Monmouthshire, Wales Genealogy

Wales Monmouthshire

Monmouthshire (Welsh:Sir Fynwy or Mynwy) was one of the thirteen historic counties of Wales. It was a maritime county, bounded to the north by Breconshire, to the east by Herefordshire (in England), to the west by Glamorgan and to the south by the Bristol Channel.

The county was created following the Act of Union of 1536, between Wales and England, and was formed from the lordships of Abergavenny, Caerleon, Chepstow, Monmouth, Newport, Three Castles, Usk and part of Ewias.

The administrative county of Monmouthshire, with an elected county council, was formed in 1889 by the Local Government Act 1888.

Motto: Usque Fidelis (English: Faithful to both)


 * 1885 County Map: Courtesy of London Ancestor

The 1971 census recorded the population of Monmouthshire as 461,700.

Chapman Code: MON



Under the Local Government Act 1972, the county and administrative county of Monmouthshire was abolished on April 1, 1974. Most of its area formed the new county of Gwent, with parts going to the new counties of Mid Glamorgan and South Glamorgan.



Following further local government reorganisation, the county of Gwent was abolished on April 1, 1996 and was divided into the newly created county boroughs of Blaenau Gwent, Islwyn, Newport and Torfaen and the county of Monmouthshire (which has very different boundaries from the historic county of that name).

Topics

 * Monmouthshire Archives and Libraries
 * Monmouthshire Societies
 * Monmouthshire Nonconformist Records
 * Monmouthshire Poor Law Unions

Research tools
Parish Records of Monmouthshire

Jurisdictions

 * Monmouthshire is included in the archdeaconry and diocese of Llandaff, with the exception, however, of six parishes, three of which, Welch-Bicknor, Newton, Dixon, and St. Mary's in Monmouth, are comprised in the diocese of Hereford, and the other three, those of Old-Castle, Llantony, and Cwmyoy, in the diocese of St. David's: it is within the province if Canterbury, and is divided into the deaneries of Abergavenny, Netherwent, Newport, and Usk, containing one hundred and twenty-three [arishes, of which forty four are rectories, thirty-nine vicarages, and forty perpetual curacies. For civil purposes it is divided into the six hundreds of Abergavenny (Lower and Upper), Caldicott ( Lower and Upper), Ragland (Lower and Upper), Skenfreth (Lower and Upper), Usk (Lower and Upper), and Wentloog (Lower and Upper). It contains the borough, market, and sea-port, town of Newport, the borough and market towns of Monmouth and Usk, the market and sea-port town of Chepstow, and the marktet towns of Abergavenny, Caerleon, and Pontypool.
 * 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?

 * Geoffrey of Monmouth, born c1100, wrote Historia Regum Britanniae (English: History of British Kings) and gave rise to the popularity of tales of King Arthur.

Useful web sites

 * Gwent Archives at Ebbw Vale.
 * Gwent Family History Society
 * Monmouthshire Monumental Inscriptions
 * The Big Pit National Coal Museum at Blaenafon.
 * The National Roman Legion Museum at Caerleon.


 * more Monmouthshire websites ...