News & Information

Thanks to Sue Maguire for the June edition of Buckets and Spades – which included information about a Local History Exhibition which is held at St Augustine’s Church, Locking showing interesting facts about Locking Village and the former RAF Locking.  If you go on any Thursday afternoon you can also get some refreshments.  This made me think about other places you could visit during the summer months.

• Weston Past & Present – An Aerial Photography Exhibition 23rd June 2018  -  10th Jan 2019 in the Grand Pier’s Tiffany’s Restaurant.  These photographs are part of the Heritage Action Zone work in Weston and show a selection of recent images taken by Historic England next to images of Weston which were taken many years ago.  The aerial images in this exhibition come from the Historic England Archive.  You can also find historic photos of Weston on Britain from Above
• While on the Pier you might find the Museum of Memories interesting. It’s situated on the 1st Floor of the Grand Pier neat the Go Karts and may bring back memories of your childhood.
• Associated with the Heritage Action Zone Project, North Somerset Council has produce a “Gems of Weston Walk” which takes you around the centre of Weston-super-Mare.  Full details of the Walk with a map and descriptions of the building you pass on route can be seen here. 
• Weston Museum is hosting a free “Know Your Place”  mapping day on Saturday July 21st from 11.00am – 3.00pm.  “Know your Place” is a really useful free resource for family historians and although originally covering Bristol it now includes the surrounding counties including Devon and enables you to see and use maps such as tithe maps, enclosure maps, OS maps, etc. so that you can see how the area in which you are interested in has developed over the years.
• Weston Library has been holding a sale of Local History Books and over the past few weeks I have purchased (very cheaply) several old books which were surplus to requirements in the Library.  You may find something of interest there – if the volunteers on a Saturday haven’t already pounced!

Talking of Volunteers – we were touched by and grateful for a certificate which was presented to the Volunteers at Libraries in North Somerset recently.   The only Help Sessions which we are now offering are those on a Saturday afternoon at Weston Library from 2.00 - 3.30pm.  We enjoy the challenge of assisting anyone who comes in and it’s great when we solve a problem which has been puzzling someone for a while and also share with them a sense of achievement.  

The other way of breaking down brick walls or getting a second opinion about your research is to use the Research Forum  on our Web Site.  It has been rather quiet recently so now is a good time to ask that question which has been troubling you and if can offer advice please do so.  I’m still waiting for someone to comment on my STOKES query!  Has anyone else found an entry in a parish register where it looks as if the wrong name is used?

From July 9th the 2018 series of “Who do Think You Are?” will continue in earnest with Olivia Coleman. These programmes, designed as entertainment, although giving a glimpse into the methodology of family history research do raise expectations of a quick and easy result.  However I do enjoy them and can gain some inspiration even if I will not be travelling around the world to visit the haunts of my ancestors.

Last December the Who Do you Think You Are? Magazine published an article “How well do you know family history resources?”  If you go to this page  and click in the text on the word “here” you can have try at a simple(?) test to see how well you know your resources. 

If you have found any resources which have been particularly helpful please add them as a comment to this Update.

Our next Monthly meeting – on July 24th – when we will be looking at how we record and pass on our research to our families.  Please bring along any examples you have of how you keep your research up together and how you tell others about what you have found.  It will be an opportunity to tell others what you have found out about your families - perhaps as a display - or if you can produce a short presentation please let me know so we can work out how best to arrange the evening.  Some tips for writing up your family history can be found here

We do not have a meeting in August but on Sept 25th we welcome our vice-chairman, Peter de Dulin with a talk entitled - Whatever Happened To Henry Charles Jewell And Other Mysteries? – sounds intriguing.

Shortly afterwards, on Oct 1st we will have our Autumn Lunch – menu in Buckets and Spades.  If you would like to join us please contact Peter de Dulin by using the contact us button at the top of the page.   

Wishing you all a Happy Summer Holiday – I’m off to a granddaughter’s wedding so that’s a whole new family to add to my tree!