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Welsh emigration refers to people who moved from Wales to reside abroad. This often involved first travelling to England to board the ship of their choice from a port such as Bristol or Liverpool. A person may have chosen to emigrate from Wales for voluntary reasons, such as to look for better work prospects overseas or to be with a family member who had already relocated. The reasons may alternatively be involuntary, such as being transported to America or Australia as a registered punishment for a crime. Some journeys from Wales leave more documentation than others, largely depending on the period in which they travelled and the continent to which they travelled. Short journeys within Europe do not survive well until the recent period. Welsh emigrants are known for relocating to places where certain industries, such as ironworking and mining, were booming as well as to escape religious persecution. This resulted in many Welsh communities being formed overseas, such as in Patagonia, Argentina and Pennsylvania and Ohio in the USA.
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Reasons for EmigrationReasons for Emigration
There are numerous reasons a Welsh ancestor may have emigrated; many are similar to the reasons people may move today. These include:
Voluntary Emigration
- To escape religious persecution or to relocate to a place more accepting of their religion (Wales is known to have had a high rate of nonconformity)
- To find better work prospects, such as working in mining and farming
- To train or study for a new career
- Due to working as an indentured servant, following their employer abroad
- To move closer to family who had already moved abroad
- To escape criminal justice
Involuntary Emigration
- Transportation to the United States (1615-1776) and Australia (until 1868) was a common punishment. This was usually for 7 years, 14 years or life. Many people chose to stay in their new country after they had served their time
- Many children, often orphans, were relocated abroad in an attempt by the British government to expand the population of their empire. These children were often assisted by charities, such as Barnardos
Passenger ListsPassenger Lists
From 1842 onwards, ships from Wales were required to keep passenger lists naming all of those on-board. There are also some earlier examples prior to this date, however most surviving records date from 1890 onwards. Nearly all of the surviving passenger lists from Wales relate to journeys that ended outside of Europe, such as the United States and Australia. The date of the requirement to keep passenger lists in their destination country may be different so it is worth searching to see if their inbound passenger list survives.
The National Archives holds the records for outbound passengers travelling from the UK between 1890 and 1960 in Series BT 27. Each passenger list varies according to the details that it holds with the requirements for certain information changing multiple times. The information that a passenger list may contain includes:
- The passenger's name (sometimes only a first initial is given and middle names are usually omitted)
- The passenger’s age (may not be completely accurate)
- Their occupation
- Their place of birth (may be a named parish or less specific, such as a county)
- The name of their employer
- The name of their next of kin or relative they were going to live with abroad
- Their intended final destination- this was not always the country the ship is heading for, they may be due to travel on another connecting ship
Relationships between passengers are not usually stated but these can often be inferred by looking at the ages of those travelling with the same surname. Families may have all travelled together, or separately. Often, a husband would relocate first to settle down with a new job and a new home before his wife and children would join him.
Many passenger lists have been digitised and are available online and many further transcripts are available. One example is the British & Irish Passenger Lists 1890 record set at MyHeritage featuring many Welsh entries, including departures from Swansea. Remember that many Welsh people travelled from English ports.
Newspaper ArticlesNewspaper Articles
You may find passenger lists published in newspapers, usually in those local to the port of departure. Some smaller boats name all of their passengers, but most only list those seen as notable such as royalty and politicians. They may only give the names of passengers or they may add extra detail, such as ages and occupations. In rare cases relationships are stated.
Newspapers are most likely to be useful if you know the name of your ship on which your ancestor was travelling. The 'Shipping News' column was an extremely popular feature taking up multiple pages of port-based newspapers. You can trace the departure and arrival of your ancestor's ship, as well as noting any incidents that occurred onboard, such as accidents or damage to the ship. When using this research method, be aware that ship names were not unique so be careful to ensure you are tracing the correct ship.
Other Records of EmigrationOther Records of Emigration
Passenger lists are the most likely record to contain information about your Welsh emigrant ancestor. You may be lucky enough to have some records in your personal family ephemera which can provide extra detail. Examples include travel tickets, diaries, receipts of travel and photographs. If these have not survived in your own family, they may have done for others who were on the same ship. In many cases these documents are handed in to local archives or museums so check their catalogues by the name of the ship to see what they hold. You could also search the catalogue of the National Library of Wales.
A record people often expect to find is a passport, however these were not required for passengers arriving at or leaving from the UK until 1915. They were still issued prior to this date, with over half a million passports were issued between 1795 and 1916. Those that survive from this period are likely to be in private hands, with some at local archives and a small selection held at The National Archives.
Overseas RecordsOverseas Records
Many emigrants did not remain in their new country. Whether their stay was permanent or temporary, their time in their new country probably resulted in the creation of records abroad. Depending on their destination country, these records are likely to include records similar to those found in Wales such as census returns, newspaper articles and civil registration documents. If your ancestor remained in the country, they may have opted to go through the naturalisation process. Many of these records are available online, including the US Naturalization Records, New England, 1791-1906 and Ohio, County Naturalization Records collections on MyHeritage.
Welsh examples of emigrationWelsh examples of emigration
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There are several notable examples of people from Wales moving abroad to begin new communities. The most well known of these is the Y Wladfa community in Patagonia, Argentina which dates back to 1865. A group of over 150 people relocated from Wales after they felt their culture was at risk of being lost. This included the Welsh language and their nonconformity. Further settlers joined them over the years, most notably in 1876 and 1888. The community has at times been at risk of loss, partly due to an increase in the Spanish language in Argentina and also due to intermarriage with locals. Today, the descendants of the original settlers continue to celebrate their Welsh heritage, holding Welsh language classes and cultural events.
In the late 17th and 18th centuries, groups of Welsh Quakers moved to Pennsylvania in the United States to settle into a new community in what became known as the 'Welsh Tract'. This area today preserves much Welsh heritage, including Welsh place names. Elsewhere in the United States, a large group of Welsh emigrants moved to Appalachian Ohio in the 19th century. The area was unofficially referred to as 'Little Cardiganshire' and Welsh was the county's most common second language until 1970.
See alsoSee also
Explore more about Welsh EmigrationExplore more about Welsh Emigration
- Immigration & Travel record collection at MyHeritage
- Why Did Your Ancestors Migrate, and How Can You Trace Their Journey? on the MyHeritage blog
- Why did the Welsh leave Wales? at Legacy Family Tree Webinars
- Welsh Emigration to North America at Legacy Family Tree Webinars
- Emigration via Hamburg at Legacy Family Tree Webinars
- Tracing Immigrant Ancestors at Legacy Family Tree Webinars
- Emigrants Letters at The National Library of Wales
References