WE OFFER THE FOLLOWING
ENQUIRY SERVICES FOR
MEMBERS AND NON-MEMBERS:-

		Burial Index Enquiry Service
		Marriage Index Enquiry Service
		Monumental Inscriptions Enquiry Service
		Strays Index Enquiry Service

THE FOLLOWING ADDITIONAL
FACILITIES ARE AVAILABLE
FOR OUR MEMBERS ONLY:-

		Pedigrees Index
		Photographic Facilities
		Research Facilities

PLEASE REMEMBER
 
if you are writing to anyone seeking assistance,
you must enclose a stamped, addressed envelope
or, if overseas, two International Reply Coupons.
Our officers providing these services are only able to answer
requests received by post, so please do not try to telephone them,
nor contact them via e-mail unless this is specifically mentioned.
If you are a member, please quote your membership number.

BURIAL INDEX ENQUIRY SERVICE (available to members & non-members)

This is a brand new project which covers the burial registers for the 4 token parishes we transcribed for the First Edition of the National Burial Index (NBI), and the increasing number of parishes where we are transcribing the burial registers for inclusion in the next Edition of the NBI. All these parishes are listed below.

The fee for this service is £2 per surname [including variations specified by the enquirer] per parish, or £5 for a blanket search of all parishes in the list below.

If you would like a search to be made, please write to the Gwent FHS Secretary:

Mrs Nicola Thomas
11 Rosser Street, Waunfelin,
PONTYPOOL, Gwent NP4 6EA
secretary@gwentfhs.info

...with details of the surname concerned and enclosing a cheque for the appropriate fee. This cheque must be made payable to "Gwent F.H.S.", in £ (pounds sterling, or GBP) and drawn on a UK Bank.

If you believe you know the parish in which your ancestor may have been buried, look at the indexes and transcriptions of Church and Chapel Registers that we sell on microfiche (or, in some cases, on CD as well), to see if we may have the details.

MARRIAGE INDEX ENQUIRY SERVICE (available to members & non-members)

The Society have created a Marriage Index for the years 1813 to 1837 for most of the parishes of the old county of Monmouthshire. It is held alphabetically in two parts, groom and bride, and many members have already traced ancestors by using this index, even though it has only recently been completed.

The fee for this service is £1.00 each for the first five marriages and 50 pence per marriage thereafter.

For details, please write to:
Gwent FHS Marriage Index, 35 Trinity Street, Abergavenny, Gwent, NP7 5EA

Alternatively, copies of the two parts of the Index can be purchased on microfiche from our County Sales Officer.

MIs INDEX ENQUIRY SERVICE (available to members & non-members)

We have researched all of the known churchyards and chapel graveyards (not Local Authority cemeteries) within the old county of Monmouthshire, as well as a few which are situated just over the county border, although some have been recorded only up to the early 1900s.

Details of the plots and of the monumental inscriptions have been transcribed and indexed, and copies of these on microfiche can be ordered from our County Sales Officer.

In addition, we are now able to offer an M.I. enquiry service, using a computer index which has been compiled by amalgamating all the indexes from the files of the graveyards which have been recorded.

These are shown on this web site on the Monumental Inscriptions page giving the List of Fiche in Alpha Order (then click on the 'Services' button on the top of that page to return here). But please remember, as mentioned above and as you will see from the List, these exclude all public cemeteries and, in the case of some of the graveyards, also exclude details later than the nineteenth century. The index contains names and references, but NOT the actual inscriptions.

If you would like a list of all entries for any particular surname, anywhere in the county, write to:
Gwent FHS MI Index, 51 Newport Road, Lower New Inn, Panteg, Pontypool, Gwent, NP4 0NU
with details of the surname concerned and enclosing a cheque payable to "Gwent FHS." for the appropriate fee (see below). If you wish to receive details for an uncommon surname and you are a member of our Society, you must also quote your membership number in order to qualify for the concessionary fee. In return, you will be sent a list (uncommon surnames on paper, common surnames on fiche) showing all occurrences of that surname on the headstones in the graveyards which have been recorded.

Each entry is on a separate line, ending with a number: the first part is the graveyard number and this is followed by the file reference number. You will be sent a numerical list of the graveyards with the reply to your enquiry, so that you can identify the whereabouts of each burial. You can also do this from this web site by going to the Monumental Inscriptions page giving the List of Fiche in Numeric Order (then click on the 'Enquiry Services' button on the top of that page to return here).

We regret that we are not able to send the full inscriptions. After receiving the index list, if you wish to see the full inscription of any entry you can:-

WARNING:

Those seeking ancestors with "common" surnames may not find the Computer Index of any help. For example, there are 60 A4 pages of entries with the surname of WILLIAMS, and 66 pages of JONES and there are likely to be many entries on those pages containing the same forenames. As you can imagine, you will find it extremely difficult to judge whether a person is likely to be in your family unless you have significant additional information to help you.

Please do not send additional information, because we are only able to provide you with the names and graveyards - YOU will have to decide which, if any, of the entries are appropriate.

CHARGES

Cheques made payable to "Gwent F.H.S." must be in £ (pounds sterling, or GBP) and drawn on a UK Bank.

Uncommon Surnames (paper copies):

For "uncommon" surnames (i..e. those NOT listed below), enquiries can be made for up to a maximum of 5 surnames at any one time. All details found will be printed out and sent to you and, to cover the combined cost of the search and producing the results, a fee of £2.00 will be charged.

Common Surnames (microfiche):

To reduce the costs to members, the details for the more common surnames listed above (and some of their possible alternatives) have been produced on microfiche.

All microfiche produced by the Society and its branches
are sold at the standard price of  £1 (sterling)  per fiche,
plus a charge to cover the costs of postage and packing
(please refer to the separate page listing these costs)

STRAYS INDEX ENQUIRY SERVICE (available to members & non-members)

This index records Monmouthshire people who have been "found" in old documents in other parts of the country. Sometimes lost ancestors can be traced in this way, and we are indebted to friends in other counties for supplying this information.

For details, please write to:
Gwent FHS Strays Index, 35 Trinity Street, Abergavenny, Gwent, NP7 5EA

MEMBERS' INTERESTS INDEX (searches available to members only)

A record is kept of the names being researched by members that they have advised us of, together with dates, places etc. These are published in the Journal as soon as possible after a member joins the Society, and they are also made available, on request, to other members who are researching the same name.

Click here to see our online Members' Interests directory.

Queries - interests@gwentfhs.info

From time to time, we publish up-to-date lists of all our members' interests, and these can be purchased on microfiche from our County Sales Officer, by members or non-members.

PEDIGREES INDEX (available to members only)

A record is kept of any family trees which members are encouraged to deposit with the Society, listing their ancestors (personal details of living relatives may be omitted). The main names appearing on the trees are listed in a card index and often, by using this, members can be put in touch with other members researching the same name.

The contact address is printed in our Journal.

PHOTOGRAPHIC FACILITIES (available to members only)

Several members are willing to undertake the task of photographing places of interest within the County, a service that is much appreciated by members living in other parts of the country or overseas. Members will be required to cover the costs, which will naturally vary according to the assignment. It is impracticable to make this service available to non-members.

In the first instance, members should contact our Secretary, giving details of their request. The Secretary's address is shown on our Society's home page, or secretary@gwentfhs.info

RESEARCH FACILITIES (available to members only)

As a Society, we regret that we are not able to undertake private research for individual members. However, sometimes an out-of-county member's research comes to a halt for the want of a particular piece of information which is only accessible in Gwent. When this happens, we are often able to find a local member who is willing to spare a little time from his or her own family history researches to give a helping hand to a fellow member.

If you need assistance in this way, please contact our Secretary, who will send you a list of members who have expressed a willingness to help in this way. However, this will be done on the strict understanding that the Society can accept no further responsibility - all arrangements, including all expenses, costs, fees etc, must be agreed between the parties themselves. The Secretary's address is shown on our Society's home page, or secretary@gwentfhs.info