Carmarthenshire, Wales Genealogy

Wales Carmarthenshire

Carmarthenshire (Welsh: Sir Gaerfyrddin) was one of the thirteen historic counties of Wales. It was a maritime county, bounded to the south by the Bristol Channel, to the west by Pembrokeshire, to the north by Cardiganshire, and to the east by Breconshire and Glamorgan.

The administrative county of Carmarthenshire, 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. The county town was Carmarthen and other main towns were Llanelli and Ammanford.


 * 1885 County Map: Courtesy of London Ancestor

Chapman Code: CMN



Under the Local Government Act 1972, the county and administrative county of Carmarthenshire were abolished, for both local government and ceremonial purposes, on April 1, 1974. Carmarthenshire became part of the newly formed county of Dyfed covering the whole of west Wales, with Carmarthen retaining its status as county town. |}

Following further local government reorganisation, the county of Dyfed was abolished on April 1, 1996 and the present-day county of Carmarthenshire was created. This covers substantially the same area as the historic county of Carmarthenshire. However, in 2003, the community of Clunderwen was transferred to neighbouring Pembrokeshire. The county town is Carmarthen.

Topics

 * The Rebecca Riots
 * Carmarthenshire Nonconformist Records
 * Carmarthenshire Poor Law Unions

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

Did You Know?

 * Llyfr Du Caerfyrddin (English: The Black Book of Carmarthen), written circa 1250, is thought to be the earliest surviving manuscript written in the Welsh language. The book contains a collection of poetry and is now held at the National Museum at Aberystwyth.
 * Dylan Thomas wrote many of his major works in the Boathouse in Laugharne, set into a cliff overlooking the Tâf Estuary.

Useful websites

 * Carmarthenshire Archive Service
 * Carmarthenshire Family History Society
 * Carmarthenshire War Memorials


 * more Carmarthenshire websites ...

Things you can do

 * Visit the National Botanic Garden of Wales at Llanarthne in the Tywi Valley.