To All Welsh researchers
We all know how invaluable the I.G.I is to our research, we also know that
it is a transcription of original records, so therefore we must all go back
to the source in case of mistakes and also other information not used in the
transcription.
For Welsh researchers there is magor flaw with the Welsh I.G.I especially
the online version, baptisms and christenings pre 1815 are indexed by the
fathers christian name. This is because of the lack of knowledge by the
Mormon church about the patronymic naming system which was used for
generations throughout Wales. To say that in most Welsh counties that
families had not established a surname by the 18th century is untrue. I have
carried out a huge amount of research in Monmouthshire and a tremendous lot
in Glamorgan & Breconshire, and I can say quite confidently that by at least
1700 the vast majority of Welsh men & women in these 3 counties were using
surnames, and by 1750 I have never come across a family without one, and I
guess it may have been the same in the rest of Wales.
The records themselves for past 20 years + have come from the bishops
transcripts which date from 1725 with a few odd years from about 1695. I
personally think and again I am quite confident about this, if the L.D.S
centre at Utah converted their Welsh baptisms to indexed by surname, it
would help those people researching a great deal.
There are no easy tricks before anyone makes this suggestion of munipalating
the online index to work your way around this problem. I have records of
many English families who came to Monmouthshire and Glamorgan before 1815,
but when you search for them on the I.G.I they are simply not there because
you dont know the fathers christian name and it is the same for Welsh
families.
Here is a small example in my own family in Carmarthenshire these are
children born to Stephen & Elinor Smith who have been indexed by the surname
Stephen
3. MARY STEPHEN - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Female Christening: 07 SEP 1809 Llanfairarybryn, Carmarthen, Wales
4. THOMAS STEPHEN - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Christening: 28 APR 1807 Llanfairarybryn, Carmarthen, Wales
1. JOHN STEPHEN - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Christening: 28 MAR 1803 Llandingat, Carmarthen, Wales
I think as Welsh family historians we should organise some sort of campaign
to encourage the L.D.S church to reverse this error so we can really enjoy
their dedication to family history, which can only advance our own.
Mike John
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