Place:Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales

source: Family History Library Catalog

source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Newport has long been the largest town in the historic county of Monmouthshire, but became part of the preserved county of Gwent in 1974 and a principal area and a unitary authority in 1996. It was a county borough between 1891 and 1974.

The Local Government Act 1972 removed ambiguity about the legal status of the area by including the administrative county of Monmouthshire and the county borough of Newport into all acts pertaining to Wales. Gwent was abolished in 1996 but remains in use for ceremonial functions as a preserved county.

the text in this section is based on the introductory section of the article in Wikipedia

Newport (Welsh: Casnewydd) is a cathedral and university city and unitary authority area in southeast Wales. It is located on the River Usk close to its confluence with the Severn Estuary, approximately 12 miles (19 km) northeast of Cardiff. At the 2011 census it was the third largest city in Wales, with a city population of 145,700 and an urban population of 306,844. The city forms part of the Cardiff-Newport metropolitan area with a population of 1,097,000.

Newport has been a port since medieval times, when the first Newport Castle was built by the Normans. The town outgrew the earlier Roman town of Caerleon, immediately upstream, and gained its first charter in 1314. It grew significantly in the 19th century, when its port became the focus of coal exports from the eastern valleys of South Wales. Until the rise of Cardiff from the 1850s, Newport was Wales' largest coal-exporting port. It was the site of the last large-scale armed insurrection in Britain, the Newport Rising of 1839 led by the Chartists.

During the 20th century, when the docks declined in importance, Newport remained an important manufacturing and engineering centre. It was granted city status in 2002.

Newport was the largest urban area within the historic county boundaries of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent (1974-1996). The principal area called The City of Newport, established in 1996, which includes some surrounding rural areas as well as the built-up area, is governed by Newport City Council.

For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article Newport, Wales.

Research Tips

• A 1900 Ordnance Survey map of the historic county of Monmouthshire is available on the A Vision of Britain through Time website. This shows all the old parishes within their urban and rural districts. Large farms and estates are also marked.
• Some words in Welsh come up time and time again and you may want to know what they mean or how to pronounce them. For example,
  "Eglwys" is a church and the prefix "Llan" is a parish.
  "w" and "y" are used as vowels in Welsh.
  "Ll" is pronounced either "cl" or "hl" or somewhere in between. "dd" sounds like "th".
  The single letter "Y" is "the" and "Yn" means "in".
  "uwch" means "above"; "isod" is "below" or "under";
  "gwch" is "great", "ychydig" is "little";
  "cwm" is a "valley".

In both Welsh and English all these words are commonly used in place names in the UK. Place names are often hyphenated, or two words are combined into one. Entering your problem phrase into Google Search, including the term "meaning in Welsh", will lead you to Google's quick translation guide. I'm no authority; these are just things I have picked up while building up this gazetteer for WeRelate.