Well, we’ve had our first meeting in the new location at the Vintage Church. Everyone seemed to find us and apart for a few teething problems all seems well. The one question we hadn’t asked was “Where’s the light switch?” We need a little more work on the amplification system but the large white wall for the projector was very much appreciated. A brief warning - one member parked on the grass next to the car park – we have been told that the area is often waterlogged and there is a history of people having to be towed off the grass so please avoid that. There is also parking behind the church and free street parking nearby.
At that meeting Peter de Dulin intrigued us with a detailed account of his ancestors and their remarkable journeying around the countryside as a Hawkers and Menagerie owner. Peter demonstrated how newspapers can be a marvelous way of adding detail to names, dates and places. He also gave food for thought about stereotyping individuals by their occupations – His ancestor, although eventually living in a workhouse, had been extremely (to use a more modern phrase) “media savvy” and used the newspapers to great effect to advertise his business. Free access to The British Newspaper Archive is available in our local libraries – ask in yours if it is your area. It’s also available as part of the subscription to Findmypast. For anyone who hasn’t used this facility perhaps this 2 year-old video may help you in using the archive but remember that there are more papers online now.
Help Sessions
Please note that regretfully the sessions at the Healthy Living Centre have ceased as they were not being used sufficiently but the Help Session at the Portishead Library on the 2nd Wednesday afternoon of each month are doing well. If you live within easy reach of Portishead why not join us one afternoon?
The weekly Help Sessions at Weston Library on Saturday afternoons continue to flourish and the society (and the Library!) is extremely grateful to those who volunteer there. The Society volunteers are augmented by members of the Weston U3A Family History Group - This is a large group which meets on the 1st Friday of each month at St Paul’s Church Hall from 2.15-4.00 pm. The Programme for 2016/17 is available here Beginners are welcome. Contact me for more details.
ScotlandsPeople
ScotlandsPeople the web site of the National Records of Scotland has a new look. It was re-launched on the 28th September with this introductory page Note that Births, Marriage and Deaths in Scotland up to 2015/16 are now included. If you have used the site before you will have to confirm your information and then take some time looking through the site to see the new features which include some Presbyterian records as well as the records from the Church of Scotland.
Findmypast
My father was severely wounded at Monte Cassino during WW2 - Findmypast has recently included a list of Casualties from WW2 and he is included. These lists cover soldiers and nurses who were reported as killed in action, wounded, prisoner of war, missing, died of wounds, involved in accidents or who had fallen dangerously ill.
Findmypast requires a subscription but as new records are constantly being added it is always a good idea to take a look at their indexes every so often to see whether anything relevant to your family has been added. Apart from the Army records I have also found useful school records as these often give the name of the guardian and sometimes their address they are very helpful in adding detail to your research or in identifying siblings.
FREE Records on Findmypast
Findmypast does give free access to some records. These include :
- FREE access to full US census records (1790-1940).
- Irish Catholic Parish Registers Published online in partnership with the National Library of Ireland, the collection contains birth, marriage, burial and confirmation records from more than 1,000 parishes, covering 98% of the Catholic population in Ireland.
FREE Irish Records from the Irich National Archives
Use the National Archives Genealogy Website - From this page, you can now access the:
- Census Records for 1901 and 1911,
- Census survivals for 1821-51,
- Census Search forms for 1841-51,
- Tithe Applotment Books from 1823 to 1837,
- Soldiers’ Wills from 1914 to 1917,
- Calendars of Wills and Administrations from 1858 to 1922.
FREE Records on Familysearch
Don’t overlook Familysearch when it comes to looking for free records – This site is having new additions regularly and is very useful when researching people who came to Britain from abroad – for example there is free access to:
- 1911 census of Denmark with images and a transcription in English! Name index of the Denmark census taken in 1911. This was the thirteenth census conducted since 1787
- Germany, Schleswig-Holstein, Kreis Schleswig, Civil Registration, 1874-1983 The some 135,000 records in this collection span the years from 1874 to 1983 and consist of birth records, marriage records and official death records. Schleswig-Holstein is the northern most state in Germany. It borders Denmark.
- Hungary Civil Registration, 1895-1980 Images of births to 1920, marriages to 1950, and deaths to 1980 reported to and recorded by civil registrars. Coverage varies by locality. This collection is being published as images become available.
1939 Register
The 1939 Register is proving very helpful in furthering research. When answering a question from America about someone whose death was registered in the Weston-super-Mare District in 1944 we found him lodging in Sand Bay on the 1939 Register. His wife, a teacher, was discovered at Sand Bay Holiday Camp with a large group of evacuees from London. Tony Horry, who is on our committee, tells me the Kewstoke Local History Group has looked at the Kewstoke School Records to search out the names of some of the evacuees. Another member produced this photograph which contains her aunt with evacuees at the holiday camp during the war.
Birnbeck Pier
Does anyone have relatives or ancestors who worked on the pier in any capacity at any time? We would like to collect information of the people involved. We would be especially interested if you have connections with anyone who was stationed there during WW2 when it was HMS Birnbeck. Please contact me if you can help in any way or write a comment at the end of this item.
Next Meeting
Some years ago my uncle gave me a large bundle of Deeds etc which had been found when clearing my grandfather’s house. He told me that they were all concerned with property owned by our family and would support my grandfather’s oft spoken claim that we were descended from a wealthy and influential Bristol family. It is only this year that I have looked at these documents properly and discovered that they some reveal interesting facts. Come to the Vintage Church on Tuesday Oct 25th and hear all about them.
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