Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales Genealogy

Guide to Cardiff history, family history, and genealogy: parish registers, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

Cardiff (Welsh: Caerdydd) is the capital city of Wales.



History
Archaeological evidence from sites in and around Cardiff: the St Lythans burial chamber, near Wenvoe (about four miles (6.4 km) west, south west of Cardiff city center); the Tinkinswood burial chamber, near St Nicholas (about six miles (10 km) west of Cardiff city center, the Cae'rarfau Chambered Tomb, Creigiau (about six miles (10 km) north west of Cardiff city center, and the Gwern y Cleppa Long Barrow, near Coedkernew, Newport (about eight and a quarter miles (13.5 km) north east of Cardiff city center, demonstrates that people had settled in the area by at least around 6,000 years ago.

Until the Roman conquest of Britain, Cardiff was part of the territory of the Silures – a Celtic British tribe that flourished in the Iron Age – whose territory included the areas that would become known as Breconshire, Monmouthshire and Glamorgan.

Little is known about the fort and civilian settlement in the period between the Roman departure from Britain and the Norman Conquest. The settlement probably shrank in size and may even have been abandoned.

In 1081 William I, King of England, began work on the castle keep within the walls of the old Roman fort. Cardiff Castle has been at the heart of the city ever since.

In 1536, the Act of Union between England and Wales led to the creation of the shire of Glamorgan, and Cardiff was made the county town. It also became part of Kibbor hundred.

In 1793, John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marquess of Bute was born. He would spend his life building the Cardiff docks and would later be called "the creator of modern Cardiff".

King Edward VII granted Cardiff city status on 28 October 1905, and the city acquired a Roman Catholic Cathedral in 1916.

The city was proclaimed capital city of Wales on 20 December 1955, by a written reply by the Home Secretary Gwilym Lloyd George. Caernarfon had also vied for this title.

Cemeteries (Civil)
Below are websites that may contain cemetery records for non-parish churches in Bath.


 * Cardiff Council Cemeteries (7)
 * Deceased Online
 * Findagrave

Cathays Cemetery Address: Fairoak Road Cardiff CF24 4PY Phone: +44 29 2062 3294

Parishes
Wales generally does not have a large population of Anglican communicants. However Cardiff does have several parishes. The following website contains information for these parishes:


 * Cardiff Parishes

Nonconformists
The following nonconformist churches and groups have a presence in Cardiff:


 * Methodist
 * Presbyterian Church of Wales
 * Roman Catholic
 * Baptist
 * Eastern Orthodox
 * Seventh Day Adventist
 * Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
 * Jehovah's Witnesses

Additionally there are communities for the following non-Christian groups:


 * Buddhism
 * Islam
 * Hinduism
 * Judaism
 * Sikhism
 * Druidism

Civil Registration

 * Glamorgan County BMD records
 * UK BMD records, Glamorgan County Wales

Cardiff Records Office
 * City Hall Cathays Park Cardiff, CF10 3ND Tel: 029 2087 1680 or 029 2087 1684 Website

Local Histories

 * A History of Wales by John Davis
 * The Story of Wales by Jon Gower; Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library
 * Local Histories; Cardiff
 * Visit Cardiff; History
 * Cardiff History

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Map of Bath – Great Britain, Atlas and Index of Parish Registers on Ancestry.com
 * Nations On Line; Cardiff
 * 1840 map of Cardiff
 * Rootsweb old maps of Glamorganshire
 * FamilySearch Wales Gazetteers
 * Cardiff Gazetteer

Newspapers

 * South Wales Echo
 * South wales Argus
 * Business News Wales

Occupations
As the capital city of Wales, Cardiff is the main engine of growth in the Welsh economy. Though the population of Cardiff is about 10% of the Welsh population, the economy of Cardiff makes up nearly 20% of Welsh GDP and 40% of the city's workforce are daily in-commuters from the surrounding south Wales area.

Cardiff is the principal finance and business services center in Wales. This sector, combined with the Public Administration, Education and Health sectors, have accounted for around 75% of Cardiff's economic growth since 1991. Notable companies such as Legal & General, Admiral Insurance, HBOS, Zurich, ING Direct, The AA, Principality Building Society, 118118, British Gas, Brains, SWALEC Energy and BT, all operate large national or regional headquarters and contact centers in the city.

Societies
Glamorgan Family History Society
 * Insole Court Community Centre Fairwater Road Cardiff, CF5 2LN Website

Archives
Glamorgan Archives
 * Clos Parc Morgannwg Leckwith CARDIFF CF11 8AW Website

Cardiff Central Library
 * Mill Lane Cardiff, Wales CF10 1FL Telephone: 029 2038 2116 Email: [mailto:centrallibrary@cardiff.gov.uk centrallibrary@cardiff.gov.uk]

The National Archives, Glamorgan
 * Website

Cardiff University Library Archives
 * Special Collections and Archives Arts and Social Studies Library Colum Drive Cardiff, CF10 3EU Website

Websites

 * Family Search Cardiff Genealogy
 * Genuki Cardiff