With a sparkling new museum now open in Weston there is renewed interest in the local history of the neighbourhood. Congratulations to all involved in this refurbishment. If you are in the area do visit the museum – the entry is free and it is open every day from 10.00 until 5.00pm. It’s such a different experience from that which I had when I first came to Weston and the Museum was on the first floor over the Library in the Boulevard and seemed in my memory at least to be composed solely of stuffed birds and bones!! As a tribute to William Mable, celebrated at the re-opening, as the founder of Weston Museum I am attaching a separate article about him at the end of this update.
News from Weston
- The Winter Gardens are also nearly finished and the Ball room will soon be available for community use – probably from early in 2018.
- The new Library at Worle officially opened this week in Mendip Avenue and our free Help Sessions will be held there on the 4th Friday of each month
September and Open Doors Days
Each September buildings which are normally closed to the public open their doors and welcome visitors. This year this will be happening between 7 - 10 September. The Heritage Open Days web site gives details of which buildings are open all over the country and you can search to find what is open in your locality. In the Gordano Valley many of the Churches will be open (and several old inns!) The Bell tower of Wrington Church will be open as will All Saints Church in Weston and Weston Museum will have a special Camera Obscura event on the Saturday and Sunday. Another place which attracted my attention was the Black Nore Lighthouse at Black Nore Point, Portishead, Somerset, BS20 8GB - It is a 19th Century Cast Iron and Steel Lighthouse. Located on a picturesque point on the Severn Estuary and next to the Portishead to Clevedon coastal footpath. It is a fine example of leading edge technology as used in 1894. Although no longer operational the interior and optics are available for viewing during the open days. A guide will be available to explain the history of the structure and the site. Entry is restricted to 4 people at a time due to the size of the lighthouse. Do check what is open.
September and the North Somerset Archivist
On Thursday 7th September the North Somerset Archivist will be at Weston Library. The archivist aims 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 Heritage Centre
- bring microfiche for people to study, and documents from the archive strongrooms when appropriate
If you wish to use this service contact the Somerset Heritage Centre at least 2 days before their due visit to discuss your requirements. Tel: 01823 278805 (enquiries) Tel: 01823 337600 (appointments) Email: somersetarchives@swheritage.org.uk
The Somerset Heritage Centre Catalogue also contains documents (such as files of relevant newspaper cuttings and memorabilia etc) which are held at Weston Library so it is worth using their catalogue to search for information about your Somerset family
Bristol & Avon FHS Family History Fair
This is due to take place on Saturday September 9th and we will have a stand at this event at BAWA, Southmead - Graham Payne and Bill Caple will be on hand with Sue Dury and myself to offer help and suggestions for further research. For more details visit this site
September and Hop Picking
Hop Picking and the 1939 Register – Looking for someone with Romany ancestry I recently discovered an entry on the 1939 register of 322 people who were all listed as “Hop picking at Wyke Farm, Alton, Hampshire. Whole families are listed with many entries of children still redacted. The Romany Genes website explains what was happening there and points out that it was at this time and in this parish than many of the Romany children were christened. This highlighted the often repeated advice that in using idexes often "Less is better than More" If you thought that you knew where a member of you family was living but not found them - have you considered that they might be on holiday when the census was taken or temporarily staying with friends or relatives - just leave out the location from your search.
Reviewing Research
Over August I have been reviewing some of the information I gathered when I first started researching my family. Like all beginners, I was thrilled to find my family name mentioned but didn’t always appreciate what information was available and I admit not to have made careful notes of sources etc. With more images of original documents becoming available it should be easier today to be accurate!!
There are images of Gloucestershire Wills on Ancestry and in one of them - the Will of my 8 x great grandfather, Jeremiah (or possibly Jerome!) ISAAC who died in Tormarton in 1745, I found mention of his married daughter, Sylvester COLLINS. But I hadn’t found a daughter who had this name. After some lengthy research, I did find (on Familysearch) the baptism of a Silvister ISAAK daughter of Jeremiah and Grace christened on the 31 July 1630 in Acton Turville (a neighbouring parish) which was far too early to be the correct one. However, Ancestry does have images of Gloucestershire Parish Registers and by trawling through I eventually I discovered that the christening was very clearly written as the 31st July 1680. This appears to be a case of someone transcribing from the original records and then, when this was copied again, the year was miss-read. The numbers 3, 5 and 8 are often subject to errors in transcription. Moral - check all transcriptions with the original if possible.
New Resources
Please consider adding any new resources which you have found useful as a comment to this Update.
Next Monthly Meeting
In September we will be looking at methods our members use to record their findings so please bring along any examples you have and any questions or queries you wish answered.. Have you had any DNA results which you would like to discuss?
We are still looking for a volunteer to provide refreshments at our monthly meetings - can you help? - or volunteer to make a rota of helpers.
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