tomos, "Bardd Gwlad yn y Teulu"

I'm showing again part of the 1851 Census for Glanypwll, Penmachno, where my great, great grandparents, William and Ellin Williams, can be seen at the bottom. Three doors away in the same terrace can be seen the names of Gwen Jones, Head aged 53, with her son Ellis Jones aged 22 who was a tailor. Also in the house on census night was Ellis Price aged 20 who is described as a visitor and was a smith by occupation. Was Ellis Price a friend or relative who was visiting on census night or was he a rent-paying boarder taken in to help the family finances? In many cases boarders are actually described as "boarders" on the census forms but it really depends on the accuracy with which the enumerators undertakes the recording of the information that he's been given.

I have received, through the generosity of one of the readers of this blog, a copy of William and Ellin's Wedding Certificate, where Ellin is down as Ellinor. On this Certificate William's father is shown as William Pritchard and Ellin's as David Jones, who is shown in the 1851 as living with them. William had therefore followed the Welsh tradition of taking his father's first name as his surname and became William Williams and he was the last of my ancestors to do this as keeping the father's surname was then becoming standard practice. In Blog 15 in September I quoted the gravestone where William Pritchard was buried and this shows that he died in 1830 aged 42 and that his wife was Gwen Pritchard who died in 1867 aged 80.

So how do I know that the Gwen Jones shown as living in Glanypwll in 1851 is William Williams' father and the widow of William Pritchard who is shown on the gravestone as Gwen Pritchard? It was because my grandparents kept important papers. Amongst my mother's papers I found copies of two editions of "Yr Eugrawn Wesleyaidd" (monthly journal of the Welsh Wesleyans) dated May and June 1897. William Williams had become a leading member and deacon in the Wesleyan chapel in Penmachno and these two journals contained tribute articles on his life following his death in 1896. These were invaluable to me in building up the family tree. I might have found these articles through painstaking research through journals but finding them with the family papers saved me dozens, if not hundreds, of hours of research work.

These articles relate how Gwen was left a widow with 7 children to raise when William Pritchard died in 1830 which would have put my great great grandfather aged 5 when he lost his father. Gwen reverted back to her maiden name of Jones on becoming a widow, or she might have always have been called Jones throughout her marriage, and she is down in the 1841 census as Gwen Jones. The extract of the 1841 Census shows her living in a house called Mynydd with three sons, Richard aged 18, William (my gggrandfather) aged 15 and Ellis aged 12. Richard and William are both described as quarrymen but there is no occupational description for Ellis. Gwen is down under occupation as "Ind" for "Independent means". This doesn't mean someone with a private income but a person we would today call "self-employed" and in Gwen's case she scratched a living bringing up 7 children as a stocking knitter.

The three sons are all called Jones in 1841 but by 1851 William has called himself William Williams after his father whilst Ellis is still Ellis Jones. The articles relate how the other sons left Penmachno to look for work leaving only William and Ellis in Penmachno and Ellis then changed his name to Williams so as to be consistent with his elder brother and he is recorded in censuses from 1861 onwards as Ellis Williams. A descendent of Ellis Williams came to a complete stop with her searches as she was quite naturally looking for an Ellis Williams before the 1861 census. It was only when I was able to tell her about the articles that the mystery was solved but the further back you go in researching your family history there is always a chance that you come up against this type of problem!

The 1841 Census Records shown that it was very elementary. The last column simply asks whether the person was born in the same county or not and in all those shown the answer was "yes".

The next Gwynedd Family History Society meetings are:

Bangor, 2 December (first Tuesday of each month) 7.00pm at the Quakers Meeting Hall, Dean Street: Wynne Roberts, "Aber Ogwen to Ogwen Lake"

Caernarfon, 27 November (last Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the The Library, Lôn Pafiliwn: J Elwyn Hughes, "Byd go iawn Un Nos Ola Leuad"

Dolgellau, 8 January (second Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the Royal Ship Hotel: BUT this night. "Noson yn yr archifdy / An evening in the Archives"

Llandudno, 8 December (second Monday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Ebenezer, Abergele Road, Old Colwyn (please note new meeting place):
Members evening

Llangefni, 20 November (third Thursday of each month) 7.15pm at Capel Smyrna, Ffordd Glanhwfa: David Price "J J Dodd, A Victorian Painter"

Pwllheli, 21 November (third Friday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Seion, Lon Dywod:
Elwyn Davies, "Cyfenwau"

In the conduct of the census these days we are given forms which we are expected to complete and these are then collected by an official. When the census was first conducted in 1841 many people could not read or write and therefore the information was collected by an enumerator visiting all the houses in a parish and recording the information. The information in the 1841 Census was fairly elementary and, whilst there have been changes over the years; the general pattern was set in the 1851 Census. As an example I show a typical page from the 1851 Census but I'm not sure whether people will be able to read all the detail.

On the top you will see that this is taken from a census of the Parish of Penmachno and in particular for the village of Penmachno in that parish. In some parishes there could have been more than one village. If you go to the full records you will find that the parish is divided into a number of Enumerator Districts dependent on the size of the parish. The first column gives the sequential number of each dwelling house that the enumerator visited. The second column gives the name of the house or street (usually with a number). This page shows five houses in Glanypwll and there is a sixth house on the next page. This was a terrace of houses which were renovated in 2006 and will hopefully still be standing in another 150 years. When I was a child living with my grandparents in Penmachno I remember that we used to visit someone living in Glanypwll and what stands out in my memory were the toilets. These were built at the end of the terrace over a small stream, so they had a water toilet which was far superior to that at my grandparent's small farm which was a hut with a seat with a bucket underneath whose contents had to be buried periodically in a field!

Before the bridge was built to cross the river Machno the main means of crossing the river was by means of a ford near to Glanypwll. When first built this terrace was therefore on the main route from Lleyn to the markets in Denbigh and Rhuthun, i.e. the main highway in its day.

The third column shows the name and surname of the persons staying in the house on the night of 30 March 1851 and the fourth column gives the relation of each person to the Head of the Family. The last entry on the page shows the name of William Williams, the Head of the Family who was my great, great grandfather; Ellin Williams, his wife and David Jones, his father in law. From this I can see that Ellin's father was David Jones. Against other entries in the fourth column you can see "son" or "dau". The fifth column is headed "Condition" which means the marital status. The "U" means unmarried.

The sixth and seventh columns give the age of each person, the sixth for males and the seventh for females. From this I can see that William is 25 which gives me the clue that he was born around 1826 which I can use to try to establish his date of birth. Ellin was 20 and therefore born around 1831. This information is consistent with the record on grave B007 in the St Tudclud Memorial Inscriptions published by the Gwynedd FHS which show that Ellin died aged 34 on 1st March 1865 and that they were then living at Bryn Madog. The census will show where people were living at the census date but to find any movements between these dates you have to go to other records.

The eighth column shows the "Rank, Profession of Occupation" which shows that both William and his father in law were quarry men and Ellin was a quarry man's wife. The ninth column is headed "Where born". All except one person on this page were born in "Caernarvon Penmachno", i.e. this column shows the county and the parish. This is important information in tracing your ancestors as it give you the clue as to where to search for a person's birth details.

The census data gives a wealth of information to help you trace your ancestors and is an important part of the jigsaw that you are trying to complete. In Blog No. 7 back in March I showed the Birth Certificate of William and Ellin's first son, William my great grandfather, who was born in Glanypwll on 29 November 1851. Unfortunately most of the 1861 Census records for Penmachno, as is the case for many other parishes, are missing and I can't find William and Ellin so I can't tell when they might have moved to Bryn Madog where Ellin died in 1865.

Gwynedd FHS Library will be open on the afternoon of Saturday 15 November
The GFH Society meetings for the next 4 weeks are:

Bangor, 4 November (first Tuesday of each month) 7.00pm at the Quakers Meeting Hall, Dean Street: David Kent, "Welsh Highland Railway Update"

Caernarfon, 27 November (last Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the The Library, Lôn Pafiliwn: J Elwyn Hughes, "Byd go iawn Un Nos Ola Leuad"

Dolgellau, 13 Tachwedd (second Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the Royal Ship Hotel Brian Paul, "Bywyd Samuel Holland"

Llandudno, 10 November (second Monday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Ebenezer, Abergele Road, Old Colwyn (please note new meeting place):
Neil Sutton, "Mercy Ships".

Llangefni, 20 November (third Thursday of each month) 7.15pm at Capel Smyrna, Ffordd Glanhwfa: David Price "J J Dodd, A Victorian Painter"

Pwllheli, 21 November (third Friday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Seion, Lon Dywod:
Elwyn Davies, "Cyfenwau"

A census has been undertaken in the UK every 10 years since 1841 with the exception of 1941 when it was clearly impossible to conduct a census under wartime conditions. These censuses record who was living in every house in the country on census day. The information in the 1841 census was elementary but a fairly stable pattern emerged from 1851 onwards. These give the name of each person, their sex, age, marital status, their occupation, their place of birth and whether Welsh speaking or not. The "head" of each household is identified and the relationship of each household member to the head, e.g. son, daughter, mother, servant etc.

The information recorded on the census forms are confidential and are not released for 100 years. The latest census information that is currently available is therefore that in the 1901 Census. Local Census information is available at your local Archive office and the Archive offices in the area are given below.

The most common format in which the census records are to be found is on microfiches. To look at these you will need a microfiche reader and the archive offices have these. The Gwynedd Family History Society also has some of the Census records and has microfiche readers. The Society's library is open on the third Saturday afternoon of each month and is therefore accessible to those who are working during the week who are unable to visit the public records offices which are open during normal office hours.

Some are also available on CD discs and it is also possible to subscribe to internet services to get census information on line. I shall cover these sources in future blogs.

The census information is collected and recorded for each county but you must remember that they are the counties that existed before the local government reorganisation in 1974. Locally the counties were Anglesey, Caernarvonshire and Merionethshire with the old Denbighshire on the boundary. It's important to remember that Caernarvonshire was spelt with a "v" in the old records so if you are using a search facility you must use this spelling. If you use Caernarfonshire you'll come up with a blank.

Each county is divided into parishes and the results are recorded for each parish. The old county of Caernarvonshire had 71 parishes and these are outlined on the map shown. The name of the parish does not always coincide with the name of the town or villages within the parish. You must therefore know the parish in which the town or village in which you're interested was situated. Even a town such as Caernarfon is not listed as it was in the Parish of Llanbeblig and it is Llanbeblig that is listed and not Caernarfon. If you are new to searching these records then you will be given guidance when you go to the public records offices or the Gwynedd Family History library. Once you have gained an understanding of the structure of the counties and the parishes in the area where your ancestors lived then you'll find it much easier to search the Census records.

Gwynedd Archive Service
Caernarfon Record Office The Caernarfon Record Office is based at Victoria Dock, Caernarfon Telephone: 01286 679095 Fax: 01286 679637
e-mail: archives.caernarfon@gwynedd.gov.uk
Opening Hours: Monday: Closed.
Tuesday-Friday: 9:30-12:30; 13:30-17:00 (Wednesday 13:30-19:00)

Introductory courses: 8 November
As it happens the Caernarfon Records Office is holding two introductory courses, one in Welsh and one in English, to give people an understanding of what is available at the local archives office. Booking through the above telephone or email contacts is essential.
Welsh course: 10.00 - 12 noon English course: 2.00 pm - 4.00 pm

Meirionnydd Record Office
The Record Office and the Library are at the same location in Dolgellau. Access to the Record Office is through the Library on Ffordd y Bala, DOLGELLAU
Telephone: 01341 424682 Fax: 01341 424683
e-mail: archives.dolgellau@gwynedd.gov.uk
Opening Hours: Wednesday: Closed.
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday: 9:30-1:00; 14:00-17:00

Anglesey Archive Service: Llangefni Records Office
The record office is located on the first floor of Shire Hall, Glanhwfa Road, Llangefni
Telephone: 01248 752080 Email: archives@anglesey.gov.uk
Opening Hours
Monday to Friday: 9am-1pm; 2-5pm (except public holidays, (including St David's Day) and the first week in November). Afternoons only, every second Tuesday, starting 13/12/05

Conwy Archive Service
Records Office based at: The Old Board School, Lloyd Street, Llandudno
Telephone or fax the service on (01492) 860882
email: archifau.archives@conwy.gov.uk

Open to the public every Monday to Thursday from 10 am to 12.30 pm and 1.30 pm to 4.30 pm.

The Gwynedd-Liverpool Connections Exhibition continues at the Gwynedd Museum and Art Gallery in the centre of Bangor until 25 October. The opening hours are Monday to Friday, 12.30 to 16.30, and Saturdays 10.30 to 16.30.

The GFH Society meetings for the next 4 weeks are:

Bangor, 4 November (first Tuesday of each month) 7.00pm at the Quakers Meeting Hall, Dean Street: David Kent, "Welsh Highland Railway Update"

Caernarfon, 30 October (last Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the The Library, Lôn Pafiliwn: Mair Lloyd Evans, "Cae'r Gors cyn Kate"

Dolgellau, 13 Tachwedd (second Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the Royal Ship Hotel Brian Paul, "Bywyd Samuel Holland"

Llandudno, 10 November (second Monday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Ebenezer, Abergele Road, Old Colwyn (please note new meeting place):
Neil Sutton, "Mercy Ships".

Llangefni, 20 November (third Thursday of each month) 7.15pm at Capel Smyrna, Ffordd Glanhwfa: David Price "J J Dodd, A Victorian Painter"

Pwllheli, 17 October (third Friday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Seion, Lon Dywod:
Margaret Dunn, "Dyddio hen dai yn Eryri"

Saturday was a very exciting day. Just before 10.00 am I had a phone call from my son-in-law, Séamus, to say that my daughter Ceri had just given birth to a baby boy and that my granddaughter Cara had a little brother. As this was about three weeks early this was a total surprise. The nurse who comes every day to clean and redress my open wound, which I've had since my mid-July operation, arrived soon afterwards and we then decided that we would go to see my new grandson in Hope Hospital, Salford. As I've not yet started driving we went by train, had about an hour in the hospital, and returned to Bangor by 8.00 pm. I was exhausted but very pleased that I'd made the effort to see Seán James on the first day of his life and to know that both he and his mother Ceri were both well.

Last time I wrote about the useful information that can be found in the Memorial Inscriptions publications prepared by the Gwynedd FHS. These publications record what is written on the gravestones in the churchyards and cemeteries in the area. Other Family History Societies also have similar publications for their areas but as the transcribing work is undertaken by volunteers the amount of Memorial Inscriptions completed will vary considerably between societies. I'm pleased to say that the Gwynedd Society members have been very busy and a very high percentage of the churchyards and cemeteries have been recorded and the inscriptions published.

You can find a complete list of the Memorial Inscriptions that have been published for Gwynedd on the Society's website, www.gwyneddfhs.org. You will find the list of the names of those churchyards and cemeteries where the Inscriptions that have been prepared together with the price if you wish to purchase. These are grouped under the names of the old pre1974 counties of Anglesey, Caernarvonshire and Merionethshire and also a few in the old county of Denbighshire which became part of the new administrative county of Gwynedd in 1974. You can therefore check whether the cemetery in which you are interested has been recorded. As members are continuing with the recording of cemeteries these lists are updated regularly.

Other publications listed are a number Indexes of Marriages, Baptisms, Census and Burials for the three counties which can also be purchased. There is also a list of over 500 of the 800 books in the Society's library. These can be borrowed by members for the cost of postage and packaging both ways. There are also details of the GenFair system which enables people to pay for publications, memberships etc.

The website also contains the names and addresses of the Society's officers and their telephone numbers and email addresses where relevant. There are also details of membership rates and a means to apply for membership.

There is also a facility for members, or any non-member, to send messages and questions about their family history to try to get answers. Unfortunately, because of a spate of spam messages, this facility is not currently available but it is hoped that the problems will be resolved in the near future.

Other Family History societies also have similar websites and one way of finding them is to put the name into the search facility. I will however be giving details of how you can access these and other sources of information through websites in future blogs.

Next Society open afternoon: Saturday 17 October, 2.00 - 5.00 pm
Yr Aelwyd, Church Street, Caernarfon, LL55 1SW

Gwynedd Archives will be closed for stock-taking between 13 and 17 October

The Gwynedd-Liverpool Connections Exhibition continues at the Gwynedd Museum and Art Gallery in the centre of Bangor until 25 October. The opening hours are Monday to Friday, 12.30 to 16.30, and Saturdays 10.30 to 16.30.

The GFH Society meetings for the next 4 weeks are:

Bangor, 4 November (first Tuesday of each month) 7.00pm at the Quakers Meeting Hall, Dean Street: David Kent, "Welsh Highland Railway Update"

Caernarfon, 30 October (last Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the The Library, Lôn Pafiliwn: Mair Lloyd Evans, "Cae'r Gors cyn Kate"

Dolgellau, 9 October (second Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the Royal Ship Hotel Mari Emlyn, "Llythyrau O M Edwards"

Llandudno, 13 October (second Monday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Ebenezer, Abergele Road, Old Colwyn (please note new meeting place):
Angel Brabin, "Poison is a woman's weapon".

Llangefni, 16 October (third Thursday of each month) 7.15pm at Capel Smyrna, Ffordd Glanhwfa: Peter Brindley "Aspects of Bangor"

Pwllheli, 17 October (third Friday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Seion, Lon Dywod:
Margaret Dunn, "Dyddio hen dai yn Eryri"

Some months ago I wrote about the Society's journal, Gwreiddiau Gwynedd, published twice a year, and I'll now try to give you some more information. The Society has an office and Library in Canolfan yr Aelwyd, Stryd yr Eglwys, Caernarfon, LL55 1SW. The centre is open once a month on the third Saturday of the month between the hours of 2.00 pm and 5.00pm.

On these days members can come to use the research aids available and the library which now contains some 800 books that are relevant to people researching family history. Some of the books have been donated but most of the research aids have been purchased.

The Society produces its own publications for sale including the Journal, Gwreiddiau Gwynedd, which is written and edited by volunteers. The other important publications are the Memorial Inscriptions of churchyards and cemeteries throughout the area. Members go out and record what is written on every memorial stone in a churchyard. They record exactly what is written on the stone, even though the spelling may sometimes be incorrect. A careful plan is prepared recording the location of each stone and all this is transcribed into a comprehensive publication.

As an example, the plan of the churchyard of St Tudclud Church in Penmachno is shown. Here I've found 11 graves where my direct ancestors are buried ranging from great, grandparents to great, great, great great grandparents. The location of these graves is shown in the copy of the churchyard map. As an example, the inscription on grave B022 reads as follows:

"Er coffadwriaeth am JANE HUGHES, a gladdwyd yn 1795, yn 42 oed. Hefyd claddwyd dwy oi merchaid, MARGARET, 1785, yn 1 flwydd oed, ELIZABETH, 1795 yn 3 bl. Oed. Drachefn am WILLIAM PRITCHARD, a gladdwyd Medi 6ed, 1830 yn 43 oed. Hefyd GWEN PRITCHARD, ei wraig, yr hon a fu farw Mehefin 16, 1867, yn 80 oed."

William and Gwen were my great, great, great grandparents and Jane Hughes was Williams' mother. There are only two gravestones in this churchyard dated earlier than this.

Most of the transcriptions on the stones in a Welsh country churchyard are, of course, in Welsh but these publications have some translation guidance for the non-Welsh reader. Briefly the above stated that Jane Hughes was buried in 1795, aged 42. Also two of her daughters, Margaret in 1785 aged 1 and Elizabeth in 1795 aged 3. Then William Pritchard buried 6 September 1830 aged 43. Also Gwen Pritchard, his wife who died 16 June 1867 aged 80. Note that the exact dates are not given for the first three; the date of burial is given for William and the date of death given for Gwen. There will be variation like this on many gravestones.

You will see that the map shows the churchyard split into 3 sections, B and C, and each grave is numbered although the numbers will be too small for you to see on this map. Therefore, if you have the grave number and the map you can go directly to the grave, provided it's in a reasonably tidy condition! In my experience the St. Tudclud churchyard in Penmachno is well kept.

The publications also have an index by name so if you have a name you can find the grave number and read the inscription to see whether this is the person you're looking for. You will also see the names of the other people buried in that grave which may give you more information. If it's a common name that you're looking for you find that there will be a number of graves for you to check. In this Penmachno churchyard, for example, there are 30 graves where a John Jones is buried!

There is also an index by home names so if you know the name of the house where your ancestor lived you can find graves where people living at that address were buried and read the inscriptions. In the example given above there is no mention of the address where any of the individuals lived but the majority would have a house name. In some of the publications there is also an index by occupation.

I obviously purchased this publication as it contains so much information that is of interest to me. In addition to these 11 graves of the direct ancestors there are many more where their brothers and sisters are buried. You can buy these publications but if you're not sure where your ancestors are buried you can come along to one of the open days on the third Saturday of the month and look at the reference copies. You can then decide whether you wish to buy any publication.

Next Society open afternoon: Saturday 17 October, 2.00 - 5.00 pm
Yr Aelwyd, Church Street, Caernarfon, LL55 1SW

The Gwynedd-Liverpool Connections Exhibition continues at the Gwynedd Museum and Art Gallery in the centre of Bangor until 25 October. The opening hours are Monday to Friday, 12.30 to 16.30, and Saturdays 10.30 to 16.30.

The GFH Society meetings for the next 4 weeks are:

Bangor, 7 October (first Tuesday of each month) 7.00pm at the Quakers Meeting Hall, Dean Street: Gareth Haulfryn Williams, "Using Probate Records"

Caernarfon, 25 September (last Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the The Library, Lôn Pafiliwn: Margaret Dunn, "Adeiladau Tuduraidd yn Eryri"

Dolgellau, 9 October (second Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the Royal Ship Hotel Mari Emlyn, "Llythyrau O M Edwards"

Llandudno, 13 October (second Monday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Ebenezer, Abergele Road, Old Colwyn (please note new meeting place):
Angel Brabin, "Poison is a woman's weapon".

Llangefni, 16 October (third Thursday of each month) 7.15pm at Capel Smyrna, Ffordd Glanhwfa: Peter Brindley "Aspects of Bangor"

Pwllheli, 17 October (third Friday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Seion, Lon Dywod:
Margaret Dunn, "Dyddio hen dai yn Eryri"

Since undergoing surgery in July I haven't been able to do much during the past weeks but on Saturday morning I managed to attend the Official Opening of the Gwynedd-Liverpool Connections Exhibition at the Gwynedd Museum and Art Gallery in Bangor. The Exhibition has been organised, during Liverpool's year as the European Capital of Culture, to celebrate the Gwynedd and Liverpool connections over the last three centuries.

The Exhibition was opened jointly by Alun Ffred Jones, Arfon Assembly Member and Minister for Culture in the Welsh Assembly Government, and the Rev Dr. D Ben Rees, who has recently retired following 40 years as a Presbyterian Minister in the city and author of numerous books on the Welsh in Liverpool in both Welsh and English. In the opening ceremony both men gave enlightening speeches which I found extremely interesting and I was glad that I had made the effort to attend.

My other reason for attending was that I had responded to an appeal at the beginning of the year and had provided some items of my own for possible use in this exhibition and I wanted to see how many, if any, had been used! I wasn't disappointed. As soon as I walked into the main hall I noticed a blown up photo on the wall of a ward in the Royal Southern Hospital which I had provided. The photo is shown above and my mother can be seen standing on the extreme right hand side as you look at the photo. It was taken in the Men's Ward during Christmas 1934 and I have a number of other photos in which my mother appears taken in different wards at different dates during the 1930s. The Royal Southern, now long demolished, was located near the docks and was the hospital used by sailors. I remember my mother telling me that it was a very rough area but she and other nurses never felt frightened when walking home at night after a late shift. In those days nurses were respected and were not attacked or abused on the streets.

I had a brief look round the exhibition and spoke to a number of people before the opening ceremony but after the ceremony had finished I felt too tired to stay much longer and had to be taken home. However, from what I saw I could see that the presentation was excellent with well produced information boards with photos on the walls and well set out items in display cabinets. I shall certainly be going back within the next few weeks when I'm feeling stronger in order to see and enjoy the exhibition properly and, of course, to find out whether any more of my items have been included!

The Exhibition is at the Gwynedd Museum and Art Gallery in the centre of Bangor and will continue until 25 October. The opening hours are Monday to Friday, 12.30 to 16.30, and Saturdays 10.30 to 16.30.

The Gwynedd Family History Society meetings are starting up again and the meetings for the next four weeks are:
Bangor, 7 October (first Tuesday of each month) 7.00pm at the Quakers Meeting Hall, Dean Street: Gareth Haulfryn Williams, "Using Probate Records" (Sorry, I've missed the first meeting on 2 September)

Caernarfon, 25 September (last Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the The Library, Lôn Pafiliwn: Margaret Dunn, "Adeiladau Tuduraidd yn Eryri"

Dolgellau, 11 September (second Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the Royal Ship Hotel Margaret Dunn, "Dyddio hen dai yn Eryri"

Llandudno, 8 September (second Monday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Ebenezer, Abergele Road, Old Colwyn (please note new meeting place):
E Rowland Pickering, "A trip to Heritage sites".

Llangefni, 18 September (third Thursday of each month) 7.15pm at Capel Smyrna, Ffordd Glanhwfa: Margaret Dunn "Dating old houses in North Wales"

Pwllheli, 19 September (third Friday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Seion, Lon Dywod:Dr Parch Harri Pari, "Meddygon Dafad Wyllt"