News Topics

Although Pat has stepped down as Chair she has not left the Committee. How could she? She is the embodiment of the Society. She has found the speakers for the year and will continue to undertake research on behalf of members. Thank you Pat for all your hard work over many years and we look forward to many more!

February may be our shortest month but it certainly finished on a high.  Following a successful visit to the National Archives we had an excellent talk from Clive Burlton on "Trenches to Trams" the story of his wife's grandfather's life.  It demonstrated almost a text-book method of family history research starting with information held within the family - (and it must be said, these were of the highest quality!) through resources held in other archives such as the Bristol Record Office, Bristol Museums and the Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum to name but three.  More information about th

A Happy New Year to all our members and to those of you who are just browsing the site - I wonder how many of you have made New Year Resolutions?  Mine for this year is to properly record the sources from which I have found  information about my family. Yes, I know I should have been doing this for years but in the excitement of each new discovery I'm afraid I often rush on to the next step without stopping to make a note of exactly where I found it, whether it is from a primary source, or from someone else's transcription or from a printed record etc.

October has started with the reopening of the Weston Library in its new premises in the Town Hall in Weston and our Help Sessions have resumed on the 1st and 3rd Saturday afternoons of each month.  There are some changes in the procedures for these sessions and if you are a member of the Library it will help if you have your Library ticket available when you come but as before if you are new to the area or live elsewhere you will be asked for some other means of identification.

 It’s August 1^st and GB have won their first Gold medal in the 2012 Olympics.  There has been much talk about the adrenaline rush felt by the successful competitors – I’m sure we all have felt similar excitement when we eventually find a link to a long lost ancestor.  The joy of family history is that we don’t have to wait 4 years before we can experience it again! 

This month, June, is a hot spot of nostalgia with the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations in full swing.  Perhaps it might inspire some of you to write an article about your Victorian ancestors for a future issue of Buckets & Spades. The next edition should be ready for distrubution at the June meeting but you've plenty of time for the October one!  This magazine is one of the benefits of full membership of our Society and is a credit to the editor, Paul Tracey, who always appreciates pieces for publication.