News & Information

With the autumn comes a renewed interest in Family History.  As the leaves fall from the trees we all seem to be busying ourselves looking for the lost twigs (and sometimes the roots) from own family trees.  Another new series of  "Who do you think you are?"  has triggered off more interest and the now weekly Free Help Sessions in the Library are proving popular.

Family History is not just names, dates and places.  I’ve just filled in our entry for the Electoral Roll for this year and yesterday I was looking at the published Electoral Rolls for London (on Ancestry – available at many Libraries) for a William HASE who I knew from Baptismal entries was living in 16 Galton Street from late 1881 to at least 1886.  By 1891 they had moved.  The Electoral List told me that in 1888 he was stll there in rented accommodation – two rooms, unfurnished on the 1^st Floor for which he paid 4 shillings a week to a Mr TURNER who also lived at 16, Galton Street. I hadn’t realised that this sort of detailed information was available on some Electoral Rolls - it certainly adds some welcome colour to my research.

World War 1  Commemoration 

We have our own Project 2014 – The very fact that we are here today means that we all have someone who lived through the 1914-18 War.

What have you been able to discover both about conditions both for those serving men and women and for those who remained at home?  

This photograph shows my grandmother Florence Gertrude HILL nee PINNOCK dressed in her husband’s uniform at the start of the War; before he went to France.  If this photograph had not been properly named by my grandfather I would have been very puzzled when it fell into my possession! 

I know that my grandfather was gassed in France but unfortunately his service record has not survived but there can be some incredible detail to be found about those who served.  Our own web site does have information (for members) of those who are remembered on the War Memorial in Grove Park.   See here for those transcriptions which include details of family and service not just names. 

The newspapers also shed some light on life on the home front and the restrictions.  Did you know that if was an offence to sell bread that was too fresh after the end of WW1?  Apparently if a loaf was too new you wasted too much in slicing it. A baker in Burnham on Sea was fined for this

Don’t forget that by using your library card you can probably access, free of charge, the Times and 19^th Century British Newspapers in your own home.  Check with your local library to see what online services they provide. See here for more details

While talking about newspapers – there is a free site for Welsh Newspapers -  click here to look at it.   Before you say you haven’t any Welsh ancestors – in many cases news items are syndicated around the country and if you just search for “Weston-super-Mare” you will find over 14,000 entries!  It’s worth a try! The same applies to free Australian newspapers - click here to access that site

 News was reprinted from newspapers in this country so you might well find something of interest on this site as well. 

The Society’s stand will be at the Family History Fair organised by the Glamorgan FHS at Merthyr Tydfil on Saturday Oct 12^th and we should be delighted to see any of our Welsh members.  See  here  for more details.

Don’t forget to read the queries on our Research Forum – you may pick up some advice for your own research and you may have some advice to offer in reply to others.  Can I repeat my plea for SURNAMES  to be entered in CAPITAL Letters?- it makes the information easier to read and distinguishes surnames from places

The next meeting is on Oct 29^th at St Paul’s Church Hall –the topic is the first Mayor of Weston-super-Mare, Henry BUTT, his life and times and his contribution to the history of Weston.  If any of you have memorabilia concerning him or Weston between the wars it would be great if you could bring it along. 

We start September with the good news that from the 1^st Saturday in September members of the Society will be offering free advice sessions every Saturday afternoon from 2.00-3.30pm in the Weston-super-Mare Library, in the Town Hall, Walliscote Road. 

• Bring along what knowledge you already have of your family and then by using either the Local Studies Library for North Somerset families or the computers with free access to Ancestry and the British Newspaper Archive and the many other sites now available for other sources we hope to find that missing ancestor. We can perhaps offer suggestions for further research. So if you are just starting out or are more experienced why not come in any Saturday afternoon. We’d like to see you. 

• Your family doesn’t have to have lived in Somerset but the local newspapers, tithe maps, electoral rolls, parish registers, street directories and Brian Austin’s research all are extremely valuable if they have lived here and may give you some idea of what you might be able to find in libraries in other parts of the country.

• If you have Bristol connections you may be interested to learn that the library has recently purchased the CD of parish records 1754-1837 from the Bristol Diocese transcribed and published by the Bristol & Avon FHS.  As so many people travelled to Bristol to be married from this part of Somerset you never know who you may find on those.

• We are very lucky that we have sufficient volunteers to cover each week but that doesn’t mean that we don’t need more! Because the sessions are not booked we never know how many people will come in – it depends whether someone has been inspired by one of the many programmes on the media which highlight the joys and excitement of finding out about your ancestors! – but if we have spare capacity it does mean that we can sometimes do some research for our members who do not live close enough to come in themselves.

• Many of us will probably use Google street view to try to find out where our family lived but of course the houses may well have changed quite a bit since they were there.  Have you tried Britain from Above?   – this is a series of photographs taken between 1919-1953 and although while looking at them I kept trying to zoom in or look at what was slightly outside of the picture they are a very interesting collection.  You can make out features in Weston-super-Mare which have since been lost and not all by the blitz! Look at the Knightstone Theatre, the Non-conformist Chapel in the Cemetery, The gas works and Lance’s Corner (on the corner of Waterloo Street and High Street). Just search for Weston-super-Mare – there are 72 photos.

• A reminder that the remaining Chapel in the Cemetery will be open to the Public on Saturday afternoon, Sept 14^th  The Society cemetery records will be available for you to locate your ancestor’s grave.

• There has been some publicity lately about the release of soldier’s Wills.  They will cost £6.00 each andyou can search from here .  The Soldier’s service number is given on the search page and if there is more than one entry for the name it would be wise to check the number against the Commonwealth War Graves Site  to make sure you have the correct one.  These have been released in time for the commemorative research which will be undertaken next year.

• A reminder that the North Somerset Archivist will be at the Library on Thursday Sept 5^th – if you haven’t already done so you need to order your documents by Tuesday at the latest Tel: 01823 278805  or email.   As her visits are not so frequent as they used to be please make use of this facility.

• The society will have a stand at the AGM of the Somerset & Dorset FHS on Sept 21^st so if you are going do come and say “hello”. 

• With no meeting in August we are now looking forward to our next meeting at St Paul’s Church Hall on Tuesday Sept 24^th when Pete Williams will be talking about his research based in the parish of Brean.

I know that several members are researching their Irish ancestry.  Earlier this year the Irish Genealogy Web Site was relaunched with an improved search facility and includes the following data.

• Church records
• 1901/1911 Census records
• Tithe Applotments
• Soldier’s Wills
• Griffith’s Valuations
• Ireland - Australia Transportation database
• Military ArchivesIt is continually updating its records. 
• Ellis Island
• National Photographic Archive from the National Library of Ireland

The site also gives valuable information about Irish research in general and has links to other related sites. It you have any Irish connections this site may well answer your questions.

Hopefully many of you are enjoying this spell of Summer weather - although as I write this - it's raining!  Thanks to all of you who helped out at the SWAG Fair on one of the hottest days of the year.

• At our July monthly meeting, Christine Thomas brought her own expertise and insight into the story of a number of Bristol Policemen who joined the Hong Kong Police.  They included men from Yatton and Congresbury and she explained the background to the situation and traced each man through his service, retirement and subsequent death demonstrating how pieces of information about people can be discovered in unexpected places. You can read more about Christine and her research here

• The new series of “Who do you think you are?” on Wednesday evenings on BBC1 which started last week will no doubt inspire some people to look into their own ancestry.  If you are just starting you might find the the advice on the free Familysearch site on "getting started.  Ancestry is currently offering free access to the 1911 census until midnight on the 14^th Oct 2013 and as this census is a good place to start your research it might be worth seeing what you can find.

• We will be running the Help Sessions throughout August in the Library as usual in very smart new blue polo shirts!   The Library has recently purchased some transcriptions of Bristol Parish Records produced by the Bristol & Avon FHS which you should now be able to consult when you visit – it is surprising how many people from North Somerset went to Bristol to get married.  

• For those who cannot visit the library we have the Research Forum on our web site.  It has been found that messages are more likely to be answered if you type the surnames of your family in capital letters – it makes it easier for a casual viewer to spot a familiar surname and perhaps feel inspired to add their comments.  For example:  If I mention that my husband’s grandparents were John Millard HASE, Mary Ann PUDDY, Harry MARSHALL and Lily Emily GARLAND the surnames stand out and if any of you are researching those names in Somerset I have your interest.

• Members of the Society will be present on Saturday August 10^th when the Chapel in the Cemetery will be open from 1.30pm until 3.30pm. Using our database of burials and memorial inscriptions we will be able to locate the positions of graves. The exhibition of photographs in the Chapel is a result of work undertaken by the pupils of Worle School

• For those of you who are putting together your WW1 research for our project next year - do have a look at this site  it may give you some ideas but also look at its accompanying facebook page  which has some very interesting entries. 

• A reminder that the Lost Cousins Newsletter for July has just gone online, see here for details, and it includes several items which you may find interesting including one which we have discussed at meetings – family trees on Ancestry! 

• At a recent Members' Evening we tried to break down brick walls – there is a very thought provoking podcast on the National Archives site on breaking down brick walls looking at the reasons why we can’t find the information we are looking for and ways of getting around  it.  This is a recording of an illustrated talk (without the illustrations) but it is very easy to follow the details of the talk and worth listening to. 

• We have no meeting in August but for our September meeting we welcome member Pete Williams who will be discussing his research based on the parish of Brean.  I am currently planning the speakers for 2014 and would welcome suggestions and recommendations both for topics and speakers.

So however you spend August we wish you a pleasant time and possibly a chance to put a little more flesh on the skeleton of your family tree.

My grandfather, ALBERT JAMES COLES, was born in May 1876 in W-s-M and went into the Merchant Navy at 17.  He took all the necessary exams in Bristol and became an Extra Master in 1904.  In 1914 he went into the Royal Naval Reserve - whether he volunteered or was consripted I don't know!  After a very short training period he became Patrol Leader of Armed Trawlers in the Straits of Dover - The Dover Patrol - sweeping for mines.  Off the coat of Folkstone on 14th September 1915 a Dutch ship almost cut his vessel, 'The City of Dundee', in half.  My grandfather was on th upper bridge and became entangled in signal halliards.  He eventually freed himself and swam to a raft where he managed to pull on board 3 other men.  They were eventually rescued but 7 men from his crew died in the incident.  In July 1916 he was presented with The Distinguish Service Cross by George V at Buckingham Palace.  He was dishcarged from the RNR in 1919.

The SWAG Fair is at the Winter Gardens in Weston on Saturday July 13^th – in case you are wondering - SWAG stands for the South West Area Group of Family History Societies – stretching from Hampshire to Cornwall and including South Wales, Hereford and Shropshire.  A full list of exhibitors including other commercial stands and specialist societies can be seen under Latest News.  Most of the stands will have people who will be eager with suggestions to help you find your lost ancestors so don’t forget to bring along your family information.  For other members of your family who may not share your interest - the tide will be at its highest at the start of the Fair and at its lowest by the end of the event!  

On July 1^st - for those of you researching Hertfordshire ancestors a partnership between Findmypast and the Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies has released about 2 million entries of baptisms, banns, marriages and burials complete with images of the original records. The trend for images to be available online is a tremendous step forward and is very welcome.  Some images are also available on the free site Familysearch – Cornwall, Durham, Kent, Lancashire, and Norfolk all have some parishes where you can browse through the records looking for members of your family.  UKBMD is another site which is constantly updating its range of records.  The latest update for LancashireBMD took place today (2^nd July) making another 90,000 records available – so it is always a good idea to look again at these sites.

The overarching UKBMD site is a good place to pick up links to other sites which may be helpful – in particular there is a link to the increasingly useful OPC (Online Parish Clerk) sites – some of these are for counties but others are for individual parishes – some provide a lookup service while others put their transcriptions online.  Many of the transcriptions provided by the OPC sites are also to be found on FreeREG – another good starting point for a lost ancestor.  But you always need to check with the original entry if at all possible.  Errors can and do occur in all transcripts – anyone who has done any research at all will know that the handwriting on some documents can be very difficult to read. 

The last members’ evening explored some of the brick walls which can be encountered and some methods of overcoming them.  Asking for help from someone else can often open up a new line of research.  Reading the Research Forum on this site recently I was looking at some correspondence about the ROGERS Family and I went back to one of my stumbling blocks – a Thomas ROGERS, from Wedmore, who was married in Rodney Stoke in 1759 – from his burial I had deduced that he was born in about 1735. Using FreeREG I found a possible christening in Axbridge on the 7^th April 1735 and a marriage for the parents in May 1734.  I started filling in the gaps with siblings and went back another generation and then suddenly discovered a burial of a Thomas ROGERS on the 8^th April 1735 also in Axbridge.  No age was given in the transcript but if this was the same Thomas ROGERS my brick wall is still there!

At our next meeting on July 30^th we have a talk entitled “From Bristol Bobby to Hong Kong Copper“ which is the story of a group of pioneering policemen in the 1880s who served in Hong Kong. The speaker is one of our own members who has lived and worked in Hong Kong for many years.  The phrase “oh, they didn’t travel much in those days” has been proved wrong so many times in family history research and Christine will explore another example of this - she is an experienced researcher and we are looking forward to this talk after which there will be a gap during August and we start again in September with another of our members, Pete Williams who will be talking about Berrow Church and its records.  We will continue to provide Help Sessions at the Library during July and August  and look forward to meeting everyone who is coming to the SWAG Fair of July 13th.