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Gwynedd Family History Society

The Society was founded in 1980 to bring together the many people interested in family history.  It caters for those with Gwynedd ancestry, and we are happy to help, if possible, those in need of assistance in their research. 

The Society’s aims are:

  • To foster interest in family history and to aid the progress of newcomers to the Society.
  • To publish a journal “Gwreiddiau Gwynedd Roots” twice a year as a means of exchanging news and information and widen knowledge of genealogical records.
  • To transcribe and index parish records and census returns, and to record memorial inscriptions, especially in threatened graveyards.
  • To promote for the benefit and education of the public the study of genealogy, heraldry, local and family history in the former counties of Anglesey,  Caernarfon, and Meirionnydd (Merioneth).

Our aim with this new website is to bring together information for both members and non-members researching Gwynedd family history, although we do hope that any non-members using our resources will see the benefit of joining us.

If you need further information about the work of the Society, please contact us - secretary@chtgwyneddfhs.cymru  

We would be pleased to help you.

Join today!

The Society’s publications, which are constantly being added to, are on sale to members and non-members, as well as to libraries and other societies. They include baptisms, burials, census and marriage indexes.  In addition memorial inscriptions are also published with full index, plans and additional information, with extra notes for non-Welsh speaking readers.  All of these are published in A4 booklets. Please visit our Shop for further information.

The Society publishes a journal, which is distributed free to members twice a year. Gwreiddiau Gwynedd Roots is the official publication of the Society, full of news and articles and is published in the spring and autumn. Members are encouraged to submit articles to the Journal Editor in Welsh or English (an English synopsis will be given to those published in Welsh). 

We are a very active society, with branches in  Arfon, Dwyfor, Meirionnydd, Conwy, Môn / Anglesey and Bangor and recently we have established a new Zoom branch. In addition, we have an extremely busy Facebook Group with members from Gwynedd, the surrounding area and across the UK as well as worldwide sharing useful information and helping each other with their research. Updates from the Society are also announced on the group.

Each of our branches has a programme of meetings with talks on a wide range of subjects. While members tend to visit their local branch, they are welcome to attend any branch event. These meetings aren’t closed to members as we are delighted to welcome non-members to talks for a small donation.

The Society’s Resource Centre is situated within the Library, Pavilion Hill,  Caernarfon, and members are welcome to browse in the Society’s publication and library collections on the third Saturday in the month (excluding May) between two and five p.m. Please visit our Resources pages to view information on books, manuscrips and other materials that may help your research.

As a member of the society you have access to:

  • 2 copies annually of our journal Gwreiddiau Gwynedd Roots. (A4 in size and full of interesting articles both in Welsh and English). Members can publish their family interests in the journal.
  • Opportunity to attend our regional and Zoom meetings with a varied programme of speakers.
  • Access to a “members’ only” area on our Society’s website which allows you to register your family history search interests and access a list of other members' interests. you can contact other members' to discuss interests through the website.
  • Access the society’s resource centre in Caernarfon which is open once a month on Saturday afternoons (except May) and last Thursday of the month from September through to April excluding December.  Here you can access all of our resources and seek advice from officers’ and members on brick walls you may have.
  • Up to 6 free annual look up request service . Members can provide us with the names and known dates and we’ll check for information in any of our publications, manuscript collections or books. This is very useful for those members who are unable to visit our resource centre. 
  • And many other benefits