Can I start this newsletter by offering my condolences to two of my cousins who lost their husbands recently. There are times when the current family is more important than researching the past. We also send our best wishes for a speedy recovery from his operation to Committee member, Bill CAPLE who has freely given so much of his time to this society. Thank you, Bill!
Review of August
We’ve had a spasmodic Summer weatherwise. What did you do during August to add to your family tree? Where are you stuck? How can the Family History Society help you? Did you visit the Society’s stand at the Hutton Show last week? How can you help others who have connections in this area? Have you ever posted a request for help either on the Research Forum or on the Facebook Group?
New Items on Ancestry
Most of these are updating – note the death index now goes up to 2023.
Somerset Wills - see above
The index to Somerset Wills goes to 2001 but it is an index not transcriptions of Wills. However, you can obtain copies from the Somerset Archives if you find an ancestor in the list. You could ask for a copy to be brought to Weston Library when the North Somerset Archivist visits on September 5th.
Local History
When you have discovered where your grandparents or great grandparents were born it is often helpful to investigate that area of the country. This can reveal the types of occupations which were available to your ancestors and the conditions under which they lived. How many shared houses? Look at the whole page of the relevant census to see what occupations their neighbours had.
Have you considered a One Place Study? or is someone else looking in detail at the area which interests you?
You may find a Facebook group covering the area in which your ancestors lived. Many of the contributions may be about more recent times but usually there is someone interested in the history of the area who will be prepared to help you.
Take a look at the web site of the ALHA (Avon Local History Association) for details of local groups who belong . Do you read the ALHA Newsletters which are available on our web site?
Tithe Maps
I find that the Genealogist is excellent for detail about Tithe Maps. Not only are there maps but also the Apportionment Lists showing both Landowner and Occupier. If you have member of your family mentioned on the 1841 census the chances are that you may find the property on the Tithe Map. See below Plot 477 is the Royal Hotel owned by
John REEVES. He also owned Plots 480 (later The Italian Gardens) and 476 (now Grosvenor Hotel).
Extract from the Apportionment Book (The Genealogist)
Harvest
Harvest Festivals and Harvest Home events start in late August and are usually well documented in the newspapers. The earliest one was usually at Lympsham.
This is from the Weston Gazette Pictorial Review of 1934 showing the Lympsham Harvest Home where it appears to have been raining! Do you think that the bottom right photo shows “Uncle Tom Cobleigh and All”? – see newspaper article.
A Newspaper account shows the results of the sports activities – Do you recognise any names?
My mother often spoke about her father’s family who lived in Cam in Gloucestershire near Dursley. In 1944 or 45 we spent the Summer there and in August I remember “helping” with the harvest. The fields were cut with a harvester and binder pulled by a horse. We collected the sheaves of corn and stacked them in stooks ready for collection.
Picture from “Harvest Time in Cornwall” which is exactly how I remember it in Gloucestershire.
Who Do You Think You Are?
When you watch “Who Do You Think You are?” the last few have admitted that they really know nothing past their grandparents. Many people come to research their family history when they retire and when younger seem not to have been interested so did not ask any questions about their forebears. Do you know where your parents and grandparents were born? – have you been to that place or have a picture to add to your tree? You can use the free site Goggle Street View to find the site today – sometimes the buildings are still there.
For example, I was born in a Private Nursing Home in Hampstead Road, Brislington on a very cold Saturday, in December 1938. It was so cold that weekend that the husband of the Matron had to come in especially to make sure that the boilers were well stoked to keep the temperature at a level suitable for newborn babies.
A Web page dealing with the History of Weather supports this information with this quote
1938 (18th to 26th December): BEST 'WHITE CHRISTMAS' OF THE 20TH CENTURY
During the very severe December of 1938, over a foot of snow fell in places over the eastern part of Britain, and to the west, it was in the realms of 2 feet! Snow fell variously from the 18th until the 26th, and with little of the traffic pounding of recent years, contributed to a fine, winter event.
This was where I was born at 54 Kensington Road, Brislington, Bristol. From 1938 Street Directory of Bristol and Google Street View.
 
It looks as if it has been recently extended but on the 1939 Register there are 7 redacted entries inferring that at least 7 mothers had recently given birth. It was normal at that time for mothers to spend 14 days after birth “Lying in” and being cared for. The Matron in 1939 was a Bridget HOLMES and her husband was a plumber! I forgot to ask whether Mum and I were discharged before Christmas, but we went to my father’s parents in Stapleton for a while.
Researching in Weston-super-Mare
When I married, my father-in-law, Arthur HASE, told me that his father, John Millard HASE had been born near the Victoria Hotel in Regent Street - His birth certificate revealed that John had been born in Laura Buildings which ran off Regent Street, next to the Victoria Hotel. You can read more about Laura Buildings on our web site
Perhaps I’m lucky in that my husband’s family arrived in Weston in the 1850s and (apart from spelling variations) has been relatively easy to trace.
John had set up in business as a Fly Proprietor while living at Laura Buildings and using the yard of the Victoria Hotel as a base. He also provided stabling for visitors.
When John married in 1885, he and his wife (Mary Ann PUDDY) moved into a new house at 19 Whitecross Road. From the 1891 Census the house was called “Gordon Villa”.
John built stables at the back of the house with access from Albert Road to continue in business. This now operates as a garage at 10 Albert Road
Gordon Villa, 19, Whitecross Road.
Using Newspapers
In Dec 1907, Mary Ann HASE, wife of John, died leaving him with a young family. Arthur was the youngest, born in 1905. John needed a housekeeper to look after him and his family . This advertisement appeared in Feb 1908.
Newspapers are valuable aids. Not all Weston newspapers are online, but they are available on film in Weston Library. If you know the date of an event you can search them. Give yourself plenty of time to do this as it can be quite time consuming because there is always something more interesting in a neighbouring column!
By 1911 Susan SANDERS had been appointed who remained with the family for many years. She was a valued member of the family.
1939 Register
The 1939 Register was taken at the end of September 1939 to list all residents and to use the information in order to issue Identity Cards and Ration Books for use during WW2. The Register was kept up to date with changes of surnames for women after marriage and changes of addresses.
As a former teacher of what was then called Domestic Science, I find the amount of food which was allowed under Rationing very interesting. I have several books published during and after the War such as “The ABC of Cookery”, The Manual of Nutrition” and “Better Home Management” which reflect the position held by women in society at that time. In a Chapter entitled “Food Values and Menu Planning” is this comment.
“Knowing how to cook meals is not enough, nor is it sufficient to serve meals which only satisfy hunger. Foods have definite functions in the body, and it is necessary to ensure that the choice of foods in the daily menu covers these needs.”
Allotments were used and land in public parks was used to grow more veg and potatoes We grew many vegetables in our garden to supplement the rations including peas and beans which gave vegetable proteins. Vegetables were delivered to the door by horse and cart from nearby market gardens and allotments.
I remember my mother adding offal, which was not rationed, such as liver, hearts, fish roe, rabbit to the menu – she tried tripe, but we didn’t like it! She preserved eggs from neighbour’s hens in isinglass or waterglass. Waterglass is sodium silicate. Eggs were submerged in solutions of waterglass, and a gel of silicic acid formed, also sealing the pores of the eggshell. Beans were salted in large glass jars. What other ways of preservation do you know of?
Of course, my memory may be suspect but not surprisingly I don’t remember seeing obese people. I don’t know how many cases of type 2 diabetes were recorded at that time.
Life in the 1940/50s
It has to be remembered that the expected way of life during and just after the War was very different to today. Most families ate together – the same food, sitting at a table – there was no fast food bought in – except perhaps some fish and chips. Women had managed their homes while the men were serving away. It was also at this time that many girls who became pregnant were sent to Mother and Baby Homes and their babies were adopted. See “Long Lost Families” etc. It was seen as a disgrace to the family to have an illegitimate child. Even before this period if a daughter produced a baby, her parents often treated it as theirs, baptised it as theirs, and the child did not know that their elder sister was their mother.
DNA Testing
As there are, as yet, no censuses covering this period until the 1951 Census is released it may be difficult to trace some members of your family without the help of DNA testing. This has proved a lifeline for many people. Have you tried it yet?
Next Society Meetings
Visit of North Somerset Archivist
Thursday 5th September 2024 Sessions are open from 11.00 am to 1.00 pm, and from 2.00 pm to 3.30 pm For more information contact somersetarchives@swheritage.org.uk
Library Help Session
Saturday, 7th September 2024 14:00 - 15:30 At Weston-super-Mare Library with free help offered by our experienced members.
Physical Members' Meeting
Wednesday, 11th September 2024 14:30 - 16:30 At Our Lady of Lourdes Church Hall when the speaker will be Peter Towey who will discuss Non-Conformist Records.
Zoom Workshop
Wednesday 25th September 2024 7:30 – 9:00 p.m. Topic to be announced
Please feel free to add any ommissions. comments or answer any of the questions posed in this newsletter, either as a comment on our web site or by posting to the FaceBook Group.
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