This month, with holidays in mind, I’m aware that you may have other priorities than Family History but this Update seems to have an emphasis on how we interpret resources and ask for help when we get stuck.
Research Forum
- Those of you who have followed the Research Forum saga about the JERVIS family will be aware that many people got involved and that eventually the problem was solved. The different contributions were extremely helpful and involved some lateral thinking. We had some red-herrings and went up a dead-end occasionally but patience and perseverance paid off in the end. Thank you to all who added their thoughts.
- It looks as if there might be another challenging problem brewing with the Jesse JAMES conundrum with its change of surnames and the use of an alias. What is interesting about his one is that it did not originate from a Request for Help on the Research Forum but from a comment added to the Members’ Interests. So you do have two routes to get help.
- I would like to say again that it really would be helpful if surnames were always entered in CAPITAL letters. Take Jesse JAMES for example, here we have a surname which is the same as a forename and confusion can ensue. The other thing is that if you are searching for a particular surname if it is entered in upper case it stands out and others are more likely to see it.
Help Sessions at Libraries
Although we do not have a meeting in August the Help Sessions will continue during August and those who volunteer in the Libraries would be delighted to see anyone and in particular local members who would like to talk over their research and perhaps get some guidance. See here for details and timing. I am aware that most of our local members are not researching Somerset names – that does not matter, ideas about how to research are not specific to an area and sometimes just explaining what you are hoping to find triggers thoughts about where to look.
There was gathering in July given by the Librarians to thank the Volunteers who help out at the library – not all are society members as we also have members of the U3A Family History Group who join us . This is the second time that a birthday was celebrated with cake – in fact as you can see the birthday was shared by three of the stalwarts of the group, Maureen, Lorna and Arlene.
The cake and the rest of the food was great - thanks to all who provided it - we do do other things beside eat cake!!
Online Course
While we are talking about getting advice – I have joined a free Online Course run by Strathclyde University and it is quite refreshing to hear basic sound comments on research techniques – one item in week 2 which was particularly relevant when linked to the JERVIS problem was:
“Take your time coming to a conclusion on a question or problem and don’t leap to decisions based on family stories or preconceived notions on what ‘fits’. Leave your research for a week or so and go back with fresh eyes.”
Another interesting side issue of this course is reading other members’ comments about a particular piece of evidence and realising that there are several ways of interpreting the same piece. It does help to talk over what you have found with others. Lorna, whose birthday was celebrated above, did the course last time and told me about it. It is completely free (unless you want a certificate at the end!)
A book which was recommended to accompany this course was Helen Osborn’s “Genealogy – Essential Research Methods”. I have found it to be very readable, full of advice on how to improve our skills at understanding and interpreting the ever increasing array of resources which are available to us.
Resources Online.
- The Genealogist lists the celebrities who will be featured in the next series of Who do you think they are? which starts in September. While watching just think about all the hours of researching which goes into each programme!
- Findmypast has useful background information – here it tells you how to find a missing record Scan down for other related articles.
- At the last meeting I mentioned Rootsweb Mailing Lists and I had a couple of questions about them afterwards but I believe that there is a problem with their servers at the moment .
- There is another way to get assistance through the Rootschat Forum. Go to this page to see more about this system of getting help. Just recently I posted a query in the section devoted to The Armed Forces and received several replies within hours which they were extremely helpful. If you scroll down the page you can find a section devoted to the area where your family were living – take a look at some of the questions and answers. There is no charge.
Ancestry has some new additions - see here for details
- The Somerset Gaol Registers solved a problem for me that I didn’t know I had. I knew that Rebecca Hester Barnard HASE has gone to a Reformatory for stealing 23 cabbages but I was led to believe that this was at the Red Lodge in Bristol – However, the Gaol Registers tell me that she was sent to a Reformatory at Limpley Stoke. I didn’t even know that there was a Reformatory at Limpley Stoke!
- This is not a complete set of Somerset Parishes – there are some missing. Some parishes have baptisms but not burials and the transcription used for the index is sometimes questionable. Tip: Use our transcriptions and then search for the date to see the original by browsing through the pages.
- The Somerset School Registers include St John’s School, Weston-super-Mare and several other schools in North Somerset. Be careful when looking at these records because they cover two pages so you need to look at the next page to get what information is on the second sheet.
Schools and Facebook!
I know not many of you are using Facebook, but I have recently been involved in a Facebook Group consisting of people who went to the same school as I did in Bristol. It has been fascinating hearing how the school changed over the years. It reflects what has happened to education during our life time and highlights how our own experiences must affect how we interpret information from the past.
Archived Books
I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before but if you are looking for a particular book to assist your research do try Archive.org
- When looking for information about the 5th Lancers (see JERVIS query) I came across this book which is the Historical Records of the 5th Lancers. It includes a list of Officers – not our man of course – but does show how useful these books can be.
- Another book, with the catchy title “ Delineations of the North Western Division of the North Western Division of the County of Somerset and its Antediluvian Bone Caves”. covers much of the same area as our society. It was written by John Rutter and published in 1829 describing the area at that time - it includes some contemporary illustrations.
- The Visitation of Somerset in the year 1623 may also be a useful aid. The visitations of the county of Somerset, in the years 1531 and 1573, together with additional pedigrees, chiefly from the visitation of 1591 is also available. be careful with some of the printed Pedigrees - they can be confusing and may have been compiled on a faulty basis - but they are useful as a possible framework for a family.
- If your family is from further afield – try just searching for “Parish Registers” or Genealogy and your particular County on the Archive.org site you may be surprised at what is available.
Monthly Meetings
At our July meeting the latest edition of Buckets and Spades was distributed to those who do not have it digitally. There are some really interesting articles about life in Weston and as always we thank Paul for all the work he puts in to collating the journal, but as he would say, thanks are also due to the members who contribute their items . Our Speaker for the evening was Ian Sage who treated us to his Search for Cecil - What was impressive was the range of resources he had used whilst tracing members of this British born German family who became British citizens, served under their German surname in WW1 before changing it after the war and Cecil himself became a well known actor see this short extract of him in the film, Happy is the Bride in 1958.
Our next meeting is in September (at our new location) when our Vice-Chair, Peter de Dulin, will be exploring his own research – "From Emeror to Workhouse" - Does he really have an Emperor on his family tree?
Change of Location for our monthly meeting
- Arrangements have been made for the Society to change the location of its monthly meetings from 27th September to the Vintage Church in Hughenden Road, Weston-super-Mare, BS23 2UR named on this map as the Purple Sheep Centre! Access from Hughenden Road.
- The doors will open at 7.00pm as before and the meeting will start at 7.30pm
- Please note that we will be meeting on the 4th Tuesday of each month, instead of the last Tuesday of the month.
- This will not affect the dates of the September and October meetings
- Change of date for AGM – this will now take place on Tuesday 22nd Nov 2016
As members of this Society we do want to make this hobby of ours as pleasant and as rewarding as possible. Please let us know how we can help. There are hardly ever any comments added to the Monthly update so does it contain things which are useful and if not what would you like to see?
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