Find a Lost Relative

Cardiff Detectives have been operating in Cardiff and Wales for almost 20 years.

• Cardiff was a small town until the early 19th century, its prominence as a major port for the transport of coal following the arrival of industry in the region contributed to its rise as a major city.
• Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales.
• Cardiff is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for Wales.
• According to recent estimates, the population of the unitary authority area of Cardiff is 324,800.
• Cardiff's metropolitan area has a population of nearly 1.1 million, more than a third of the total Welsh population.
• Cardiff is a significant tourism centre and the most popular visitor destination in Wales with 11.7 million visitors in 2006.
• Cardiff is the county town of the historic county of Glamorgan (and later South Glamorgan).
• Cardiff is part of the Eurocities network of the largest European cities.
• Cardiff Urban Area covers a slightly larger area, including Dinas Powys, Penarth and Radyr.
• Cardiff was made a city in 1905, and proclaimed capital of Wales in 1955.
• Since the 1990s Cardiff has seen significant development with a new waterfront area at Cardiff Bay which contains the new Welsh Assembly Building and the Wales Millennium Centre arts complex.
• Cardiff's city centre is undergoing a major redevelopment.
• Cardiff was awarded with the European City Of Sport in 2009 due to its role in hosting major international sporting events.
• In 1536, the Act of Union between England and Wales led to the creation of the shire of Glamorgan, and Cardiff was made the county town.
• The town grew rapidly from the 1830s onwards, when the Marquess of Bute built a dock which eventually linked to the Taff Vale Railway.
• Cardiff became the main port for exports of coal from the Cynon, Rhondda, and Rhymney valleys, and grew at a rate of nearly 80% per decade between 1840 and 1870.
• By the 1881 census, Cardiff had overtaken both Merthyr and Swansea to become the largest town in Wales.[
• Cardiff's new status as the premier town in South Wales was confirmed when it was chosen as the site of the University College South Wales and Monmouthshire in 1893.
• Cardiff faced a challenge in the 1880s when David Davies of Llandinam and the Barry Railway Company promoted the development of rival docks at Barry.
• Cardiff is built on reclaimed marshland on a bed of Triassic stones.
• Cardiff is bordered to the west by the rural district of the Vale of Glamorgan.
• Cardiff is situated near the Glamorgan Heritage Coast, stretching westward from Penarth and Barry.