Ever thought about researching your family tree? Welsh Libraries Champion Ruth Jones and Celebrity Genealogist Cat Whiteaway urge you to make your local library your first port of call.
Libraries in Newport offer a variety of resources to assist users in their local and family history research, including books, photographs, maps and plans, newspapers and periodicals, illustrations, directories, electoral registers, records and census returns. There is also free internet access so you can visit websites such as ancestry.com free of charge, when a subscription for this website normally costs £60 per year. The latest addition to this database also includes a searchable list of all British Prisoners of War captured in Europe during World War II.
Cat Whiteaway says: “I wouldn’t be able to produce my radio and television shows without the help of libraries. The local knowledge of staff is vital and we often find volunteers with expertise and enthusiasm in a particular subject area in the library. I love to bring a family tree to life by delving a bit further – how they lived, what were the work and living conditions like, local and social history – I certainly couldn’t do it alone and libraries are one of the best places to begin my research.”
Welsh Libraries Champion Ruth Jones recently met up with Cat at the library and said: “I found it really interesting to learn more about the services available in the library. The staff play such an important role and many libraries also have weekly taster sessions to get people started with researching their family tree – I may get signed up as soon as I have some free time!”
For more information, visit www.newport.gov.uk/libraries or call 01633 656656.
