News & Information

from Pat Hase

I’m writing this with many thanks to Rob Clarke and others who contributed to the May Newsletter. I was very grateful for their support last month. As always, any comments and additions by members would be welcome.

June is going to be an eventful month for our Society. We will welcome a new Web Site on June 6th which we hope will make contributions by members easier and enable them to find all the fantastic information which has been contributed by members over the years. Believe me - just try it – you can find so much about researching in this area you will be amazed what was all hiding on the old site!

See later on in this newsletter for a guide to the new site from Rob.

Other Events coming up in June

Sat 7th June – Free Help Session at Weston Library and Monday 17th June

You can get help with researching your family tree from Weston-super-Mare and District Family History Society volunteers. Our free drop-in sessions run on:

• first Saturday of the month - 2pm to 3:30pm - Weston Library
• third Monday of the month - 10:30am – 1pm - Weston Library

At the drop-in session, you can get access to the family history records website Ancestry and FamilySearch as well as local resources including street directories, parish registers and maps.

Apart from that June is the Jenny and Peter Towey show ...

Wed 11th June at 2:30pm, Our Lady of Lourdes. Jenny and Peter are doing a presentation on how to use the National Archives.

Wed 25th June at 7:30pm via Zoom, Peter is presenting a workshop on Reading old Handwriting.

Thanks to both of them for stepping in at short notice to cover some speaker cancellations.

Family Stories

How many of you have family stories handed down which you have not been able to substantiate? My maternal grandmother told me that she had a great aunt, surname probably JONES, who was a dressmaker to Queen Victoria.

I have never proved this but this site makes for some interesting reading about live as a servant to Queen Victoria. www.rct.uk/collection/stories/from-the-royal-archives-queen-victorias-household-staff

The most likely possibility is a Louisa JONES d/o William & Elizabeth JONES, who was born in about 1833 in Dilton Marsh, Westbury, Wiltshire. Although several of her siblings attended the Sunday School there her name is not recorded.

See www.dilton-marsh.org.uk/research/prov_ssreg.php

Could this be her in 1851 as an 18 year-old lodging in Islington?

This JONES family were Baptists, and I have found it difficult to trace their baptisms etc although there is quite a bit written about the Baptists in that area. My g grandfather was Louisa’s younger brother, David, and he followed his father’s trade as a lath render, eventually settling in Gloucester.

Nempnett Thrubwell

I believe that one of the farthest ancestors I have found, an 8x great grandfather, William OGBOURNE married a Sarah WEDMORE in Nempnett Thrubwell in 1657. Apologies if I have posted this before, but I have found this site very helpful and interesting.

www.ogbourne.com/ogbourneogborne-genealogical-information-in-the-uk

According to this information I share many relations with descendants of the same couple. But as with everything it will all need checking against my own research. With our new website in mind, have any of you got a website devoted to your family history research? Family History and Local History

It has always been my belief that there is a symbiotic relationship between family and local history. It enables a greater understanding of the social aspects of life. Look for Websites of Local History Groups as they often contain transcriptions and information about the area in which your ancestors lived.

The Avon Local History and Archaeology Group

www.alha.org.uk of which this society is a member, publishes a great deal of information about our area and its newsletter is published on our website. Take look at the number of groups involved and what they have to offer.

Our new website - wsmfhs.org

Rob Clarke

The new site is nearly live - I will be sending out the invites to become authors on the site in the next couple of days - unless you cannot wait - in which case please let me know at webmaster@wsmfhs.org

Eventually the current address (www.wsmfhs.org.uk) will take you directly to the new site but to start with I'll add a big button to the old site.

Everything on the site can be accessed from the main menu that runs along the top of the screen. This hopefully will make things easier to find.

"The Society" menu gives information about the society, our area, how to contact us, how to join the society, a link to our Facebook group, details pf the committee, Contact with other members via Private Messaging, Help on how to use the website, a link to WordPress (the system that the new site sits on) and a Login option.

You need to be logged in to access some of the features of the site and indeed the menu entries coloured yellow do not appear if you are not logged in.

"Posts" - as a member you can post to the site (if you want to) but can just read other peoples posts if you want. Under this menu is the Events Calendar - special type of posts that create a calendar of (not surprisingly) Events. News - posts normally made by committee members with information about Events, Transcriptions, Information etc. Newsletters - Pat's monthly articles going back to No 1. from January 2012 (this one is No. 162). Other options are Member only posts, Test posts and an easy way to post without having to use WordPress.

"Publications" - access to online versions of Buckets & Spades, links to the ALHA newsletters, online Family History Federation "Really Useful Bulletins", Exchange Journals from Wales, Australia and Canada which you can read online or download, copies of Presentations that have been given to the society or made by members, Videos - recording of society meetings and workshops that maybe you were not able to attend at the time

The "Research" menu provides links to multiple research options. The Places option has a page for each of our parishes, from each page you can access the photo gallery for that place, posts linked to that place, direct links to records held on Ancestry and Findmypast (relevant accounts are required to access), links to the church website (if there is one), directions from google and links to transcriptions from the society. Research Forum - post your own queries and help other members with theirs. Surname Interests - add your own surnames and find people with the same ones in their tree. Information and transcriptions for Axbridge Union Workhouse, Mendip Hospital and Milton Road Cemetery. Memorial inscriptions contains transcriptions and photographs from cemeteries around the area. Extensive War Memorial coverage of the whole area with 800+ individual profiles of those who died during the Boer War and the First World War (only a few WW2 profiles done so far). Research Links provide links to websites of interest.

"Special Projects" - collections of posts including Peter de Dulin's Brick Walls, Casualties of War, Photo Gallery, Parishes at War, Member Pedigrees, Memories of WWI, Milton Road Cemetery plans, Postcard collections and of course Pat's Weston Worthies in full technicolour for the first time

The "Search" option does exactly as it says on the tin. If you are struggling to find something on the site you will find it with Search - if you don't it's probably not there.

If you have trouble accessing anything please let me know - the chances are that other people may be having problems and/or there is probably another way of doing something. We have full control over the site so can change things that aren't working!

One more thing - I have written a "Learn WordPress in 2 Weeks" course (although I have not finished the last 2 days of it yet) - which can show you how to produce more exotic posts on the site. Monica has gone through all of the exercises  I have created so far and tells me that she enjoyed doing them. Each of the exercises should only take about 10 minutes and you create real posts from Day 1. "Learn WordPress in 2 Weeks" can be found under "The Society", Help".

And finally ...

Rob Clarke

Holidays are nearly here for some of you - don't forget to check your family trees before you go anywhere in case you can sneak off and do some research. We have just come back from a week in Malta and whilst there I managed to drag  the family along to the Malta at War Museum.
	There was a display about the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious - a second cousin of Gill's (OK -  2 times removed) was a Marine on the Illustrious and was killed when it was bombed by the Luftwaffe in January 1941 - the ship then had to dock in Malta for repairs. Things always seem more interesting when they are connected to your own family

And ... if anyone is going anywhere near Arras - we are very short of decent photographs of the names of local soldiers recorded on the Arras Memorial - I can provide a list if need be!

See you all again in July ...

Pat (and Rob)

For those of you that have been waiting patiently the big day has finally arrived.

Family Tree Maker 2024 has been shipped!

Before you rush out and install it please take a copy of your existing family files and make a note that these files were made with an earlier version.

I have set up a new Members Forum about Family Tree Maker 2024 on the new website so once set up you will be able to access any information  and hints that members have come across.

Apologies for the shortness of this newsletter. Pat, our president and newsletter editor is temporarily indisposed and is unable to produce this month's edition. Hopefully she will be back with a bumper tome in June.

May Day Holiday

In 1978, the government made the first Monday in May a bank holiday in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Our neighbours across the border in Scotland had already been enjoying this bank holiday since 1871

It seems that this year we will be getting the weather that we traditionally associate with the May Day holiday - if you have a couple of hours to spare and want some family history things to do here are some ideas.

1. If visiting a relative, take the chance to find out something new about their or their ancestors lives.
2. Take a backup of your computer files. Ideally copy your files to somewhere other than your computer and keep them somewhere else other than with your computer.
3. Have a look through your old photographs and record who is on them whilst you still remember who you are
4. See if you can work out where your parents / grandparents were and what they were doing on VE Day.
5. Catch up with the stories on the WSMFHS Facebook group
6. Take a look at our new website - more of that later!

A Day for Peace – and Wedding Bells!

from Sue Maguire, Editor - WSMFHS Journal (‘Buckets & Spades’)

The date 8 May 1945 was one which the whole world had been awaiting: the day peace in Europe could be declared after years of conflict, death and misery. The second war to end all wars had affected everyone: family members and friends lost, deprivation and fighting just to survive, but that day meant fresh hope - a new beginning and a chance to celebrate.

In Banwell, where five people were killed and many buildings were destroyed by German bombs, that May was a very special time for the Hicks family.

VE Day 8 May was my father Frank Sarkowicz's 26th birthday and Grandpa and Grannie Hicks's 38th wedding anniversary! Then, a couple of weeks later (24 May), my mother Elizabeth (Betty) Hicks, married my father, an American serviceman. Dad looked very smart in his US uniform and Mum wore a lovely two-piece pink suit, made by Grannie. The wedding ceremony was at Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Weston-super-Mare.

Afterwards, everyone went to the family home at Cannaways Farm, Banwell, for the reception and this group photo shows Mum and Dad before they travelled to Salisbury for their honeymoon.

Being in the American army, Dad was called back across the Atlantic almost immediately, but Mum had to wait 10 months before she could sail to America and join him in Chicago. Mum arrived in good time for Easter Sunday, 21 April 1946, settled in … and then I was born in February 1947!

‘The Peace’ Rose (Rosa Peace)

Sue Maguire

‘The Peace’ rose was developed (1935 to 1939) by Francis Meilland, a French horticulturist. With Germany’s invasion of France imminent, Meilland decided to protect his new cultivar by sending cuttings to Italy, Turkey, Germany and the USA, and it was propagated in the USA by Conard Pyle Co during the war.

‘The Peace’ is a beautiful Hybrid Tea rose. Its fragrant flowers are light yellow to cream colour with crimson petal edges. Qualities include hardiness, vigour and resistance to disease which makes it a very popular choice with gardeners and florists.

During its lifetime, this rose has been known by several names, including 'Madame A Meilland' (France), ‘Gioia’ (Italy), ‘Gloria Dei’ (Germany) and ‘The Peace’ (USA, Sweden and Norway).

Interestingly, on 29 April 1945, the adoption of the name ‘The Peace’ was publicly announced in the USA by Conard Pyle Co. On this day, Berlin fell and this was a turning point. Later that year, ‘The Peace’ roses were given to each of the delegates at the inaugural meeting of the United Nations (San Francisco), accompanied by notes which read: ‘We hope the ‘Peace’ rose will influence men’s thoughts for everlasting world peace’.

Over the years, ‘The Peace’ has received many distinguished awards and, in 1976, it was selected as the ‘World's Favourite Rose’ and it was added to the ‘Rose Hall of Fame’.

Perhaps you already enjoy ‘The Peace’ in your garden? … and it would certainly be a lovely gift, or an addition, to anyone’s garden to mark the VE Day 80th Anniversary celebrations.

Who do you think you are?

I don't know if you have been watching the current series - the last two episodes with Andrew Garfield and Mishal Husain have been two of the most interesting ones I can remember seeing so if you have been giving it a miss recently it might be time for another look.

Tuesday 6th May at 9pm (and repeated later in the week) sees the turn of Ross Kemp of Eastenders fame - who according to the advertising  "believes sifting fact from fiction will be the biggest challenge when it comes to his family history". Sounds like there could be a few old stories to sort out.

Our new website

Hopefully you all know by now that our new website is coming ...  We are aiming to switch over on 6th June - if it was good enough for Montgomery and Eisenhower then it is good enough for us (and yes, before you all write in I know that D-Day was supposed to be the 5th!).

You can have a look at what is there now - as can anyone - by going to www.wsmfhs.org (same as the current one - but without the ".uk" at the end).

However if you want to access the restricted areas of the new site you do need to logon - this is a different login to the one from the old site - you normally logon with your e-mail address. Once you login the system will remember you so you don't have to continually need to login.

We will be sending out invites to the new site in the week leading up to the 6th. If you would like access earlier (and you are very welcome to do so) please let us know.

You can find all of the information from the old website on the new one with extra "stuff " including

• Contact with other members via Private Messaging
• Buckets & Spades (current and old issues) readable from the site
• Exchange Journals readable from the site
• Research Forum sortable in different ways
• Parish pages that include direct links to records held on Ancestry and Findmypast
• Milton Road Cemetery Charts
• Extensive War Memorial coverage with 800+ individual profiles of those who died during the Boer War and the First World War
• Close Up Pictures of the Grove Park War Memorial in Weston
• Special Projects including Brick Walls, Parishes at War, Member Pedigrees and of course the Weston Worthies in full technicolor for the first time.

We are still looking for GED files containing members family tree to trial on the Member Pedigree project. We require only

1. A GED file (can be exported from any software program)
2. The name of Person in the tree who the pedigree is centred on
3. A picture to add to the post (does not have to be a portrait).
4. No other graphics/media are needed

The resulting pages are based on on all ancestors of the main individual plus two generations of descendants for each ancestor of the main individual.

Events coming up in May

14 May, 2:30 at Our Lady of Lourdes Church Hall "Unexpected Sources", a talk by Samantha Taylor – those odd sources she encountered whilst researching her family tree
16 May - 18 May at St Martin's Church, Worle Flower Festival: A celebration of Marriage Fri, 16th May 7:00pm  Opening of Flower Festival Sat 17th May 10.00am – 4.00pm Church open for viewing displays and marriage registers Sun 18th May 2.00pm – 4.00pm Church open for viewing displays and marriage registers Sun 18th May 4.30pm  Special Service to conclude Flower Festival
19 May, 10:30 at Weston Library Library Help Session
28th May at 19:30, via Zoom Henry Smith: A Most Notorious, Naughty, False, Lying Fellow: A Global Black Sheep or Maligned Character? Sue Paul gives a light-hearted case study demonstrating how to reconstruct a seventeenth-century life that cannot be found in traditional genealogical records to enhance your ancestral history

And finally ...

10 years ago - from the May 2015 newsletter

(It was reported that Mark Sayers was moving to the Mediterranean and was standing down as chairman)

"We have never had a vice-chairman, a situation which we will have to resolve.  In the meantime, Brian Airey has reluctantly agreed to carry on as both chair and secretary until November – the revised date of the AGM.  If there is a local member who is interested in taking the chair (or can recommend another member who might be approached) please will they let us know so that they can be co-opted on to the committee before any election takes place."

Some things don't change much - we don't have a vice-chairman or a chairman for that matter - we have two co-chairs! - and Brian is still carrying on as Secretary - and we would still welcome anyone who would like to help on the committee - we are quite a friendly lot!

Enjoy the month of May!

And finally (again) ... one last May

My mum's sister was called June, her daughter is called Avril and Mum's & June's stepmother was named May - can anyone beat that?

St Martin's Church, Worle 16th-18th May 2025

Fri, 16th May 7:00pm  Opening of Flower Festival

Sat 17th May 10.00am – 4.00pm Church open for viewing of displays and marriage registers

Sun 18th May 2.00pm – 4.00pm Church open for viewing of displays and marriage registers

Sun 18th May 4.30pm  Special Service to conclude Flower Festival

For more information email stmartinschurchworle1@gmail.com

We are currently aiming for the 6th June to be the switchover day for the new website.

If you would like earlier access to the site (at wsmfhs.org) please fill in the form at Go – Weston-super-Mare & District FHS