THE mayor of Wrexham is encouraging residents to make use of the town’s archives to trace their family history.

Cllr David Griffiths has been using the A N Palmer Centre for Local Studies and Archives, located in Wrexham County Borough Museum, to retrace his roots.

He has discovered he came from a family of brick makers and may have French ancestry.

With the aid of census returns, newspapers, parish registers, non-conformist registers, directories, electoral registers and the Ancestry Library Edition website, the mayor was able to trace his family history dating to the early 1800s.

His grandfather married a girl of possible French dissent in 1903 and went on to have 13 children. There is a strong possibility that the woman’s family were of French origin as Thomas Turner brought Frenchmen to his Caughley China Works in the 18th Century.

He said: “I knew a little about my family history but have always wanted to trace my family tree. It is astonishing how far back we have been able to go and what we have found out about my family’s history. I had no idea my ancestors might have been French!

“I would encourage anyone wanting to trace their family history to go to the A N Palmer Centre.”

For details, visit www.wrexham.gov. uk/archives or call 01978 317973.