Caernarvonshire

Family history & genealogy records

Caernarvonshire is now part of the modern county of Gwynedd. Most records are listed under the historic county.

BMDs & Parish Records

  • Caernarvonshire Baptisms

    Discover your ancestors who were baptised in Caernarvonshire, Wales, between 1541 and 1913. The records may reveal where and when your relative was baptised, and possibly their parents' names, which would allow you to delve further back into your family tree.

  • Caernarvonshire Marriages & Banns

    Discover your Welsh ancestor's marriage, or intention to marry, in the historic county of Caernarvonshire. The records reveal your ancestors' names, marital status, and when and where they got married. You may even be able to find out if the marriage didn't go ahead.

  • Caernarvonshire Burials

    Discover your Welsh ancestor's burial record in the historic county of Caernarvonshire.

  • North Wales BMD

    Search and view birth, marriage and death records from 1837 onwards.

Census Records

  • 1939 Register

    Search 110,000 Caernarvonshire individuals from this census substitute.

Cemeteries & Graves

  • Find a Grave

    Has many free local cemetery records.

  • Y Ffôr.com

    Has many burial, and other, records for the county. Access is by making a small donation.

Local History

Societies

County context

About Caernarvonshire

This county is in form a long and irregular triangle, having its base or broader end measuring about 22 miles, lying on Denbighshire in the east, from the Great Orme's Head along the Conwy River as far as Llyn Conwy; and its narrower end tapering almost to a point in the long and rugged promontory of Lleyn to the south-west.

Its longest side runs from S.W. to N.E., bounded throughout by the sea, first by Carnarvon Bay, and then by the Menai Straits, and the bay between these and the Great Orme's Head. This side is nearly 55 miles in length. The other side, through the whole length of the promontory of Lleyn, lies on the Cardigan Bay, and the remainder of it is contiguous to the county of Merioneth.

The superficies of this triangle contains 544 square miles, or 348,160 acres. Owing to the extremely mountainous character of this county its population is comparatively small, but the growth of ports, slate quarries, and watering-places has of late years developed a steady increase.

Population statistics

  • 1831 — 66,500
  • 1841 — 81,093
  • 1851 — 87,870
  • 1861 — 95,696
  • 1871 — 106,122
  • 1911 — 125,043