Allen Powell wrote (to WLS-CAERNARFONSHIRE-L(a)rootsweb.com)
<< I am subscribed to the Glamorgan List. Today there have been 60+ emails.
There are close to 800 subscribers.If this is taken as a reflection of the
population of Glamorgan then surely it is a nonsense to have separate lists
for Anglesey, Caernarfon and Meirionydd with much smaller populations.
A short study of the 1881 census quickly shows up a great deal of population
movement between the 3 old counties, so what is wrong with a Gwynedd List ?
Allen
>
There is, of course a Gwynedd list AS WELL as the ones for
the three separate
counties WLS-Gwynedd@
rootsweb.com.
My own feeling would be to scrap all the county & regional lists and have one
national list for Wales. I am a member of most of the Welsh lists, I often
get the same posting ten times, because it has been sent to so many.
There is a lot of confusion about cross boundary issues — about 5% of all
queries during the last week fall into this category — (I've seen postings on
Clwyd about Trawsfynnydd, on Powys about Fflint and about Aberaeron on
Glamorgan and even I made the mistake of asking Glamorgan about Newport in
Monmouthshire).
50% of the postings on the busier lists are about general interest matters
pertaining to Wales rather than county specific - attitudes towards drinking
— what's the Welsh word for? - Whinberrys - Welshcakes - nonconformist
burials — ap & vch — is this a common name in Wales? — what is the URL for
the National Library? — when can I see the 1901 Census? - Can I visit rural
grave yards during the foot & mouth crisis? - Has anybody got a John Jones
from Wales in their family?!!! Things which would be as relevant to the
family historian in Holyhead as they are to the one in St. Melons
5% are things that are misplaced o genealogical lists and another 5% are of
the "testing" "thanks Jo" "thanks Jane" variety.
Of the 35 % remaining, they are as likely to be answered by people such as
Allen , John Gareth or my self who "pop up" everywhere as they are by the few
"one listers"
I wonder how many people there are in Gwynedd or Clwyd who have not got a
family member who "went south" to the coalfields. Is there anybody in the
South who has not got a "Gog" skeleton in the cupboard, and is there anybody
in the World with Welsh ancestry who could not do with SKS who lives near
Aberystwyth to do a lookup in the NLW?
The A470 is enough of an obstacle to unity in our very small country, do we
really need a divided rootsweb as well?