Welcome

Croeso
Welcome
Bienvenue
Welkom

…to the Belgian Refugees in Rhyl project website.

We are researching the Belgians who came to the north of Wales in the early years of the First World War. If you have any stories, photographs or objects relating to the Belgian Refugees, please get in touch via the “Contact” page – we’d love to hear from you!

This project started in 2014, looking for the stories of the Belgians who came to Rhyl. Over the years it has grown to encompass a much larger area, and our list of “found” names is well over 500. If you’re researching your Belgian ancestors who were exiled here, please contact us – it may be we know a little something that could help you.

Use the menu at the top of the page to navigate the website: there is information about the welcome given in different towns, about individual families and the people who looked after them, and the places where they stayed.

The Refugees in Rhyl Project was always two people. Michael and Toni. Without Michael, there would have been no project. We travelled through Belgium together to find the birthplaces and families of our Refugees, we scoured graveyards and archives together, and although Toni was always the “front” of the project, Michael was the driving force.

Michael died on January 21st, 2021. Suddenly and unexpectedly. He was 56.

Every word on every page of this website, every filled notebook, every success and every award is dedicated to him.

Michael Glyn Roberts
1964 – 2021

Thanks to…

Rhyl Town Council

We would like to thank Rhyl Town Council for allowing us the very great honour of presenting the Town Crest to the city council of Aarschot in 2014.

Rhyl History Club

The whole idea for this project came from a post to their blog in 2012. For more about them and the history of Rhyl, please visit http://www.rhylhistoryclub.wordpress.com