Robert Lloyd - a Sir Gar Blog of random news . . . and some Clecs!

Carmarthenshire County Council will invest £2million to deliver a new purpose-built base for the Carmarthenshire Archive Service. The council’s Executive Board today agreed to finance a new building at a preferred location, as an extension to the rear of Carmarthen Library. Executive Board members heard how bringing the archive service into the town centre would bring additional footfall to the King Street area of town, whilst adding to its ‘cultural quarter’ ethos. Several other sites had been considered, including Abergwili Museum and the Guildhall in Carmarthen, and Parc Howard in Llanelli. It is seen as a positive step forward for the archive service, which has been affected by an outbreak of mould at its present base in Parc Myrddin. The Collection is currently undergoing cleaning and is being returned to temporary storage at Glamorgan Archive and The Richard Burton Archive, Swansea. Providing a new purpose-built repository in Carmarthen will allow the return of the archives, an...

Three more of Carmarthenshire Archives collections have been made available to view. The records include Carmarthenshire Court of Quarter Sessions 1794-1971 – order books and judge’s notebook, Carmarthenshire Rural District Council minute books from 1950-1972 and Carmarthen District Council minute books from 1974-1996. The Court of Quarter Sessions usually tried crimes that could not be tried summarily by the Justices of the Peace without a jury in petty sessions, and were sent up by the process of indictment to be heard in Quarter Sessions. The court did not have jurisdiction to hear the most serious crimes such as capital punishment or later life imprisonment. These crimes were sent for trial at the Great Sessions, or after 1830, the Assize Court. In addition to its criminal jurisdiction and prior to the creation of the County Council in 1888, the court was also responsible for a number of administrative functions, such the repairs of roads and bridges, supervising the lunatic...

Unearthing the past and digging up the family secrets is rapidly becoming one of the nation’s favourite pastimes. People who are itching to find out what their ancestors were like and where they came from can get help at Carmarthenshire County Archives. The archive service can help bring family stories to life, and with advances in online technology the process has become much easier. A variety of original historical records are now available electronically including the census, parish registers, probate and wills records, electoral registers and their predecessors poll books, and some estate records, such as rentals. Executive board member for archives Cllr Meryl Gravell said: “Looking into their family history has become a really popular pastime for many people. “A number of TV shows have encouraged this interest and there have been some fascinating stories told. “Our archive service is available to help Carmarthenshire people find out more about their family history and see what a...

Couple of old photos from the family archive - Photo of Llanegwad Church in the Tywi Valley. Date unkknown. My grandather, 'Tommy' (Thomas Rhys) Lloyd, of Tyllandre, Llanegwad in the Tywi Valley, Carmarthenshire.

Historical treasures dating back centuries are on show at Carmarthenshire’s County Museum. They include mugshots of prisoners from the old Carmarthen gaol; Sir Robert Mansel fighting pirates; the first edition of the Carmarthen Journal, the Laugharne Charter giving them township status; a fishing grant given to Kidwelly in 1313, a recipe book from 1685 and a letter from Nelson. They are among the Carmarthenshire archives accumulated since the 16th Century which now cover nearly two miles of shelves in three strong rooms, holding documents which cover such diverse areas as landed estates, industries, businesses, church, chapel, education, roads, railways, canals, local societies and much more. The exhibition, which will be held at the Museum in Abergwili, from this month until January, will show some of the records held dating from the 13th to the 20th Century. There has been a record office in Carmarthen since at least the 16th century, when the Quarter Sessions was set up after the A...