Americans trace ancestors' steps
A group of Americans have travelled to Flintshire to follow in the footsteps of their ancestors.
Members of the Wynne Genealogy Club, who were invited by the Caerwys mayor, are visiting relatives and seeing where their forefathers lived. They are all descendants of Thomas Wynne, who sailed to America with William Penn, Pennsylvania's founder.
They are from different states, but many from Pennsylvania and all related to Caerwys surgeon Thomas Wynne who sailed to America in 1652 with William Penn on board The Welcome.
He became a prominent local figure in America, eventually sitting as a judge, and he was instrumental in agreeing treaties with the local Indian tribe, Lenni Lenape.
Other links between Caerwys and Philadelphia are also strong.
Philadelphia's original street plan was apparently designed on the street pattern of Caerwys.
Welsh names are in abundance, together with the properties built in Philadelphia that resembled buildings in the Caerwys area.
Some of those buildings are still standing today, including Thomas Wynne's ancestral homes in Philadelphia, and the family home called Bron Fadog, in Caerwys.
Caerwys mayor Phillip Parry recently visited Philadelphia for St David's Day and attended 16 different functions, including one as a guest of the American State Department where he delivered a message from Prince Charles.
Mr Parry said: "Many of them have dreamt about this for years." He has organised the group's four-day itinerary in Wales, said: "They have held Wynne genealogy reunions in different states in America for over six years. This visit has been planned for over two years and some of them have never been out of America before. They are all great-grandchildren, seventh and eighth generation, of Thomas Wynne."
On Thursday, the visitors met children at Caerwys Primary School, and during their stay will attend concerts and visit local places of interest, including the house where Thomas Wynne was born.
Becky Wynn Thill, from Dallas, who organised the trip, and founded the Wynne Genealogy Society, said: "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We have researched and talked about this for years, and now to finally be here is phenomenal. The people here are so friendly. It feels like our home too."
Amy Humphries, from New Jersey, who is Thomas Wynne's great-granddaughter eight times removed, said: "I've never been out of my country before. But to get the chance to see another place and learn where my ancestors came from was too good an opportunity to miss. To be here in his birthplace is really special."
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wa...st/4760993.stm
