News & Information

Weston-super-Mare has enjoyed glorious weather and interesting visitors during September but life goes on even if Banksy has left!  With the evenings shortening now is the time to revisit your Family History.  I have had some serious questions asked recently from people who are continuing with research which was started by their parents or even grandparents.  Technology has progressed rapidly and information stored on 5¼ floppy discs is difficult to retrieve.  How is your research presented?  Is it saved by at least two different methods and in different places so that any computer failure does not result in you redoing all your research?

We are nearing the deadline for entries in the next edition of Buckets and Spades – Paul is always happy to receive articles and short pieces which will interest our members

At our September meeting we have just had a very interesting talk by Peter Towey about Chancery Records.  Apart from the fascinating account of the goings on in the DARLEY family he explained the background to the process of cases in Chancery.  The amazing amount of detail obtained in these papers painted a very clear picture of the family even if the Pedigree produced as a result of a Visitation to Cornwall could be likened to a poorly researched Ancestry Family Tree!!  Peter recommended the Research Guide from the National Archives for more information about Chancery Records.

More Interesting Websites

• Keep up to date with what is being made available at the National Archives by looking at their Blog.  This one starts with information about carrier pigeons.
• For those of you who use Facebook there are some interesting sites available. Bristol Record Office  is worth looking at.
• To keep in touch with what is happening while Weston Museum is closed use their Facebook Page
• You don’t need to have a subscription to Findmypast to read its Blog - it includes a review of the edition of “Who do you think you are?” which featured Anne Reid and an article on how to research Welsh ancestors.

TV and Family History

The current season of “Who do you think you are?” has been entertaining and informative  showing some sources which you may not have considered or may not be relevant to your family but nevertheless are worth remembering ......just in case!  Although I’m not expecting to have to trace my family back to William the Conqueror!     If you have missed any you can always catch up on iplayer.  When I looked for one of these programmes I came across two editions of the People’s Detective  which I had missed in 2001. One about Mary Bateman, the Yorkshire Witch and one about Florence Maybrick and a murder mystery, neither local to Somerset but interesting!

I came across this article recently - it's about a year old but you might find it interesting - "Family History TV - a Dangerous Fiction?" The subject is very popular but for whom are these programmes intended?

Names in Newspapers

Harvest Festivals and Flower Shows are often reported in detail in Newspapers and it is really interesting if you find your ancestor won a prize for their potatoes!   You can access the British Newspaper Archive from any library computer free of charge.  Here's an example:

From the Western Daily Press - Thursday 22 August 1867

Poultry and FLOWER SHOW at Weston-super-Mare

VEGETABLES

• Best half peck of kidney potatoes—first prize, G.AVERY, Yatton ; second, J. HORNETT, Weston; third, H. BAILEY, Bleadon; extra prize, Lot GOODALL, Draycott.
• Best half peck of round potatoes —first prize, J. CLAPP, Congresbury ; second, C. BASTABLE, Weston; third, W. FISHER, Weston; extra prize, W. PITTS, . Weston.
• Best half peck of peas—first prize, W. BARNSTABLE, Huntspill; second, C. BAILEY, Bleadon; third. J. FRY, Milton; extra prize. H. BRYANT, Burrington.
• Best half peck of broad beans—first prize, W. BARNSTABLE, Huntspill;  second, W. PAYNE, Milton; third, A. CLARKE, Worle.
• Best four cabbages—first prize, W. PITTS, Weston ; second, H. POPLE, Weston; third, C. BASTABLE, Weston.
• Best three vegetable marrows—first prize, T BANWELL, Weston; second, S. BINDING, Bleadon; third, H.BRYANT  Burrington.
• Best 12 carrots—first prize, J. COX, Burrington;  second, C. BABER, Wrington ; third, J. COOK, Wrington.
• Best 12 Turnips-first prize, F. NIPPER, Winscombe; second, A.CLARKE,  Worle;  third, S. BINDING, Bleadon.
• Best collection of pot herbs – first prize,  W PITTS, Weston; second, D. WATTS, Milton,
• Best Autumn Sown Onions  - First prize J BASTABLE, Weston ; second D WATTS, Milton; third C BAILEY, Bleadon.
•  Best Spring Sown Onions , - First Prize , A BURGESS, Worle ; second, J. BAWDEN, Compton Bishop; third, J CLAPP, Congresbury
• Best Three Cross lettuces  - First prize, C BASTABLE, Weston;  second, J PALMER, Hutton.
• Best three cabbage lettuces-first prize. C.BASTABLE, Weston; second, B.PONSFORD,  Weston.
• Best Six heads of Celery—first prize, D.WATTS, Milton: second, J. FRY, Milton.
• Best six sticks of Rhubarb -first prize, J. H. GLOSSOP, Weston; second, C. BABER, Wrington.
• Best dish of scarlet runners-first prize, J. CLAPP. Congresbury; second, J. DAY, Axbridge ; third. H. SPURWAY, Weston.
• Best brace of cucumbers-first prize, H. GILLBANKS, Axbridge; second, J. CLAPP,  Milton; third, W. VOWLES, Cross.
• Best dish of parsley—first prize, H. SPURWAY, Weston.
• Extra prizes for pickling cabbage—G. PERRETT and J. H. GLOSSOP, Weston.

If anybody recognises their family name please let me know!  There were other classes for Flowers and Fruit.

Our Website

It is when you lose something that you value it most and we certainly discovered that when our website disappeared.  Many thanks are due to Paul and Graham for its reinstatement.  Now it’s back it’s up to us all to use it.  Use the Research Forum – if you have a query, post it and if you can offer suggestions to answer a query please share them.   Great to see the particpation which is happening since it's return.  Add the surnames you are researching to our Members’ Interests and check to see whether anyone else is researching the same name. 

Society Meetings

We are continuing with our Help Sessions on Saturday afternoons at Weston Library from 2.00 until 3.30pm.  There are copies of the original records for all North Somerset Parishes on fiche – transcriptions of many of these are now on our web site but like all transcriptions we advise checking the originals before entering the detail on your family tree.   Local Newspapers such as the Weston Mercury, the Clevedon Mercury and the Weston Gazette which are not yet online can be consulted for local events.  If you are researching Bristol ancestors there are copies of the transcriptions of the Bristol Parish Registers made by the Bristol and Avon FHS which can be consulted – the originals are in the Bristol Record Office.  You don't have to be researching local families to get help on a Saturday - the library computers have free access to Ancestry and the Newspaper Archives and our volunteers are full of useful tips to aid your research.

At our next monthly meeting on the 27th October,  Ann-Marie Wilkinson from the Somerset & Dorset FHS will be visiting us to speak about the people featured in a collection of photographs which are in the Wells and Mendip Museum in Wells.  This collection was mentioned by our speaker in May who discussed how to find and interpret images for Family History research.

 It would be a coup for our society to be able to research the family history of Weston-super-Mare’s latest temporary resident – Banksy – but at least we can help others at our Saturday afternoon Help Sessions at Weston Library in the Town Hall.  If you have any queries, come along and discuss it with one of our members or add it to our Research Forum online which should reach a wider audience.

Sadly we have just lost one of our Honorary Life Members - Millie Knox –  who was a founder member of our society,  the secretary for many years and with her husband George, who edited the journal, represented us at the Open Days and Fairs.  Kindly and knowledgeable she guided the society with a gentle hand and was respected for it, not only by us but also the other societies with whom she had contact.  Our thoughts and sympathy go to George and their family at this time.  Millie’s funeral is at the Weston-super-Mare Crematorium on Friday 4th September at 12 noon.

September sees the visit of the North Somerset Archivist to Weston Library on Thursday 3rd September.  There isn’t another visit until December so you need to hurry if you want anything brought up to Weston this week.

Also in September it is Open Doors Days - See what is open in your area

In Weston-super-Mare

All Saints Church , Weston-super-Mare  for more details, timing etc

 ·  Thursday 10 September: 1000-1600

·  Friday 11 September: 1300-1600

Emmanuel Church, Weston-super-Mare for more details which include refreshments and music etc

·  Thursday 10 September: 1030 - 1430

·  Friday 11 September: 1030 - 1430

·  Saturday 12 September: 1000am -1500

St Nicholas Church, Uphill for more details includeing archealogical interest and Phil Harding from Time Team

·  Thursday 10 September: 1000-1600

·  Friday 11 September: 1000-1600

·  Saturday 12 September: 1000-160

For those of you who have used the fascinating site – Know your Place -  you will be pleased to hear that plans are in hand to extend it to cover Somerset as well.  Maps will be digitalised at the Somerset Heritage Centre later this year.  I am hoping to get someone to talk to the Society next year about its implications to our research. Have a look at what is available already here - it already has a 2015 map of parts of this area online.

The LDS Family History Centre at the Church in Ellenborough Park North has been closed during August while renovation work was done at the chapel but hopefully will reopen on the 17th September. As you will see from this website - submit Weston-super-Mare to find details.- Weston does not have the facility to view films but a visit to this Centre does give you the opportunity to use their dedicated computers to search records which are only available at such a centre.  As more images become available this will eventually take the place of films.

According to their own web site Family History Centres provide free access to many subscription genealogy websites, including:

• 19th Century British Newspapers
• Newspaper Archives
• Alexander Street Press (American Civil War Collections)
• Ancestry.com (Family History Library Edition)
• ArkivDigital Online
• findmypast
• Fold3.com
• HeritageQuest Online
• Historic Map Works (Library Edition)
• Origins.net
• Paper Trail, A Guide to Overland Pioneer Names and Documents
• WorldVitalRecords.com

From my inbox

• Does anyone know of a photograph of Harry SAUNDERS?  – he taught at Walliscote Boys’ School for 35 years.  He was a keen Sportsman and was Secretary and Captain of Weston Cricket Club.  He died in 1942 but there is a still a chance that someone remembers being taught by him or there may be relations of his in the area who could help.  He also played for Somerset Cricket Club and is to be featured in a book which is being written at the moment. 
• We have had a similar request for a photograph of Jim (James John) BRIDGES who was also a well known Somerset cricketer.  He ran a hotel - I believe it was the Cavendish Hotel in Regent Street in the 1940s.  He died in 1966 but I know that he had children who were born in Weston so if anyone knows of this family can they get in touch with me.

Some Blogs you might find interesting

The History Interpreter - Janet Few with her take of Local and Family History is always enjoyable and good value.  She’s coming to talk to us again next year.

The British Genes Blog  from Chris Paton is useful in keeping you up to date if you are researching Irish or Scottish ancestry.  Look out for the Podcasts.

History Repeating  does have a bias towards Cambridgeshire but covers some interesting themes – look out for the one on DNA.

The Paul Milner Genealogy  Blog  is written about UK genealogy for the Americans

Next Meeting - September 29th 2015

At our September meeting we will be welcoming one of our own members, Peter Towey, Vice President of the Anglo German FHS and who I mentioned last month has recently been elected as a Fellow of the Society of Genealogists, to talk about A Cornish Family in Chancery - The Darleys of North Hill

August in a holiday resort is always interesting – Today on the beach lawns the Dairy Show was attracting the crowds – just like it was 40 years ago and it reminded me of some films I had looked at recently.  The British Film Institute has films of a way of life in this country which has perhaps disappeared.  Search by entering the place you are researching.  You may be interested in  “One Summer in Somerset “ a film made in 1968 largely containing views of Weston-super-Mare.  Another film is of an unnamed village called  “Village Life in Somerset “ made in 1934 – probably somewhere in South Somerset. Other films include Birnbeck Pier in the 1970s and colour film of the Blitz on Bristol & Bath in 1942 (which starts with a brief look at Chew Magna) and shows  the demise of a house which had been in my family in the 19th century but was a casualty of the Bristol Blitz. 

Some Internet Sites worth exploring

• During July there has been the release by the National Library of Ireland of some images of Irish Catholic Records – they are not indexed so you have to browse through them and you do need to know which parish you need.  Some of the entries are of course in Latin and some are very faint and difficult to read but as with all research if you do locate an ancestor they are worth the effort.  They are free and a very important source for Irish research. Go to the National Library of Ireland  This explains the whole set up of these Irish records and is a really useful site to explain the background to Irish research.
• If you haven’t already tried Cyndi’s List possibly because of its American roots it might be worth trying the Cyndi's List UK pages for general sources. Not all the sites are free but you may well find something there of interest.  Just beware of the advertising links to Ancestry dotted about the pages.
• I was surprised to find a photograph of my gg grandparents’ grave in Wraxall on Ancestry under their “Find a Grave Index 1300-current”  Don’t forget that Ancestry is free in the Library.
• Just a word of warning about the Family Trees on Ancestry – do check before adding adding information from a tree to your own tree, there have been many reports of errors.  Even some of the sources on Ancestry need checking.  For example my grandfather was christened at Cam, Gloucestershire on the 1st Feb 1881 but the Gloucestershire Baptisms on Ancestry (although they do have the images) has it transcribed as 1st Feb 1880. Not an earth shattering error but I have offered a correction.   All transcriptions carry the possibility of errors as anyone who has tried to decipher handwriting knows..

Society Meetings

July

Lynda Hotchkiss kept everyone on their toes at our July meeting with her entertaining talk “A Family Tangle”.  Based on her own research she ranged over many generations of her family and with several examples of intermarriage between them it made a fascinating and intriguing tale.  After the meeting, one of our members reminded me of “He’s his own Grandpa” a song made popular by Phil Harris in the 1940s.  There is now a version of this song complete with family tree which you can see on Youtube.    However I think this is actually simpler than the family described by Lynda!

August

We have no meeting in August but we will still be at the Library every Saturday afternoon from 2.00pm to 3.30pm with individual help and advice so please come along if you are in the area.

September

Our next meeting is on September when one of our members, Peter Towey who has recently been elected as a Fellow of the Society of Genealogists – Congratulations Peter! – will be exploring the 18th century Chancery proceedings relating to the DARLEY family of Cornwall.

“If at first you don’t succeed try again” is a motto which Family Historians should keep in mind.  With so many new records being added to sites it’s a good idea to regularly check to see that you haven’t overlooked anything.   On the Research Forum you will see that I’ve posted a request for help to find Henry Austin HASE.  I did write about him in Buckets and Spades in November 2012 but had no response.  My interest in him was renewed last weekend when Findmypast published some more Criminal Records and there he was - in Liverpool.  As yet no one has come up with any suggestions on our site.  But on Rootschat,  where I put a similar request, someone has found him on the Liverpool Crew Lists which I hadn’t realised were on Ancestry.  He also appears on the 1881 census as a ship’s steward in Liverpool giving his place of birth as New York!

At the June Society meeting Dr Diane Brook looked at where we might find images of our family and gave us some food for thought about what we were doing to ensure that current images are being saved.  With digital images the naming of individuals in photographs is just as important but inclined to be overlooked.  If you would like a copy of the resources she suggested please contact me and I will email the list to you.  If you are unsure about how to contact me read the article about websites and the use of email addresses in the current edition of Buckets and Spades.  If you are not yet a member you simply click on my name and then the Contact button

Using your Library Card

Thinking about images and newspapers – have you looked at the range of sites which you can access at home using your library card?   Included in the list of available sites in North Somerset is the John Johnson Collection which is in the Bodleian Library.  I tried searching for “Weston-super-Mare” and strangely came up with a copy of the Girls’ Own Paper of 1907 which contained an advertisement for a hair restorer with a photograph of a satisfied male customer, R H NICHOLLS, who lived in Montpelier.  Subsequently checking his name and address on the 1911 census I found that he actually existed and the product had worked so well that he had married in 1908!  Wherever you live check with your local library to see what is available for you.

Newspapers online with free access.  Many of them received syndicated news items from this country so it is always worth looking – you never know what you may find.

  National Library of Australia's Trove website for Australian newspapers
  Chronicling America free access to American Newspapers
 Welsh Newspapers online - not all are in Welsh!
 The Gazettes  for London, Belfast and Edinburgh Gazettes and official notices.

By now you will have had the chance to read the latest edition of Buckets and Spades – I was particularly interested by an article by Colin Middle about Writers’ Cramp.  It does seem strange that there is a lack of pieces for the Journal.  I hope that Colin does contribute again but why not put Paul out of his misery and send in a small article about one of your ancestors or the way in which you have researched your family.  Social History is very much part of family History and the article by Sheila Mills about food from her childhood showed another way in which to review your own life experiences.

Similarly not many of our full members have contributed to our Research Forum either with a query or responding to someone else.  The majority of queries are from Affiliate Members - does this mean that our full members have no queries? 

Books based on family history

Reading about someone else’s experiences often suggests a way in which you might proceed.  I have just read a couple of recently published books based on actual life histories.  I read both in the Kindle format downloaded to my PC and really enjoyed them.

“Just a Boy from Bristol” by Michael Kelly rang so many bells with me as I was also born in Bristol at about the same time as he was and I shared many memories with him. 
The author of “The Daddy of all Mysteries”, Jess Welsby, is a little younger and was born in Liverpool but I was gripped with her search for her father.  She covers many of the issues of life post war in various religious communities and relates her methods as well as the results of her research.  She is careful to explain the background to her findings which clarified the reasons for decisions made by members of her family.

I have several similar books on my book shelves and they often give inspiration about the way in which a family story could be told.  “It was snowing when I was born” might be the opening line of my own story.  UKWeatherworld   is a site which looks at weather patterns and does have a forum devoted to weather in the past.  It is always a challenge to put your research into context and to add colour to your findings so it is necessary to look at the social and economic factors behind the bald names and dates of official records.  Even if you do not want to publish your family history it helps your own research to have these extra details.   The UCLA  has published some guidelines for oral history research which could  also be used as triggers for your own history – can you honestly answer the questions yourself?

July Dates

On July 8th some members of our Society will be visiting Worle School to assist in their Enrichment week and hopefully inspire the pupils to become interested in Family History.
On July 28th we will be welcoming Lynda Hotchkiss, a former genealogist with the Lincolnshire Archives who now lives in Worle, who will be talking to our society about family history research. 
Throughout July and August the Free Help Sessions will continue in the Library on Saturdays so if you are thinking of visiting Weston during the summer why not come to the Library and refresh or start your research.

Enjoy your Summer!

It was great to see so many of you  at the SWAG Fair in May. Huge thanks to all those members who helped out to make the event such a success.  The number of visitors who attended was an increase over two years ago - which bucked the recent trend of lower attendance figures for Family History Fairs.   On our stand  we were delighted to welcome several new members who joined us at that time and were able to help to break down some brickwalls and give advice to others about where to look next.  Of course, this sort of help is also available in person at Weston Library (in the Town Hall) every Saturday afternoon between 2.00 and 3.30 when volunteers are on always hand to give individual advice.  With the aid of the Library’s computers which enable us to use Ancestry and the British Newspaper Archive free of charge it doesn’t matter where your ancestors come from to get help.  Also with the extensive facilities of the Local Studies section of the Library covering all of North Somerset people researching local families find this a valuable starting place.  Original Parish records for North Somerset parishes are available on fiche so you can check out the transcriptions!  Maps, Directories and Electoral Rolls as well as Brian Austin’s Family Trees and much more besides. You don't have to be a member to get help.

If you can’t get to the library why not use our Research Forum where your question is seen by all visitors to the web site and someone may well have an answer or suggest where you might find it.

We reminded you last month about the visit of the North Somerset Archivist to the Library on Thursday June 4th but even if by the time you read this it is too late to order documents from the Somerset Heritage Centre you could still speak to her about your research.

Change of Speaker for June Meeting

Unfortunately, Dr Diane Brook was unable to come to our meeting in May but has agreed to speak to us in June instead which was going to be a Members’ Evening.   Several members were disappointed not to hear her talk and we thought it best to rearrange it as soon as possible.  Before he left for Cyprus, Mark Sayers had given us an outline of what he had hoped to cover in June about “Family History on the Go” and the use of Mobile devises but we will use that at a later date.

Tips For Research 

• Local BMD Indexes Do look at this site to see the increase in the number of areas which offer this facility. The traditional GRO index  gives the bare minimum of information but with the Local BMD Indexes it is rather different.  In some of them (Bath for example) you are able to see the mother’s maiden name for births as early as 1837 and the actual church where a marriage took place.  Be aware that if a marriage was in a non-conformist chapel a Registrar had to be present and so it will appear that the marriage was in a Register Office but that is just where the records are lodged. There is a debate at the moment supported by  Baroness Scott to introduce a certificate suitable for Family History purposes at a reduced cost – see the excellent Lost Cousins Newsletter for more details
• The web site of the LDS – Familysearch – shouldn’t be overlooked as a free resource especially where it offers images of original documents as well as transcriptions.England, London Electoral Registers, 1847-1913 is fully searchable electoral registers with images accessible free of charge. I’ve been able to track down one of our HASE family on these.  The 1891 entry even told me who his landlord was and how much rent he paid for two rooms on the first floor, unfurnished. 
• For all of you who have Irish ancestry - Irishgenealogy is a site to look at for background information and some searchable data
• Ireland’s Catholic Church Records -The National Library of Ireland has announced that it will give free online access to its archive of Catholic Church records, the earliest of which dates back to the 1700s. The records are considered the single most important source of information on Irish family history prior to the 1901 Census. They cover 1,091 parishes throughout Ireland, and consist primarily of baptismal and marriage records.   This has been promised for the Summer of 2015 – so watch this space
• If you have research links with America you may find this free site of interest – it is from the American Library of Congress and it has digital searchable images of newspapers from 1836 – 1922.  It is called Chronicling  America and I have found some fascinating details on it.  If you haven’t got family connections just try just searching for Weston-super-Mare – it’s always surprising what pieces of news were syndicated around the world.
• Try looking at the records of the Canadian Expeditionary Force if you are looking for one of the many young men who had immigrated to Canada and then served with the Canadians during WW1. There are two sides to these Attestation Forms - don’t forget to look at the second side

Familysearch – Browsable Images

• Australia - New South Wales 1928 Census  This is “browsable” - in other words - it isn’t indexed at the moment although there are plans to include a search facility.  You have to look through it page by page in the same way as we used to do before computers came on the scene.  As so many of the residents of Australia  at that time were immigrants, either by choice or transportation, the census states whether they were free or bonded, what ship they came on, their age, religion, the length of their sentence etc.  You choose the place and then look through each page.    For those of you who were at the May meeting when Female Convicts transported to Australia was discussed you may be interested in looking at the Parramatta census where the first pages list the convicts resident in the Parramatta Female Factory in 1828. The 2nd page of each entry should list livestock owned by the individuals entered but as these residents do not of course own any that page is blank. There are 527 females listed followed by a list of their children.  There are 63 children and their ages are given in months. 
• Tasmania, Civil Registration of Births, 1899-1912  Another browsable resource. Click on the place first.  The information given is slightly more than you would get on a British certificate at the same time as it includes the date and place of the parents’ marriage.

Family History Fairs:

The Society will be represented at the Wiltshire Family History Society Open Day on Saturday June 20th in Trowbridge.  If you are going do come along and see us - we are always ready to try to help with any questions about our area.

Project for the Summer months!

• Just in case you get bored with all the good weather - go through your family trees and enter the sources you have used to find the information.  I’m sure a lot of you have done this but it will make it easier to check your results.
• Do not add information from on-line family trees unless they give sources from original records!

This year the month of May brings the biennial SWAG Fair which will be held on May 16th at the Winter Gardens and brings the chance to refresh your research by talking to members of Family History Societies from all over the South West and South Wales plus commercial companies offering aids to research. Three talks on family history related subjects are also available throughout the day.  Come and say hello at our own stand where we will also be offering advice and listening to your problems.

Society News

Having welcomed Mark Sayers as our new Chair in the last update, we had our first committee meeting under his guidance.  Now, however, sadly we now have to announce that due to a work commitment he has had to resign from the post. He is moving to the Mediterranean (well, someone has to do it!)  We do wish you well Mark, and thank you for all the support you have given the society over the past few years – we will miss you and your wife.

We have never had a vice-chairman, a situation which we will have to resolve.  In the meantime, Brian Airey has reluctantly agreed to carry on as both chair and secretary until November – the revised date of the AGM.  If there is a local member who is interested in taking the chair (or can recommend another member who might be approached) please will they let us know so that they can be co-opted on to the committee before any election takes place.

Paul Tracey does a marvellous job editing our Journal, Buckets & Spades, and it is very well received, however, the content is up to us, the members.  If you have broken down a brick wall, discovered something interesting or amusing about an ancestor, looked into some aspect of the place where your family lived or worked please share it with us.   Reading about someone else’s experiences often gives a clue as to what we can do next to discover more about our own families.  Paul would prefer any articles to be submitted electronically as an email attachment (so that he doesn’t have to type the whole article again) using a 16 Font.  Contact him through the web page if you have any queries.

New Research Aids

• A companion to FreeBMD and FreeCEN - A new version of FreeREG has become available with an enhanced search facility and is well worth investigating. Freereg2 enables you to search for baptisms, marriages and burials in transcribed parish registers.  Surnames are optional which does mean that if, from a census, you know a wife was born in a parish between certain dates but do not know her maiden surname you can search for example for all the Marys christened in that parish at that time.  Not all parishes are included yet but you can find out whether a parish has been transcribed by clicking on Database Contents at the top of the page.  As with all transcriptions it comes with the warning that original records should be consulted to check the accuracy and to see any additional comments which might have been made at the time.
• If you have been following the queries and answers to problems on our web site you will be aware that recently it was highlighted that some marriage banns have been included in a database of marriages England Marriages, 1538–1973 being used by Familysearch, Ancestry and Findmypast – this can lead to a date and place being attributed to a marriage which hasn’t taken place in that particular church.  Banns are called in the parish of both the bride and groom.
• During April Familysearch  has added more parish records with images – always a bonus to be able to see original records
  • Cornwall and Devon Parish Registers 1538-2010
  • Derbyshire Church of England Parish Registers 1537-1918

Unfortunately the first one I tried which was for a marriage of an Israel GENT in 1863 in Derbyshire gave me the Banns register and not the marriage!  I was more successful with subsequent searches.

• I happened to be looking for some Essex records last week and came across the web site called  “History House” which contains information about the history of Essex.  If you scroll down the page you will come to a section entitled Law & Order under which you will see a link to some searchable Essex Police Records.
• Whilst looking at Police service records try the Met Police site which has some helpful advice.  If your ancestors were known to the Police rather than served with the Police you might find the Black Sheep Ancestors site of interest.

Local News

In case anyone was thinking of visiting Weston to go to the Museum it has closed for 2 years to undertake a complete renovation but in the meantime anyone researching North Somerset families will find a mass of information in the Library which is now in the Town Hall.  The Local Studies section includes parish records on fiche for all the North Somerset Parishes, Electoral Rolls, Street directories and maps.  It is the only place where you can consult local newspapers which are available on film.  The earliest Weston Newspaper is from the 1840s and there is a complete collection of The Mercury and the Gazette right through the 20th century. 

Every Saturday there are members of this society on hand in the Library from 2.00 until 3.30pm to give free help and advice to anyone (you don’t have to be a member) about family history research and we have access to the Library edition of Ancestry to assist the search.

Our next meeting, on May 26th will feature a return visit from Dr Diane Brook who has been researching ways of finding and interpreting pictures of our ancestors. 

I am looking to book speakers for 2016 soon - if anyone can recommend a speaker or identify a topic which they would like included I would be very happy to hear from them.