Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Searching for the Rhydderch Family

Last night I finally found the Rhydderch family in the 1851 Wales census. For some unknown reason, the Rhydderchs listed their name as "Rudderch" in 1841, then switched to "Ryddch" in 1851. I was surfing the internet last night when I stumbled on someone in Australia searching for a sister of my great great grandmother Elizabeth Rhydderch. Thanks to that cyber conversation on Rootschat.com, I found the family's weird spelling and filled in one more missing piece to my genealogical puzzle. Never give up. They're all out there somewhere!

The surname Rhydderch in the Welsh context is not a very common surname. It can be found spelt as Rhytherch, Rutherch, Rudderch, Rodrick, Rhoderick, abbreviated to Ruddz, and, as you've seen above, Ryddch. Most Welsh Rhydderchs seem to have their roots in the south and west Wales areas. Most seem to be from a small area of Carmarthenshire and West Glamorganshire. Though there are Rhydderchs to be found in other counties such as Cardiganshire, Pembrokeshire, Breconshire and Monmouthshire, by and large the first two counties seem to have provided the World with most of the Rhydderchs of Welsh origin.

If you happen to be a Rhydderch (with its many spelling variations) and would like to read about an ongoing genetic study being done on the family, try accessing the link below for some very interesting reading:

http://members.aol.com/Roderickdna/Roderick/RoderickDna.htm

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