Gwent Family History Society

Gwent, which replaced the historic county of Monmouthshire in 1974, is situated in the south-east corner of Wales and is often referred to as the "Gateway to Wales". In 1996, it was replaced administratively by the new unitary authorities of Monmouthshire, Blaenau Gwent, Newport, Torfaen and Caerphilly. Gwent Family History Society covers the ‘old’ county of Monmouthshire and branches reflect the current unitary areas.

Founded in 1981, the society has grown to a membership of 1,500 with meetings held in Newport, Chepstow, Ebbw Vale, Pontypool and Blackwood (following the regrettably unavoidable closure of our Abergavenny/Monmouth Branch, because no volunteers were willing to form a new Branch Committee). Individual branches have various resources available to members, such as microfiches, CDs and books to assist with general research but particularly for this part of Wales. A Society Open Day is held every year to encourage new membership by showing what the Society has to offer, such as its research services and publications.

You can also discover your Welsh ancestors in a wide range of marriage records thanks to our partnership with the Gwent Family History Society. We also have a collection of marriage announcements for Pontypool. The majority of the announcements are of couples who were married in Pontypool, but some of announcements are of weddings in other counties such as Shropshire and Cornwall:

• Blackwood Marriages
• Blackwood Branch Marriages
• Chepstow Branch Marriages
• Ebbvale Marriages
• Gwent Non-Conformist Marriages
• Pontypool Marriage Announcements