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  1. #1
    fargo46
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    Default Looking for the parents of Howell Lewis

    Hi,
    Seem to have struck a brickwall, looking for the parents of Howell lewis born according to his gravestone , in 1752 Llantrisant . The only problem is I cannot find a record of his birth in Llantrisant .How do I find the appropriate record. Have searched Parish registers but nothing seems to come up.
    Any help would be appreciated.
    Regards
    Chris Baker
    Nz

  2. #2
    Brick wall demolition expert!
    Join Date
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    Default

    To get back to 1752 you have done very well. Unfortunately there is no standard method, or certain method for getting further back.

    There was no absolute requirement to baptise children - which at that time was the closest equivalent to registering a birth. Children could be baptised in church or chapel (non conformist), and in the latter case those records are kept in a myriad of places. A good starting point would be Family Search, but try using Archer to narrow down the locality: https://www.archersoftware.co.uk/igi/fs-wls.htm

    Whilst his gravestone says that he was born in Llantrisant you should widen your search to the neighbouring parishes, because maybe he was born away from home. Use GENUKI to identify the surrounding parishes: https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/wal/

    Of course researching in Wales means that you have to deal with Patronymic surnames. Now if you haven't come across this before basically it goes something like Thomas has a son called William, so William becomes William ap Thomas; "ap" meaning son of. Gradually over a period of time pressure to conform to the "English" norm saw the standardisation of surnames, but within the same family children might bear different surnames. An example taken from a book I have gives Thomas William (1748) had sons called David William and William Thomas.

    Interestingly in Wales there is a movement back to the old form of names.

    A word of caution when using Family Search they arbitrarily decided that all parish registers in Wales, before (I think) about 1820, are based on Patronymic names and so you need to see the original documents rather than the transcriptions to make up your own mind.

    I can see that you are in New Zealand so it might be more difficult for you but there is a useful book called Welsh Family History A Guide to Research which was published by the Association of Family History Societies in Wales. Also take a look at the National Library of Wales's site which has a lot of useful information and free stuff like newspapers, wills, journals etc:
    https://www.llgc.org.uk/en

  3. #3
    fargo46
    Guest

    Thumbs up

    Thanks for that

  4. #4
    Valued member of Brit-Gen MrsPoppy's Avatar
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    Hi Fargo46

    When you get so far back other sources come into play, sometimes they pay off and sometimes they don't but a Will is always worth getting if you can.

    From the National Archives.

    Title: Howell Lewis, Farmer
    Reference: LL/1818/73
    Description: Will. Miscellaneous.
    Diocese: Llandaf
    Parish: Llantrisant
    Township: Croftyrhaidd
    County: Glamorgan
    Date: 1818
    Held by: National Library of Wales: Department of Collection Services, not available at The National Archives

    Is this your Howell? His Will may say family members. I have just sent for one from late 1700's and it listed property in a different area which he left to his sister. It meant I had a definite connection to follow and it paid off as it took me one generation further back.

    There is also this one which refers to a Bond

    Title: Howell Lewis, Labourer
    Reference: LL/1828/69
    Description: Bond. Miscellaneous.
    Diocese: Llandaf
    Parish: Llantrisant
    County: Glamorgan
    Date: 1828
    Held by: National Library of Wales: Department of Collection Services, not available at The National Archives

    I had a look at the Freeman's Rolls and the graveyard plans for Llantrisant online (free Google Books) and several Lewis families but nothing to tie them to Howell/Hywell.

    Mrs P

    They are on the National Library of Wales website, put Howell Lewis in the search engine. There may be other documents.
    Last edited by MrsPoppy; 26-02-2017 at 7:45 PM. Reason: adding information

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