News & Information

Family History can make fools of us all at times.  Today it’s April 1^st and perhaps until 12.00 noon we can expect jokes to be played on the unsuspecting. However, you can be assured that those who attend the free Help Session at Weston Library this afternoon from 2.00 p.m.  until 3.30 p.m. will have no tricks played on them – just genuine help and assistance.  

There are several well documented tricks played by some of our ancestors to confuse the unwary.

• Two Wives - Same Name. Perhaps one of the most confusing is the young widower who marries another wife with the same first name as his first wife and from the same part of the  country. If this happens between censuses then it looks as if there has been no change until you check the mother’s maiden name of the children.  Do this by using the free GRO index You have to register but no payment is involved and then once logged in you can search the online indexes.
• Two Children - Same Name. Working along the same lines – things which happened between censuses – a child dies and is replaced by another who is given the same first name as its deceased sibling.  This causes a minor hiccup in your research as genetically a tree based on either infant would produce the same results. A birth certificate might be needed to sort them out.
• Errors on Birth Certificates can also make fools of us.  My maternal great grandfather died in 1885 – he had been an engine driver on the GWR and was based in Reading when he died. My great grandmother moved back to Bristol to be near her birthplace of Wraxall with their 5 children, including my grandmother, who had all been born in Reading.  Amazingly, I have two more birth certificates for children born in Bristol naming my great grandfather as father. The first was in 1889 and this, the second one, was in 1892.

Reginald PINNOCK was christened at St Francis Ashton Gate in Bristol on the 24^thJune 1892 but sadly died early in 1894 so does not appear on any censuses.

His second name is a mystery to me - could it indicate who his father really was?   I’m not sure even whether Annie was his mother – Later she took in a young boy who, on his military papers, named her as his next of kin as a foster mother.   Could she just have taken in the two who have birth certificates naming her as mother and William PINNOCK as their father?  Perhaps their mother was a member of the family and Annie was making life easier for them?  Neither of her daughters were old enough to be the mother.

This month I’ve had a new DNA match of 113 cM for someone who is named on my tree as a second cousin, once removed. Our Common Ancestors are William & Annie PINNOCK. Sadly, I’ve had no response from any correspondence from him and he might have been told more about those additional children.  

• Inaccurate Information on Birth Certificate When my paternal great grandmother Rebecca Saunders COLES was born on 11 Jan 1844 her mother's name was given as  Cherity COLES, formerly SAUNDERS.  Cherity was being a little economical with the truth as she did not marry John COLES until 5 Feb 1844
• Wrong Father on Wedding Certificate. In my husband’s ancestry, his great grandparents were a John and Mary Ann PUDDY who had been married on  March 29th 1860 at the Parish Church in Mark, Somerset, giving her father’s name as John SYMONS.

It took me several years to realise that John SYMONS was not Mary Anne’s  father – another almost April fool!  I eventually discovered that John SYMONS was her grandfather and that the Jane MILTON who witnessed the marriage was her half-sister.  Her mother was a Harriet PUDDY d/o John PUDDY who 4 years after Mary Anne’s birth married a James MILTON.  This was a fairly common occurrence in those days when the illegitimate offspring of a daughter might be taken into the family and raised as another child.  Mary Anne might even have believed that John was her father and that Harriet was an older sister.

• Exaggerated Family Stories. It wasn’t on April 1^st when my grandfather told me that his grandfather had entertained Garibaldi when he visited Bristol but the result was the same.  Family stories passed down may often fool us into believing them but do not discard them – they may contain a grain of truth.  Garibaldi did visit Bristol but only spent 10 minutes on Temple Meads station – Thomas LONG had signed a welcoming letter to Garibaldi which was the nearest he got to entertaining him!
• Inaccurate Family Trees. Another time I was fooled was by someone else’s family tree.  My 7 x great grandfather was a Richard GUNTER born (I think)  in about 1632 in Coaley in Gloucestershire.  I found a tree which suggested that he was the son of a John GUNTER and Princess Margaret of Scotland, daughter of James VIth of Scotland.  This would have meant that I was also descended from Mary Queen of Scots.  Sadly, I discovered that Princess Margaret had died when she was only 2 years old and that John GUNTER had most probably married a Margaret STUART.  I am still working on that part of my tree!

How have your ancestors fooled you during your research?

Researching English Ancestors - Assuming that most of us will be researching British records - have you looked at the Ancestry Academy videos ?  This is aimed at Americans researching their British ancestry and explains a lot about the way in which English records have been produced and is a useful way of refreshing your own background knowledge of family history research. 

New Records released - FindmyPast has added some new records today, March 31^st,  including some additions to the 1939 Register and some Sussex records.  Two Bristol Newspapers have been updated – The Bristol Evening Post for 1979 and the Bristol Times and Mirror for 1913-1920.  It is always worth checking to see what new resources have become available.  It would be great if there could be some later copies of the Weston Mercury and the Weston Gazette included.

Links with 1871 Census - During March the Genealogist has added some interesting links to the 1871 census giving maps and other documents to widen your appreciation of  where people lived at that time.

Tips for Researching - Last December FamilySearch published some tips for researching which are useful whatever resource you are using.

The Facebook Group and our Research Forum on our Web site have had limited use over the past month but if you have any queries about your research don’t forget that these are available for you to use.  You could also use them to tell us about any successes you have had at breaking down brickwalls or tips you may have about new resources or ways in which you have achieved success.

Remembering the last Coronation - With the Coronation of King Charles III fast approaching those of us who can remember the last one should be making sure that their memories are preserved.  The advent of television made the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II a widely shared event and I have written before about my experience of visiting a Great Aunt – the only close relation with a TV set - and watching the proceedings with other members of my family all clustered around a tiny 12-inch set in Bristol. My husband went with his parents to Birnbeck Pier to watch it, I gather that the set was not much larger than the one we had – but there were refreshments on hand as well.  Later with my school I was taken to a cinema in Bristol to see the colour film of that day.  We had the joint experience of a Coronation and TV to wonder at – how will this Coronation be remembered?

Coronation of King Charles III

Communities are planning events.  What will you be doing? 

The Coronation is on a Saturday and as it falls on the 1^st Saturday in May we will not be holding our usual Free Help Session at the Library that day but on Sat May 20^th we will be having our own celebrations – not of the Coronation but of the 40^th anniversary of the founding of our Society.  This will be a free event to which we have invited other family and local societies and groups to attend. Come along to Our Lady of Lourdes Church Hall in Baytree Road from 10.00 a.m. until 4.00 p.m. when you can meet and talk to representatives of the following : Bristol & Avon FHS, Somerset & Dorset FHS, Anglo-German FHS, Kewstoke Local History Group, Worle History Society, Wick St Lawrence Local History, U3A Family History Group, Guid of One Name Studies, Know Your Place, Friends of Birnbeck Pier, W C & P Railway Group, Church of Latter Day Saints, DNA Advice and Second Hand Books – apart from our own Society’s Stand and Help Desk.   Something for everyone there, whether you are experienced or new to researching.  A big “Thank You” to all members who will be taking part in organising and running this event.

Our next Members’ Meeting will be on Wednesday April 12^th at Our Lady of Lourdes Church Hall from 2.30 p.m. when Linda Hotchkiss will be making a return visit to our Society with a talk entitled “From the Nursery” about the background to Nursery Rhymes and stories some of which were politically motivated. 

Zoom Workshop - On Wednesday April 26^th will be a Zoom Workshop form 7.30 p. m. about using FamilySearch the free resource from the Church of the Latter Day Saints.  This valuable resource is often overlooked and has been updated over the years.  When I started researching, the IGI on fiche was the first go to resource pre-dating the commercial ones and visits to one of their Family History Centres to search films of church records – images not transcriptions - produced great excitement and success.  If you are unsure about how to use FamilySearch this Workshop should be extremely useful.  They will also be represented at our Open Day. Details about how to join the Workshop will be sent to all members before the meeting.

North Somerset Archivist - The next visit of the North Somerset Archivist to Weston Library will be on Thursday June 1^st between 11.00 a.m. and 1.00 p. m. and between 2.00 p.m. and 3.30 p.m.   The aims of these visits are to

• Help people find out about the past, with information on how to find out about family, house and local history.
• Provide information on the archives held at the Somerset Heritage Centre
• Bring microfiche for people to study, and documents from the archive strongrooms when appropriate.

For more information and to book documents contact somersetarchives@swheritage.org.uk  

Finally - Any comments, tips and advice to other members are welcome, either on the web site of the Society or on the Facebook Group

St Martin's, Worle burial transcripts have been updated to include the period up to 1938 and are now available for Society members to view online.

Please report any transcript errors to the author of this news article.

A transcript of Nailsea Christ Church Burial book is now available for society members to view online.

Please report any transcript errors to the author of this news article.

Speakers for workshops are now being arranged at a pace. The following have been arranged:

March 22nd:     Brick walls and how to solve them. This will include brickwalls sent in by members

April 26th:       Family Search website: a talk on the website by Christine Reid from the Church of Latter Day Saints

May 24th:        Family Tree Maker: Mark Olsen from Family Tree Maker will be explaining how this excellent program works

June 28th:        Private Schools of Weston: following on from Pat Hase's talk on education resources in general, she will talking                         about the many private schools in Weston.

July 26th:          Worle: Raye Green from the Worle History Society will give us an insight into Worle and its history

August:            no workshop

Just as a heads up for the new season, we have John Gowar from Wrington Local History Society who will be talking about the older history of the village/parish looking at records from Middle Ages to Victorian times. This will be in October.

Peter de Dulin

vice chair

The Easton in Gordano St George MIs (3 files) are now available for Society members to view online.

If you have any information regarding incomplete inscriptions or you find any errors please contact the author of this news article.

Welcome to Spring!  The trees in our road are in blossom with daffodils and snowdrops blessing our garden  so it must be spring, but the temperature is still quite chilly.  February was a month of celebration in our family. A very special 90^th Birthday managed to get the family together for the first time for ages and the birthday boy was delighted to receive a card and gift from the Society for which he was very grateful.

We spent some time delving into family photographs. My mother-in-law had kept a couple of small albums covering his first two years – all named and dated with the place taken recorded as well.  

This one taken in 1934 shows father and son on the beach in Weston.  I love the knitted swimsuit!  Who remembers wearing those and how heavy they became in water?    

NEWSPAPER PHOTOGRAPHS

Gone are the days when the local newspaper had a number of Birth, Marriage and Death Announcements often accompanied by photographs.  The Weston Gazette published a Pictorial Review for 1933 which contained, amongst many others, this photo of a wedding at Hewish Church.

Is anyone researching WESTCOTT or DUNSTER?  Or even the DAY family from Blagdon?  Other photographs in that edition include this one of a Diamond Wedding Celebration of the DAY family.

William and Harriet DAY née DERRICK were married on the 30^th Dec 1872 at Blagdon. 

QUESTIONNAIRE

During February members answered the Questionnaire about what you wanted from the Society for which the Committee is grateful and will try to ensure that the Society provides as far as possible what the majority wants.   One thing that puzzled me  was the large number of you who asked for help with breaking down brickwalls.  There will be a Zoom Workshop tackling Brickwalls on Wednesday March 22^nd for all paid-up members starting at 7.30 p.m. and if you miss it you should be able to watch a video of the meeting at time to suit yourself.  I am curious about your Brickwalls because there are very few requests for help ever posted on our Research Forum which was set up for this very purpose.  Why is it not used?  

WORKSHOPS

Workshops are planned on the Use of Family Search on April 26^th and on the use of Family Tree Maker on May 24^th.  These are available to paid-up members of the Society who also have access to all other recorded videos.  Perhaps you might consider the £9.00 annual fee worth it to enable you to join these events as well as accessing our transcriptions and other information.

ASKING FOR HELP

We all have experienced times when it seems impossible to track down the next generation.  There will be tips of how to go about this during the Workshop but in the meantime why not talk to your relatives again?  You haven’t got any older ones? – try your children – they may well have been told different stories about the family by their grandparents!  When forming your questions try not to use terms like  “Granddad said” – whose Granddad?  -  yours or theirs?  I spend over a year looking at the wrong generation because my father-in-law used “Granddad said” and I thought he meant his grandfather.

I find writing up a narrative profile of individual family members some help in clarifying my own thoughts.  Something like the Weston Worthies – As you piece their lives together chronologically questions emerge which need answering.  Just recently I’ve had to send for my own mother’s birth certificate.  Of course I knew when she was born and who her parents were, but where was she born?  I think she must have had one of the shortened birth certificates which did not give the birthplace.  She was born in August 1910 and was christened in October 1910 – address 24 Greenbank Road.  On the 1911 Census, when she was 7 months old,  in my grandfather’s distinctive writing, the address is 93 Greenbank Road.

I’m now waiting to see where she was born!

The certificate has arrived and it shows that she was born at 93 Greenbank Road - so the address given in the Baptism Record is incorrect.  

PASSING ON INFORMATION

Narrative profiles such as this one about Dame Mary Berry on FindmyPast is an example of how you might put one together.  I trained at the same College in Bath as Mary Berry (a couple of years after her) and on a different course, but the Tutors were singing her praises even then, when she was employed by SWEB South Western Electricity Board demonstrating how easy it was to cook on an electric stove. Look  at this video it will remind you of her programme in WDYTYA.

It is a good idea to consider the best way to pass on your research, remembering that the younger generation is less likely to want to read or handle information in book form.  They will probably be happier accessing it on their phones or tablets  so how can you provide a stimulating and interesting account that they will want to see and possibly continue with?  Some of us have interviewed older relatives but have you considered letting your children or grandchildren interview you?  This could be videoed on their phones and easily transmitted.   These ideas were offered at a Zoom Meeting of the Bristol & Avon FHS, of which I am also a member, and I thank Steve Ralph for these suggestions.

RESEARCH FORUM

When asking for help from the Research Forum or the Facebook Group do not assume that the only people who will help are those researching the same family.  It is well documented that doing Family History Research is like completing a jigsaw puzzle or solving a detective story.  It can give quite a buzz to solve someone else’s problems – Give it a try! – and it may give you a clue about your own research.  This is assuming that there are problems to solve!

Give sufficient information so that who ever wants to help can see exactly what you already know and also what you want to know.

FREE HELP SESSION

The next free help session at Weston Library will take place on Saturday March 4^th from 2.00 until 3.30p.m. Our knowledgeable volunteers will be there to help you find that elusive ancestor and/or make full use of what is available on the shelves in the Library.  Street Directories, Electoral Rolls, Background History of North Somerset and files of Local People and Places.

MAPS

Maps are a really helpful way of identifying where your ancestor lived.  I was horrified recently when one of the contestants on The Apprentice said that he could not read a map and that they were a bit before his time! I suppose it depends on why you want to use a map.

Know Your Place has been discussed here before and we have a link to it on our web site but still someone said that they had not heard of it and was grateful when it was pointed out to them how useful it could be.  There is a such a lot of information which can be gleaned from it – just try the various maps and community and monument layers.  It is free to use.

However, I was about to put a link to show Our Lady of Lourdes Church Hall when I found that a photo of Milton Methodist has been entered at that site so be aware that errors can occur on this site. (I have notified them).  

Another source of useful maps is Map Explorer on The Genealogist.  Here the maps are linked to census entries and other resources as well as having a vast variety of maps available.  I find the Tithe Maps with their Apportionment Lists extremely useful.  You do need a subscription to use this.  However, take a look at the video which shows what it contains 

This is the Tithe Map for Stinchcombe in 1839 showing Plot  357 with a House and Garden occupied by Leonard HILL,  my 3 x great grandfather and  Richard HILL, my 2x great uncle.  The cottage is no longer there.

On the 1841 census only Leonard and his wife are living there.  Richard was living elsewhere.

1939 REGISTER and EVACUATION

During February this has been updated to include those who were born up to 1922 so you might be able to see someone who was originally redacted. 

You can also use the 1939 register to discover some children who were evacuated during September 1939.  If you search using “Evacuee” as occupation.  There are over 13,000 entered with 63 in Weston.

Ancestry has just released some Evacuation Records from Berkshire. About 45 percent of the evacuees were school children travelling alone. The plan also called for pregnant women, mothers of infants, the elderly, and disabled people to be evacuated. About 25,000 children were evacuated from London to Reading between September 1939 and October 1941. These records detail Berkshire’s work as a reception area. Besides the attendance registers of evacuated schools, there are files about emergency accommodation, maternity homes, nurseries and hostels.

TOPICS FOR SPEAKERS AT MEETINGS AND SPEAKER FINDER

One of the issues to arise from your questionnaire was the topics you would like covered from Speakers at Meetings.  Why not post a comment with some ideas of possible topics which would be helpful?

The committee is looking for a volunteer to take on the role of Speaker Finder – The programme for 2023 is complete so you would have plenty of time to arrange the speakers starting from Jan 2024.  

There are lists of speakers available to consult and neighbouring societies and groups may also be able to help.

NEXT SOCIETY MEETING

The next meeting will be on Wednesday 8^th March at Our Lady of Lourdes Church Hall at 2.30 p.m.   Visitors are welcome and the talk will be on "The Walker & Ling Story"  by Sam Walker.  This well-known store in Weston-super-Mare, which started in 1892, has had the Walker family at the heart of its development.  We welcome Sam Walker to tell us about the ups & downs of the store's history.

This is a photo of Walker & Ling’s entry in the Summer Carnival in 1931 entitled “The Cries of London” showing how the firm has always entered into the life of Weston.

The next issue of Buckets and Spades will be available at that meeting for collection.  If there are any copies which you could deliver for us that would be helpful. 

OUR 40^th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS

Plans are now well advanced for our Family and Local History Fair on Saturday 20^th May at Our Lady of Lourdes Church Hall from 10.00 a.m until 4.00 p.m. Admission will be free and Refreshments will be available.  Apart from our own stand and Help Desk there will be other local societies and Groups attending:

Bristol & Avon FHS                                

Somerset & Dorset Family FHS              

Kewstoke Local History Group               

Worle History Society                             

Wick St Lawrence Local History            

Anglo-German FHS                                 

DNA  Advice 

Know Your Place 

Church of Latter Day Saints 

Friends of Birnbeck Pier 

W C & P Railway Group   

U3A Family History Group  

Guild of One Name Studies                                 

Second Hand Books

We would welcome any contributions for the 2^nd Hand Book Stall  and if you could publicise the event in any way we would be very grateful.   

Society members will also be enjoying a celebratory meal at the Grand Atlantic Hotel on September 18^th which is being organised by our Vice-Chairman, Peter de Dulin.

This newsletter is available for all to read, member or not, and if you find it useful perhaps you could point others in its direction.  We would value comments and suggestions either on the Web Page or on the Facebook Group to assist others with their research or adding further information.