ABOUT SEGONTIUM SEARCHERS

I first became interested in genealogy in 1984 after a family discussion about my Great Grandfather and his origins. There were numerous family stories about him, but nobody could say whether any of them were true. Armed with these vague stories I tentatively made my way to the Caernarfon Record Office to look at some strange records called "Census Returns."

This was back in the days before any records were available on the internet, in fact this was before the internet was invented, so all research had to be carried out manually by browsing through the records - no finding aids in those days. Without having a clue as to what I was doing I slowly made progress. After those initial hesitant steps, and the purchase of a "How To" book, I quickly became hooked.

Now, over thirty five years later, I am still searching - for my own family, and for others.

I specialise in research within North Wales, and regularly carry out research at Gwynedd Archives Service's Record Offices at Caernarfon and Dolgellau, Conwy Archives at Conwy, Anglesey Archives at Llangefni, North East Wales Archives' Record Offices at Ruthin (for Denbighshire families) and Hawarden (Flintshire). I also work at the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth and the University of Wales Archives at Bangor.

In addition to North Wales research I can also carry out general research in England and Wales via birth, marriage, and death records and census returns, and have access to both the Cheshire Archives in Chester and Shropshire Archives in Shrewsbury.

I am also able to carry out Irish and Scottish research, as well as the US and Canada, within the contstraints of records available online.

Since 2013 I have been organising Family History Tours on behalf of clients who wish to experience how their ancestors lived and worked in North Wales.

Genealogy research is fascinating, and I find myself captivated by the work, whether it be my own family that of a client. Every family has a tale to tell, and it does not matter if they are made up of agricultural labourers or the gentry, they are all interesting in their own right.