Born and bred in North Wales, I've lived in Caernarfon, Gwynedd all my life. I worked in retailing for twenty eight years, holding various positions at Woolworths. When the company went to the wall in 2009 and redundancy beckoned I set up Segontium Seachers.
I first became interested in genealogy in 1984 after a family discussion about my Great Grandfather and his origins. There were numerous family stories about him, but nobody could say whether any of them were true. Armed with these vague stories I tentatively made my way to the Caernarfon Record Office to look at some strange records called “Census Returns.”
This was back in the days before any records were available on the internet, in fact this was before the internet was invented, so all research had to be carried out manually by browsing through the records – no finding aids in those days. Without having a clue as to what I was doing I slowly made progress. After those initial hesitant steps, and the purchase of a “How To” book, I quickly became hooked.
Now, over twenty five years later, I am still searching – for my own family, and for others.
I specialise in research within the County of Caernarfon (Carnarvon, Caernarvon) and regularly carry out research at the Caernarfon Record Office, Conwy Archives at Llandudno, and the University of Wales Archive at Bangor. I also work from the Llangefni Record Office (for Anglesey families), Ruthin Record Office (for Denbighshire families), and Dolgellau Record Office (for Merionethshire families).
In addition to North Wales research I can also carry out general research in England and Wales via birth, marriage, and death records and census returns. I also have access to Scottish census returns 1841-1901.
Genealogy research is fascinating, and I find myself captivated by the work, whether it be my own family that of a client. Every family has a tale to tell, and it does not matter if they are made up of agricultural labourers or the gentry, they are all interesting in their own right.
http://www.segontium.com
