Comments

Dear Pat,

Thank you for an enlightening series of Weston Worthies.

You once helped me with the obituary and other information for William Dyer 1838-1919, Town Commissioner and ag lab turned land agent for the Smyth-Pigotts over his career. I hope he's on your list for the future!

Best wishes,

Derrick

I have received some thoughtful memories of a Fund in Weston with permission to post.  It certainly paints a picture of conditions in Weston at that time.  Im so grateful for this.

Hi Pat, This is a fascinating bit of social history and reflects, to some extent, how people, down on their luck, were supported by the community before the 'Welfare State' was more fully developed. Talking now from personal experience, I was brought up in a single parent household in Weston in the 50s/60s. My father died leaving a widow and 3 very young children, one of whom became severely disabled within a year of his death. I cannot tell you how hard it was for my mother, with no wider family to assist her, during those trying times. She managed, albeit by the skin of her teeth, on a widow's pension and what they used to call supplementary benefit - it amounted to about one third of average wages. What I do vividly remember however, is that at Christmas we did receive a modest grant from the Mayor's Fund. This might have amounted to no more than about £2 and 10 shillings in the early sixties. However, it made all the difference to us as a family, being able to afford a few extras which otherwise would have been out of reach. I also remember that money could only be used in certain shops and this often meant me and my brother having to trek across town to access these businesses. What is also worth noting is that in the industrial heartlands with big and powerful union representation people who had fallen on hard times would often find support through the unions family members had belonged to. In the more far flung places, particularly seaside resorts where unionisation was weaker, social support was more likely to be provided by independent charitable initiatives such as the one you hi-light. So, from my recollection the Mayor's Fund went on well into the 60s. It may well be the case that because of the social stigma attached to being in receipt of charity handouts you may well find responses in short supply.

Hello Anne, Good to see you on the site.  To look at the Weston Worthies - make sure that you are logged in and try going directly to Weston-super-Mare & District Family History Society (wsmfhs.org.uk) 

That should take you to the Weston-super-Mare Places site and then you need to scroll down to the bottom of the page past the photographs where you should find several documents relating to Weston.   Click on the name which interests you.  You should find a couple of your ancestors there!

The other route is to look at the Main Menu and click on Place/Churches  - you will find a long list of Places  and their Churches.  Click on the Place name for information about the place or click on the church for access to the parish registers.

Others have asked the same question so hope this helps.

Another splendid and well researched account of the latest Weston Worthy...

Hi Eddie

if you contact me with the name of the person you are interested in with the date of death. I will check our records to see if we have a transcript of the inscription.

Graham