Find a Welsh Emigrant or Immigrant from Wales Record Selection Guide

Helpful information to know before starting a search

• Full name of the immigrant ancestor
• Approximate year of arrival
• Approximate age at arrival
• Names of the immigrant’s children
• Region, county, or parish of origin
• Where the ancestor lived in the new country
• Relatives’ names: parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins
• Religious affiliations
• Occupations (include all over their lifetime)

Decide what you want to learn, select a date range and what you know about the emigrant then choose a source to examine.

Welsh Emigrant Record Finder

What you want to learn	Date Range	What is known about the emigrant	Sources
Place of origin	Pre 1790	Name	British 19th Century Surname Atlas Biographies County marriage indexes Farm or house name The surnames of Wales
	Pre 1790	Name and religion	Settement patterns in the U.S. Church or chapel histories British 19th Century Surname Atlas Biographies Denominational periodicals
	1790-1890	Name and occupation	Death certificates Obituaries Denominational periodicals Biographies Settlement pattern by occupation Welsh American Index by Gethin Mathews
	1790-1890	Name and both parent's names	Welsh county marriage indexes(pre 1837) Wales civil registration indexes
	1890-present	Name	Death certificates Obituaries Out bound passenger lists Denominational periodicals
Parent's names	Pre 1790	Name	Settlement patterns Denominational periodicals Histories
	1790-1890	Name	Obituaries civil registration birth indexes (1837 forward) From 1841, Wales census Welsh American Index by Gethin Mathews
	1890 to present		Death certificates Marriage certificates Obituaries
Why they emigrated	all dates		The Rural Poor in Eighteenth Century Wales Agriculture in Wales During the Napoleonic Wars The Welsh in America: Letters from the Immigrants edited by Alan Conway

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