Question of the Week: Do you have Welsh roots?

Question

Do you have any ancestors from Wales?

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Comments

According to my DNA I'm a little Welsh.

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I have Welsh roots on my mums side

Her great gran was born in Newtown mid Wales.

Her dad was born in Llanidloes and her mum was born in Tregynon, don't know her surname.

That's as far back as I've been able to go, dads name was Hughes, lots about at the time, Richard and Jane.

Susan

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If the evidence holds, we have 50 or more Welsh ancestors, most of them rather early. The two earliest possible ancestors I've located are

Gwladys FerchGruffydd (ferch Gruffydd) (born ca. 1120) (direct ancestor, 25 generations)

Maredudd ap Caradog (born ca. 1127) (direct ancestor, 24 generations)

These Welsh connections were previously unknown to my family; wish I'd have known them when visiting Wales a few years ago.

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My Evans ancestors arrived in Pennsylvania in the first decade of the 1700s, as part of the group, mainly from Fron Goch, near Bala in north Wales, and helped to form the community of New Gwyneth [there's still an Evans Road there, which believe bordered one side of their property.  I've seen a pedigree that traces them all the way to a third century Roman in England...but I'm doubtful of its accuracy!

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My wife’s parents spoke Welsh at home. Joseph Aubrey from I think Carnarvern, and Gwyneth Madoc-Jones from Anglesy

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Hi John,

Something about your post made me go back and look at my cousins family tree. His tree is so much more extensive than mine, and since we both descend from a set of twins! its easier to just go to his!! The name that stuck out for me was Gwladys!! I knew I had seen that name before! So I go to his tree, and go back what seemed a million generations!! there it was!!! That very same name! Gwladys Ferch Gruffydd!! That person is on my family tree thru my 2nd Great Grandmother, Susan Ann Morgan!! and thru her my DNA is 6% Welsh!!

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That's pretty neat -- glad my post helped out!

Answer 1

Assuming my information is correct, then yes! But only a little bit.

DNA results have always shown me as having a tiny bit of Welsh, and my 6th great grandfather, James Robert Morgan, was born in Glamorganshire, Wales.

Comments

Hi Olivia,

My Welsh family is Morgan also!! I descend from Lewis Morgan!! I believe the family is from Radnorshire, Wales! Thru them I am 6% Welsh!

Answer 2

Yes, my 6th GGF, Hugh Evans, 1772-1849, was from Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales. On the same ship when he crossed to America was a young lady named Hannah Fabb who he married shortly after they arrived in Philadelphia. They then moved west across Pennsylvania to one of the Welsh settlements in SW Pennsylvania called Cambria which was primarily a farming colony and is now in Cambria County, Pennsylvania. Cambria is thought to be the first Welsh speaking community in the United States. He stayed for awhile and then purchased land in Brush Valley, Pennsylvania which is not far from the Cambria colony where he was one of the earliest settlers. He is one of my brick walls.

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I was born and raised in Cambria County, and my oldest ancestral line in the US also seems to be Welsh immigrants who moved there (although they were coal miners). No surname overlap with you (my most recent Welsh ancestor was a Howell) but cool to see someone mentioning my home!

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I’m descended from the Howells who left South Carolina and moved west to Alabama and Mississippi. I’ve found DNA evidence they are the Howells descended from Ethelred Howell and his son Henry who came from Wales in the 1600’s.

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Interesting! This doesn't seem to overlap with my family's line, which starts with Thomas and Hannah Howell in Pennsylvania around 1800, and at least for my line nobody left Pennsylvania, although there could be a more distant connection.

Answer 3

My DNA shows about 4% on my maternal side. The lines for Braley and Reynolds have R-M269 haplogroup. Estimates show it has a high frequency in Wales.

Answer 4

Both of my mother's parents had Welsh ancestors. Her father's grandparents emigrated from Wales to Oneida County in upstate New York in 1847.  There was already a Welsh community there and many Welsh churches.   Her mother had Welsh ancestors who emigrated to Pennsylvania about 1720 and settled in the area around Uwchlan along with many other Welsh immigrants.  Both families were named "Evans," probably the most common surname in Wales.

Comments

I believe Evans is currently running 4th in the most common surnames in Wales, but that is for those currently living in Wales. I've no idea where it would be on a world-wide scale, but Jones is streets ahead of all competition for being the most common Welsh surname.

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My Welsh grandparents also lived in Oneida County and eventually moved to Fulton County. I am not able to identify what area in Wales they came from. Do you have any information about that group? Thanks!

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My great great grandparents were married at the church at Tal-y-llyn and were from that general area.  They both worked on a local farm called Maes-e-pandy.

Answer 5

Yes, my maternal great-great grandfather, Richard Whish Brigstocke (Brigstocke-16) was born in Walwyn's Castle, Pembrokeshire, Wales.

Answer 6

According to Ancestry DNA I am 11% Welsh.  7% on my mom's side and 4% on my dad's side.  Most of my lines I can go back 6-7 generations and No Welsh.  The lines that do go back further (most to the late 1500's to early 1600's) I have majority of Englich and Scottish with a few Irish and German and 2 branches from Denmark. So, unless some of the English are really Welsh, I don't know where it comes from.  Must be one or more of my brick walls.

Answer 7

Yes, my Great-great-grandmother was born in Monmouthshire and moved, with her family, to the US when she was 11 in 1870.

Answer 8

My Aubrey/Awbrey ancestors arrived in Wales in 1093 with Sir Reginald, a knight who was part of a force from England sent to conquer the kingdom of Brycheiniog (later Brecknockshire; now Powys county). He was my 24^th great grandfather. Aubrey descendants continue to live in Powys, other parts of Wales and England.

My line arrived in Virginia from Wales in the mid-1600s.

I am the membership coordinator for the Wales Project. If you are nterested in becoming a member, go to the Project link above and then answer the G2G welcome post.

Comments

The Wikitree Relationship Finder makes me out to be a 26th great grandoon of Reginald Aubrey.

The literature also claims my Gaines family is Welch,and relates me to David Gam, mentioned by William Shakespeare in Henry the V as one of the few English casualties of the  Battle of Agincourt.

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I do know those are Welsh origin names.

Answer 9

This is an open question for me. I know that my great grandfather, [[Barrett-11170|Frederick Bertram Barrett (1914-2004)]], was born in Newport, Wales, in 1914 - but I don't know whether there's any ancestry further back in Wales. Family DNA tests seem to find a little bit, but that may just be because my great grandfather happened to be born there; I don't know whether his parents had any prior Welsh connection.

Answer 10

I wish I did! Wales is a cool place, and they have the best damn flag. Would love to visit.

Comments

My grandma's maiden name was Jones and she said they were Welsh, like Tom Jones.  Guess I need to do some digging.

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with regards to Tom Jones the singer, his actual name is Thomas John Woodward.

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One of my three favorite countries. Don’t hesitate...go when you can for a splendid adventure. My favorite part is the north.

Answer 11

I don't, but I have roots in all of the other British countries, so I wouldn't be surprised!

Answer 12

I do not know I got roots in Wales, but I got many cousins there. They are descended from an Irish great grandfather.

I found a warrior Princes from Wales. Gwenllian: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Ferch_Gruffydd-20

She is a verry distant cousin.

Greetings Richard

Comments

Possibly my 28th great-grandmother!

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That s cool Justin, a warrior princes great grandmother. I want that too.

My great grandmom is saint Matilda.

greetings Richard

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We actually lived in a village in South Wales Called Kidwelly (Cydwelli in Welsh) just up from Kidwelly Castle. The street we lived on is called Llys Gwenllian (Gwenllian Court). Not too far from Kidwelly is another little village called Laugharne pronounced Larn, this is the village where Dylan Thomas the Poet lived and wrote a lot of his works.

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Thank you John

I didn t know Dylan Thomas. I read his profile. Nice.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Thomas-9078

Greetings Richard

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a very distant cousin on my tree also!

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Hi cousin Jacqueline,

Warrior Princes Gwenllian is your great Grandmother I think 

Greetings Richard

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Yes! You would be correct! I think something like my 27th!!!! lol

Answer 13

I was born in Shropshire and am about 45% Welsh according to Ancestry. My mum's maiden name was Meyrick, which is a Welsh name.

Answer 14

Yes.

My father was born in Pontypool, Monmouthshire although his father was born in County Durham, England.

My Mother was born in Chirk, Denbighshire (  on some census  Shropshire, England ???)

My Grandparents were also born in Chirk, Denbighshire

plus many more relatives.

Answer 15

Yes my great-grandfather was from Montgomeryshire (now Powys). His father was Welsh and his mother English. He became a civil engineer and that job took him all over the world. He met his wife (my great-grandmother) in Poland and their daughter (my grandmother) was born in Romania (as a British Citizen). They settled back in the West of England. He died in 1949.

Answer 16

Yes, like 6%.

Answer 17

Yes, I am a quarter Welsh,as my maternal grandmother was born in Blaenau Ffestiniog, and her ancestors came from all across North Wales, from Llanllyfni (near Caernarfon) in the east to Glyn Ceiriog in the west. My mitochondrial DNA gives a haplogroup H5, which is commoner in Wales (8.5%) than anywhere else in the world and much higher than in the rest of the UK. (The next-commonest places include Slovenia, Latvia and Belgium.) I am currently researching some of my Lloyd ancestors who came from Cwm Bychan near Harlech.

Comments

Technically Glyn Ceiriog is in the Easterly side of Wales, not the west. It’s away from the sea and towards the English border with ancient roads to Oswestry, Wrexham & Chirk linking it to England. Historically it’s obviously connected to Llangollen, being walking distance (no roads) over the hills. Had a Quick Look at you tree but can’t see a Glyn Ceiriog connection, I’d love to see one as we could connect. I am connected to most people in/from Glyn Ceiriog. 

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Of course, you are quite right - don't know how I made that mistake, except that sometimes I confuse left and right, so east and west are rather the same! I should have said "from Llanllyfni in the west to Glyn Ceiriog in the east" of course!

I haven't yet got back as far as putting my Glyn Ceiriog ancestors in Wikitree, but as it is my mitochondrial DNA line, they are the female ancestors of Ann Roberts who married William Lloyd. Her parents were John Roberts (Ellis) [son of Robert Ellis so he variously used Roberts and Ellis as his surname] from Llandrillo and Jane Jones from Cynwyd Fechan. Jane's parents were Thomas Jones (1730-1777) of Cynwyd Fechan and Elizabeth Morris, who was probably born in Llansantffraid Glyn Ceiriog (as all her siblings were) (1736-1781). Elizabeth's parents were Morris Hughes (b 1687 Rhiwlas, Llansilin, d after 1765, Nantyr Uchaf, Llansantffraid Glyn Ceiriog) and Catherine Nathaniel (b 1700 Llanarmon DC). I also know names of parents and paternal grandparents of Catherine Nathaniel. Catherine had six younger siblings that I know of who tragically all died soon after birth. Are any of these names familiar to you?

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Interesting, yes, we have some common surnames there. My Dad was born in Glyn, his Maternal line can be connected to the global tree through her Evans ancestors… who never moved in nearly 800 years lol. But I also have Morris and Hughes on this branch. In 1736 Glyn was tiny.. it was before the slate mines came there. So it’s very very possible we are related/connected! You may know Glyn is at the end of the Valley of the Ceiriog River so many of my ancestors moved down toward Glyn over the centuries, so they are from Llanarmon, Tregeiriog & the surrounding farmlands. It was so sparsely populated then that we may well be able to find connections! Are you in the Wales Project? We could chat on discord to see what we can discover?

Answer 18

My name is Peter Davies - need I say more?

My family were "gentlemen farmers" allegedly, in Camrose, near Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, but left around 1844 and moved to Liverpool.

My brick wall: they were Catholics, so I can't find any details of them before the 1841 census, except 2 baptisms in 1812, of William Davies, but no father, no address, so I don't know which one he was.

Answer 19

Ancestry.com DNA claims 2% Welsh on my maternal side, whick checks out with my tree, though quite far back, so for there to be that percentage, I must have more Welsh ancestors than I've discovered. John Olin Llewellyn, born 1644 in Flemingston, the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales was my 9th great grandfather. His son John, born 1664, immigrated to Rhode Island in about 1700 and married Susannah Spencer, who was born in Rhode Island.

Answer 20

Apparently, I do have some Welsh roots, according to the MyHeritage DNA results. My ancestor, Rosanna Hopkins, probably had some Welsh roots, too.  It's something to look into.