It's a long time since my last blog back in March. The responsibilities of my role as Mayor were getting heavy at that time with the preparations for the Homecoming Parade of the Welsh Guards and the visit of HM the Queen amongst other matters and I found I just couldn't keep up with everything. Unfortunately the Family History Blog was one of the things to suffer. Also I've hardly done any family history research since that time. I apologise for the long gap in the blog but I intend to start back on a regular basis again.

Since finishing as Mayor I seem to have done nothing but try to catch up with everything that I'd put to one side for the past two years. We've also been busy with some work in the house. We had a good holiday but the highlight of the past few months was the visit of one of Margaret's third cousins, Jack Williams, from Long Beach, Los Angeles. We'd had regular email contact since the mid 1990s but we had never met. The meeting in June was therefore a very special occasion.

Jack's grandfather went to the US in the late 1880s. Jack's father, Gomer, was born in 1900 and was brought up as a Welsh speaker. Jack served in the US Army towards the end of WW2 and was stationed in London in 1945. During one leave he travelled to Deiniolen to find his aunt. He arrived in Deiniolen on the bus from Bangor in his American Army uniform and asked some children for directions to his aunt's house. They stared in amazement at this man in a strange uniform and strange accent and one ran off to a nearby grocer's shop. The shopkeeper came out and looked very suspiciously at Jack and asked what his business was with Mrs Jones. When Jack explained that he'd come to visit his aunt whom he had never met the shopkeeper's attitude changed immediately and he was warmly welcomed!

Gomer, his father, was a fluent Welsh speaker even though he had never been to Wales. Jack decided to take his father to Wales in 1971 when the National Eistedfod was in Bangor. Jack's son Jeff, then in his teens, came with them so three generations visited Wales in 1971. Jack wrote of how the tears rolled down Gomer's cheeks as he sang the Welsh hymns he knew so well in the Welsh chapel in Deiniolen. They thoroughly enjoyed this visit, Gomer in particular. Gomer unfortunately died six months later but he had achieved his lifelong ambition of visiting the land of his fathers.

Three generations visited Wales again in June - Jack and his wife, Jeff and his wife and their two teenage sons. It was a wonderful meeting them in person after the email exchanges for so many years. This is what family history is all about - researching, finding, making contact, getting to know each other and meeting face-to-face.

The Gwynedd Family History Society Meetings are starting again in September and the details are given below. I'm now also going to start giving details of the Clwyd FHS meetings.

The Anglesey Archives will be closed for two weeks, 6 - 17 September and will be reopening on Monday 20 September.

The Gwynedd Family History Society meetings for the next four weeks are:

Bangor, 7 September (In English, first Tuesday of each month) 7.00pm at the Quakers Meeting Hall, Dean Street: Hywel Roberts: "My Great-grandfather's Misfortune"

Caernarfon, 30 September (In Welsh, last Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the Library, Lôn Pafiliwn: William Lloyd Davies: "Bachgen Bach o Felin y Wig"

Dolgellau, 9 September (In Welsh, second Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the Royal Ship Hotel: Buddug Medi: "Rhai o Enwogion Meirionnydd"

Conwy, 10 October (In English, second Monday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Ebenezer, Abergele Road, Old Colwyn Rev Eirlys Gruffydd: "John Davies, Nercwys"

Llangefni, 16 September (In English, third Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Smyrna, Ffordd Glanhwfa: Bridget Geoghegan: "How I came to know about the Crimean War"

Pwllheli, 17 September (In Wales, third Friday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Seion, Lon Dywod: Hywel Roberts "Anffawd fawr fy hen daid"

Clwyd Family History Society

The meetings are held on the second Saturday of each month (except August) at 2.00 pm at locations that rotate within the former county of Clwyd. The September meeting is as follows:

Saturday 11 September at The Community Centre, Ruabon.
Derrick Pratt: "More funny bits of Flintshire"

Last time I outlined my first family history talk and how this had led to a second talk on the life of my great grandmother, Margaret Ann Jones. She had a truly remarkable life. When she was nine her father, one of my great great grandfathers, killed his father-in-law, one of my great great great grandfathers. He was sentenced to 15 years for manslaughter.

The talk gives an account of the incident, the subsequent inquest and court hearings and his time in prison. Margaret Ann subsequently gave birth to my grandmother but with the father having being sent away to the USA and I then relate what happened to her after this. Her life story follows the plot of a typical Katherine Cookson novel. The talk is illustrated with some 50 photos etc including copies of prison documents. The tile is "Pechaduriaid Penmachno?" in Welsh or "Downstairs at Glasgwm Hall" in English.

For the third talk I turn to my Penmachno grandfather's side starting with the story of how he and his father, William Pritchard Williams, purchased a small farm 1904 with a single storey traditional house and transformed this into a two-storey house. I have the original contracts, invoices etc. Both were slate quarrymen and William Pritchard became a Director of a co-operative company, The Bugail Slate Quarry Company Limited, in 1893 working the Cwt y Bugail quarry in Cwm Pwnmachno. The talk covers the rise and fall of this company, associated court cases and what happened to William Pritchard Williams and is illustrated with some 60 photos, copies of invoices, legal papers etc. The title is "Anffawd fawr fy hen Daid" in Welsh or "My great grandfather's great misfortune" in English.

The fourth talk concentrates one of my grandfather's brothers, Thomas Williams, who was my mother's Uncle Tom. He was a tailor in Colwyn Bay when he joined the Liverpool Scottish Regiment at the end of 1915. He was taken prisoner at the Battle of Cambrai in 1917 and spent the rest of the war in a POW camp in Minden. This talk is illustrated by some 60 photos, and post cards sent from France and the POW camp etc. I have 24 photos taken inside the POW camp and these are very rare. The talk is tilted "Yncl Tom yn y Rhyfel Mawr" in Welsh or "Uncle Tom in WW1" in English. I have an article on this in Welsh in the current edition of "Y Casglwr" under the title "Cardiau Post y Rhyfel Mawr".

The fifth talk, which I gave for the first time in Caernarfon in October, concentrates on my great, great grandfather, William Williams, father of William Pritchard Williams. It covers his life from early childhood, where his mother was left a young widow with six children, through his life to his will of which I have quite splendid copy written on parchment. The activities of Building Societies in the second half of the nineteenth century feature in this talk. It was the research that I've done into these early Building Societies that has led to my utter contempt for the greedy incompetent charlatans who've been running our building societies in recent years (and also Gordon Brown, as Chancellor, who complacently sat back and did absolutely nothing to control them) which came out in Blog No. 25. It's entitled "Ewyllys William Williams" and I'll think of an English title if and when I'm requested to deliver it in English.

The greater part of the sixth talk is already prepared and it will be ready for the 2010/11 season and I've already sketched out the basis of a seventh talk and this will probably complete the saga on my mother's side. It will then be time to start on my father's side!

I enjoy giving these talks, and to date I've delivered 34 of these talks. Nowhere gives me more pleasure than with the History Society in Cwm Penmachno because that is where it all happened. Committing myself to give a new talk also gives me a deadline to complete the research otherwise it might never get done!

The Gwynedd Family History Society meetings for the next four weeks are:

Bangor, 6 April (first Tuesday of each month) 7.00pm at the Quakers Meeting Hall, Dean Street: David Price, "Famous Bangorians"

Caernarfon, 25 March (last Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the The Library, Lôn Pafiliwn: Ieuan Wyn Williams "Yma ac acw - ac yn ôl"

Dolgellau, 11 March (second Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the Royal Ship Hotel:
Richard Jones, "Amgueddfa Werin Sain Fagan"

Conwy, 8 March (second Monday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Ebenezer, Abergele Road, Old Colwyn J Elwyn Hughes, "Caradog Pritchard"

Llangefni, 18 March (third Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Smyrna, Ffordd Glanhwfa:

Pwllheli, 19 March (third Friday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Seion, Lon Dywod:
Parch Harri Pari: "Y Tad Henry Dailey Maria Hughes"

Following the remarkable meeting in the Penmachno cemetery which I've described in the last two Blogs I wrote an article about the meeting in "Gwreiddiau Gwynedd" and several other publications and talked on the radio in a series where people talked about remarkable coincidences in their lives. I happen to be a Chartered Statistician and I therefore consider the meeting to be a remarkable "random event" that does happen on rare occasions. At the time that Matthew and I met in Penmachno there would have been millions of people meeting each other in various places throughout the world. The vast majority of these meetings would have been totally unremarkable with friends, acquaintances and family meeting each other or total strangers meeting each other with no connection whatsoever between them. A small number of those meetings, however, would have been a remarkable chance random event as mine was with Matthew. I was pleased to have an article on this published in the Royal Statistical Society News in 2006.

I was then invited to give a talk about the meeting at my local Caernarfon Branch of the Gwynedd Family History Society. Preparing a talk of some 50/60 minutes takes a bit longer than writing an article but there is far more scope to show photographs and family tree diagrams to illustrate connections with the PowerPoint Projector. I gave the first talk in November 2003 and I've now given this first talk, in both Welsh and English, a further 18 times since then to various societies in Gwynedd.

The talk gives the family background of the Glasgwm Hall family and their achievements, the family in the USA and my attempts to seek out other relatives remaining in Wales and putting them in touch with their American cousins. Also included is the connection between this family and Lloyd George which was revealed in W R P George's book "The making of Lloyd George" and which has been highlighted again in Ffion Hague's recent book on "The women in Lloyd George's life". There is also a connection with Dafydd Wigley. The talk is illustrated with 36 PowerPoint photos and family trees and these include photos and newspaper cuttings that I received from San Francisco about the Californian family.

When I started to prepare the talk I intended to cover the story of my great grandmother, Margaret Ann Jones, but I soon realised that there was far too much material. I decided that I could prepare two talks and so started my saga of family history talks. The first talk is entitled "Morwyn Glasgwm Hall" in Welsh and "Upstairs and Downstairs at Glasgwm Hall" in English. However, it only concentrates on the Glasgwm Hall family or the "Upstairs" side of the English title. The story of Margaret Ann Jones, which could easily be the subject of a Catherine Cookson novel, is left to the second talk.

This first talk has already done the rounds of all the branches of the Gwynedd FHS and numerous history societies in both Welsh and English. The next delivery will be in Welsh in Blaenau Ffestiniog in September.

The Gwynedd Family History Society meetings for the next four weeks are:

Bangor, 2 March (first Tuesday of each month) 7.00pm at the Quakers Meeting Hall, Dean Street: David Nicholas, "The Policeman's lot was a happy one"

Caernarfon, 25 February (last Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the The Library, Lôn Pafiliwn: Gwynne Evan Owen, "Agweddau Cymreig y Mudiad Gwrth Caethwasiaeth"

Dolgellau, 11 March (second Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the Royal Ship Hotel: Richard Jones, "Amgueddfa Werin Sain Fagan"

Conwy, 8 March (second Monday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Ebenezer, Abergele Road, Old Colwyn: J Elwyn Hughes, "Caradog Pritchard"

Llangefni, 18 March (third Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Smyrna, Ffordd Glanhwfa: Subject to be confirmed

Pwllheli, 19 March (third Friday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Seion, Lon Dywod:
Parch Harri Pari: "Y Tad Henry Dailey Maria Hughes"

In Blog No. 39 I told of a remarkable chance meeting in St. Tudclud's churchyard in Penmachno when I realised I'd found a great grandson of my great grandfather who had been sent to the USA and about whom I knew absolutely nothing.

I now continue the story. After Matthew showed me his family tree we went to Owen Jones's grave and I translated the Welsh inscriptions. Now, how was I going to tell him of our relationship? I was very apprehensive as to how he was going to react, but I told him the story that my mother had told me and how I believed that William Ogwen Jones was my grandmother's father. He listened carefully and said, "Wow, I guess we're related!" Vigorous handshakes followed and the exchange of addresses and he gave me copies of some family photographs and the family tree.

What a day! Completely out of the blue, the great mystery of grandmother's father had been solved and I'd been given a complete family tree showing all of his family descendents in San Francisco. I think that I was in another world and I just can't understand how I managed to drive home at the end of that afternoon. When I got home I told Margaret, my wife, "You'll never guess what happened to me today". And of course she never could have guessed!

Matthew had told me that his mother, Jeannette Jones Ogburn, was the family historian and on the Sunday evening I sent her a long e-mail. I was overjoyed to receive a long reply on Wednesday morning. She was pleased that we had made contact and she said that she had heard that William Ogwen "had gotten a girl into trouble and had been forced to leave Wales". Thankfully, my story wasn't therefore a complete shock to her.

Numerous e-mail messages then crossed the Atlantic and I learnt how Willliam Ogwen had settled in the San Francisco area and about his descendents. I then had the task of finding descendents of William Ogwen's brothers and sister who'd remained in Wales. In January 2003 I succeeded in making one breakthrough and made contact with the widow of a grandson of one of William Ogwen's sister's living in mid Wales. Amazingly, one of her sons had been living in California for 15 years without knowing that he had relatives living within 20 minutes car drive away! Needless to say he is now in touch with his cousins and is included in their family reunions.

I then received a wonderful folder from Jeannette containing photographs of Glasgwm Hall, members of the family and most importantly some of William Ogwen Jones who was previously my unknown great grandfather! I show photos of William Ogwen in his twenties and aged 55, a year before his death and wearing a toupee, and also a photo of Glasgwm Hall in the 1890s. There was also much information about the family in California and, of course, we've continued to maintain email contact.

It was that amazing meeting in the Penmachno churchyard that inspired me to take this family history business seriously. I then joined the Gwynedd Family History Society, of which my wife had been a member for many years, and started to visit the Archives for the first time and I've thoroughly enjoyed the experience of exploring my family history and, in doing so, also getting a much better understanding of the social history of the nineteenth century. It's also given me the opportunity to deliver talks about various aspects of my family history to various societies and I now have six talks in the saga.

The Gwynedd Family History Society meetings for the next four weeks are:

Bangor, 2 March (first Tuesday of each month) 7.00pm at the Quakers Meeting Hall, Dean Street: David Nicholas, "The Policeman's lot was a happy one"

Caernarfon, 25 Chwefror (last Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the The Library, Lôn Pafiliwn: Gwynne Evan Owen, "Agweddau Cymreig y Mudiad Gwrth Caethwasiaeth"

Dolgellau, 11 February (second Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the Royal Ship Hotel: Rhian William, "Pobl Mynd a Dwad"

Conwy, 8 February (second Monday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Ebenezer, Abergele Road, Old Colwyn:
Gareth Haulfryn Williams, "Probate Records"

Llangefni, 18 February (third Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Smyrna, Ffordd Glanhwfa: Hywel Roberts, "Uncle Tom in WW1"

Pwllheli, 19 February (third Friday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Seion, Lon Dywod:
Noson Aelodau

I had intended to continue the story of my remarkable meeting in the Churchyard in Penmachno but instead I want to write about the use of Electoral Registers for family history research as there now appears that there could be some doubt about their continued availability. I've only used the Electoral registers once when I was trying to establish when a house was destroyed by fire. The long way of doing this is to search thought the local papers to try to see a reference to the event but it's a great help if you can narrow down the dates for the search.

I thought that by looking at the Electoral Registers I would be able to establish when the house was no longer recorded on the Register and I could then look at the newspapers before that date. I found that the Conwy Archives Service in Llandudno had Electoral Registers for their area only for the years when there was a Parliamentary General Election so there could be a gap of up to five years between the records and over the WW2 period the gap was longer. They were therefore not of great value for the purpose that I wanted but nevertheless they were interesting and they could be of value if you're trying to check where people lived after the last available Census Records, 1911. You can't, of course, search for a name but you can search for an address and see the names of the adults living there.

I haven't done any real research but assume that the availability of the Electoral Registers varies between local Archive Services although the National Library should have copies of all registers. Why this is currently of interest is because the Ministry of Justice is conducting a consultation about the future availability of the Register, in particular the "Edited Register". Each October we all receive a form to complete to ensure that we keep our right to vote. In recent years it has been possible for you to tick a box on this form to show that you don't want your name to appear on the "Edited Register" which is the version that can be sold to any interested party. Many marketing companies buy this "Edited Register" and use it to send you junk mail and this is why increasing numbers of people are ticking the box. Hence the current consultation as to whether it should be continued. You can find details of this consultation on:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/consultations/docs/electoral-registers-changes-edited-register-consultation.pdf

The arguments for and against the continued availability of the Edited Register are given in the consultation document but it's the availability of the Full Register for family history research that concerns me. There is a section on Page 15 which states which bodies are entitled to receive copies of the Full Register, i.e. the register that contains the names of all those registered to vote. I'm pleased to see that the National Library is mentioned amongst the bodies that receive the Full Register but there is no mention here, or anywhere else in the consultation document, that county Archive Services have the right to receive these Full Registers.

A number of options for dealing with the Edited Register are given and Option 3 is "Abolish the Edited Register, but extend access to the full electoral register for other purposes (to be decided)". In the comment on this Option on Page 30 of the documents it states "It may be that there are other groups or purposes for which the full register might be made available in carefully defined circumstances and we would welcome views on this." I shall certainly be responding to this invitation to express my view that the full register should be made available to all Archive Services so that they can be viewed by people like us who are interested in conducting family history research. I hope that others will also write to express this view.

If you follow the link to see the full consultation document you'll find that there is a questionnaire which is in my view somewhat limited but there is a clear invitation to send in additional views. Such views should be sent by 23 February to Kristen O'Connell, Ministry of Justice, Elections and Democracy Division, Floor 5, 5.18, 102 Petty France, London, SW1H 9AJ or email: kirsten.c'connell@justice.gsi.gov.uk

The Gwynedd Family History Society meetings for the next four weeks are:

Bangor, 2 February (first Tuesday of each month) 7.00pm at the Quakers Meeting Hall, Dean Street: Peter Brindley, "Bangor Pier"

Caernarfon, 28 January (last Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the The Library, Lôn Pafiliwn: Parch Harri Parry, "Meddygon Dafad Wyllt"

Dolgellau, 11 February (second Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the Royal Ship Hotel: Rhian William, "Pobl Mynd a Dwad"

Conwy, 8 February (second Monday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Ebenezer, Abergele Road, Old Colwyn:
Gareth Haulfryn Williams, "Probate Records"

Llangefni, 18 February (third Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Smyrna, Ffordd Glanhwfa: Hywel Roberts, "Uncle Tom in WW1"

Pwllheli, 19 February (third Friday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Seion, Lon Dywod:
Noson Aelodau

People ask my why I became interested in my family history and I've already referred numerous times to my mother's origins in Penmachno. My ancestors on the side of my grandfather, Robert Cadwlader Williams, were quite easy to trace but there was a big question mark on my grandmother's side. I knew that a couple called Mark and Jane Owen had adopted her but I also knew that I had met her mother, my great grandmother, when I was a small child. My mother was approaching 80 before she told me the full story.

My great grandmother, Margaret Ann Jones, was born in 1865 and by 1887 was a servant in a manor house in Penmachno called Glasgwm Hall, which had been in the ownership of Lord Mostyn and then Lord Penrhyn. By 1887 the tenant was Owen Jones who was the nephew and business partner of Owen Gethin Jones a famous builder, Eisteddfod bard and local historian. They had developed a successful building and civil engineering business and had been busy with the development of the railways in North Wales during the second half of the nineteenth century. The pinnacle of their achievements was the building of the railway from Betws y Coed to Dolwyddelen including a 27-arched viaduct over the river Lledr, which is called "Pont Gethin" (Gethin's Bridge) to this day and is marked as such on the OS maps.

In 1887 Margaret Ann became pregnant and the father was one of Owen Jones's sons. Now Owen Jones was a prominent member of the local chapel. He was a Sunday School teacher and his eldest son, the Rev. David Owen Jones, was making a name for himself as a Wesleyan minister. Owen Jones did not want a scandal and decided to exile the prodigal son to America and he was never seen in Penmachno again. My grandmother, Jane Jones, was born. There was no contact between Jane and her father but my mother said that she had often wondered as a child, before she knew the story, why she always received birthday and Christmas presents from members of the Glasgwm Hall family. None of her friends received such presents!

Once she had started to tell this story my mother would often wonder what had happened to her grandfather in the USA. Did he have any descendents? Where could these relatives be living? I had started to become interested in family history and I had thought, rather vaguely, of how I would go about trying to trace this family in the USA. I could probably find the name of this son of Glasgwm Hall but how on earth would I go about trying to find any records of him and his descendents in the USA? This would be like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack I thought.

I'm fortunate that I have a friend, Vivian Parry Williams, who has written a book on the history of Penmachno, "Plwyf Penmachno", and a book on the life of Owen Gethin Jones, "Owen Gethin Jones: Ei Fywyd a'i Feiau". Vivian has been of enormous help to me in compiling my family history and he told me that he had some papers that would be of interest to me. As we were both going to a funeral in Penmachno on Saturday 11 May 2002, we arranged to meet.

Following the chapel service and the burial service in the new cemetery Vivian and I walked back to his car so that he could give me the documents. We took a short cut through the old churchyard and started talking about some of the family graves. As we talked, a man and a small girl approached us and asked my friend if he was Vivian and we realised that he was an American. Someone had told him that they had seen Vivian go into the churchyard and that he was a person who could probably help him look for the grave of his ancestor.

"What is the name of your ancestor?" asked Vivian. "Owen Jones", replied the stranger and I was astounded. Was this a descendent of Owen Jones, my great great grandfather, who has come to look for his grave? Vivian assumed that he wanted the grave of Owen Gethin Jones and we proceeded to the grave of this famous man.

As we talked, however, I became convinced that the person that he was looking for was Owen Jones from Glasgwm Hall and I was inwardly becoming very excited. "I have some papers in the car, would you like to see them?" asked the American who had by this time introduced himself as Matthew Ogburn. "Yes please," I replied instantly and we went to find the papers.

Matthew showed me his family tree and there it was, the name that I had been desperately wishing to see, Owen Jones, Glasgwm Hall. Above were the familiar names of his father, William Jones, and his grandfather, David Jones, and below was the name of his son whom he'd sent to America, William Ogwen Jones! At last I knew the name of my grandmother's father. I could see that Matthew, although more than 20 years my junior, was of the same generation as me. William Ogwen Jones was his great grandfather and also my great grandfather. The needle in the haystack that I hadn't even started looking for was standing in front of me!

The Gwynedd Family History Society meetings for the next four weeks are:

Bangor, 2 February (first Tuesday of each month) 7.00pm at the Quakers Meeting Hall, Dean Street: Peter Brindley, "Bangor Pier"

Caernarfon, 28 January (last Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the The Library, Lôn Pafiliwn: Parch Harri Parry, "Meddygon Dafad Wyllt"

Dolgellau, 11 February (second Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the Royal Ship Hotel: Rhian Williams, "Pobl mynd a dwad"

Conwy, 11 January (second Monday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Ebenezer, Abergele Road, Old Colwyn (please note new meeting place):
Peter Brindley, "The Vicar, the Prince and See"

Llangefni, 21 January (third Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Smyrna, Ffordd Glanhwfa: Workshop in Llangefni Archives

Pwllheli, 15 January (third Friday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Seion, Lon Dywod:
Hywel Roberts, "Anffawd fawr fy hen daid" This meeting has been cancelled due to the bad weather.

The latest edition of "Gwynedd Roots - Gwreiddiau Gwynedd", the journal of the Gwynedd Family History Society, arrived a couple of weeks ago and is full of interesting and informative articles and news items. The Spotlight this time is on "Gwynedd and the sea" with articles relating to the rich maritime heritage of Gwynedd. As I have no close ancestors who have been mariners this is an area where I haven't done any research although I know the general history.

Of the packed 64 pages there are 30 pages of articles dealing with the maritime connection many dealing with characters and events from the beginning of the nineteenth century. A couple of the articles feature letters written be people on voyages and there is also one on letters of the keeper of the South Stack Lighthouse 1853-59. There's an article going even further back on "Maritime Gwynedd during the Middle Ages" and an article by the Society's President, Dafydd Wigley which deals with one of his great grandfathers, Capt. John Humphreys, and the ship "Langdale".

These, and the other articles, are enjoyable to read but for the family historian they are very informative in that they give the sources of the information and describe how they have gone about doing their research. Anyone who has a mariner as an ancestor will find many references to libraries, archives and websites where specific information regarding maritime activities can be found.

There are also many other articles, news items and readers letters. Some of these are in response to articles in previous editions. My wife, Margaret, for example wrote an article on the Closs family from Llanberis, to which she belongs, in the Autumn 2008 edition. A member from Northampton has written in with some very useful additional information, some of which was new to Margaret. This again underlines the point that I've made previously that if you publicise your family connections then there is always a chance that someone who is also somewhere in your tree will see it and make contact. This has happened to Margaret with a previous article that she wrote in Gwreiddiau.

An article on "Gwynedd Heraldry" has been written by regular contributor, Ian Thomson. In the last couple of Blogs I'm talked about the Roots Web lists and Ian is one of the people who regularly respond to people's queries and the width and depth of his knowledge never ceases to amaze me.

All the articles are written by members of the Society and I've also contributed an article on the 1911 Census which basically covers the main points of what I've written previously in these Blogs. Many of the readers will, of course, not read the blogs but one big advantage of the blog is that the images can be seen much better on the screen and they can easily be enlarged in order to be amble to see the small print on the Census Forms.

I take this opportunity of wishing all the readers an enjoyable Christmas and a healthy and enjoyable year in 2010 and I attach my Christmas Card showing the currently used Churches and Chapels of Caernarfon.

The Gwynedd Family History Society meetings for the next four weeks are:
Bangor, 5 January (first Tuesday of each month) 7.00pm at the Quakers Meeting Hall, Dean Street: Bryan & Heulwen Jones, "The Oragon Trail"

Caernarfon, 28 January (last Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the The Library, Lôn Pafiliwn: Parch Harri Parry, "Meddygon Dafad Wyllt"

Dolgellau, 7 January (second Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the Royal Ship Hotel: Dorothy Pritchard, "Dyddiaduron Bryn Ifan"

Conwy, 11 January (second Monday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Ebenezer, Abergele Road, Old Colwyn (please note new meeting place):
Peter Brindley, "The Vicar, the Prince and See"

Llangefni, 21 January (third Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Smyrna, Ffordd Glanhwfa: Workshop in Llangefni Archives

Pwllheli, 15 January (third Friday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Seion, Lon Dywod:
Hywel Roberts, "Anffawd fawr fy hen daid"

I wrote about the Rootsweb Lists last time and I'm registered with the Caernarvonshire List, naturally, but also with the Denbighshire list because of the classification of Penmachno under Denbighshire on some occasions and also on the Merionethshire List because of the close connections between Penmachno and Ffestiniog.

I'd been registered on these lists for a number of years but hadn't seen any messages relating to my family. Imagine therefore my surprise and delight in mid June when I saw a message on the Merionethshire List from a Roberts Bills asking for information about his grandfather, David Jones Williams, who was also the grandfather of Madeline Mahoney who I had met for the first time only a couple of weeks earlier (see Blog No. 33). Before she made contact with me I had no idea about Madeline's existence but I had received information about the Bills family a few years ago from another source and therefore the name was familiar. However, until now I had no details and no idea of how to contact members of the Bills family.

Robert had responded to a query and subsequent messages about a family in Cwm Penmachno (not connected to my family). What is remarkable is that the last message in this link had been in January 2008 and the first during 2002 so this shows that it's never too late to try to respond to these messages. I immediately responded to the list to say that I was related and I also sent a more detailed response directly to Robert's email address. We subsequently exchanged email information and have spoken on the phone and I now have contact with another branch of the descendents of my great grandfather's brother Owen. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to do as much as I would like but I have been able to put Robert and Madeline in touch with each other as these families had also lost touch in recent years.

Back in 2002 I wrote my first article in "Gwreiddiau Gwynedd", the journal of the Gwynedd Family History Society, and I had a response from Helen Rogers-Jones, living near Chester, who was a descendent of Ellen, a sister of David Jones Williams. Helen is also related to me through my grandmother's side and it was this connection that she had spotted in the article. I subsequently met Helen in 2007 when she came to a talk I was giving to the Gwynedd FHS in Llandudno I've now been able to put Robert, Madeline and Helen in touch with each other.

What this illustrates is that it is worth your while joining these Rootsweb lists as you may find someone who is related to you or they may find you. It's also worthwhile to join the Family History Society in the area where your ancestors lived. The Gwynedd FHS Journal, "Gwreiddiau Gwynedd", has a section where members can give an outline of the family branches that they are researching in the hope that one or more of the readers can be of help.

If you want to fully research your ancestors you must try to explore all sources and make your enquiries known in as many ways as possible and you may be lucky as I've been.

The Gwynedd Family History Society meetings for the next four weeks are:
Bangor, 1 December (first Tuesday of each month) 7.00pm at the Quakers Meeting Hall, Dean Street: Oscar Mathieson, "The day that the Council saved Bangor"

Caernarfon, 28 January (last Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the The Library, Lôn Pafiliwn: Parch Harri Parri, "Meddygon Dafad Wyllt"

Dolgellau, 7 January (second Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the Royal Ship Hotel: Dorothy Pritchard, "Dyddiaduron Bryn Ifan"

Conwy, 11 January (second Monday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Ebenezer, Abergele Road, Old Colwyn (please note new meeting place):
Peter Brindley, "The Vicar, the Prince and See"

Llangefni, 21 January (third Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Smyrna, Ffordd Glanhwfa: Workshop in Llangefni Archives

Pwllheli, 15 January (third Friday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Seion, Lon Dywod:
Hywel Roberts, "Anffawd fawr fy hen daid"

In Blog No 28 I wrote about Ancestry.com which is a subscription internet service that I use. There are also many free sources of information which you can use on the internet and many of these can be found on the Rootsweb website, www.rootsweb.ancestry.com As the web address suggests this is part of the Ancestry range of family history services. The amount of information here is enormous but I'll simply concentrate on the Mailing Lists which enables people to ask questions and in the hope that someone else on the list can help them.

Anyone can join a Mailing List. Go to the above website and under "Mailing Lists" click on "Index". You then get a choice of a couple of boxes and then Surname, USA, International and Other. In the International box click on "Wales" and then you get a list of Mailing Lists you can join. Some are general for the whole of Wales and one is in the Welsh language only but there is also one for all the old counties. I've subscribed to the Gwynedd, Caernarvonshire, Merionethshire and more recently the Denbighshire list. I then receive messages from people saying that they had ancestors of a given name living in a particular place during a certain time and asking whether anyone has any more information about them or similar messages.

I do this in the hope that someone will be looking for a link to my family and I can find information I didn't previously know or I can find a previously unknown relative and provide them with information. I've been lucky once so far but I'll tell you about this next time. But I've picked up an enormous amount of information through these messages. People have replied to the queries saying, "why don't you try this source" or saying where there's good information about a particular issue or that a good selection of relevant photographs can be found on a certain website. I've therefore found it very useful to remain subscribed to these lists and it's free.

So far I've only use the mailing lists once to look for an ancestor. One of my great grandfathers was given a 15 year sentence for manslaughter in 1875 but was released after 11 years 5 months but there is no record of what happened to him on release. From the record of his correspondence whilst in prison there was a possibility that he might have gone to Hertfordshire. I therefore subscribed onto the Hertfordshire list and posted my question as to whether there was any record of my great grandfather, Henry Jones, in a certain village after 1886. I received a number of helpful replies from people trying to help and one person in particular was extremely helpful. However, I unfortunately didn't find him but the responses did help me to conclude that he didn't go to Hertfordshire so I was able to eliminate that avenue of investigation. I therefore unsubscribed from the Hertfordshire List after about two months but the fate of Henry Jones remains one of the numerous loose ends in my family tree.

I made those enquiries in January 2005 and three weeks ago I received an email from someone who had only recently picked up those messages. Unfortunately it wasn't about Henry Jones but some very interesting information about the person with whom he had been corresponding. The lesson here is that it's worth leaving messages as you never know when someone may pick them up and respond!

I would certainly recommend that people subscribe to the lists that are of interest to them as you've got nothing to loose. Select your lists and follow the instructions to subscribe. After you've seen how the list operates you can then pose a question about your ancestors and you'll certainly get some help if not always the complete answer.

The Gwynedd Family History Society meetings for the next four weeks are:

Bangor, 1 December (first Tuesday of each month) 7.00pm at the Quakers Meeting Hall, Dean Street: Oscar Mathieson, "The day that the Council saved Bangor"

Caernarfon, 26 November (last Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the The Library, Lôn Pafiliwn: Dr Dafydd Roberts, "Rheilffyrdd y Chwareli"

Dolgellau, 12 November (second Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the Royal Ship Hotel: Dorothy Pritchard, "Dyddiaduron Bryn Ifan"

Conwy, 14 December (second Monday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Ebenezer, Abergele Road, Old Colwyn (please note new meeting place):
Member's Evening

Llangefni, 19 November (third Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Smyrna, Ffordd Glanhwfa: Gina Kent "Lt. Williams of Cefn Cwmwd"

Pwllheli, 20 November (third Friday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Seion, Lon Dywod:
Parch Emlyn Richards, "Bywyd Lloft Stabal"

Back in June 2008 Madeline Mahoney left a comment on the Blog but at that time I was preoccupied with medical problems and didn't do anything about it. She said that one of her great grandfathers, Owen Williams, was a brother to my great grandfather, William Pritchard Williams. This was true as our common great great grandfather, William Williams, had four sons; William Pritchard, David, Owen and Evan. Brothers William Pritchard and David married two sisters so the families were very close and I knew the descendents of David very well. I had only a vague idea about the descendents of Owen but knew nothing about Evan until recent years.

Imagine therefore my surprise and joy at receiving a letter from Madeleine at the end of October 2008 making direct contact and supplying information about Owen's descendents. More than this, she sent me a copy of the wedding certificate of great great grandparents, William Williams and Ellin Jones in 1850 - a wonderful surprise!

Madeline said that what she had read in the blogs had spurred into joining the Gwynedd Family History Society. She had visited the Library on one of the monthly Open Days and had purchased the Memorial Inscriptions for St. Tudclud Church, Penmachno, and from her letter I could see that she had made extensive use of this and other sources of information. Through the Gwynedd FHS, she had obtained my address and had been able to make direct contact. What is frustrating for me is that I am unable to make contact directly with anyone who makes a comment. I can only make general replies through the blog and I'm really grateful that Madeline was able to make direct contact.

The information received was extensive. We exchanged further information by email and I was able to start filling in Owen's part of the family tree for the first time. I checked the family photos and found that I had a photo of Owen and is wife Kate and the three children, Amy who remained unmarried, Ellen and David Jones Williams, Madeline's great grandfather. This photo is shown and I was pleased to have been able to scan the photo and email it to Madeline. Three other children had died young and are buried together in St. Tudclud cemetery.

We finally met up at the end of May when Madeline and her husband called to see us. It was wonderful and we had a very full discussion. By this time I found that I had a photo of her grandfather's sister Amy in her late teens or early twenties. It seemed more sensible for Madeline to have this photo so I took a scan and gave her the original. I've got the notes of our meeting but I still haven't found to time to put everything in order and identify further questions to ask. I'm not sure if I mentioned it but I was installed as Mayor of Caernarfon in May and this is taking up much of my time and family history research is unfortunately taking a back seat at the moment. Anyone interested can see my Mayor's Blog on the website www.caernarfonherald.co.uk.

You can learn much through researching records but it's only when you make personal contacts that you make the real breakthroughs and meeting Madeline through this Blog has been a huge bonus for me. A few weeks later a man called at the door and said that that his wife was related to me. When he came in for a chat I found that his wife was a descendent of Ellen, Madeline's father's sister. He'd received my address through Madeline and I now have another contact with this side of the family of which I knew hardly anything until last November!

The Gwynedd Family History Society meetings for the next four weeks are:
Bangor, 3 November (first Tuesday of each month) 7.00pm at the Quakers Meeting Hall, Dean Street: Gavin Gatehouse, "Growing up on a tea plantation in Ceylon"

Caernarfon, 29 October (last Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the The Library, Lôn Pafiliwn: Hywel Roberts, "Ewyllys William Williams"

Dolgellau, 12 November (second Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the Royal Ship Hotel: Dorothy Pritchard, "Dyddiaduron Bryn Ifan"

Conwy, 9 November (second Monday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Ebenezer, Abergele Road, Old Colwyn (please note new meeting place):
Angela Brabin, "The murder of Elizabeth Twist".

Llangefni, 19 November (third Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Smyrna, Ffordd Glanhwfa: Gina Kent "Lt. Williams of Cefn Cwmwd"

Pwllheli, 20 November (third Friday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Seion, Lon Dywod:
Parch Emlyn Richards, "Bywyd Lloft Stabal"