SOME USEFUL URLS - also see the Guardian's List of 50

General Registration and Parish Registers -

National Archives www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
National Library Wales http://www.llgc.org.uk/cronfa/index_s.htm
GENUKI www.genuki.org.uk
Ceredigion Archives
http://archifdy-ceredigion.org.uk/
Carmarthen Archives
http://www.carmarthenshire.gov.uk/eng/index.asp?locID=2674&docID=-
National Monuments Records - Wales
http://www.rcahmw.org.uk/nmrw.shtml

for the following search or contact or visit:-
National Archives / National Library Wales / Ceredigion Archives

SURVEYS
District 1910 Land Valuation Survey Cardiganshire Records
http://www.archivesnetworkwales.info/cgi-bin/anw/search2?coll_id=2030&inst_id=31&term=

HEARTH TAX - Explanation

The Hearth Tax was introduced in England and Wales by the government of Charles II in 1662 at a time of serious fiscal emergency. the majority of the surviving documents relate to the periods when the tax was administered directly by royal officials, who returned their records to the Exchequer, namely the periods 1662-1666 and 1669-1674

By the terms of the 1662 Act, the hearth tax was payable by people whose house was worth more than 20s a year, and who contributed to local church and poor rates. As a result, the hearth tax assessments cannot be considered to provide anything approaching a comprehensive census of the population but read on....

http://home.freeuk.net/montgensoc/pages/hearth_tax.htm
The hearth tax was levied between 1662 and 1689 but most surviving records date from 1662 to 1666 and 1669 to 1674.  The basic principle was to tax householders, other than the poor, for each hearth they owned.  In principle, therefore, the more hearths you owned, the more you paid.  The surviving hearth tax returns include lists of chargeable and not chargeable householders with a note in each case of the number of hearths each possessed.  The returns therefore have some of the characteristics of a census and, in national terms, are one of the nearest things to one before the 19th century.

Look at some of the examples in the page referenced above

SEARCH The National Archives [TNA] E179
[The main means of reference to the records in TNA is the E 179 database]
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/e179/

BRITISH HISTORY ONLINE SEARCH - might be useful for "fishing trips"
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/search.asp?query1=

National Monuments Records - Wales
http://www.rcahmw.org.uk/nmrw.shtml

also....
LAND SEARCH
http://www.landsearch.net

Listed Buildings for Sale - in case you feel like buying something !
http://www.heritage.co.uk/

MAPPING
http://www.old-maps.co.uk/
http://www.multimap.com/
http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk
http://www.mapquest.com
http://www.flashearth.com/

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF WALES – MAP LINKS PAGE -
http://www.llgc.org.uk/dm/dm0068.htm

Many of the records you will use are already arranged by historic administrative districts – to find out some other details, check enumeration sheets on the census returns 1841 - 1901

HOME PAGE Historical Directories and Typologies
http://www.historicaldirectories.org/hd/index.asp
http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/types/index.jsp

Ecclesiastical parish
http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/types/type_page.jsp?unit_type=ECC_PAR
Civil Parishes
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/geography/parishes.asp

Electoral division
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/geography/glossary/e.asp

Manors
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/mdr/
[manorial documents register] – will be covered in a later class

Poor Law Union [info]
http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/types/status_page.jsp?unit_status=PLU
http://users.ox.ac.uk/~peter/workhouse/ [type in place eg Lampeter, and search]

Wales: via Genuki Modern admin areas
http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/wal/Modern.html

LINKS – ARCHAEOLOGY AND HISTORIC MONUMENTS
There are four archaeological trusts in Wales

ARCHIVES ON LINE

FAMILY HISTORY RESOURCES