No 61: Gwreiddiau Gwynedd and the National Eisteddfod

The latest edition of "Gwreiddiau Gwynedd" or "Gwynedd Roots" came more than three months ago but at the time I only had time to glance through it and read a few items and it was only when I went on holiday in early June that I had time to read it properly. As I've mentioned previously this bi-annual journal of the Gwynedd FHS is a substantial A4 sized 64 page publication full of interesting articles and items of information.

Each edition has a section on one specific area of Gwynedd and this time it is Ardudwy which is the area on the western side of Meirionydd. 24 pages are devoted to 11 substantial articles on families from this area together with a number of shorter items of interest. There are 10 other substantial articles together with numerous shorter items in the remainder of the journal. It's impossible to mention all of these but I'll mention a few of more general interest.

T Meirion Hughes, Caernarfon's local historian, has an interesting article of general interest on the visit to Gwynedd in 1904 of Buffolo Bill with 800 performers in his Wild West Show. There were performances in Llandudno, Holyhead, Caernarfon, Porthmadog and Dolgellau and Meirion gives some of the highlights of the show in Caernarfon culminating in "Custer's Last Stand" - the like of which had not been seen in Caernarfon before or since.

Each issue contains requests from people for information about their ancestors and this time there are three such pages. There's also an interesting article by Gwawr Jones describing how she read one such request in the journal in 1992 and realised that there could be some answers in some of her father's papers. She describes how she helped the enquirer and how she, in return, received a wonderful story about an emigration from Anglesey to the USA. The lesson here is that you should use every possible avenue to make enquiries to try to remove the brick walls that you meet in your research and the other side of the coin is that helping someone can be very rewarding.

Last February we in the Arfon Brach of the Gwynedd FHS heard a really interesting talk by Dilwyn Grey-Williams on the architect John Lloyd (1793-1867) who was responsible for so many important buildings in Caernarfon. Dilwyn has written an excellent article on John Lloyd and his work including a list of all the buildings that can be attributed to him. In his talk he showed numerous photos but with the best will in the world it is not possible to include too many photos in the journal. I was therefore delighted that photos of eight buildings had been shown with the article.

The Society's President, Dafydd Wigley, gives his first contribution since his elevation to the Lords as Baron Wigley of Caernarfon. He makes the point that he is pleased to have been able to include "Caernarfon" in his title as that was the constituency that he represented in Parliament for 27 years. But since May, following boundary reorganisation, the name "Caernarfon" has disappeared from Parliament for the first time in over 500 years.

Dafydd also discusses the possibility of holding a "Year of Home-coming" for people of Welsh descent from around the world in 1915. He suggests that the idea could be extended over a longer period so that each year could be designated for people of a specific Welsh surname. This is certainly an idea that merits consideration and I'll be interested to see how it develops.

The journal also includes an 8 page insert giving details of all the Society's publication. These can also be seen on the website given below.

National Eisteddfod, Wrexham, 30 July - 6 August
The Clwyd FHS, with assistance from some members from Gwynedd FHS, will have a stand at the National Eisteddfod, starting tomorrow, where many of its publications will be available. This is an excellent opportunity to come to talk with experienced family historians. Those who are new to family history research will get good guidance on how to get started and find out the help that is available. The experienced ones can exchange experiences and probably pick up some new ideas. Members of the Denbighshire Historical Society will also be present.

There are usually a number of second hand bookstalls at the Eisteddfod and I've found it valuable to have a good look at these. I've picked up some very interesting out of print publications which were relevant to my family history research at these stalls in the past.

Gwynedd Family History Society, www.gwyneddfhs.org.uk
Meetings start again in September

Clwyd Family History Society, www.clwydfhs.org.uk 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.