Cardiganshire, Wales Genealogy

WalesCardiganshire

Historic Cardiganshire

Cardiganshire (Welsh: Sir Aberteifi or Ceredigion) was one of thirteen historic counties of Wales. It was a maritime county, bounded to the west by the Irish Sea, to the north by Merionethshire, to the east by Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire and Breconshire, and to the south by Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire. The county was created in the 1240s. The administrative county of Cardiganshire, with an elected county council, was created in 1889 by the Local Government Act 1888. The county was governed by an elected county council, who took over the functions of the Quarter Sessions courts. Aberaeron and Aberystwyth were joint county towns.

Motto: Golud Gwlad Rhyddid (English: A nation's wealth is freedom)

Chapman Code: CGN

1974-1996 Dyfed

Under the Local Government Act 1972, the county and administrative county of Cardiganshire were abolished, for both local government and ceremonial purposes, on April 1, 1974, with Cardiganshire becoming part of the newly formed county of Dyfed covering the whole of south-west Wales.

Modern Ceredigion

Following further local government reorganisation, the county of Dyfed was abolished on April 1, 1996 and the present-day county of Ceredigion was created. This covers substantially the same area as the historic county of Cardiganshire.

Topics

• Cardiganshire Nonconformist Records
• National Library of Wales

Jurisdictions

• 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
• Poor Law Union
• Archdeaconry
• Diocese
• County

Parishes

See a list of the parishes in Cardiganshire here.

Research tools

• The National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth.
• The Ceredigion Archive

Useful websites

• Cardiganshire Resources and Help pages RootsChat Cardiganshire Resources and Help pages. (Free).
• Cardiganshire Family History Society (Web)
• Cardiganshire Family History Society (Facebook)

more Cardiganshire websites ...