Welcome to the February Newsletter. I hope that you are progressing with your research and gradually breaking down your brickwalls.
Free Help Session Feb 1st Weston Library February will start with a Free Help Session at Weston Library on Saturday Feb 1st from 2.00 p.m. until 3.30p.m. when our volunteers will be present to assist anyone who attends with their research. You do not have to be a member of the Society to come along with your queries.
Members’ Meeting – Feb 12th On the Wednesday afternoon of February 12th the Speaker at Our Lady of Lourdes Church Hall will be member, Simon Begent, who will talk about the rich and interesting History of Aviation in Weston-super-Mare. The meeting will be from 2.30p.m. until 5.00p.m.
St Valentine's Day - Feb 14th Looking through your family history do you have any marriages which took place on Feb 14th or any children born on that day who were called Valentine?
Zoom Workshop – Feb 26th I will be hosting the Zoom meeting with a talk entitled – “She died in Whitechapel”. This is based on my own family history but has links with the continuing interest in the well documented murders of the late 1880s. Can you believe everything which was in print? This will start at 7.30 p.m. and members will receive notification of the sign in details before the meeting.
Holocaust Memorial day On January 27th the 80th Anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz was recognised by those whose families were involved, on both sides, and by others who see that day as the realisation of man’s inhumanity to man. There is a web site where you can trace the history of the Holocaust https://www.yadvashem.org/holocaust/about.html and add any information you may have about members of your family who suffered at that time.
Researching Jewish ancestors If you are researching Jewish ancestors there is a web site to assist you https://www.jewishgen.org/?gad_source=1 I have used this site successfully to identify members who have married into our family having come to this country from Ukraine in around 1900.
Document concerning 158 Moorland Road I came across this document over Christmas along with some papers which had been given me some years ago. It concerns the sale of a house in Moorland Road in Jan 1906

The seller was a James FEAR and the buyer was a Georgina FEAR and the price was £300. It was described as:
All that piece of land with the messuage or dwelling house erected thereon situate in Moorland Road Weston-s-Mare and known as “Stencliffe”
Street directories show that Stencliffe was situated at 158, Moorland Road. This was on the west side of Moorland Road towards the Devonshire Road end.
Is anyone familiar with the FEAR family? What was the relationship between James FEAR and Georgina FEAR?
In 1911 a Richard FEAR and his wife Nellie were living at 158.
There was a James FEAR who was a Builder who lived at 59 Moorland Road. There was a Georgina FEAR who was the wife of an Ernest FEAR who was living at 40 Moorland Road. Were they connected?
Married from Moorland Road in 1931
Unconnected with the FEAR family - This photograph appeared in the Weston Gazette Pictorial Review of 1931 and was captioned.
“Mr Francis John Harris, only son of Mr & Mr W Harris, Moorland Road. Weston-super-Mare. married to Miss Barbara Mary Hughes at Emmanuel Church”
Using FreeBMD and the GRO Index it was possible to find that the birth of Francis John HARRIS was registered in the Sept qrt of 1907 and that his mother’s maiden name was WHITTOCK.
His parents, Willie HARRIS and Minnie Martha WHITTOCK were married in the June Qrt 1907 when presumably she was already pregnant. Sadly, she died shortly after giving birth, aged just 21. She was buried in Weston Cemetery in Tu 926. Later, Mary Jane HARRIS, grandmother of Francis was buried in the same plot. His father had married again in 1911 to Alice Emily BAKER and they can be found on the 1921 Census living at 160 Moorland Road – (next door to the FEAR family at 158!) – with a daughter, Doris Evelyn HARRIS, aged 7. Do we have anyone who is researching the HARRIS family?
Family Events in February February is often a dismal month, weatherwise. But this month my husband will celebrate his 92nd birthday so we will have something to celebrate. As he looks back over his life in Weston-super-Mare his memories come flooding back. He was born in Whitecross Road, in the same house as his father had been born, so the family has seen many changes to the town and the way of life here. His family were concerned with transport in Weston. Initially with Donkeys and Donkey chairs and later with horse transport as a Cab Proprietor.
 His grandfather, John HASE, a cab proprietor, had moved into a newly built house in Whitecross Road in 1885 from the Victoria Hotel Yard. He built stables in Albert Road which backed onto their house.
In December 1907, John's wife had died from breast cancer and this advertisement appeared early in February for a housekeeper to look after the young HASE family. Arthur, my father-in-law, was the youngest, then aged just 2 1/2 years.

Note that John was described as an abstainer. Newspapers can often add to your knowledge of the family. The successful applicant, Susan SANDERS, was to remain with the family until John’s death in 1933.
1911 Census for Weston-super-Mare 19 Whitecross Road, Weston-super-Mare
First name
|
Last name
|
Relation-ship
|
Marital status
|
Age
|
Birth year
|
Occupation
|
Birth place
|
John Millard
|
Hase
|
Head
|
Widower
|
48
|
1863
|
Cab proprietor
|
Weston-s-Mare
|
Charlie
|
Hase
|
Son
|
-
|
14
|
1897
|
-
|
Weston-s-Mare
|
Henry
|
Hase
|
Son
|
-
|
9
|
1902
|
-
|
Weston-s-Mare
|
Arthur
|
Hase
|
Son
|
-
|
5
|
1906
|
-
|
Weston-s-Mare
|
Susan Mary
|
Sanders
|
Servant
|
-
|
43
|
1868
|
-
|
Searice Cornwall
|
Mike's father, my father-in-law, Arthur HASE, later introduced motor cars into the mix, turning their stables in Albert Road into a garage. He also offered overnight off-street parking for visitors.
 
If you look at the original entry of the 1911 census you will see that the enumerator has deleted the entry that one child of John HASE had died, This was Agnes who was born and died in 1900 from Bronchitis and Pneumonia, aged 7/8 months. It is always a good idea to look at the original entry. As the only girl to be born into this family she was known to the family as “Sissy” for the short time which she was with them.
Having been brought up surrounded with cars it is probably not surprising that these became one of Mike’s main interests – along with his singing. When he retired from teaching, we bought a Rolls Royce and did Wedding Hire for about 12 years. Perhaps some of you may have come across us in those days. We did about 150 weddings and they were all joyous occasions. That is until the Rolls Royce engine blew up - luckily when returning from a Wedding – and we could not afford to have it repaired so had to sell the car!

Perhaps we feature in your family history record?
Each month I ask for contributions to the Newsletter in the form of comments from members who have information which they are able to share with other members and which might help others to continue their research. Please consider adding your comments. Thank you. |