Find your ancestors in Anglesey Baptisms

Learn about these records

Discover if your ancestor was born in the Welsh island of Anglesey. Search more than 240,000 baptism registers to find out their name, date of birth and the names of their parents.

What can these records tell me?

Each record contains the transcription of an original parish record. The information contained varies but you could be able to find out the following about your ancestor:

• Name
• Date of birth
• Date of baptism
• Parish
• Father’s name
• Father’s occupation
• Mother’s name
• Parent’s residence
• Place of birth

Discover more about Anglesey Baptisms

There are 246,261 records in this collection taken from the baptism registers from more than 80 parishes.

Before the introduction of the civil registration of births, marriages and deaths in 1837 all such events were recorded in the local parish.

Parish records generally begin from 1538 after the Church of England mandated the keeping of parish registers in 1537. Baptisms, marriages and burials were all recorded in a single volume until 1774, when the law changed to require a separate marriage register and another one for Banns (or proclamations of an intent to marry). Standardised forms for these registers appeared in 1812.

Other religious denominations, with the exception of the Quakers and Jews, often registered these events in their local Church of England parish even after the Toleration Act of 1689 although between 1754 and 1837 it was illegal to marry anywhere other than a Church of England parish.

Anglesey, or Ynys Mon as it is called in Welsh, is an island off the north west coast of Wales. Two bridges span the Menai Strait to connect the island to the mainland. The Menai Suspension Bridge was designed by Thomas Telford in 1826. The Britannia Bridge was designed and built by Robert Stephenson in the 1850s. The original tubular wrought iron bridge Stephenson built was destroyed by a fire in 1970 and subsequently rebuilt.

Formerly part of Gwynedd, Anglesey, Holy Island and several smaller islands now make up the Isle of Anglesey County.

The island is largely Welsh speaking and has long been known for its copper mining. Historically the island has been associated with the druids. The island was invaded by Irish pirates in the early 5th century after the Romans withdrew from Britain. After the Irish the island was invaded by Vikings, as well as Saxons and Normans. It fell to Edward 1 of England in the 13th century.

Anglesey is the largest Welsh island, the fifth largest surrounding Great Britain and the largest in the Irish Sea. The town of Holyhead on Holy Island is the major port for travel across the Irish sea to Dublin. Anglesey also has the village with the longest place name in in Britain – Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. The name was concocted in the 19th century to attract tourists. It translates as “The church of St. Mary in a hollow of white hazel near a rapid whirlpool and near St. Tysilio's church by the red cave” and is usually shortened by the locals to either Llanfairpwyll or Llanfair P.G.

Images thanks to the Welsh Archive Services / Gwasanaethau Archifau Cymru

Transcriptions © brightsolid online publishing ltd