Beryl Evans – National Library of Wales

The presentation is the result of work at the National Library of Wales
to digitise over a million pages of newspapers published in Wales before 1911. The presentation will show how the website works and how to get the best out of it by accessing the information and discovering countless nuggets of genealogical facts, forgotten incidents and interesting miscellany that would other wise remain hidden within the heavy dusty covers of the volumes in Aberystwyth. Accessing the images is free of charge.

11.30 am “Breaking down brick walls in your family history research”

David Osborne - S&N British Data Archive Ltd

How to resolve stumbling blocks in your family history research using new and unique search strategies to find those missing relatives. Includes searching for a family using just the individuals' forenames, keyword search tools; using criteria other than a name to search on and other advanced search techniques. The talk also covers unique data sets such as Non-Conformist records, Non-Parochial records, Fleet marriages, Will images, Parish Records, Directories, Newspapers and more

1.30 pm "Where did your surname come from?"

Margaret Southgate – South Wales Representative, Guild of One Name Studies

Have you ever wondered about the origins of surnames in your family tree? Do some names have variant spellings, and how have they changed over time? One aspect of genealogy, which is truly fascinating, is to research all occurrences of a surname and its variants in order to build family trees, to identify patterns of migration and to find ‘hotspots’ which could indicate locations where the name originated. This talk will include examples from South Wales as well as an opportunity to see maps showing where your surnames of interest were most common in the 1881 census.

2.30 pm “DNA and Family History – Where Are We in 2013?”

Dr Brian Swann - International Society of Genetic Genealogy

Interest in Family History and DNA has continued to increase in popularity, especially since the identification of Richard III. Dr Swann explores how family history and DNA interests in both the UK and Europe has increased interactions with academic communities in this field, which has led to the coining of the new term “citizen science”. These are groups of motivated and interested individuals who can make contributions to genetic genealogy on a par with anything that may be done in academia.