Pembrokeshire, Wales Genealogy

Wales Pembrokeshire

Guide to  ancestry, family history and genealogy parish registers, transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

Historic Pembrokeshire


Pembrokeshire (Welsh: Sir Benfro or Penfro) was one of the thirteen historic counties of Wales. It was a maritime county, bounded to the west by the Irish Sea, to the east by Carmarthenshire, and to the north by Cardiganshire.

The administrative county of Pembrokeshire, with an elected county council, was created in 1889 by the Local Government Act 1888. The county was governed by an elected county council, who took over the functions of the Quarter Sessions courts. The county was based on the ancient Welsh kingdom of Dyfed. The county town was Haverfordwest. St. David's cathedral lay in the west of the county. Pembrokshire had the longest coastline, and the most islands, of any of the Welsh counties.

The county was founded as a county palatine in 1138, under the first Earl of Pembroke. It has traditionally been split between its mainly English-speaking south (known as "Little England beyond Wales") and its mainly Welsh-speaking north, along an imaginary line known as the Landsker.

Following the Act of Union between Wales and England in 1536, the county was divided into hundreds of Cilgerran, Cemais, Dewisland, Roose, Castlemartin, Narbeth and Daugleddau.

Chapman Code: PEM

1974-1996 Dyfed
Under the Local Government Act 1972, the county and administrative county of Pembrokeshire were abolished, for both local government and ceremonial purposes, on April 1, 1974. Pembrokeshire became two districts, South Pembrokeshire and Preseli, of the newly formed county of Dyfed, which covered the whole of west Wales. Carmarthen became the county town of Dyfed.

Modern Pembrokeshire
Following further local government reorganisation, the county of Dyfed was abolished on April 1, 1996 and the present-day county of Pembrokeshire was created. It's boundaries were the same as the ancient county of Pembrokeshire although in 2003, the community of Clunderwen was transferred from neighbouring Carmarthenshire into Pembrokeshire. The county town is Haverfordwest.

Topics

 * Pembrokeshire Nonconformist Records
 * Genealogy from Periodicals

Websites

 * Pembrokeshire Resources and Help pages RootsChat Pembrokeshire Resources and Help pages. (Free).


 * Dyfed Family History Society

Genealogy

 * Rootsweb Pembrokeshire board
 * BBC Wales south-west genealogy

Societies

 * Dyfed Family History Society