Monday, December 30, 2013

Welsh Family History - John Rowlands (Editor)

As my family well knows (and groans when I mention it) I have become nuts about genealogy.  Both the maternal and fraternal side of my father's family have people from Wales so this was a great tool for learning more about researching those ancestors.

It turns out one of the big problems with Welsh ancestry is that until the mid-1800's the people of Wales did not use surnames consistently.  Instead, they would call a son after a father, e.g., David son of John and his name would evolve into David John or David Johns.  It means that the names in my pedigree (Davis, Phillips) were very common and figuring out who was who can be next to impossible.  At least I got a lot of direction on how, if I ever "cross the pond" in my research, to go about tracking down these branches.

Just reading the multiple essays provided on different genealogical research issues with Welsh ancestry, helped me become familiar with the country and its counties and cities.  I also learned new terminology, like "Interregnum" that sheds light on why my ancestors may have left Wales.  It's just the tip of the iceberg and I feel like I'm just blowing warm breath on it, but I'm getting closer.

Published: 1993  Read: November-December 2013  Genre: Non-fiction

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