Radnorshire, Wales Genealogy

Wales Radnorshire

Radnorshire, (Welsh: Sir Faesyfed or Maesyfed) was one of thirteen historic counties of Wales.

It was bounded to the north by Montgomeryshire, to the south by Breconshire, to the west by Cardiganshire and to the east by the English counties of Shropshire and Herefordshire

The county was created following the Act of Union of 1535, between Wales and England. The county town was initially New Radnor (Welsh: Maesyfed) but this was later replaced by Presteigne (Welsh: Llanandras). The administrative county of Radnorshire, with an elected county council, was created in 1889 by the Local Government Act 1888. The county was governed by an elected county council, who took over the functions of the Quarter Sessions courts. Llandrindod Wells (Welsh: Llandrindod) became the new county town. The county was mainly rural and agricultural and has always been the poorest in Wales.

Motto: Ewch yn Uwch (English: Higher and Higher)

Chapman Code: RAD

Under the Local Government Act 1972, the county and administrative county of Radnorshire were abolished, for both local government and ceremonial purposes, on April 1, 1974. Radnorshire became a district of the newly formed county of Powys. The population at that time was about 19,000.

The situation remained unchanged following further local government reorganisation in 1996.

Topics

 * Radnorshire Nonconformist Records
 * Radnorshire Poor Law Unions
 * Court records provide an opportunity to learn about people in Wales that may not be found as expected in church records. The Court of Great Sessions produced an extensive series of records. See Radnorshire Great Sessions Records for details.

Jurisdictions

 * Hamlet
 * Parish: an area of varying size under the responsibility of a clergyman of the Church of England/Church in Wales
 * Hundred: an administrative subdivision of a county, usually a group of two or more parishes
 * Sub-district: comprised of more than one civil parish
 * Registration District
 * Poor Law Union
 * Archdeaconry
 * Diocese
 * County

Useful web sites

 * Radnorshire landowners in 1873


 * more Radnorshire websites ...