News & Information

This is the presentation that Jenny Towey gave at the Annual General Meeting on 14 Nov 2024

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The AGM of YOUR Society is to be held next week. The constitution states that we MUST have Chair, Secretary & Treasurer as well as 3 other members for the committee. Current post holders and members of the committee have been in situ for some considerable time. At the moment we DON'T have a nomination for CHAIR or TREASURER. Without these posts we will fold.   Committee meetings are held via zoom so you don't have to live in Weston. Also if anyone can take over recording talks and IT work we would like to know.

Do you still want a FH Society?

Please come forward to help.

Brian Airey

Secretary

Welcome to another Newsletter – What with Halloween, Diwali, Bonfire night, and Remembrance Sunday there are several celebrations in which we and our ancestors took part at this time of the year.   How are they recorded in your Family History? – Do you talk about your experiences to younger relations? – How have they changed over the years?

Free Help Session – Nov 2nd

The Weston Library will be closed on Nov 2^nd.  We will not be holding a Free Help Session on Saturday November 2^nd.  The next one will be on Saturday December 7^th. 
In the meantime, we look forward to reading and answering your queries on the Research Forum on our Web Site or on our Face Book Group.

Gloucestershire Family History Fair – Nov 2nd

If you live near Gloucester or have relations from Gloucestershire you should find much to interest you at the Gloucestershire Family History Fair on Saturday Nov 2^nd at the Heritage Hub, Clarence Row, Alvin Street, Gloucester , GL13DW.   https://gfhs.org.uk/event/gloucestershire-family-history-fair/
My maternal Grandfather, Ashton B HILL, was born in Cam near Dursley in 1880 and my paternal Grandmother, Alice B JONES, was born in Gloucester in 1879; both after marriage ending up in Bristol.

Remembrance Day – Nov 11^th

^{poppy from freepik.com}

While you are wearing your poppy, remembering all who died in the service of this country it is wise to include those who came back.  They rarely spoke of their experiences but returned with many physical and mental problems which stayed with them all their lives.

If you have ancestors who served in WW1 these YouTube videos give some help with available records from the National Archives. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2Z0vFH2zMg

A similar video covering WW2 records is also available https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTkVFYvUZYM

A Video about “Using Prisoner of War Records” is also in this series https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WvD_mI9CvU

What are your suggestions for researching Military members of your family? 

AGM and Members’ Meeting – Nov 13th
The AGM will be on Wednesday 13^th November at Our Lady of Lourdes Church Hall starting at 2.30pm.  As Hon President of this Society, I would like to offer my heartfelt thanks to the Committee for continuing under immense personal pressure to keep this society going.  Whenever requests for help have gone to our members for assistance the outcome has been disappointing. As our committee meetings are held on Zoom you do not have to be a local member to be on the committee, just to be able to support your fellow enthusiasts.

The AGM will be followed by a talk from Jenny TOWEY entitled Hints & Tips for Family History Research 

Hear about the hints and tips that Jenny Towey has discovered over her 50 years of researching her family tree. Research techniques have developed so much over this time, but it is good to have a “Back to Basics” session occasionally remembering that if you are researching online that information is often being updated and you might find new documents available.

DNA
For those members who are also members of the Weston U3A There is a DNA Research Group led by Jenny TOWEY which meets by Zoom monthly on Monday afternoons.  See  https://weston.u3asite.uk/u3a_groups/dna-for-family-history/ for more details.

AI for Family History
In August, FamilySearch published this guide to using AI for Genealogical Research. https://www.familysearch.org/en/blog/ai-developments-genealogy 

If you prefer to watch a video about AI – Try this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S71pcTLQs5M 

Have any of you used AI to aid your research?  Please comment with your findings.

I have experimented briefly with Microsoft Co-Pilot which for one question did lead me to a document in the Bristol Archives I had not considered before.  Be careful with your questioning and check the answers carefully to avoid errors in its reply. 

Interestingly, I also asked it  - “ What can you tell me about Thomas Long, born 1818 in Bitton and a leather merchant in Broadweir Bristol?”
Its answer directed me to our own web site!

Thomas Long, born in 1818 in Bitton, Somerset, was a leather merchant who lived and worked in Broadweir, Bristol. He was a tenant at 19 Broad Weir, which was later destroyed by a bomb in 1942. His business was located near the Crown Tavern and he was linked to numerous newspaper accounts and the births of his children.

See Weston-super-Mare & District Family History Society

House through Time
Have you been watching this programme?  This series seems slightly more contrived and disjointed than previous ones but historically correct.  Have you considered researching the residents of your own house through time?

If you live in an older house, you can trace the families who lived there through censuses, parish records, street directories, newspapers, electoral rolls, County Archives etc., building up a picture of the area and changes which occur.  If the house was converted into flats – was it one of Henry Butt’s “Mansions”?
Our house was built in 1935/6, so we have little census information to go on. As the first two owners (father and son) were both called Henry WOLSTENHOME that did cause me some difficulty.  The father died in December 1944 and was buried in Weston Cemetery.  The son moved into his father’s house until about 1952.  It all adds to your own family history.

Birnbeck Pier
With the news of Lottery Funding of £10 million to aid its restoration I was interested to hear that our Mayor, John Crockford-Hawley has discovered that he is a distant cousin of the 4 year-old Cecil Hugh Smyth-Pigott, son of the Lord of the Manor who laid the foundation stone in 1864. Would like to see that Family Tree!

Prize Winning Salmon
It was reported in the Weston Mercury (with a misprint in the Heading) that a 3 lb Salmon had won a Langford resident a trophy.  When reading the article, it was actually a 31 lb salmon.   
This reminded me of Samuel Norvill who in the first half of the 19^th century caught a Salmon weighing 32 pounds and a quarter on the west side of Knightstone, in a net in the mud. As it was the first salmon to be caught that season it had to be taken to the Lord of the Manor, at Brockley.  Whoever took the fish to Brockley was given half-a-crown and as much as he and his pony could eat and drink.  Samuel was given three shillings on account of the size of the fish. This is recorded in Ernest Baker’s interviews of Weston inhabitants.

Workshop by Zoom – November 27^th
The November Workshop will be looking at “How our ancestors died”.  Peter de Dulin will be considering the various events which affected how our ancestors died. Joining details will be sent to all full members before the event.

All too often we forget to kill off our ancestors and there are some family trees which suffer from this problem.  I was sent one not long ago which was based on a John PUDDY but unfortunately the John PUDDY who was given as the father of a large family had died when he was 2 but this had not been recorded and the wrong John PUDDY chosen to record.

Somewhere I have a small book written by a coroner which lists many causes of death which makes for fascinating reading.

Finally
I hope that as the nights are now drawing in you will have more time for family History and offer your help to others in this society to gain as much pleasure from researching as you do.  Please add your comments and suggestions for a society which meets your needs to this newsletter.

Due to staffing shortages Weston Library will be closed this coming Saturday - November 2nd - so there will be NO help-session this Saturday.

Jenny Towey

Now that Summer is officially over - What documents have you found to be most useful when you are researching your family? Where have you found them? Which documents have been handed down to you? Do you have a Family Bible?  What about photographs – did your ancestors name the people featured on them?  Have you named and dated any photographs you have taken?

All About that Place 2024

Are you enjoying the short talks which are part of this year’s “All about that Place 2024”?  If you have missed any of them, you can catch up on YouTube.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5f3Krjf_n7Q&list=PLQkoy8bkE6cBrEWsP6mjLhGVuhGmI_3Nb  There are some nuggets of information in these videos and well worth watching. Start with the one by Dave Annal as an introduction.

Latest UK Documents on Ancestry
 
Here are the latest additions to UK documents in Ancestry – which you can access at the Library.

Note that it includes a 20^th Century Index of Professional Boxers.  Interesting to see how many were from Weston-super-Mare.  This Index leads to a commercial company which will sell you information. Be aware of this type of Index.  See example at https://www.boxinghistory.org.uk/Boxer_Don_Trapnell_Weston-super-Mare.htm

Free Help Session at Weston Library this Saturday, October 5^th from 2.00 p.m. until 3.30 p.m.  Thanks are due to the volunteers from our society who will be there to help and guide you. Booking not required - Ancestry and FindmyPast available to use as well as all the items in the Library such as Electoral Rolls, Street Directories, Local Newspapers on film, Maps and the numerous files of information about people and places in this area etc.  Look also at the printed transcriptions by the late Brian Austin – including the one he did on the Overseers’ Accounts of Weston which he indexed under the people involved rather than the date.

Using Archives’ Catalogues.

Have you tried looking for documents in the Somerset Archives which feature your surname?

The Catalogue for the Somerset Archives has this entry for 1780 - found when searching for the name HASE:

However, I have yet to establish that these people have anything to do with our family.  The Parish Registers for Badgworth have christenings for Joshua, Jane and Hester with the surname HARSE – parents Henry and Elizabeth or Betty HARSE.  Be aware that variations of the spelling of surnames can happen in original documents as well as in transcriptions.

Don't forget that searching the National Archives using its search facility Discovery will show up documents in other Archives across the Country.  If you sign in to the National Archives there are many documents which you can download free of charge including the PCC Wills.  If you search for "Weston-super-Mare" there are many documents which you can download, including this one at no cost.

House History – Planning Permission

I have recently had a request for information about when a particular house was built.  Information may be gained from Street Directories – but remember that the entries were probably collected during the previous year.  Electoral Rolls should list people old enough to vote who are living at that address. 
Planning Permission found in County Archives may also help but you will need to see the actual plans to identify the Plot with the House number. However, it is sometimes possible to compare the name of the householder in a street directory with the planning permission for additions (such as a garage) to a plot number.  For example, I was able to identify the Plot number of the house in which I live with this as I knew from the Deeds the name of the first owner, Henry WOLSTENHOLME. 

Older property is more difficult to identify although you may find it on older maps.

Criminal Activity

Have you found any evidence of criminal activity in your family history research?  Why is it that we get excited about such events?

•       One of my great grandmother’s first cousins, called Frances COLES, was born in Bermondsey in 1859 and died tragically in Whitechapel in 1891.  See https://www.jack-the-ripper.org/frances-coles.htm for more details. There is considerable doubt about her assailant, however it has given me hours of distraction reading and researching her life.  My grandfather was alive, aged 17, when she died, but he did not pass the story down to me – I wonder why?!  Did the family know about her?
  
  
•       My husband’s great great grandmother, Hannah NICHOLLS née ROGERS, died following an altercation in Wedmore, with a son-in-law, Sandy CREASE, in 1854, who was subsequently charged with her manslaughter.  This newspaper account gives her age as 35 – she was 55. The case was dismissed when it came to the Assizes.

•  On the other side of the law, Charles PUDDY, Great Uncle of my husband, born in Mark, and a member of the Cardiff Police received a Bravery Award for saving the woman mentioned in the following incident.

• It is sometimes difficult to find these items.  Newspapers are excellent for bad news as they are today!
  
  Better News about HASE
  I did find information about a Henry Hase when we ran a vintage car for Wedding Hire and when visiting the home of a prospective bride, I saw one of these bank notes framed and hanging in their loo.

• Note that the Chief Cashier of the Bank of England was a Henry Hase, and I then wanted to prove a connection with our family, although this seemed unlikely!
• The National Portrait Gallery holds an image of him https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp121343/henry-hase and he was born in 1763.  He was the Chief Cashier of the Bank of England from 1807 until his death in 1829.
• At that time, I contacted the Bank of England and surprisingly received a very friendly and helpful reply which told me that they did not know where he was born or who his parents were but quoted a piece of doggerel about him from when he succeeded Abraham Newland as Chief Cashier. Dated 1808.

 Ye Directors of England’s vast treasure,

In darkness why always exist?

When Abraham Newland departed,

In the bank he was certainly Mist.

Still a cloud overhangs your proceedings.

I see it, I own with amaze!

(Though perhaps you make light of the matter),

He is now succeeded by Haze!

Notable women in Weston - Next Society Meeting October 9th

On Wednesday October 9^th from 2.30 p.m. until 5.00 p.m. the Society meeting at Our Lady of Lourdes Church Hall will be addressed by Jane Hill.  The title will be The History of Notable Women in Weston & Surrounding area.  Which women would you include?

•       Edith Graves-Knyfton from Uphill joined the Red Cross during WW1 and became in charge of the Ashcombe Temporary Red Cross Hospital. There are a number of photographs of the Hospital including patients on this site. https://museumandarchives.redcross.org.uk/objects/39448 She also organised help during WW2
•      Hannah More (2 February 1745 – 7 September 1833) comes to mind, especially when you think of her home at Barley Wood and her philanthropic work - educating women in the area etc. https://wringtonsomerset.org.uk/morelocke/irvingonmore.html
•       Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence and her work for Suffragettes and for more details see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmeline_Pethick-Lawrence She was the treasurer of the movement and is credited with choosing the purple, green and white colours worn by the women of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) 
•      Ivy Millicent James who was born in Weston is known her inimitable postcards featuring children. Ivy also designed the banner of the local Suffragettes.

Note the boy smoking! There are many images of her postcards in Weston Library.

Connections with LDS and Salt Lake City

• The father-in-law of one of my great aunts, George Thomas DAYER, was born in Newport, Monmouthshire in 1848.
• He travelled to America in 1868 following the example of his Aunt Ann SPOONER née DAYER, a widow, who emigrated with three of her children in March 1854 on board the Golconda from Liverpool to New Orleans with all the passengers heading for Salt Lake City.
• Researching her children revealed that her daughter Sarah Jane later married Benjamin Franklyn JOHNSON becoming the last of his 7 wives – all living together.  https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/9271792/benjamin_franklin-johnson
• George applied for citizenship of the USA in 1869 – this document was found on Ancestry.
• He married in Salt Lake City in 1873, and they had a son there in 1874. But by 1881 he and his family were back in Bristol. The moral of this story is how interesting it can be to research some people who may not be direct ancestors but shed a light on the conditions of the time.

Course on Family History Research

The Weston-super-Mare Family History Centre run by the LDS at 11, Ellenborough Road, North is offering a course designed to teach people the benefits of Family Search and how to get the best from the site. This is due to start on Wednesday 16^th October from 7.00p.m. to 8.00p.m.
Member Christine Fulfit Reid will confirm details.

Other Aids to Family History Research

Some of the TV offerings about researching families are classed as entertainment but on Wednesday Oct 9^th at 9.0p.m. on ITV1 is the first edition of another series of DNA Journeys which promises to surprise the participants with its findings.  Do these programmes help you in your research?

Next Zoom Workshop

This will be on Wednesday 23rd October at 7.30 p.m. and will be "An Introduction to the Family and Community Historical Research Society" by Brita Wood, its membership Secretary. 

The aims of this Society are to promote and communicate research in family and Community History, with a particular emmphasis on the contribution of locally based Micro-studies, especially through collaborative research,  Over the years, major projects have resulted in books on the Swing Riots, 19th Century Allotments, and Almshouses and a number of mini -projects have proved immensely popular, with 30-40% of Society Members taking part"

All our full members will be notified of the signing on details nearer the date. Would any of you be interested in taking part in a mini-project?

Zoom Workshop in September

The Video of the September Workshop is yet to be uploaded but once itis all full members will be able tp watch it.

Finally

What do you advise other members to do to further their research during October? Can you suggest methods of breaking down brick walls?  All Comments wil be welcome as will omissions and corrections to this newsletter.  Have fun with your research and let us know how you are getting on.