Each month I try to publish a newsletter on the 1st of the month. April 1st has its own problems with its links to All Fools Day. I can assure you that whatever I write in this newsletter will be as truthful as I can make it. What memories do you have of April Fool Jokes? Were you taken in by any? Did you create any yourself? Read more about April Fools Day
Mothering Sunday
During March we celebrated Mothering Sunday, another old custom, which may have inspired you to look again at your female ancestors. With different resources becoming available it is often surprising how new information can shed light on our families. I decided to look again at my gg grandparents who lived in Wraxall, within our area. Charles and Lavinia STOKES née SPERRING were married at All Saints, Wraxall, on the 24th of May 1846. They had 15 children, so Mothering Sunday may have been very busy for Lavinia and the possibility of DNA matches should be relatively high if I can identify each one. A little while ago I posted a document "My Wraxall Connections" on the Web site under the Place, Wraxall which outlined this family. Why not include some information about your research under the place where your ancestors lived on our web site?
DNA
Talking about DNA – I hope that some of you managed to catch some of the excellent talks (including the one on DNA by Blaine Bettinger) which were available under the project “History for Ukraine” which raised over £52,000 during last week. Today, 30th March, there have been further talks about Railway History and WW1 Battle of Somme and many other topics. They are still available on youtube for 48 hours.
Welsh and Irish Research
With both the Patron Saints of Wales and Ireland being commemorated during March, I decided to see where my own research featured in these countries. I knew that Charles PUDDY, born in Mark, and a Great Uncle of my husband, became a Police Sergeant in Cardiff. The free Welsh Newspapers enabled me to identify some of the cases in which he was involved and learn about an Award with which he was presented for saving someone's life.
When considering Irish Ancestry this site is a useful one and so to a certain extent is "Dusty Docs" which, of course can also be used for other places in the British Isles.
Research Forum & Facebook
There have been no new entries in our Research Forum in the last month and the Facebook Group has also been very slow. However, a request which was received through our secretary, Brian Airey, for a photograph of the Town Surveyor Harold BROWN was successfully answered on the Facebook Group by John Crockford-Hawley who found one in the Souvenir Programme for the initiation of the Borough of Weston-super-Mare in 1937. Are any of you related to members of the Administrative Staff of the Borough at that time? I have included named photo of all of them employed by the Borough in 1937, taken outside of Drove Road Hospital which hopefully may be useful.
Schools
I have often mentioned an interest in the schools of Weston and district and there has been a request on the Facebook Group for info and photos for Winterstoke Girls' Secondary Modern School, which was not answered. Can anyone help? Initially it was known as Locking Road Girls' School but by 1952 took the name of Winterstoke.
Questionnaire about Workshops
Members should have received a questionnaire to assist in the planning of Workshops for the Society. Please make sure that you reply as these are designed to make sure that these events meet the needs of the majority.
Next Meeting
Our next Society meeting on Wednesday 13th April - full details on our web site The Speaker will be David SKIDMORE a member of the famous Worle Family which celebrated 100 years of trading in 1919.
Your Comments
Please take this opportunity to add any helpful comments which you may have about the society and whether it meets your needs. There are some very helpful members who are willing to answer any queries you may have about your research. Thanks go to Sue Maguire for another excellent Buckets and Spades, to Graham Payne who continues to provide transcriptions of records and Memorials, and to all those who have struggled with the challenge of new IT coupled with the rules and regulations of providing meetings during these difficult times.
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