On Easter Day I had the pleasure of attending the baptism service of my granddaughter Cara in St. Luke’s RC Church, Salford. It was a wonderful experience and it brought back memories of 27 April 1980 when Cara’s mother, my daughter Ceri, was baptised in the Rhosddu Welsh Presbyterian Church, Wrexham.

I have Ceri’s Certificate of Baptism but I’ve no recollection of ever having seen my own Certificate of Baptism and I’ve no idea whether one was ever prepared. However, my parents had kept the Annual Report for the Stanley Road Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Chapel, Bootle, for the year of my birth and my name appears amongst the list of those baptised during that year. This was one of the many document and booklets that I found in the house following my father’s death and I therefore have proof that I was baptised but unfortunately the date is not recorded. Neither is the name of the minister who conducted the service but I do know that it was the Rev. John Easter Ellis because I remember my parents telling me.

Baptism is, of course, a voluntary act depending on the parent’s religious beliefs the strength of their belief and the records are variable depending on the church and how careful the parents are in keeping records.

Birth records are very different as it has been a legal requirement that all births be registered in a civic registration office since 1837. Before this many births would have been recorded in Church records.

The format of the Birth Certificate remained the same from 1837 to 1969 and the example shown is the Birth Certificate of one of my great grandfathers, William Williams, who was born in Penmachno on 29 November 1851. The number in the first column is the number on the register.

The second column shows the date and place of birth which, in this case, was Glan y Pwll, Penmachno. This is a row of terraced houses which were renovated in 2006 and the owner gained a Civic Trust Wales Award for the quality of the renovation work. There’s therefore a good chance that this terrace will still be standing in another 150 years.

The next columns show the name, William, that he was a boy and then the name of his father, William Williams. He therefore had exactly the same name as his father! Next is the name of the mother, Elinor Williams, and the useful information here is that she was formerly Jones. If you didn’t already know it, this information gives you a clue to help you to trace the family history of the mother.

The next column gives the father’s profession or work and in this case is “quarryman” which was the predominant employment for men in Penmachno in those days. Before the start of the quarries, the population of the Parish of Penmachno was about 600 and it rose to nearly 2,000 during the height of the quarries later in nineteenth century. By today, however, the population is back down to about 600.

The birth was not registered on the day of the birth and, like today, someone had to visit the Registrar to register the birth. As the men were working, this task was usually undertaken by the mother and column 8 shows that this was done on 20 December 1851. Column 7 shows that it was Elinor who registered the birth and it also shows that Elinor had made a mark of a cross which the Registrar certified it to be that made by Elinor. This shows that Elinor was not able to write which was quite common in those days. In those days even where there is a signature, this is no guarantee that this person could write as many learnt to write their name but nothing else.

I shall write more about Birth Certificates next time.

The GFH society meeting for April are:
Bangor, 1 April (first Tuesday of each month) 7.00pm at the Quakers Meeting Hall, Dean Street: Gina Kent and Pat Lindsey, “Two short talks”

Caernarfon, 24 April (last Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at The Library, Lôn Pafiliwn: Members Evening - talks given by members about aspects their family history

Dolgellau, 10 April (second Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the Royal Ship Hotel:
Ann Lloyd Roberts, “Teulu’r Post, Llanuwchlyn”

Llandudno, 14 April (second Monday of each month) 7.00pm: An evening in the Conwy Archives, Old Board School, Lloyd Street, Llandudno.

Llangefni, 17 April (third Thursday of each month) 7.15pm: Visit to Yr Aelwyd to undertake
research

Pwllheli, 18 April (third Friday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Seion, Lon Dywod:
John Dilwyn Williams “Gair o brofiad”

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