News & Information

MyGrandfather served in the 1st World War and I posted a description of his service on the BBC  90 yrs of Rememberance site,

link   http://www.bbc.co.uk/remembrance/wall/record/10200

Have more photos of him which can be used.

Michael Oram

Ernest Henry George Phillips, born 8 April 1898 was the cousin of my grandfather, Arthur Charles Phillips, known as "Charlie". Ernest's parents were Ernest Henry and Hannah Eliza Phillips.

Ernest was called up on 30 March 1917 and was at the Royal Marine Depot at Deal on 7 April and by 11 July was in France serving in the Royal Marine Light Infantry, which as part of the Royal Naval Division was present at the struggle for Paschendaele from 31 July 1917. On 28 October 1917 Ernest sustained serious injuries and was taken to the 3rd Canadian Hospital at Boulogne and his parents were notified by telegram that he had been seriously wounded.

On Saturday 3 November they received a letter from the chaplain at the hospital saying that Ernest had received his "Home Call" on 1 November. Sadly on Monday 5 November they received a letter sent by Ernest, expecting to be in Blighty by the time they received his letter.

On the Worle War Memorial is remembered,  "Phillips E   RMLT" (sic), which I passed on many occasions on my way home from Worle Junior School without recognition.

2014 will be the centenary year of the outbreak of World War One.  To commemorate the anniversary we wish to gather together as much information as to how the 1914 – 18 war affected our ancestors.

However, small the story of your ancestor we would like to know.

Was your grandfather a soldier?  Was great aunty working in a munitions factory?

Your story does not have to be about a soldier – we want to build up a picture of what life was like in 1914 for our relatives of by-gone years.  Links with Weston-super-Mare and District would be great but others can be considered.

To help the project run smoothly I am keeping a list of those who are working on their relative’s history.  So please do let me know at one of the society meetings or via the contact form on this website, so I can add you to the list.

Good luck and happy ancestor hunting.  And don't forget - if you need help - do ask.

Caroline can be contacted using the Contact Us facility towards the top right-hand corner of the screen, and select in the Category box Memories of WW1.

(Please do not attach comments to this posting but create a new News & Information item using the Category Memories of WW1.)

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!

It was announced at the AGM that the Society had won the Federation of Family History Societies' (FFHS) Geoff Riggs Award for the best website.  This is due in no small way to our Paul Tracey who has worked tirelessly with Kevan, our professional web designer, to produce what we have today.  Well done and thank you.

My thanks to the remainder of the Committee for their work throughout the year.  We now welcome as co-opted members  Maureen Harvey, Tony Horry,and  Bill Caple.  I'm sure they will bring new ideas.

If anyone has suggestions for a project to commemorate 100 years from the start of WW1 I would like to hear from you.  Many county organisations are organising something, but I wondered if we could focus our minds on something local.

Brian

We start a new month with a new Chairman and we welcome Brian Airey into that post.  He has served the society extremely well for many years as Secretary and now, for the second time, he takes the Chair and we wish him a happy and successful term of Office.  We also welcome Dave Milner back for a second spell as Treasurer.  At the moment the post of Secretary remains vacant.

The Society was thrilled to learn that our web site had achieved 1^st place in the Medium sized Societies category of the annual Geoff Riggs Award for Family History Web sites.  We have been concentrating on developing the web site over the past two years – to make it more accessible and of use to our members - but we are still open to suggestions for other changes.

Well, we’ve put our clocks on so it is now officially British Summer Time - surely the weather in this country must soon catch up and behave as it should for this time of the year!  Perhaps you have taken the opportunity of the Easter Weekend to catch up with relations and quiz them about the past or are you just enjoying yourself eating chocolate? In writing up our family history it is interesting to look at traditions which have been handed down and how they have changed over the years.  As you read this – it is probably April 1^st but we can assure you that there is not a practical joke in sight!

During April the Weston Cemetery will re-start its monthly opening on the 2^nd Saturday afternoon of each month on the 13^th April.  The Chapel will be open from 2.00pm and members of the Friends of the Museum and of this society will be on hand to identify where individuals are buried. – For more details about the Cemetery see this site    On the following day – Saturday 14^th April our Society will be represented at the Family History Day held by the Wiltshire FHS – For more details about this day click on  this site  where you will can out who else will be there.

Weston Museum is holding two meetings at 12 noon on April 17^th and at 7.30pm on April 18^th at the Museum to explain the situation regarding Lottery Funding and to get your opinion on what you want from your local museum.  As numbers are limited, if you would like to attend please let the museum know email .  There is currently a fascinating exhibition at the Museum depicting “The Singing Landscape” and is a photographic celebration of Cecil Sharp.  Many of us may have ancestors who sang and some may feature in this exhibition. For more details about the background to this event visit this site .  Please note that Exhibitions are free at the Museum.

We are looking forward to our April meeting on Tuesday the 30^th April when we will be welcoming Dr Janet Few again who will be telling us about her experiences taking part in “Who do you think you are?”  - Janet is a popular, entertaining and informative speaker who has visited us several times.

The Federation of Family History Societies (FFHS) annually present awards relating to the best Society Website and Journal.

In 2012 the Society decided to enter our Website into the Geoff Riggs Award (formerly the Best Website Award).

The award is given to the society which, in the opinion of the judges, presents the best website according to a variety of criteria. Details of this criteria can be found at the FFHS website. The awards are split into three sections according to the total membership of the society. We fall into the Medium Societies section.

We are very pleased and proud to advise that our Society has been awarded the Winner of the Medium Societies section. The certificate to this effect is shown below.