Wednesday 21 November 2007

Now's the time to wish your Welsh Cousins a Yankee Doodle Happy Thanksgiving Day!


[Pictured above: Norman Rockwell's "Freedom from Want" -- depicting a traditional American Thanksgiving Day Feast -- a tradition enjoyed by Welsh-American Families for many generations.]

There's been a Welsh-American connection, ever since large groups of Welsh settlers, seeking economic, religious and political freedom began to join the colony of William Penn in Pennsylvania in the year 1681.

The First Thanksgiving Day Observance:

A Proclamation Signed in Script Type by George Washington in 1789:

"It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor."

In 1863, Abraham Lincoln declared a national day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens."

In the midst of civil war, President Lincoln thought the day should be used to "fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union."

Our Welsh-American brethren in Idaho have given us this important speech about the Welsh contribution to the making of America:

Hon. Thomas M. Rees of California
speaking in the House of Representatives
on Wednesday, February 17, 1971

Mr. Rees, Mr. Speaker, the birth of St. David, the Welsh patron saint, will be commemorated on March 1 by Welsh Americans throughout America-- nothing like the St. Patrick gatherings, though St. Patrick was born in Wales and grew up speaking Welsh, not Latin.

Very little has been written of what the Welsh have contributed in all walks of life in the shaping of American history.

Twenty percent of the Pilgrim Fathers were Welsh, as was the Captain of the Mayflower.

How many know that almost 50 percent of the signers of the American Declaration of Independence were Welsh or of Welsh descent-- as were nine of the Presidents of the United States-- and that many of the universities and colleges such as Yale, Princeton, Brown, William and Mary, Virginia, Johns Hopkins, and Andover were founded by Welshman.

The man who financed the War of Independence was Robert Morris, Pennsylvania was founded by William Penn, and Rhode Island by Roger Williams, all were Welsh.

It is strange indeed that such a small country-- as Wales, so many people are hardly aware of its existence-- has contributed so much more in proportion to its size than any other nation, and stranger still so little has been written of it.

Oh, yes, the next time you are in the Capitol and feel like climbing the Washington Monument stairway, about halfway up there is a stone inscribed:

"FY IAITH, FY NGWLAD, FY NGHENEDL CYMRU - CYMRU AM BYTH!"
["My language, my land, my nation of Wales - Wales for ever!"]

Thomas Jefferson would have placed it where more people would see it for he was very proud of his Welsh origin.

It would take many pages to name the great Welsh Americans since the Founding Fathers, who have helped build America-- In government, industry, labor, finance, law, architecture, music, religion, literature.

Yes, the Welsh in America can be very proud of their heritage.

Isn't it time for you to dig out your phone card and call your long lost friends and family in America, to wish them a safe, joyous, and prosperous

HAPPY THANSGIVING DAY 2007!!!

Click here to go directly to the Idaho Welsh Society on the World Wide Web.

At Welsh American Family Genealogy, we believe there’s no better ‘Empty Nest’ activity than researching your Welsh family history and creating a legacy for future generations. You don’t have to be rich to leave behind an enduring heritage for your children and heirs.

What’s important is that you use the time wisely. If you would like to simulate your mind each day and stay young through constructive activities, than genealogy might be right for you!

Write to us and tell us your questions. We might not know the exact answer, but think of this as a daily adventure – thousands of other online readers will ‘pick their brains’ to help you!

Be sure to visit the Welsh American Family Genealogy Online Bookstore! Just Click here.

Gyda bob hwyl i bawb, Mark

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh-American Family Genealogy, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh Music, Film, and Books Symposium, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.

Visit the UK Film Studies and World Cinema and Music Import Showcase

© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

Sunday 30 September 2007

Award-winning Welsh Author Grahame Davies Announces North American Book Tour for October 2007


[Pictured above: Welsh Author Grahame Davies; Photography of Grahame Davies by Mauro Philip Conti, Miami Beach, Florida, U.S.A.]



Grahame Davies's Book Tour Itinerary:

Oct 12: Depart Bristol, 1030 Continental for Newark. Arrive Newark 1325 local time. Travel to Delta PA.

Oct 13, 1300. Reading at Rehoboth Welsh Chapel, Delta, PA, as part of Festival of Welsh Heritage.
http://home.comcast.net/~rbaskwil/chapel.html Festival of Welsh Heritage

Oct 15. Travel to Somerset, MA.

Oct 16: 1300 Lunchtime seminar at Yale University, New Haven CT for:

The Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism

Oct 21-23: Visit to Vermont.

Oct 24. Fly Boston – Columbus OH via JFK, depart Boston 1340, arrive Columbus 1823. Staying in Yellow Springs, Ohio.

Oct 26: Fly Columbus- JFK, dep 1440, arrive 1632. Staying for next five nights at Seafarers & International House, 123 East 15th Street, New York, NY 10003

Oct 28: 1600. Poetry reading at Chi Art Centre, 44 Main St, Westport, Connecticut.

Chi Art Centre

Oct 30; 1800 for 1830, Launch of Everything Must Change at Wales International Centre, Chrysler Building, 21st Floor 405 Lexington Avenue New York, NY10174 Tel: (00) 1 646 792 8920

Oct 31. Fly Newark-Bristol. Depart 2055. Arr Bristol, Nov 1, 0740.



Grahame was Winner of Wales Arts Council's Book of the Year Award, 2002

Grahame was nominated for Book of the Year prize 2005.

"One of the most independent, and as such, most interesting voices of contemporary Welsh-language poetry."
Gerwyn Wiliams

"This is the first post-nationalist novel," Dafydd Elis-Thomas on Rhaid i Bopeth Newid.

"One of the clearest public poetic voices of his generation," Emyr Lewis

"An unequalled satirist,” John Gruffydd Jones.

“He sees through the deception and falseness of urban media life better than anyone, and he’s scathing in his vision of the emptiness of city existence...this poet has sufficient mastery of language to disturb and reach the roots of the soul.” Alan Llwyd.

"Poems which brilliantly describe Welsh life in the capital." Peter Finch.

“There’s a new world-view on our everyday lives here, overloaded with memorable images and phrases,” Menna Elfyn.

“He has an incredible gift of expression. There’s scarcely a poem in the volume that doesn’t contain truly original and clever phrases.” Meirion MacIntyre Huws.

Poet, editor and literary critic, born in 1964 and brought up in the former coal mining village of Coedpoeth near Wrexham in north east Wales.

GrahameDavies.com





At Welsh American Family Genealogy, we believe there’s no better ‘Empty Nest’ activity than researching your Welsh family history and creating a legacy for future generations. You don’t have to be rich to leave behind an enduring heritage for your children and heirs.

What’s important is that you use the time wisely. If you would like to simulate your mind each day and stay young through constructive activities, than genealogy might be right for you!

Write to us and tell us your questions. We might not know the exact answer, but think of this as a daily adventure – thousands of other online readers will ‘pick their brains’ to help you!

Be sure to visit the Welsh American Family Genealogy Online Bookstore! Just Click here.

Gyda bob hwyl i bawb, Mark

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh-American Family Genealogy, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh Music, Film, and Books Symposium, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.

Visit the UK Film Studies and World Cinema and Music Import Showcase

© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

Friday 31 August 2007

New Book, "Welsh Writing from the American Civil War" Expected to Soar in U.S./Canadian Markets


[Pictured above: Cincinnati, Ohio-born Welsh Language scholar Dr. Jerry Hunter is considered an expert on the American Civil War.]

North Americans have an obsession with 'all things Civil War' and this interest launched the careers of many historians, fiction writers, and filmmakers.

For example, U.S. film director Ken Burns is famous for his documentary on the American Civil War:

The Civil War: A Film by Ken Burns


Nearly ten thousand pages of writing in Welsh stemming from the American Civil War has survived—offering contemporary readers a surprising opportunity to look at the war from an entirely new perspective.

In the first study of its kind, Dr. Jerry Hunter sifts through this huge archive of letters, diaries, poetry, and prose from soldiers, civilians, and professional writers to give a fascinating account of Welsh-American reactions to the war and its context.

Dr. Jerry Hunter's previous work formed the basis for a documentary film series produced by the Welsh Language Television station, S4C. Read about it here.

Read about it here.

His newest examination of issues such as the Welsh community’s support for abolition and the war’s effects on notions of Welsh-American identity will captivate historians, literary scholars, and Civil War buffs alike.

Building upon the foundations of his Welsh-language study Llwch Cenhedloedd, Dr Jerry Hunter’s new book discusses the various kinds of literature which Welsh Americans produced during their country’s Civil War.

Sons of Arthur, Children of Lincoln: Welsh Writing from the American Civil War is the first book-length treatment in English of a new field:

- the reactions of Welsh-American writers to the Civil War. Jerry Hunter sifts through the huge archive of letters, diaries, poetry and prose from soldiers and civilians to present a fascinating account of Welsh

- American reactions to the war. His examination of issues such as the Welsh community’s support for abolition and the war’s effects on notions of Welsh-American identity will captivate historians, literary scholars and readers interested in new perspectives on the American Civil War.

‘Very well written...it will reach out to the huge transatlantic audience for popular Civil War history’ -- Kevin P.Van Anglen, Boston University.



Dr Jerry Hunter is a Celtic scholar who possesses an international perspective. He is also an enthusiastic advocate for the Welsh language and literature. Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, where he studied for his initial degree, he later learned Welsh with the aid of the WLPAN course at Lampeter.

He went on to earn a MPhil for his research into the lore in the Middle Welsh prose tales at University of Wales, Aberystwyth before returning to his homeland to study for a PhD at Harvard University.

His research project formed the basis of his first book-length study, Soffestri’r Saeson (2000), an investigation into histriography and identity during the Tudor Age which was placed on the short list for the Book of the Year Award by the Arts Council of Wales in 2001.

Following his period at the Department of Celtic Languages and Literatures, Harvard University he returned to Wales, this time as a Lecturer in the Department of Welsh, Cardiff University. He joined the academic staff of the School of Welsh at University of Wales, Bangor in 2003.

His research interests are rich and varied, ranging from Welsh medieval prose to the twentieth-century fiction of Kate Roberts and from the sixteenth-century chronicle of Elis Gruffydd to Welsh literature in America during the nineteenth century.

This particular field – American-Welsh writing - has proven to be highly successful: the television documentary series Y Cymry a Rhyfel Cartref America (‘The Welsh and the American Civil War’) gained a BAFTA Cymru award and the research for the series led to Llwch Cenhedloedd: Y Cymry a Rhyfel Cartref America (2003) which was named Book of the Year in 2004.

Hunter, Jerry Welsh Writing from the American Civil War: Sons of Arthur, Children of Lincoln. Distributed for University of Wales Press. 288 p. 9-1/4 x 6-1/7

Cloth NSA $85.00sc ISBN: 978-0-7083-2020-4 (ISBN-10: 0-7083-2020-1) Spring 2007
Paper For sale in North and South America only $35.00sp ISBN: 978-0-7083-2019-8 (ISBN-10: 0-7083-2019-8) Spring 2007





At Welsh American Family Genealogy, we believe there’s no better ‘Empty Nest’ activity than researching your Welsh family history and creating a legacy for future generations. You don’t have to be rich to leave behind an enduring heritage for your children and heirs.

What’s important is that you use the time wisely. If you would like to simulate your mind each day and stay young through constructive activities, than genealogy might be right for you!

Write to us and tell us your questions. We might not know the exact answer, but think of this as a daily adventure – thousands of other online readers will ‘pick their brains’ to help you!

Be sure to visit the Welsh American Family Genealogy Online Bookstore! Just Click here.

Gyda bob hwyl i bawb, Mark

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh-American Family Genealogy, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh Music, Film, and Books Symposium, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.

Visit the UK Film Studies and World Cinema and Music Import Showcase

© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

Tuesday 21 August 2007

Two Weeks Left to Book Your Flight: Meet Your Welsh Cousins in Washington, D.C.


featuring the 76th Welsh National Gymanfa Ganu, 30 August - 2 September, 2007 Washington, D. C., Sponsored by the Welsh National Gymanfa Ganu Association

If you had enough soggy Welsh summer 'sunshine' these past couple months, then why not take advantage of the British-Sterling-to-U.S.-Dollar-Exchange rate and book a quick and last minute saver flight to Washington, D.C. for the end of August?

That's right, the pound is at record highs against the dollar, so you can live like a king while you enjoy the late summer sunshine and early Autumn warmth typical of the District of Columbia at this time of year.

And you can meet your long-lost Welsh cousins at the same time! This is your last alert that the the North American Festival of Wales, which is quickly coming up 30 August - 2 September, 2007.

The Largest Gathering of the Welsh in North America

The North American Festival of Wales is the largest gathering of the Welsh, descendants and friends in North America.

Prepare yourself for 4 full days of enjoyment and camaraderie with old and new friends, celebrating the life, heritage and culture of Wales in Washington DC, one of North America’s top tourism and vacation destinations.

FESTIVAL HOTEL

Located in the West End of Historic Alexandria, The Hilton Alexandria Mark Center Hotel offers modern elegance and attentive service focused on the conference attendee.

The hotel is within sight of the nation's Capitol and just ten minutes from the central business district of Washington, DC and its historic monuments, museums and exciting attractions.

Hotel guests enjoy the benefit of also being close to Historic Old Town Alexandria with its quaint waterfront galleries, award winning restaurants and eclectic shops.

The hotel offers a daily complimentary shuttle connecting guests to all that the area has to offer directly or via access to the easy and safe metrorail system.

Shuttles include stops to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, the Pentagon City Fashion Centre with access to Metro and Old Town Alexandria.

The hotel is also located on the Grayline Tour Company’s courtesy pick up schedule, which operates a variety of different tours embarking from Union Station.

There is truly something for everyone. Whether it’s a dinner cruise down the Potomac to historic Mount Vernon Plantation, a visit to Arlington National Cemetery, a tour though the recently opened National Portrait Gallery, or a 5-star dining experience in Georgetown.

The Hilton Alexandria Mark Center is the ideal way to enjoy both the 2007 festival and the breathtaking sights of our nation’s capital.

The festival and marketplace are a great oppotunity to meet and chat with like-minded folks who are researching their Welsh family histories.

At Welsh American Family Genealogy, we believe there’s no better ‘Empty Nest’ activity than researching your Welsh family history and creating a legacy for future generations. You don’t have to be rich to leave behind an enduring heritage for your children and heirs.

What’s important is that you use the time wisely. If you would like to simulate your mind each day and stay young through constructive activities, than genealogy might be right for you!

Write to us and tell us your questions. We might not know the exact answer, but think of this as a daily adventure – thousands of other online readers will ‘pick their brains’ to help you!

Be sure to visit the Welsh American Family Genealogy Online Bookstore! Just Click here.

Gyda bob hwyl i bawb, Mark

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh-American Family Genealogy, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh Music, Film, and Books Symposium, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.

Visit the UK Film Studies and World Cinema and Music Import Showcase

© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

Thursday 2 August 2007

With Fond Recollection: What Does the Welsh Eisteddfod Mean to Modern Welsh-North Americans and Friends of Wales?




Pictured above: reproductions of the cover page and festival program for the 1976 Youngstown, Ohio Gymanfa Ganu, held in my hometown, which was one of the largest Welsh settlements in the New World.

My Welsh grandmother 'Lottie Lute' (nee Charlotte Williams) constantly spoke about the hymn fests and the Eisteddfodau, and me and my siblings were told we had to go to our musical instrument lessons after school, so that 'one day you will win the Eisteddfod!'

Being 'Welsh' was the catch-all excuse I got, whenever I inquired why our wood-frame house was crammed to the attic with countless books, piano, organ, guitars, accordian, banjo, mandolin, tambourines and drums, and yellowing stacks of hymnals, sheet music, country-western record albums, choir albums, and church bulletins from the 1920s for the Hillman Street Christian church and Oak Hill Baptist (both Welsh congregations).

In our tiny chapel on Warren Avenue, I recited Moore's 'The Night Before Christmas' to thunderous applause as Santa Claus crept in behind my frail 6 year old frame, and afterwards grumpy old Welshmen and even sleepy tenor-voiced Allen Griffiths hugged me and told me I would make a 'fine preacher' some day.

Our churches and chapels picked up where the Eisteddfodau and seasonal Gymanfa Ganu hymn fests left off, and we knew that music and lyric and performance were a part of our distant Welsh ethnic and cultural heritage, even though most of us had never been to Wales.

My ancestors began settling in the Mahoning Valley around Youngstown and Warren Ohio, Hubbard, Niles and Girard, Ohio, and Mercer/Sharon Pennsylvania in early 1860s.

President Lincoln encouraged the Welsh to settle in Ohio and to bring their knowledge of iron-working to assist in the 'Union Cause.

My mother's great-grandfather, William J. Wiliams, was an iron puddler who hailed from 'ole Dow-Lus' (Dowlais) and who probably learned his craft from foundrymen trained in the Merthyr Tydfil works.

This was around the same time Welsh emmigrants were going to Patagonia in South America, and there were stories when I grew up of disgruntled Patagonia settlers moving to join our family's 'gwladfa fach' little colony in Ohio, but I think a lot of this legend might have died with my forebears, before being verified.

What is remarkable is the resilience of the Welsh culture and language in Ohio, even after 100 hundred years of settlement.

My mother attended Welsh language servces, sermons, Christmas programs and events, right up through the late 1950s in Youngstown, in the area around Oak Hill on the South Side.

A lot of folks in America and Canada with Welsh ancestry are digging deep into their pasts to find out more about the courage and culture of their ancestors.

A great way to re-connect is to travel to Wales, and to atend to National Eisteddfod, taking place this coming week.

For those who can't immeidately travel to Wales, local St. David's Society's and Cambrian Groups can help.

And let's not forget the North American Festival of Wales, which is quickly coming up in September 2007.

The Largest Gathering of the Welsh in North America



At Welsh American Family Genealogy, we believe there’s no better ‘Empty Nest’ activity than researching your Welsh family history and creating a legacy for future generations. You don’t have to be rich to leave behind an enduring heritage for your children and heirs.

What’s important is that you use the time wisely. If you would like to simulate your mind each day and stay young through constructive activities, than genealogy might be right for you!

Write to us and tell us your questions. We might not know the exact answer, but think of this as a daily adventure – thousands of other online readers will ‘pick their brains’ to help you!

Be sure to visit the Welsh American Family Genealogy Online Bookstore! Just Click here.

Gyda bob hwyl i bawb, Mark

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh-American Family Genealogy, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh Music, Film, and Books Symposium, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.

Visit the UK Film Studies and World Cinema and Music Import Showcase

© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

Friday 6 July 2007

Many Australians and North Americans Launch West Wales Genealogy Search from Swansea, Gower, Vale of Glamorgan


Pictured above: Swansea University is just south of the city centre and has sweeping panoramic views of Swansea Bay.

Swansea is a fabulous oceanside city, best known for the poetry of its favorite son, Dylan Thomas. But a lot of Australians and North Americans begin their visit to Wales in Swansea, when they are planning to research their Welsh family trees.

Swansea is ideally located close to the Cardiff International Airport, with easy access to trains and coaches and a modern motorway.



Hotels, hostels and guest houses provide something for everyone, and of course, golfers will be happy, too. The nearby Gower Peninsula is extremely beautiful and accessible by hired car or by bus and coaches.

See: Visit Swansea


Several links and websites have sprung up to help folks plan their travel and from time to time we'll mention them, as our readers point them out to us:

Welsh Holiday Cottages

South Wales Independent Travel

Wales & Welsh Genealogy

Select Genealogy Tours


You can order a FREE COLOR BROCHURE from Visit Wales here.



One of my favorite books is 'Dylan Thomas's Wales', which I received for Christmas a few years ago. The writing is great, engaging and informative, and the photography is breath-taking!



At Welsh American Family Genealogy, we believe there’s no better ‘Empty Nest’ activity than researching your Welsh family history and creating a legacy for future generations. You don’t have to be rich to leave behind an enduring heritage for your children and heirs.

What’s important is that you use the time wisely. If you would like to simulate your mind each day and stay young through constructive activities, than genealogy might be right for you!

Write to us and tell us your questions. We might not know the exact answer, but think of this as a daily adventure – thousands of other online readers will ‘pick their brains’ to help you!

Be sure to visit the Welsh American Family Genealogy Online Bookstore! Just Click here.

Gyda bob hwyl i bawb, Mark


Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh-American Family Genealogy, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh Music, Film, and Books Symposium, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.

Visit the UK Film Studies and World Cinema and Music Import Showcase

© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

Monday 2 July 2007

Irish, Scottish and Welsh Genealogy Requires Patience and Persistence





When you begin your quest to track down your own Welsh family tree, you need to have both patience and persistence.

Having a sense of humour and sense of adventure are essential traits to develop.

Having a good attitude, and not giving up or compromising is key. What constitutes a compromise?

Well, sometimes you might reach a conclusion which your intuition tells you isn't correct. Rather than accept this easy but questionable 'deadend', just reserve the right to be sceptical, until all the evidence is in.

This might take years, but have patience, and your search will be rewarded, in time!

Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru / The National Library of Wales

Here are some good place to begin deciphering our 'funky' Welsh surnames:

A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames with Special American Instances, by Charles Wareing Bardsley.
Hardcover: 837 pages
Publisher: Genealogical Publishing Company; Revised edition (January 1996)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0806300221

The Surnames of Wales, Author: John Rowlands, Sheila Rowlands
ISBN: 9781860060250 (1860060250)
Publication Date April 1996
Publisher: Federation of Family History, Birmingham
Format: Paperback, 238 pages
Reprinting

Welsh Surnames, by T.J. Morgan (Editor), Prys Morgan (Editor)
Hardcover: 290 pages
Publisher: University of Wales Press (3 Feb 1992)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0708308805

"This is the classic reference work on English and Welsh surnames, with dated and documented examples given in the text and American instances cited in many cases where the name appeared in the directories of such cities as Boston, New York, and Philadelphia."

"It contains over 30,000 entries in dictionary form, three columns to a page, giving the origin and history of each surname, lists of persons bearing the name in various centuries, and the frequency of the name and its variants in certain nineteenth-century English and American directories."

"The dictionary itself is preceded by a lengthy introduction, which in itself is a formidable essay on family nomenclature. Among other things the reader will find many references to baptisms and marriages published by the various English record societies."







At Welsh American Family Genealogy, we believe there’s no better ‘Empty Nest’ activity than researching your Welsh family history and creating a legacy for future generations. You don’t have to be rich to leave behind an enduring heritage for your children and heirs.

What’s important is that you use the time wisely. If you would like to simulate your mind each day and stay young through constructive activities, than genealogy might be right for you!

Write to us and tell us your questions. We might not know the exact answer, but think of this as a daily adventure – thousands of other online readers will ‘pick their brains’ to help you!

Be sure to visit the Welsh American Family Genealogy Online Bookstore! Just Click here.

Gyda bob hwyl i bawb, Mark

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh-American Family Genealogy, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh Music, Film, and Books Symposium, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.

Visit the UK Film Studies and World Cinema and Music Import Showcase

© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

Friday 22 June 2007

Diamonds, Yachts and Caviar? The Lucrative Future of Big Tourism in 'Tiny Wales'


Pictured above: David Main's Tallizmand Guest House.

Tallizmand Guest House, Llanmadoc, Gower, just minutes from the centre of Swansea, Wales and 30 minutes from Cardiff International Airport.

My multitudinous Welsh-descended North American relatives are relieved to visit me in scenic and historic, modern/old 'tiny Wales'.

That is, once they do a little online research and compare the hotel prices in 'pick-pocket' over-priced London to the family-friendly bargains of pastoral Bread-and-Breakfast Wales.

My septuagenarian Mom and her athletically active band of world-roaming retirees and semi-retirees, ('Grandmas in Nike trainers with cameras and credit cards', as I call them) have only a few questions about tourist destinations like Wales:

1) Are there plenty of clean, well-identified restrooms?
2) Is it safe to carry a purse?
3) Is the breakfast included and is it 'All you can eat?' (even though these ladies eat like birds, they like value)
4) How many steps are there?
5) Can I 'Google' it?

And tourism is Big Business now in Wales according to the Western Mail:

'We’re growing up as a tourism destination'
Jun 20 2007 by Paul Rowland, Western Mail

"TOURISM brought nearly £3.3bn into the Welsh economy last year, new figures reveal today."

"Nearly 10 million tourists came to Wales from other parts of the UK last year, with a further 1.1 million coming from overseas, according to the UK Tourism Survey."

"The report – the first of its kind – found that £1.6bn was spent by domestic visitors in 2006, with a further £358m contributed by overseas visitors."

"Another £1.3bn was added to the total by people visiting Wales for the day, according to Visit Wales, the Assembly Government’s tourism wing."

"Experts last night attributed the upturn in the fortunes of the Welsh tourism industry to a more sophisticated marketing approach."

Comparing Wales to other destinations:

In the mid 1980s I was appointed Director of Marketing for a then burgeoning, million dollar computer 'Dot.com' company in Fort Lauderdale, also home to the famous teenage six-week fiasco called 'Spring Break'.

My partner and I, tired of cold winters, happily moved our designer Boston furnishings into a cheap, beachside bungalow right behind the bikini boutique strip.

Being sober workaholics who preferred a good night's sleep, I have to now ask, "What were we thinking?"

'Spring Break' started in the 1950s with iconic films 'Gidget' (1959, 1965), and Elvis Presley-style beach blanket romance movies like 'Where the Boys Are' (1969).

By 1980 the Spring Break had declined into a local merchant / local police nightmare of cheap 'wet T-shirt contests', record public intoxication arrests, tawdry nightclubs and drug overdose-related deaths.

Our tourism board in Ft. Lauderdale decided to 're-brand' with a 'more sophisticated marketing approach' called "Diamonds, Yachts and Caviar".

The idea was, if we got rid of the six-week teenage mob, we would attract the monied 'Baby Boomer' retirees year-round.

And if we made it affordable and romantic the tourism gurus told us, we would attract rich weirdos, followed by the country club and golf set, cash-flush retirees, and honeymooners /second honeymooners, too.

It was a gamble, but it worked. Making Fort Lauderdale's beach wheel-chair accessible was not only mandated by law, it was good business: the college budget motels have been replaced with glittering condo-hotels and golf/marina resorts.

David Main, who owns the beautiful Tallizmand Guest House, located on the breath-takingly beautiful Gower peninsula in South Wales, pictured above, says that he prefers the mature customer:

He said,

“We’ve just revamped the place and added another storey, and the feedback we’ve had from customers has been exceptional, which is very pleasing."

“It’s mainly middle-aged people we have here – walkers, birdwatchers, a few young people who want to go mountain biking, and quite a lot of overseas people."

“Just last week we had a very nice couple from New Zealand staying here, so it’s quite a variety of people. It’s because there is a huge variety of things to do here. It’s very easy to get here and to get away, and there are a lot of alternative activities to do when the weather is not so good."

“I’d say the average length of stay is around three to four days. Most people come for a weekend break, and it tends to be the more mature people who come for a week."

“That suits us because we’re trying to get away from the one-night stopovers – it’s a lot of work for not much return.”


So is the future of tourism in Wales not in backpacks and rough guides, but in "Diamonds, Yachts and Caviar?"

Either way, Wales is still a tremendous value to dollar-carrying Welsh relatives of mine, who prefer 'friendly hometown' Wales to rushed and dirty Heathrow and London.

If you're planing a visit to Wales this summer or autumn, we recommend the DVD

'Magic Islands And Harbours - Wales At It's Magnificent Best'



At Welsh American Family Genealogy, we believe there’s no better ‘Empty Nest’ activity than researching your Welsh family history and creating a legacy for future generations. You don’t have to be rich to leave behind an enduring heritage for your children and heirs.

What’s important is that you use the time wisely. If you would like to simulate your mind each day and stay young through constructive activities, than genealogy might be right for you!

Write to us and tell us your questions. We might not know the exact answer, but think of this as a daily adventure – thousands of other online readers will ‘pick their brains’ to help you!

Be sure to visit the Welsh American Family Genealogy Online Bookstore! Just Click here.

Gyda bob hwyl i bawb, Mark

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh-American Family Genealogy, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh Music, Film, and Books Symposium, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.

Visit the UK Film Studies and World Cinema and Music Import Showcase

© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

Thursday 21 June 2007

What's the best place to begin my Welsh-American Family Genealogy Research?




Pictured above: Cardiff City Hall, about ten minutes aways from Cathays Park, home to the Glamorgan Record office.

I've never done this before: What's the best place to begin my Welsh Family Genealogy Research?

If you're an Australian, American or Canadian visiting Wales this summer and you want to do a little genealogy research on your family tree, then you might want to begin by visiting the Glamorgan Record Office.

Glamorgan Record Office

It has over five miles of records in its strongrooms, dating from the twelfth century to the present day.

The Glamorgan Record Office website says:

"We can help you to..... trace the history of your family... discover the history of your town, village or house... carry out research for a school college or evening course... and much more"

"To allow all visitors to make best use of the facilities we would strongly advise you to reserve your place in advance. Please contact the office for an appointment and discuss your research needs."

Planning Your Visit to Wales:

The Glamorgan Record Office has two searchrooms open to members of the public.

In the Document Searchroom you may consult original records free of charge, including those relating to local authorities, schools, families and landed estates, industry, parishes, police, chapels and churches, as well as maps, plans and photographs.

"To help us, please contact us before your visit – some records need to be ordered in advance."

"In the Copy Searchroom sources can be consulted on microfilm and microfiche and in facsimile form. Sources include the General Register Office index to Births, Marriages and Deaths, census returns for Glamorgan and parish registers for almost all Glamorgan parishes."

"A small charge is made for the use of microfilm and microfiche. It is strongly advised that you book a film or fiche reader before you visit the Record Office."

ADDRESS

Glamorgan Record Office
The Glamorgan Building
King Edward VII Avenue
Cathays Park
Cardiff
CF10 3NE

Telephone: (029) 2078 0282
Fax: (029) 2078 0284
Email: GlamRO@cardiff.ac.uk

At Welsh American Family Genealogy, we believe there’s no better ‘Empty Nest’ activity than researching your Welsh family history and creating a legacy for future generations. You don’t have to be rich to leave behind an enduring heritage for your children and heirs.

What’s important is that you use the time wisely. If you would like to simulate your mind each day and stay young through constructive activities, than genealogy might be right for you!

Write to us and tell us your questions. We might not know the exact answer, but think of this as a daily adventure – thousands of other online readers will ‘pick their brains’ to help you!

Be sure to visit the Welsh American Family Genealogy Online Bookstore! Just Click here.

Gyda bob hwyl i bawb, Mark

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh-American Family Genealogy, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh Music, Film, and Books Symposium, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.

Visit the UK Film Studies and World Cinema and Music Import Showcase

© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

Saturday 16 June 2007

What's your motivation to write your Welsh Family History?


What's your motivation to write your Welsh Family History?

[Pictured right: the Elm Street Welsh Congregational Chapel, the oldest standing religious structure in Youngstown, Ohio, once at the heart of Welsh American Settlements in America.]

Do any of these words sound familiar? Empty Nest, Baby Boomer Blues, Retirement, AARP, Obituaries, Eulogies, Caregiver, Alzheimer’s, Pensions, Social Security, Grandchildren?

Are you experiencing the lonely ‘culture shock’ of aging, retirement, sickness, chronic illness, unemployment, children growing up and leaving home ‘Empty Nest Syndrome’, Divorce, becoming a Widow/Widower, recently single, or relocating to another city?

Perhaps you have a mind filled with memories, and you realize that when you go, all the memories will go with you? What can you do now to pass this knowledge along to your heirs and posterity?

At Welsh American Family Genealogy, we believe there’s no better ‘Empty Nest’ activity than researching your Welsh family history and creating a legacy for future generations. You don’t have to be rich to leave behind an enduring heritage for your children and heirs.

What’s important is that you use the time wisely. If you would like to simulate your mind each day and stay young through constructive activities, than genealogy might be right for you!

Write to us and tell us your questions. We might not know the exact answer, but think of this as a daily adventure – thousands of other online readers will ‘pick their brains’ to help you!

Be sure to visit the Welsh American Family Genealogy Online Bookstore! Just Click here.


Some of the Topics discussed here include: Creativity, Empty Nest Activities, Baby Boomer Blues, Retirement, AARP, Memoirs, Biography, Legacy, Heritage, Ancestry, Ancestor Worship, Burial, Graves, Family Bibles, Birth Certificates, Death Certificates, Chapel and Parish Records, British Library, and the Welsh National Library.

We've already received emails about the Llandaf Cathedral, Discovering the Past, Souvenirs, Collecting Heirlooms, Inheritance, Memorial, Remembrance, yn Cofio, Tombstones, Obituaries, Eulogies, Mining Communities, Slate Quarry Communities, Immigrants, Emigrants, Settlers, Pioneers, and Canadian Welsh Colonies.

Folks want to know more about the Welsh Eisteddfod, Gymanfa Ganu, Hymns, Sermons, Chapels, Nonconformist, Quakers, Baptists, Welsh Mormon, Welsh Unitarians, Welsh Presbyterians, The Salvation Army, Welsh Methodists, Calvinist-Presbyterian, Hiraeth, Hwyl, Cadw, Welsh Tourism, Cymru, Cymraeg, Cymreig, Cymro, Cambria, Welsh Valleys, Coal Mining, Welsh Towns, Cartref Cymreig, Welsh Sunday School, Welsh Poetry, Welsh Actors, Welsh writers, Welsh Harpists, Welsh Rubgy, Welsh Football, Welsh Cricket, Daffodils, Leeks, Taffy, Red Dragon, and the Ddragon Goch.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh-American Family Genealogy, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh Music, Film, and Books Symposium, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.

Sunday 10 June 2007

Donny Osmond Traces His Welsh Roots


"The Seventies teen idol visited Merthyr in 2004 to search for his roots with the help of BBC Wales."

"When international superstar Donny Osmond told BBC Radio Wales' Nicola Heywood-Thomas live on air that he thought he had Welsh ancestry, the ears of archivists in Wales started buzzing with excitement."

"It didn't take long for tongues to start wagging too, as the experts set about the search to find out if it could be true."

"It turns out Donny was right - the Osmond family can be traced back to Merthyr Tydfil as far back as 1585."

Read more coverage of Donny Osmond in Wales by the BBC, here:

Gyda bob hwyl i bawb, Mark

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh-American Family Genealogy, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh Music, Film, and Books Symposium, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.

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© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

Highly Recommended for Welsh Family Research!

My mother is coming to Wales in July, and she hopes to do some 'on the ground' research into our Welsh ancestors, the Williams Family of Dowlais, and the Watkins Family from Neath.

In preparation I gave her this highly recommended book for Christmas:



Gyda bob hwyl i bawb, Mark

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh-American Family Genealogy, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh Music, Film, and Books Symposium, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai Razing Ziggurats, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai's Post-Evangelical-Granola on the World Wide Web.

© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

Thursday 24 May 2007

"One day, you'll win the Ohio Welsh Eisteddfod!" my Grandma shouted.


Pictured to the right, Salvation Army Cadet Wilma Jean Poorman, the 'Heralds' class.

As the third day of January snow silently fell on the grey steel mill stacks in the valley below our wood-frame house in Youngstown, Ohio, out of my bedside transistor radio roared the rock band, Three Dog Night singing, ‘Joy to the World, All the boys and girls!’

It was 1971. I was a pimply and awkward adolescent with a high IQ and thick, industrial-strength geek glasses. Can you say ‘bully-target?’

My mother, the stern, under-nourished Salvation Army Officer, showed up at PTA meetings in a red cape and heels, looking like a character out of Guys and Dolls.

My older brother traded in his uniform and trumpet for leadership of the ghetto gang, the same year I decided it was safer in my family and neighbourhood to stay ‘in the closet’ for a few more years.

My plan was simple: I would wear nothing but hippie ‘Earth Shoes’ and blue jeans and get a macho, racing bike, to prove I was not a piano-playing, slide rule pushing gay-boy freak. I dropped subtle hints to my Mom, who was scrubbing floors by day and going to college by night, when she wasn’t leading prayer meetings.

The wintry day had arrived, my 12th birthday — I was sure I would get my bike. My Mom lead me into the tattered but immaculate, lace-covered living room, where my Welsh Grandma sat, next to the matriarchal sewing machine and family Bibles, to unveil my gift.

What’s this? Not an athletic, pump me up and make me butch bike? There, beside Grandma’s cane sat the Polish neighbour lady, Mrs. Szlowkowsky, sipping my Mom’s strong coffee, while smiling and extending her hand.

My church lady Mom and Mrs. Szlowkowsky waved their pasty white hands, like angels guarding the Biblical Arc of the Covenant, over a large, scratched case with broken brass snaps.

Barely breathing, I popped the snaps and caught a vivid vision of my inevitable years of coming persecution: A refurbished, 12-Bass ‘Festival’ Accordion.

The smell of musty billows and mouldy leather made me choke.

“Mrs. Szlowkowsky has agreed to give you lessons, if you agree to help her clean the choir loft at Saint Stanislaw’s Catholic Church on the corner of our street, once a week,” my mother said.

Mrs. Szlowkowsky smiled and offered me a plate of sliced walnut ‘placek’ (Polish coffee cake).

“It’s a ‘festival’ accordion; you’ll like that!” my Grandma said, as I thought to myself, “Whatever ‘festival’ means . . .”
"One day, you'll win the Ohio Welsh Eisteddfod!" my Grandma shouted.

“Thank you, Mrs. Szlowkowsky,” I heard myself saying, as I drifted away, not knowing this quirky, portable polka-playing keyboard was about to doom me to an adult life suspended somewhere between John Candy’s Rustbelt humour and Liberace’s Las Vegas tastes.

And since I mentioned ‘Candy’, have I told how I once knew this girl . . .

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai Razing Ziggurats, on the World Wide Web.

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Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai's Post-Evangelical-Granola on the World Wide Web.

© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

Monday 7 May 2007

Singled-handedly Arizonan Raises Worldwide Welsh Visability


Everyone is talking about how successful Carwyn Edwards has been, raising the visibility of the Welsh worldwide!

Have you read the latest newsletter from Carwyn?

'Latest News from Wales and All over the world!'

From the most recent newsletter, Carwyn refers North American Welsh folks to learn more about the Welsh elections and the Welsh Assembly Government:

Wales election, Thursday 3 May 2007

Carwyn's news article is read by 1000s, and appears in many blogs and portals on the worldwide web, including the Celtic Cafe and All Things Welsh

Celtic Cafe

All Things Welsh

If you are a member of the Welsh Diaspora, Welsh-descended, Welsh Ex-Pat, of Welsh Ancestry, or interested in Welsh and Celtic genealogy, heritage studies and modern Welsh culture in Wales and around the globe, then contact Carwyn to learn more:

Carwyn Edwards carwynedwards993@hotmail.com
1109 E Del Rio Street
Gilbert, Arizona 85296 USA

Welsh League of Arizona

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh-American Family Genealogy, on the World Wide Web.

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Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai's Post-Evangelical-Granola on the World Wide Web.

© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

Are Your Ancestors Welsh?


You are Welsh, your ancestors were Welsh, you are interested in Wales, you live in Wales or you wish you did - whatever your reason, join the community today.

Forum Wales

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh-American Family Genealogy, on the World Wide Web.

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© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

Sunday 6 May 2007

Cymdeithas Olrhain Achau Cymry America / Welsh-American Genealogical Society

Cymdeithas Olrhain Achau Cymry America / Welsh-American Genealogical Society

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.

© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

Teulu Williams Ohio Cymreig o Ddowlais / Ohio Welsh Williams Family of Dowlais

Pictured above: Grace Blanche Poorman (nee Lute), Chauncey Lute, and Grandma Charlotte Williams 'Lottie Lute' (26 August 1886-Sept. 1984).

Our Family History: Grandma Lottie’s Mother: Amelia “Minnie” Peacock-Williams, Born 1860 in Staffordshire, England; Died in Youngstown, Ohio, 1956.

Minnie Peacock married William J. Williams, Sr. an Iron Puddler from Dowlais, Wales (the place where iron-working was invented and booming in the early 1800s, near the industrial center of Merthyr Tydfil, in the mountain valleys north of Cardiff, in the Shire of Glamorgan.)

William J. Williams, Sr.’s Mother, Great-great Grandma Williams, was a monoglot Welsh-speaker, and refused to learn to speak English, even after she was settled in Youngstown. This was no problem in the late 1800s through the mid-1900s, as Mahoning County was home to one of the largest Welsh colonies in North America.

Every kind of daily business could be carried on in the language of Welsh in Youngstown, which even had Welsh language newspapers. Welshmen migrating from Wales in the 1800s found similar work to their jobs in Wales, where a majority of them worked in coal mines or iron foundries, and on small farms.

This Youngstown Welsh community retained their language for a couple generations, with the support of cultural events like Welsh Sunday School Song Fests ‘Gymanfa Ganu’ and a regular music and poetry competitions presented at the Youngstown-regional Eisteddfod, which is an ancient annual festival celebrating the 2,500 year old ‘bardic’ tradition in Wales, going back to the 12th century.

The leaders from the Youngstown Eisteddfod Society (which Grandma Lottie belonged to her entire life), were the founders of what has evolved into the annual North American Festival of Wales). Typical Welsh family surnames are still common in Youngstown, including Williams, Evans, Roberts, Price, etc.

The Williams Family arrived in Youngstown, Ohio, from Wales in 1861, at the beginning of the American Civil War. During the Civil War, immigration into the U.S. was suspended, but Abraham Lincoln made an exception, permitting the Welsh to emigrate into America, because he had heard tales of how the Welsh were gifted are iron-making, which could assist the Union war effort against the rebel Confederate South.

At the time that the Williams Family left the village of Dowlais, industrial migrations were not uncommon. But the South Wales area was experiencing an enormous economic boom at the time, and was second only to America in the number of people immigrating into Wales to find work. So

So William J. Williams, Sr. probably didn’t migrate to Ohio because of economic necessity, since Iron ‘Puddlers’ were in demand worldwide at the time, and they commanded good salaries and ‘foundry supervisor’ positions, wherever they chose to work.

It’s possible that the William J. Williams, Sr. Family was also interested in religious freedom, since they were members of the Dissenters, or Non-Conformists Movement, which was condemned and persecuted with established 'tithes' taxes by the official Church of England.

The Dissenters, or Non-Conformists Movement later evolved into Quaker, Baptist, Congregationalist and Presbyterian denominations. Dowlais was also an area where Welsh Nationalism and independence from English rule had its roots. An uprising of workers in nearby Merthyr Tydfil turned bloody in the 1830s when government troops fired on the crowd and killed many people.

Either way, the William J. Williams, Sr. family decided to move to Ohio, knowing full well they were going into a country in the middle of a bloody Civil War.

But why did they leave the familiar ancestral valleys of South Wales (however troubled by political unrest and violence), at the height of its Industrial Age Boom, and trade it for America? It’s possible that the William J. Williams, Sr. family wanted to leave the political and social turmoil in South Wales, so they migrated to the Mahoning Valley, which resembles the topography of the South Wales Valleys, and which allowed them to enjoy economic, religious, and political freedom.

Grandma Lottie is famous for pointing an index finger in the air, and fiercely exhorting her grandchildren to ‘never forget that you’re a Welshman!’ Did this loyalty to the Welsh homeland trace its roots in the Dowlais and Merthyr Tydfil uprisings and Welsh Nationalism, which was somehow communicated to Grandma Lottie as a family and ethnic pride? It seems plausible, if not likely.

Minnie Peacock’s sister: Ada Weaver of North Lima (had two daughters). Minnie Peacock’s brother: Samuel Peacock (he had a daughter, Mrs. Lily Shale, whose son Donald was father to Dr. Richard Shale, Y.S.U. Film Studies professor, and author of popular book on the history of Idora Park.)

Dr. Richard Shale


Minnie Peacock’s sister Mary Ann (two daughters, Hannah & Sadie). Dr. Rick Shale has researched the Peacock Family in England, and traced our lineage to the Dollinger and Batt Families.

Grandma Lottie, her brothers and parents attended the Welsh Congregation Chapel in downtown Youngstown, now the oldest-standing religious structure within the city limits. An African Episcopal Congregation now preserves the church building, restored after a fire, as their fellowship home.

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© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

Top 40 Welsh Surnames - Find Your Family and Genealogy in Wales


Mike 1024 says, 'I looked some figures up on this a year or two for a school project. These figures are from a study totalling names from the 6 Wales telephone directories.'

Here are the most common 40 surnames:

Jones - 60.57 per thousand
Williams - 37.81 per thousand
Davies - 36.76 per thousand
Evans - 24.66 per thousand
Thomas - 22.97 per thousand
Roberts - 17.14 per thousand
Hughes - 13.38 per thousand
Lewis - 12.96 per thousand
Morgan - 11.7 per thousand
Griffiths - 10.9 per thousand
Edwards - 10.33 per thousand
Owen - 8.85 per thousand
James - 7.66 per thousand
Morris - 7.5 per thousand
Price - 7.5 per thousand
Rees - 7.3 per thousand
Phillips - 6.34 per thousand
Jenkins - 6.23 per thousand
Harris - 5.79 per thousand
Lloyd - 5.64 per thousand
Richards - 5.51 per thousand
Powell - 4.72 per thousand
Parry - 4.49 per thousand
John - 3.65 per thousand
Watkins - 3.39 per thousand
Howells - 3.25 per thousand
Pritchard - 3.14 per thousand
Rogers - 2.71 per thousand
Matthews - 2.37 per thousand
Rowlands - 2.35 per thousand
Humphreys - 2.22 per thousand
Pugh - 2.19 per thousand
Ellis - 2.17 per thousand
Bowen - 2.17 per thousand
Hopkins - 2.14 per thousand
Martin - 1.91 per thousand
Bennett - 1.86 per thousand
Bevan - 1.69 per thousand
Pearse - 1.65 per thousand
Adams - 1.61 per thousand

These top 40 surnames only cover 38% of the welsh population, but this could easily be explained by varying numbers of people per telephone, studies taken from different eras, et cetera. Welsh-American Family Genealogy

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© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods