A Welsh typing service can bring some very interesting historical information to light.

This was indeed the case when I was recently asked if I could provide this service. And I’m delighted to say, I can. I am not a Welsh speaker myself. However, I am training a new bilingual VA who was happy to undertake this.

We both found the outcome very interesting.

Why a Welsh typing service is needed

My, or should I say our, client had obtained a diary from someone on his family tree dating back to 1875. As it was quite long and translation services are expensive, he was hoping to get it into some form whereby with the use of Google Translate he could get a gist of the text to see whether it was worth investing in translation. Sad to say, Google Translate was not able to work from the copy he had. This was because of spelling differences and poor layout.

Background provided by our client

Our client kindly told us that the gentleman, a certain David H Davies lived in Llanrug near Llanberris on Yr Wyddfa (Mount Snowdon) and worked in the Dinorwig Quarry as a quarryman. It would seem he was around 32 years old at the time and not yet married.

Surprising information revealed by our Welsh typing service

The diary gives an eye witness account of January to March 1875. Therefore, you can really feel how David viewed life. He was witty and intelligent which is something you could never learn from a mere history article. David was a Welsh speaker and talked about visiting a friend to practise his English which shows how endemic the Welsh language was at the time in that area.

Naturally, a diary would comment on the weather each day and this is what David did, often mentioning the extreme cold. He also mentioned that in very wet weather he was unable to work. Although apparently David was not married at this time, we can imagine the financial constraints this would have placed upon families.

David also had an amazing knowledge of the Bible. He could refer quite easily to the New Testament and Old Testament alike and did so frequently. He also liked to visit friends in the evening to debate God’s word.

There is also commentary on David’s work place. It would seem that quarry owners themselves formed a union to control their workers. It is not difficult to imagine that manual working conditions in 1875 were extremely difficult.

These are just snippets from the diary. There was so much more within it. My favourite is where David visited a friend and argued with him. Not being able to find agreement on the subject they were discussing, he comments that the ‘Sun didn’t set on our argument because it had already set before I arrived’, this being a reference to Ephesians 4:26 –  “let not the sun go down upon your wrath” (King James Version).