News & Information

The following has been sent to me for further circulation.

22nd September 2018 Somerset & Dorset FHS AGM and Open Day 10am to 4pm at Queen Elizabeth School Blandford Road Wimborne Minster, Dorset BH21 4DT The event is free and you do not have to be a member to attend.The key Speakers are Nick Barratt and Gill Blanchard. There is free parking.

The History and Heritage on the Levels Exhibition will take place in Othery Village Hall on the 26th and 27th October. 11am -5pm all free of charge. At 7pm on the Friday 26th October you can come and see internationally acclaimed genealogist ,historian Guild member and author Janet Few The History Interpreter talking about "The burning time" witchcraft in the 17th Century". Groups attending include Somerset and Dorset Family History Society, Guild of One Name Studies, The History Hut, North Curry Archives, Langport and District History Society, Somerset Western Front Association, Othery History Group, Middlezoy History Group, High Ham Parish Community Group , Westonzoyland Aviation Museum. No entry charge for exhibition or talk. We will have a raffle, refreshments for sale and a bar in the evening.

The Milton Road Cemetery burial records (Book 41-48) covering the period 1942-1951 are now available for society members to view online.

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September heralds a fresh look at family history.  I’ve been doing some sorting out of old correspondence – from the days when I started my research and most was done by visiting Record Offices, Churches and making contact with other researchers by letter having found their address from the GRD – Remember that?  The Genealogical Research Directory.  This September DNA is now the latest tool to use but it does not replace traditional research but can enhance it.

Free Research Sites

• Now-a-days, the Internet gives the opportunity to reach many free resources – one of which is the Openlibrary which has many printed transcriptions of Church Registers.  Just enter Parish Registers in the search box and then scroll through to see if the area of your family is included.
• There are also free online courses in Genealogy Research available – go to Futurelearn  for more details and the chance to start one immediately.
• The Magazine, Family Tree, is offering a 30 day free course in Family History Research.  The first week gives 7 different suggestions of how to find out more about genealogy, finishing with a link to a course on reading old writing. 
• Other people’s experiences can be helpful while doing your research Madaboutgenealogy gives some tips for avoiding common mistakes while researching and may help in breaking down brick walls
• One of the last places I would have looked for to get help with family history research would have been the Financial Times - but only yesterday it published How to trace Your Family Tree with several useful tips including some free sites.

Events in September

• The Somerset Archivist will be visiting Weston Library on Thursday September 6th so if you want to look at any documents which are held at the South West Heritage Trust contact them about a week beforehand (that’s now!) to ask for material to be brought up to Weston. Contact them at Tel: 01823 278805.  You can discus with them what would be of use to you.  You can search their catalogue here   Try putting in the name of the Road or place in which you (or your ancestors) lived to discover what documents refer to that address. The planning details for property in the Weston district are very interesting.  Try putting in your surname to see if there are any documents relating to the Somerset surname you are researching. 
• September brings Open Days when local buildings are open to the public – These Heritage Open Days are all over the country but details can be found of places which may not normally be open to the public which you can visit near you by putting in your post code. There are 16 places within 10 miles of Weston and many more if you include Bristol or Taunton.  The dates vary and the first two weekends of September are included.
• We are all familiar with Familysearch, the free website of the Church of the Latter-day Saints, but some of their resources are only accessible from a Family History Centre.  On Saturday, 22nd September the Local LDS Family History Centre is having an Open Day from 10.00am – 5.00pm at their Church at 11 Ellenborough Park North, Weston-super-Mare, BS23 1XH.  Why not go along and find out what they have to offer?  If you wish you can also take along your laptop for 1:1 expert guidance.
• At our September meeting on Tuesday, September 25th Peter de Dulin will be sharing some of his own family history research in a talk entitled “WHATEVER HAPPENED TO HENRY CHARLES JEWELL AND OTHER MYSTERIES?”.
• Every Saturday our volunteers will be at Weston Library to help anyone (you don't have to be a member) who has a query about family or local history.  We are there between 2.00 until 3.30pm

Looking Ahead

• This November sees 100 years since the Armistice of 1918 and Weston Library is preparing an exhibition to mark the occasion.  If any of you have WW1 display material such as we used in 2014 for our Open Day exhibition of that year please could you let me know so that we can work with the Library to add to their exhibition.  They are also looking for volunteers for the week after Nov 11th who have knowledge of Military Research techniques who could be in the library to assist people to find out more about their relations. Please let me know if you are available that week.
• I am booking speakers for 2019 and if any of you have suggestions for topics and/or speakers I would be glad to hear from you as soon as possible.

The Kingston Seymour parish transcripts have been updated to include the years upto 1918 and are now available for Society members to view online.

Please report any transcript errors to the author of this news article

The Nailsea Holy Trinity burial transcripts have been updated to included the period 1895-1918 and are now available for society members to view online..

Please report any transcript errors to the author of this news article.

Another Bank Holiday Weekend and another chance to use Ancestry free of charge.  See here for access and more details.