Family Tree / DNA

[Gofer Blue]

If you knew him you wouldn't need to ask

OK, just curious. I've done a lot of work on my family tree but wouldn't really be interested in spending time on researching 2nd or 3rd cousins unless there was a very specific reason for doing so.

[Harry Monk]

OK, just curious. I've done a lot of work on my family tree but wouldn't really be interested in spending time on researching 2nd or 3rd cousins unless there was a very specific reason for doing so.

Yes, the further the spread, the less of an interest. I have however spoken to 5th 6th cousins in other parts of the world whilst crossing over our research, and have kept in touch with one in Australia through regular emails and xmas cards.

[Mrs Steve R]

OK, just curious. I've done a lot of work on my family tree but wouldn't really be interested in spending time on researching 2nd or 3rd cousins unless there was a very specific reason for doing so.

I just meant he likes to get to bottom of things and usually does if it's possible

[Des Parrot]

Greetings CCMBers, I come to you via West Wales, Mid Wales, South Wales, the Valleys, the Marches and the Herefordshire border (by all of 100 yards).

However, my Cardiff connections actually stem from County Durham, where I can trace my roots back to 1750, as a family of blacksmiths, miners and steel workers. My great grandfather moved from County Durham to Splott in around 1891 to work at the newly opened steel works,

[Gofer Blue]

I just meant he likes to get to bottom of things and usually does if it's possible

OK, fair enough.

[Gofer Blue]

Greetings CCMBers, I come to you via West Wales, Mid Wales, South Wales, the Valleys, the Marches and the Herefordshire border (by all of 100 yards).

However, my Cardiff connections actually stem from County Durham, where I can trace my roots back to 1750, as a family of blacksmiths, miners and steel workers. My great grandfather moved from County Durham to Splott in around 1891 to work at the newly opened steel works,

A large percentage of Valley people are descendants of folk who came from all over the country to be part of the "coal Klondyke". My paternal great, great grandfather was an agricultural labourer from Wiltshire who came to Mountain Ash in the 1840's looking for work. Despite the dangers the mines offered steady employment whereas "Ag Labs" were often laid off over the winter months. My other great grandfather (on my grandmother's side of the family) was a copper miner from Devon, so he must have taken to coal mining quite easily.

[B. Oddie]

Tin and Copper mining were massive industries down in south west England. When work dried up there, loads of miners came over looking to use their skills in the coalfields.

I believe that the development of the start of the heavy coal industry in south Wales pretty much coincided with the fall in the tin/copper industry in south west England.

Swansea had a massive copper industry and their tin was exported around the world as was Rhondda coal.

Port Talbot had a massive influx of workers from west Wales (Carmarthernshire) in the late 19th century and Aberavon RFC are know as the "Wizards" because they all wanted to chase the egg and associate themselves with Merlin who is supposed to be from that area.

A lot of Irish immigrants came over to Cardigan and Pembrokeshire to escape starvation during the potatoe famine and eventually made their way east. Port Talbot town area still has a massive Irish ancestry mainly from navvies working on building the docks, and names such as o'Brien, Keogh, Kelly and Murphy are common.

Cardiff is obviously visibly diverse, again due to historical opportunities with the docks.

There was a programme on the BBC a year or two ago about immigration in Cardiff and I'm pretty sure that it claimed that Penarth Road in particular is the most culturally diverse street in the entire UK in terms of every neighbour had a completely different ancestry, e.g British, Somalian, Bengali, Chinese etc.

I find it all very interesting.

[Cyclops]

Tin and Copper mining were massive industries down in south west England. When work dried up there, loads of miners came over looking to use their skills in the coalfields.
I believe that the development of the start of the heavy coal industry in south Wales pretty much coincided with the fall in the tin/copper industry in south west England. I find it all very interesting.

You'd enjoy reading King Copper: South Wales and the Copper Trade, 1584-1895 Ronald Rees (in Cardiff Library)
He explains that it was cheaper to ship copper from Devon and Cornwall to South Wales because of the coal, limestone and water needed to refine copper ore