News & Information

Hopefully many of you are enjoying this spell of Summer weather - although as I write this - it's raining!  Thanks to all of you who helped out at the SWAG Fair on one of the hottest days of the year.

• At our July monthly meeting, Christine Thomas brought her own expertise and insight into the story of a number of Bristol Policemen who joined the Hong Kong Police.  They included men from Yatton and Congresbury and she explained the background to the situation and traced each man through his service, retirement and subsequent death demonstrating how pieces of information about people can be discovered in unexpected places. You can read more about Christine and her research here

• The new series of “Who do you think you are?” on Wednesday evenings on BBC1 which started last week will no doubt inspire some people to look into their own ancestry.  If you are just starting you might find the the advice on the free Familysearch site on "getting started.  Ancestry is currently offering free access to the 1911 census until midnight on the 14^th Oct 2013 and as this census is a good place to start your research it might be worth seeing what you can find.

• We will be running the Help Sessions throughout August in the Library as usual in very smart new blue polo shirts!   The Library has recently purchased some transcriptions of Bristol Parish Records produced by the Bristol & Avon FHS which you should now be able to consult when you visit – it is surprising how many people from North Somerset went to Bristol to get married.  

• For those who cannot visit the library we have the Research Forum on our web site.  It has been found that messages are more likely to be answered if you type the surnames of your family in capital letters – it makes it easier for a casual viewer to spot a familiar surname and perhaps feel inspired to add their comments.  For example:  If I mention that my husband’s grandparents were John Millard HASE, Mary Ann PUDDY, Harry MARSHALL and Lily Emily GARLAND the surnames stand out and if any of you are researching those names in Somerset I have your interest.

• Members of the Society will be present on Saturday August 10^th when the Chapel in the Cemetery will be open from 1.30pm until 3.30pm. Using our database of burials and memorial inscriptions we will be able to locate the positions of graves. The exhibition of photographs in the Chapel is a result of work undertaken by the pupils of Worle School

• For those of you who are putting together your WW1 research for our project next year - do have a look at this site  it may give you some ideas but also look at its accompanying facebook page  which has some very interesting entries. 

• A reminder that the Lost Cousins Newsletter for July has just gone online, see here for details, and it includes several items which you may find interesting including one which we have discussed at meetings – family trees on Ancestry! 

• At a recent Members' Evening we tried to break down brick walls – there is a very thought provoking podcast on the National Archives site on breaking down brick walls looking at the reasons why we can’t find the information we are looking for and ways of getting around  it.  This is a recording of an illustrated talk (without the illustrations) but it is very easy to follow the details of the talk and worth listening to. 

• We have no meeting in August but for our September meeting we welcome member Pete Williams who will be discussing his research based on the parish of Brean.  I am currently planning the speakers for 2014 and would welcome suggestions and recommendations both for topics and speakers.

So however you spend August we wish you a pleasant time and possibly a chance to put a little more flesh on the skeleton of your family tree.

My grandfather, ALBERT JAMES COLES, was born in May 1876 in W-s-M and went into the Merchant Navy at 17.  He took all the necessary exams in Bristol and became an Extra Master in 1904.  In 1914 he went into the Royal Naval Reserve - whether he volunteered or was consripted I don't know!  After a very short training period he became Patrol Leader of Armed Trawlers in the Straits of Dover - The Dover Patrol - sweeping for mines.  Off the coat of Folkstone on 14th September 1915 a Dutch ship almost cut his vessel, 'The City of Dundee', in half.  My grandfather was on th upper bridge and became entangled in signal halliards.  He eventually freed himself and swam to a raft where he managed to pull on board 3 other men.  They were eventually rescued but 7 men from his crew died in the incident.  In July 1916 he was presented with The Distinguish Service Cross by George V at Buckingham Palace.  He was dishcarged from the RNR in 1919.

The SWAG Fair is at the Winter Gardens in Weston on Saturday July 13^th – in case you are wondering - SWAG stands for the South West Area Group of Family History Societies – stretching from Hampshire to Cornwall and including South Wales, Hereford and Shropshire.  A full list of exhibitors including other commercial stands and specialist societies can be seen under Latest News.  Most of the stands will have people who will be eager with suggestions to help you find your lost ancestors so don’t forget to bring along your family information.  For other members of your family who may not share your interest - the tide will be at its highest at the start of the Fair and at its lowest by the end of the event!  

On July 1^st - for those of you researching Hertfordshire ancestors a partnership between Findmypast and the Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies has released about 2 million entries of baptisms, banns, marriages and burials complete with images of the original records. The trend for images to be available online is a tremendous step forward and is very welcome.  Some images are also available on the free site Familysearch – Cornwall, Durham, Kent, Lancashire, and Norfolk all have some parishes where you can browse through the records looking for members of your family.  UKBMD is another site which is constantly updating its range of records.  The latest update for LancashireBMD took place today (2^nd July) making another 90,000 records available – so it is always a good idea to look again at these sites.

The overarching UKBMD site is a good place to pick up links to other sites which may be helpful – in particular there is a link to the increasingly useful OPC (Online Parish Clerk) sites – some of these are for counties but others are for individual parishes – some provide a lookup service while others put their transcriptions online.  Many of the transcriptions provided by the OPC sites are also to be found on FreeREG – another good starting point for a lost ancestor.  But you always need to check with the original entry if at all possible.  Errors can and do occur in all transcripts – anyone who has done any research at all will know that the handwriting on some documents can be very difficult to read. 

The last members’ evening explored some of the brick walls which can be encountered and some methods of overcoming them.  Asking for help from someone else can often open up a new line of research.  Reading the Research Forum on this site recently I was looking at some correspondence about the ROGERS Family and I went back to one of my stumbling blocks – a Thomas ROGERS, from Wedmore, who was married in Rodney Stoke in 1759 – from his burial I had deduced that he was born in about 1735. Using FreeREG I found a possible christening in Axbridge on the 7^th April 1735 and a marriage for the parents in May 1734.  I started filling in the gaps with siblings and went back another generation and then suddenly discovered a burial of a Thomas ROGERS on the 8^th April 1735 also in Axbridge.  No age was given in the transcript but if this was the same Thomas ROGERS my brick wall is still there!

At our next meeting on July 30^th we have a talk entitled “From Bristol Bobby to Hong Kong Copper“ which is the story of a group of pioneering policemen in the 1880s who served in Hong Kong. The speaker is one of our own members who has lived and worked in Hong Kong for many years.  The phrase “oh, they didn’t travel much in those days” has been proved wrong so many times in family history research and Christine will explore another example of this - she is an experienced researcher and we are looking forward to this talk after which there will be a gap during August and we start again in September with another of our members, Pete Williams who will be talking about Berrow Church and its records.  We will continue to provide Help Sessions at the Library during July and August  and look forward to meeting everyone who is coming to the SWAG Fair of July 13th.

List of Exhibitors at SWAG - July 13th 2013

10.00 pm - 4.00 pm at Weston-super-Mare Winter Gardens

Something for everyone!

• Ancestry.co.uk,
• Anglo-German FHS,
• Balmaiden Books,
• Bath Record Office,  
• Bernard Welchman,
• Birmingham & Midland FHS,
• Braund Society,
• Bristol & Avon FHS,
• British Genealogy,
• Bygone Bristol,
• Bryan Ford (postcards),
• CAB Search,
• Census Detectives,
• Cornwall FHS,
• Devon FHS,
• Dorset FHS,
• Family and Community Historical Research Society,
• Family History Partnership,
• Family Silver,
• Glamorgan FHS,
• Gloucestershire FHS,
• Guild of One Name Studies,
• Gwent FHS,
• Hampshire GS,
• Herefordshire FHS,
• Horsington Society,
• Irish Ancestry 4U,
• M&M Publications,
• Maxbal Genealogy,
• My History,
• Newtown Design Services,
• North Somerset Library Service,
• One Moment in Time,
• One Stop Genealogy,
• Parish Chest,
• Powys FHS,
• Quakers FHS,
• S&N Genealogical Supplies,
• Shropshire FHS,
• Somerset Record Office,
• Stevens Books,
• This Way Books/Cassini Maps,
• Weston-Super-Mare & District FHS,
• Who Do You Think You Are Magazine
• Wiltshire FHS

This June we will be celebrating 60 years since the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and some of us remember the excitement – not of lining the streets on that rather rainy day but of watching television for probably the first time.  I understand that TV companies put TVs in Villlage Halls and other community areas so that people could watch the Coronation and then perhaps buy a set. Looking at the local newspapers for that week you can get a very good idea of what celebrations were on offer at that time.  I recall spending the day at the home of a Great Aunt – the only member of our family who owned a TV set - with others of our family all huddled around a tiny 12” black and white TV and marvelling in the pageantry.  A few months later my entire school was taken to a local cinema in Bristol to see the colour film of the Coronation coupled with a film about the ascent of Everest.  Memories like these make me realise how much has changed over the years both in technology and in the way we live.

For a regular update of information about family history research you cannot do better than look at the newsletter published by the LostCousins Web site.  To take a look at this month’s edition click here  This one includes some useful tips on researching Military Ancestors and a section on breaking down brick walls. 

In searching for some information about a WW1 casualty recently I came across the web site entitled War Memorial Archive which is currently building a database of all information taken from War Memorials.  Although this is intended for release to mark the centenary of the First World War 2014-18, there are already details of some of the memorials held in Weston-super-Mare, including those in St Paul’s Church (where we hold our meetings) and in other locations in Weston. If you search for a particular place in another part of the country you may find similar information.  Some of the War Memorials list those who fought and returned - not only the casualties – when this is finished this will be a very valuable site.

Don’t forget that the North Somerset Archivist will be in Weston on Thursday June 6th – see Forthcoming Events - where you can also find details of the Gwent Family History Society Open Day in Newport on June 8th when the Society will have a stand and we hope to see some of our Welsh members there.  I will be taking part in the Devon FHS Summer Special in Bideford on June 15th - for details click here - It would be great to meet up with some of our members there as well.  Looking forward to next month - plans are now well in hand for the SWAG Fair at the Winter Gardens here in Weston  on Saturday July 13th which is always an excellent event both for those beginning their family History and for those who are more experienced.  Finally for those members who would like to share their researching problems with a sympathetic audience or would like to help fellow members with their brick walls – please come to the next Members’ Evening  on June 25th when we can all help each other!  Please can you let Brian Airey have your questions in time for the panel to do some preliminary research before the evening.  I’m not sure how many (if any) we have received yet.  This evening is literally a “Members’ Evening” and we would like to be able to respond to your enquiries.

We all enjoyed the talk at the end of March by Dr Janet Few who recounted her experiences when researching and taking part in the filming of an edition of the BBC’s “Who do you think you are”. As our own member, David Milner had spoken earlier in the year about his experiences in connection with another programme – “Heir Hunters”- it has been really interesting to hear what actually goes on in producing these items which have us shouting at the TVs – “Why don’t you try.........?!” 

Of course we do have to be grateful to these shows for inspiring others to decide to research their family history.  The Saturday afternoon “Help Sessions” at Weston-super-Mare Library often attract people who are just starting the search for their ancestors as a result of watching one of these programmes but perhaps do not realise the unseen (and often frustrating) research which goes on behind the scenes.

With June and holidays fast approaching – it looks as if we will be short of volunteers in the Library during June and July.  If anyone is able to come along to help out just during those months we would love to hear from you - if you can guide someone through the beginnings of family history research then please get in touch with me  Click here and I can let you have details. You do not need to be an expert in every aspect - there will be others there who can give advice as well. We would also like to send our very best wishes for a speedy recovery from his fall to David Tyler who has been a constant member of the team in the Library for many years.

It is interesting and encouraging to see the use being made of the Research Forum – Please note that it is easier for everyone to pick out the relevant details if the surname is entered in UPPERCASE.  You never know who may be looking at this site and it is through something I wrote about my family that I have been contacted by someone with whom I share great great grandparents, Charles & Lavinia STOKES from Wraxall.  So even if you do not get an immediate answer it's worth posing the question.

The Speaker on Tuesday May 28^th will be David Hawkins who will be talking about “My Criminal Ancestors” – this is always a fascinating topic and even if you do not have criminal ancestors the methods of researching them is of interest to all.

If you do have criminal ancestors you will know that the detail which is available in the early newspapers can be quite amazing – probably because without photography and TV to spread the word everything had to be described.  Local Newspapers can be seen on film at the Weston Library but other 19^th century newspapers can be searched at home in many parts of the country if you use a library card – check with your local library if they subscribe to this service.

The North Somerset Archivist will be in Weston Library on Thursday June 6^th so do let her know in good time if you would like to see any documents – full details see  here

Can I draw your attention to our Project 2014 – the News Item see here from Caroline explains our intentions as a Society for next year and we do hope to have a special edition of Buckets & Spades concentrating on the results of our research and it will also be the theme for our own Open Day in July 2014.  As Caroline has explained please contact her if you have any information at all of the activities of your relations during WW1 - we all have relatives who lived through that time so this is something that we can all contribute to wherever we live.   By the way, did you know that it was a criminal offence to sell fresh bread at that time?