Gwent Archive

"The thing that interests me most about family history is the gap between the things we think we know about our families and the realities."
Jeremy Hardy

Another visit to the Gwent Archive to explore more of the "gaps" in the family story. My great-uncle, who died before I was born, was unknown to me and apparently "liked a drink", so was not a favoured guest of my grandfather who was a preacher and staunch teetotaller. About two years ago my cousin passed a WWI medal to me, wondering if could find out anything about it. It belonged to my great-uncle, his name was inscribed around the edge, also his regiment and service number too. With that I've unearthed his wartime service record on Ancestry, traced his regimental service through war diaries from the National Archive and online and found traces of his life - and death - in newspaper reports from 1911 to 1938 in local libraries. Still plenty of gaps, but a harrowing and fascinating story has emerged of a life in the mines of the Welsh valleys, riots in Rhymney and Tredegar, wartime service from Gallipoli to Mesopotamia (Iraq) with hospitalization for wounds, malaria and dysentery in between.