Where are you from? Llanuwchlyn, where I still reside.
What are your main research interests? The history and development of the Glan-llyn Estate in Meirionnydd and the impact it had on the area.
Tell us about your career so far and what led you to ISWE and your doctoral research project? After graduating from Aberystwyth University in Welsh and Welsh History, I spent a year doing a little research on Glan-llyn Estate under the supervision of J Beverley Smith. But in 1984 I arrived at Bangor University to follow the Diploma course in Archives Administration. This led to a job at the National Library in Aberystwyth, where I cataloged the massive Maxwell Fraser collection and then worked on a detailed list of the non-conforming records in the Library and in other collections. In 1991 I left the Library staff to look after the children. That led to a change of direction in my career and I started translating. I was on the staff of Cwmni Trosol for a period before the birth of my third daughter. After a period working for Menter a Busnes, I decided to go freelance and work as a translator from home. That was my job from then on. I have been lucky enough to have two books published - Merched Gwyllt Cymru and then Mamwlad. In 2010 I went back to the University in Bangor to follow an MA Translation Studies course and having succeeded in it I became a Full Member of the Welsh Translators Association.
Genealogy and local history have been consuming interests throughout my life. I published three articles in the jounral of the Meirionnydd History Society, on Rhys Jones from Blaenau, Rowland Vaughan of Caer-gai, and then on Tai Unnos (one-night houses) in Garneddwen.
As for ISWE, I had the privilege of giving a lecture on the history of the Glan-llyn Estate over the last century at a conference organized in Glan-llyn itself. So it was natural for me to turn to ISWE when I decided it was time to pull together what I had learned so far about the Estate. The project commences in September 2025.
What is your favourite thing about ISWE and being a doctoral researcher? ISWE is a close-knit community that brings people with similar interests together, this is invaluable as it offers new research paths and new ways of looking at different aspects of history.
What is your favourite historical period and why? No, no favorite era, hooked on every aspect of history and every era.
Your favourite place in Wales? Cwm Cynllwyd, the valley where I was born and where I have lived for almost 40 years.
Can you recommend any books, TV shows, podcasts, blogs that you have enjoyed recently? Currently reading Tir by Carwyn Graves which is very entertaining and explains a lot about the attachment of the Welsh to land and place.
What are your hobbies or favourite extracurricular activities? Have you got any other interesting projects on the go? Genealogy has been very high on the list since I was very young. I now have several trees on Ancestry, the main one containing many hundreds of names.
Contact Beryl:
brg25vqs@bangor.ac.uk
