Digital Wales -- Collections from the Past

This section contains digital images of manuscripts, letters and archival material.

Wales During the Middle Ages

These exhibitions focus on the social life and history of Wales in the Middle Ages.

Wales in the Age of the Princes
This online exhibition aims to give an introduction to Wales in the Early Middle Ages (1063-1283): an important period in the history of the nation of Wales, its people and its culture. The website has a short history and digitised information on Princes and the Marcher Lords, castles, religion, courtly life, life on the land, the struggle for independence, the conquest and its aftermath. This was the period of Gerald of Wales, Rulers of Gwynedd such as Llywellyn ap Gruffydd (Llywelyn ein Llyw Olaf) and the conquest of Edward I. The resource is part of Wrexham County Borough Council website.

Uniting the Kingdoms?
'Uniting the Kindoms?' is an exhibition of the Public Records Office's Pathways to the Past website. It explores the relationships between England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France during the Middle Ages: their interactions, conflicts and identities. It looks at how the governments and people of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, and of England's French territories, interacted in politics, warfare, religion, trade and everyday life. The resource contains digitised images about the period and a history of Wales during the Middle Ages, including sections on:

• Wales under the Welsh, 1055-1282
• Wales under the English, 1282-1415
• Land, Trade and Settlement
• Soldiers and Poets
• Wales under the Tudors, 1485-1603

Digitised Items about Wales

Gathering the Jewels
Gathering the Jewels is a collection of images of Welsh life, illustrating the natural and social history of Wales throughout the ages. Contents of images include historic letters, paintings, artefacts and photographs, gathered from museums, libraries, record offices and archives throughout Wales. There are a number of ways to search the Gathering the Jewels database, including a subject search, A-Z listing, and a themed search. The website has sections on:

• Agriculture and Food Production
• Arts and Culture
• Education
• Health
• Welfare and Charity
• Industry
• Law and Order
• Neighbourhood and Community
• Physical Environment/Landscape
• Protest and Politics
• Religion and Belief
• Sport and Leisure
• Transport
• Wales and the World
• War and Rebellion
• Working Lives

Digital Mirror: Manuscripts
The Digital Mirror provides access to many of the Treasures held at the National Library of Wales by displaying them on the internet and as a result making them available to all sections of society and the wider world. Many items are listed within their manuscripts section, and include valuable items such as:

• Black Book of Carmarthen
• Laws of Hywel Dda
• White Book of Rhydderch
• Book of Taliesin
• Hengwrt Chaucer
• Hendregadredd Manuscript
• Black Book of Basingwerk

There are also many digitised items relating to many famous Welshmen and women. They include:

• Map of Llareggub drawn by Dylan Thomas
• Religious poetry in the hand of William Williams
• A letter in the hand of Ann Griffiths
• History of the British Bards: Notes by Iolo Morganwg (Edward Williams, 1747-1826)

Other items of interest from the Digital Mirror include:

• The autobiography of the smuggler William Owen of Nevern, Pembrokeshire, who was executed in 1747 for murder
• Register of criminals apprehended by Cardiganshire Constabulary between 1897 and 1933
• Letters from the American Civil War
• Emigrants letters from New York and New South Wales

Digital Mirror: Archives
The Archives sections contains many interesting items such as:

• The earliest copy of Hen Wlad fy Nhadau and its earliest sound recording
• The diary of David Lloyd George (1863-1945) for the year 1886
• Letters from David Lloyd George to his brother, William
• Testimony given in cases of witchcraft in 17th century Flintshire

Collect Britain
Collect Britain presents 90,000 images and sounds from the British Library. Many of the British Library holdings have been digitised and are availbale to view online on their Collect Britian website. Items of Welsh interest include:

• Many manuscripts from Wales including those relating to Hywel Dda, Gerald of Wales and Geoffrey of Monmouth
• Topographical drawings of places in Wales including King George III topographical collection
• Early maps, atlases and Ordnance Survey Drawings
• Music Hall songs from Victorian Popular Music era
• Early Photographically Illustrated Book of the Vale of Neath

Digital Library of Historical Directories
This is a New Opportunities Fund project and is a digital library of eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth century local and trade directories from England and Wales and is regarded as an important resource for local and genealogical studies. The resource contains high quality digital reproduction of trade directories, and a powerful search engine enabling the user to search names, addresses and occupations of inhabitants of counties and towns listed in the trade directories.