News & Information

January 2014 Update

A Happy and Successful New Year to all our members!  There is something very special about the time between Christmas and the New Year – The decorations are still sparkling and it is a time for reflection over the remains of the chocolates and Christmas cake.  How well did your family history research go last year?  What was your biggest achievement and what happens next?   January will start with a session at the Library on Jan 4th from 2.00 til 3.30pm – so do come along if you have reached a stumbling block in your research and would like help sorting it out.  Or perhaps over the Christmas season you have met with relations who have inspired you to start your family history research – we will be only too pleased to point you in the right direction.

When I look back to start of my family history research in 1974 – No! – I know - I can’t be that old!!  My father retired that year and trying to encourage him to research our family I remember visiting a church where the parish registers were still kept in the Parish Chest.  My outstanding memory is the smell of those original parchment registers as they emerged from the dark dusty chest and the excitement in finding entries which we knew to be of our relations.

• Have you tried   Dusty Docs  ?   This is a site which leads you to free websites in the British Isles containing Parish Records.     When you find an ancestor who lives in another part of the country it is sometimes difficult to know what is available.  It’s a sort of one-shop site which can lead you to external sites which hold records of the area in which you are interested.  The Guides on the left hand side of the Home Page are also of interest.  For example – have a look at Genealogy Pox    One word of warning - Occasionally it will take you to site such as Ancestry which you can search without a subscription and then it asks for a fee if you want to see the details.   
• If you have an ancestor who lived in Bath you will be interested in the Bath Archives site  which now includes photographs of prisoners.  Not that I am suggesting that any of you have criminals as relations!
• For those of you who have ever wondered whether you could had a legacy waiting for you somewhere this is the link to the list of unclaimed estates on which the programme Heir Hunters is based
• We are planning a visit to Kew on March 11th  – look out for information about it.  Apart from the availability of records held by the National Archives, its library and free computer access for Findmypast and Ancestry   another reason for visiting Kew is that during 2014 the London LDS Family History Centre is based there.  More in formation of what is available at the London LDS FHC at Kew can be seen here 
• A reminder that we have taken a stand at the free Your North Somerset Event 2014 – which will take place on Sunday 26th January 2014 from noon until 4.00pm at the Winter Gardens in Weston.  By doing this we hope to raise awareness in North Somerset of what we have to offer and possibly to attract new members.  It should be an interesting and very varied day – do support us at it!
• I love maps and can spent hours pouring over them so I am particularly looking forward to our speaker in January. Veronica Bowerman  who has recently moved into this area from Henleaze in Bristol, will be talking about the use of maps in Family and Local history research.  You can read more about her on this site
• The Help Sessions at the library will continue each Saturday afternoon - don't forget that there are many sorts of maps available there including digitised tithe maps for all of North Somerset.

Just look at this map – it’s Weston in about 1887 – It shows clearly the differing density of the housing between the detached Victorian villas on the hill and the terraced artisans’ dwellings on the flat.  The sweep of the railway line with the excursion lines running into Locking Road (where Tesco and its car park is today). The importance of the position of Ellenborough Crescent with its view of the sea and the villas on either side of the private Ellenborough Park.  South of there you can see the beginning of the planning for development around what will be the Clarence Park area