JOURNAL

Return to top of this page

News Roundup

Federation of Family History Societies - The Federation celebrates its 3oth anniversary this year: its 30th anniversary conference "A Flight of Yesterdays" takes place at Loughborough 26th-30th August. Details can be accessed from the Federation website www.ffhs.org.uk or www.flightofyesterdays.org.uk or FFHS, PO Box 2425, Coventry CV5 6YX.

London Metropolitan Archives - Since November 2003, the public cloakroom at the LMA has moved down to the mezzanine floor, i.e. half-way up the stairs, and the lift now stops there. Visitors must leave their coat and bag there before proceeding up to the Reading Rooms. The vending machines and telephone are now in this new facility and visitors can eat and drink there. The Main Reception Desk and public toilets are still on the first floor. Copying of documents which cannot be done on the self-service machines is done at the Reception Desk, where visitors can also buy pencils, postcards etc.

Museum of London - From 17 October 2003 to 18 July 2004 the Museum is staging an exhibition "1920s: the Decade that Changed London", which brings together varied symbols of that age. During the exhibition there will be a series of special talks and tours, plus film screenings including Alfred Hitchcock's Blackmail, the first British talkie.

The National Archives (formerly PRO) - TNA conducts behind-the-scenes tours of their strongrooms and conservation labs at 11am and 2 pm every Saturday. Places are limited and booking is essential: to book tel. 020-8876-3444.
TNA Kew now has a Cyber-Caf, a small room off the Restaurant containing 10 PCs available free of charge, plus a Caf� Bar to one side of the Restaurant serving speciality coffees and teas, plus cakes and pastries.

DocumentsOnline provides access to more than 1 million digital images of documents held at TNA, which can be searched and downloaded. These are free of charge from any PC at Kew or the Family Records Centre, but a charge per document if accessed via the Internet; payment can be by credit/debit card via a secure system. Already included is the complete series of registered Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC) Wills (1384-1858): £3 per will regardless of length. The next major digitisation project will be the WW1 Campaign Medal Index (WO372), the most complete list, male and female, of those who served.

The Society of Genealogists - On Friday 30 April the SoG will be holding a special pre-SoG Fair event in the form of an afternoon conference "A Taste of Family History", which will include 12 talks to be given during the afternoon: Oral Evidence - How to Extract It; 10 Useful Websites; Where Do I Begin?; Births, Marriages and Deaths; Census Records; Family Search Webste (Latter-Day Saints); Scottish Army Records; Irish Army Records; World War I Records; Software; Newspapers; and Parish Registers. Tickets cost £10 and will include a choice of four of the above talks plus free entrance to the SoG Fair itself (on either Saturday or Sunday). Lectures at the Fair itself are not included in this ticket.
Society of Genealogists, 14 Charterhouse Buildings, Goswell Road, London EC1M 7BA, tel: 020-7553-3290, e-mail: events@sog.org.uk
Tickets for this conference and the Fair can be booked on the SoG's website.

Return to top of this page

WMFHS Noticeboard

The 2004 WMFHS Open Day will take place on Saturday 11 September. 10am-4pm at St Peter's Church Hall, Laleham Road, Staines.

An index to the 2003 issues of the Journal is included as a centre insert (in the paper version!). Copies of the 2003 Journal are available from the Membership Secretary.

Annual General Meeting 2004 - Notice of Agenda
The Annual General Meeting of the West Middlesex Family History Society will be held at 7.45pm on Thursday 18th March 2004 at Montague Hall, Montague Road, Hounslow, Middlesex. The agenda for this meeting is as follows:

1. Welcome
2. Apologies
3. Minutes of the AGM held on 20th March 2003
4. Matters Arising
5. Chairman's Report
6. Project Coordinator's Report
7. Treasurer's Report
8. Approval of Accounts for the Year Ending 31st December 2003
9. Appointment of Examiners
10. Election of Committee
11. Any Other Business

Ted Dunstall and Yvonne Masson are standing down from the Committee, having served for six years. Richard Chapman, Margaret Harnden, Patrick Harnden, Paul Kershaw, Bridget Purr and Robin Purr, having served three years or more, offer themselves for re-election for a further year. June Watkins has been nominated to fill one of the vacancies which will arise on the Committee from March 2004.

Forster vs. Forster - 'A Very Melancholy Case' (Part 1) - Richard Chapman
Legal records can provide a view into the lives of our forebears that is unsurpassed by almost any other type of official source. The aim of this article is to present one example where the records from a series of related court actions have been used to reconstruct a tale of marital breakdown from the late eighteenth century. Part 1 describes the background and the first action, in the Court of King's Bench.
West Middlesex FHS Journal 22(1) (March 2004)

Is He One of Yours?
The following monumental inscription has been sent to us by Mr John Holloway, who spotted it in Hastings cemetery:

Return to top of this page

Postman's Park - Ted Hawkins
Postman's Park was opened in 1880 and comprises the churchyards of St Leonard's Foster Lane, St Botolph Aldersgate and Christchurch Newgate Street. More land was added in 1883. In 1887, the artist G. F. Watts conceived the idea of celebrating the Queen's Golden Jubilee by creating a national memorial to heroic men and women. A wall in Postman's Park was thus dedicated to this cause in 1900. The name 'Postman's Park is derived from the many postmen who went there during their lunch breaks from the nearby Post Office. The names and deeds of the many heroes commemorated there are listed in the Journal, but are too numerous to transcribe here. However, a panorama of the park and some of the stories can be found here and elsewhere (search on "Postman's Park")
West Middlesex FHS Journal 22(1) (March 2004)

Proposed General Register Office Changes
A summary of Federation of Family History Societies and Society of Genealogists' responses to the White Paper Consultation document on civil registration.
West Middlesex FHS Journal 22(1) (March 2004)

A Place in the Sun - Isobel Watson (London Archive Users Forum)
In January 2003 a team of volunteers began the task of indexing a run of volumes of the Sun Fire Office policy registers at Guildhall Library. The team has been put together by the London Archive Users Forum (LAUF), of which most of the volunteers are members. The Forum was founded in 1988 to bring together both professional and amateur researchers and the professional custodians of records. This is the first project of its kind.
Why the Sun registers? The Sun had the largest volume of insurance business in the country during most of the period 1710-1863 for which its surviving policy registers are deposited at Guildhall Library; thus its richness as an historical source is unparalleled. However, the aids to finding a particular person or place in the registers are extremely patchy. The LAUF project is non-selective; it includes every policy in the volumes covered. In February 2004 the first output of the Place in the Sun indexing project was posted on the web at www.a2a.org.uk. This represents 53,697 policies from 30 policy registers of the Sun Fire Insurance office from 1816 1824.
LAUF publishes a progress bulletin from time to time, available on the LAUF website at www.londonarchiveusers.org.uk/archive/news.html
West Middlesex FHS Journal 22(1) (March 2004)

Return to top of this page

Solution to Christmas Crossword

Across: 1. Hanging; 7. Openly; 8. Uncle; 9. Eloper; 11. Elector; 13. Noting; 14. Octavo; 16. Borders; 19. Dances; 21. Lathe; 22. Courts; 23. Secures.
Down: 1. Household; 2. Niche; 3. Inept; 4. Govern; 5. Reported; 6. Flee; 10. Registers; 12. Chancery; 15. Obsess; 17. Relic; 18. Enter; 20. Anon.

West Middlesex FHS Journal 22(1) (March 2004)

Solution to Christmas Quiz

Go back one letter of the alphabet for each given letter as shown below:

When his wife閒s birthday arrived, John was adamant they go out for a candlelit dinner in the evening. �Who is a gentleman, then?� she laughed. After a lovely meal John delved in his pocket and produced a present, before they wended their way homeward under a star-spangled sky.

Past Meetings

• November - A Corner of a Foreign Field: a History of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission - Roy Hewitt

• December - Christmas Social - plus "Memories of South London" (by Lewis Orton)

• January - History, Traditions and Customs of the British Army - Ken Divall

• February - Birth and Baptism in the 1800s - Tom Doig

Bookshelf

• Middlesex by Michael Robbins. (496pp, 74 ill., ISBN 1 86077 269 2, 2003, £17.99, Online price £16.19)

• London's Coffee Houses by Antony Clayton. (192pp, 100 ill., ISBN 0 94866 786 9, 2003, Online price £15.25)

• Genealogy for Beginners by Karin Proudfoot. (144 pp, 11 illus., ISBN 1 86077 268 4, 2003, Online price £8.09)

• Feeding London by Richard Tames. (208pp, 141 illus., ISBN 0 94866 785 0, 2003, Online price £15.26.)

• The Story of the Domesday Book by R H W Erskine and Ann Williams. (288pp, 180 fig., 1 86077 273 0, 2003, Online price £16.19)

• The Chelsea Book: Past and Present by John Richardson. (128pp, 181 illus., 0 94866 789 3, 2003, Online price £13.05)

• Acton: a History by Jonathan Oates. (HB, 144pp, 150 illus., 1 86077 277 3, 2003, Online price £14.39)

  • All seven above books can be ordered from:
    Phillimore Bookshop, Shopwyke Manor Barn, Chichester, West Sussex, PO20 2BG (add 10% p&p)
    e-mail: bookshop@phillimore.co.uk, website: www.phillimore.co.uk,
    tel +44 (0) 1243 787636 fax +44 (0) 1243 787639

• Tracing Births Deaths and Marriages at Sea by Christopher and Michael Watts. (175pp, publ. Jan 2004, £11.99, a Society of Genealogists publication)

  • SoG, 14 Charterhouse Buildings, Goswell Road, London, EC1M 7BA
    e-mail: sales@sog.org.uk, website: www.sog.org.uk,
    tel +44 (0) 207 251 8799

• Useful Toil - Autobiographies of Working People from the 1820s Ed. John Burnett. (PB 400pp, publ. Routledge Jul 1994, ISBN: 0 41510 399 1, £22.99 from www.amazon.co.uk. Previous editions include Penguin Books, 1974)

• The Gypsies by John Hoyland. Originally published in 1816. Available from the Romany & Traveller FHS stall at GENfair, or from 4 Portway, Ewell Village, Epsom, Surrey KT17 1SU.
  Price (incl. p&p): UK £7.30; Europe £7.80; Worldwide Airmail £8.50.

• Cemeteries and Memorials in Belgium and Northern France Commonwealth War Graves Commission road atlas (produced in collaboration with Michelin. (£7.00; €10.00 from CWGC offices in France and Belgium)

Return to top of this page

News Roundup

• Family Records Centre - The FRC has a growing number of census surname indexes on microfiche, in booklet form, and an ever-growing number on CD covering complete counties.
• Federation of Family History Societies The Federation celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Its 30th anniversary conference "A Flight of Yesterdays" takes place at Loughborough University 26th-30th August 2004. There will also be a special family and local history fair on 29th August.
• Lambeth Archives - More than 6000 images from Lambeth Archives collection of 30,000 photographs, drawings, prints and watercolours have been digitised and are available on-line. This is an extension of the Landmark Digital Archive service already available in Lambeth's local libraries. High quality photographic prints can be purchased on-line for home delivery. Over 100 postcards are also available at 20p each.
• London Metropolitan Archives - LMA is offering a new on-line service: London Signatures. The first phase of London Signatures will place around 6,500 Archdeaconry Court of Middlesex wills on-line, covering the period 1609-1733. To these will be added wills from the Consistory Court of London, the Commissary Court of Surrey and the Archdeaconry Court of Surrey, marriage bonds and allegations, apprenticeship indentures and settlement certificates. It is possible to search a free on-line index and you can buy a digital copy of the will direct from the Web for £4, through a secure on-line facility.

WMFHS Noticeboard

Open Day As you will know from this site's homepage, the WMFHS Open Day is on Saturday, 11th September at the usual venue, St Peter's Church Hall, Laleham Road, Staines, from 10am until 4pm.
    As well as many of our usual visiting family and local history societies, you will find some new faces that we are delighted to welcome. These include the Brookwood Cemetery Society who have a wealth of information on those buried at Brookwood, which might just include some of your elusive London ancestors. We have three Family History Societies joining us for the first time: Wiltshire, East Surrey, and Devon & Dorset, who will be bringing their computerised Marriage Index.

Members' Survey 2004 2004 being the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Society, we decided to circulate with the December 2003 journal our first-ever Survey of Members, to be returned by 31st January 2004. We have had a tremendous response and the Committee is now busy analysing the feedback and preparing action plans to improve the Society's effectiveness, i.e. "...to promote and encourage the public study of Family History, Local History, Genealogy and Heraldry." By the last day of February we had received 322 replies (only two by e-mail), representing 71% of those who were renewing their membership for 2004 — far surpassing our expectations.
    Our members' profile is revealed through the first 8 questions ("About You"). 40% are male; two-thirds are over 60 (only 6 respondents claimed to be under 40!); 31% live within 10 miles of Hounslow, 66% throughout the rest of the UK, 3% overseas; two-thirds are retired, just over a fifth are in full-time employment; 40% have been members of the Society for three years or less; members became members through a variety of chanels, pretty evenly split between personal recommendation, advertisement, website, family history fairs and "other"; outr members seem to belong to many societies — while the Society of Genealogists and local history societies were mentioned by almost 20%, a total of over 700 other family history societies were listed by 242 respondents.
    Over 100 respondents (including five from abroad) offered to help, or continue to help, in some way with the Society's affairs, independent of their location. The computer, of course, makes distance from West Middlesex less critical, and we have already written to current and potential helpers, including those able to assist locally. Our Society's improvements and ultimate success depend on its volunteers.
    We are already responding to a widely-expressed need for more information about the history of our West Middlesex area — see our new journal feature "Local Scene" and look out for a planned series of articles on local parishes. We are also in the process of creating a list of websites of use to family historians [already available here from the beginning of this site - Webmaster]. We are now studying the main subject areas commented on by members — the Journal, monthly meeting, our Website. our presence at family history fairs, membership costs and expanding our research database. Watch this space...
And finally, some quotes from members:

• "I live too far away to do anything in the West Middlesex area, but perhaps could do some computer inputting or anything else that would be useful."
• "Devote a section of the Journal to computing and the Internet."
• Please do not have a computer page in the mag."!
• Suggest members should reply when contacted regarding members' interests, even if there is no connection." (this has been added to the Members' Interests instructions - Ed.)
• "More publicity in local libraries."
• "Need to interest younger age group — but how?"

Annual General Meeting

The Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the West Middlesex Family History Society held at Montague Hall, Montague Road, Hounslow on Thursday 18th March, 2004 were published in full in the print edition of the Journal. Tony Simpson had volunteered for the position of Treasurer and had previously been coopted onto the Committee; he was duly nominated, seconded and elected unanimously. June Watkins was likewise nominated, seconded and elected unanimously; Richard Chapman, Margaret Harnden, Patrick Harnden, Paul Kershaw, Bridget Purr and Robin Purr were relected unanimously en-bloc.

West Middlesex FHS Journal 22(2) (June 2004)

Return to top of this page

Directory of Members' Interests 2004

It has been decided to issue a new edition of the West Middlesex Family History Society Directory of Members' Interests as a means of promoting the exchange of family history information between members and also to a wider audience. Information for inclusion in the Directory should be submitted using the form provided in the centre of the June 2004 issue of the Journal. A microfiche containing the Directory will be issued free to members with the Journal later this year. The layout of the Directory will be the same as that used in previous editions: a simple surname-period-area scheme, as is used regularly in the Journal for the surname interests of new members. Members should note that this is an all-new listing of interests, only those submitted on this special form will be included.
To be certain of having your surname interests included in this directory, you should return the form by 31st July 2004 at the latest. (all members get the printed version of the journal, so the form is not available from this site)

West Middlesex FHS Journal 22(2) (June 2004)

Foster vs. Foster: 'A Very Melancholy Case' (Part 2) - Richard Chapman

This article continues the story of the marriage of John and Mary Forster of Egham. Part 1 described their history and Mary's elopement with Lt. Ebenezer Mussell, leading to John Forster's largely unsuccessful prosecution of the latter for criminal conversation. However, this was only the beginning of the legal actions.

West Middlesex FHS Journal 22(2) (June 2004)

West London Local History Conference 13 March 2004

Conference Chairman Valerie Bott pointed out that this year's theme, Victorian and Edwardian West London, was a time of real change in West London, as it is again now. The speakers were:

• Kitt Wedd, a former Director of the Victorian Society and author of a book on the Victorian House, spoke on speculative building in West London: adapting architectural styles for the suburban house.
• Oliver Green, Head Curator of the London Transport Museum, spoke on how, why and when public transport developed in West London.
• Anne Wheeldon from Hammersmith and Fulham Archives spoke about the Fulham Women's Prison, or Refuge, a pioneering institution for reform that operated between 1856 and 1888.
• Peter Longman, Director of the Theatres Trust, spoke about "A 100 Years of Theatre Building, Burning and Demolition in West London."

Return to top of this page

Any Interesting Websites

Have you a favourite website (apart from the generally known ones such as TNA (PRO), SoG etc) which you have found useful in your family history research and care to share it with readers of the Journal? If so, please send it in to the Editor, so that it can be published in the Journal.

West Middlesex FHS Journal 22(2) (June 2004)

Editor's Notes

The stock of new material for the Journal is getting rather low and I would welcome any new material that members might care to send in; remember it does not have to be a 'polished' item, be it full article or small piece on some aspect of your research, or you might care to air your views about a family history matter.

As the Society is committed to responding to views and requests submitted in reply to our recent members' survey, we will try as often as possible to include in the Journal information about the area covered by our Society, or how members can find out about the area as it was in past times when some of our ancestors were living here, so look out for this in future issues. We hope members will find it useful. We would welcome information from members about informative events, or background items about the area which have come out of your research.

Deadlines for the quarterly issues of the WMFHS Journal are: 15 January; 14 April; 15 July; 15 October

West Middlesex FHS Journal 22(2) (June 2004)

Return to top of this page

Members' Survey 2004

In our June edition we gave initial feedback on the Society's first-ever Members' Survey, which had a tremendous 71% response rate (322 members replied). Here we continue the analysis, this time looking at Questions 9 to 13, which covered how members undertook their family history history research.

We asked members first about the frequency of their use of various sources and centres. While over 85% use the Internet, the highest "usage" sources are "magazines" and "family history societies"; the most frequently visited source is the Family History Centre in London (more than LMA or Kew), while little use is apparently made of the LDS Family History Centres.

Next we investigated the computer trend so widely discussed in family history circles. The question on frequency of computer use was the only one in the whole survey that was totally responded: only 37 of the 322 respondents "never" use a computer for family history (11.5%), while of the computer users 26% use them "occasionally", 38% "frequently" and 36% "constantly". 82% of all respondents have a computer at home - though only two members used it to respond to the survey. [I was not among those two - Webmaster!]

Local History Articles

In response to suggestions made by you when filling in our questionnaire, we hope to publish a series of articles in the Journal based on the history of the parishes in our area. These will also be expanded into booklet form which will contain as many sources of data concerning the particular parish as we can find and will be available for purchase at a modest price.

If you have particular expertise in a particular parish and would like to contribute to the Local Parish Series, please get in touch with Mrs Bridget Purr, either at 9 Plevna Road, Hampton, Middlesex TW12 2BS, or by e-mail

West Middlesex FHS Journal 22(3) (September 2004)

Return to top of this page

Foster vs. Foster: 'A Very Melancholy Case' (Part 3) - Richard Chapman

This article concludes the story of the marriage of John and Mary Forster of Egham. John's suit for separation on grounds of adultery against his wife Mary in the London Consistory Court had failed on her plea of recrimination. Not satisfied with this judgement, John immediately sought an appeal at the Court of Arches.

West Middlesex FHS Journal 22(3) (September 2004)

Relatives Everywhere - Kathy Brooking

How a colleague from Cookham, Berkshire proved to be a cousin. Why should this be of interest to researchers in the West Middlesex area? Members of the family moved to Sunbury, Middlesex in the late 1890s. [WELLS (Richard, James Elizabeth); ILLESLEY (Henry, Frederick, Thomas Henry (x2), Christopher Thomas, Richard Henry); FULLER (Sarah Caroline)]

West Middlesex FHS Journal 22(3) (September 2004)

A Case of Embezzlement - Peter Lee

An incident involving the Countess of Huntingdon's charity 175 years ago. The story can be found in the charity's account book held in the London Metropolitan Archives (Piece DRO/123/083). [EAST (Joseph, Matthew); HESTER (George)]

West Middlesex FHS Journal 22(3) (September 2004)

I'm Glad it's Not Just Me! - Barbara Green

Some discoveries from monumental inscriptions in Heston. [Sargeant (James and Martha Elouise, James Henry, Caroline, Anne Elizabeth, William, Esther, Annie, Jane Edward Frederick, Sophia, Bessie, Amy)];

West Middlesex FHS Journal 22(3) (September 2004)

Return to top of this page

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of the West Middlesex Family History Society will be held on Thursday 17 March 2005 at Montague Hall, Montague Road, Hounslow. Reports will be presented by the Chairman and Treasurer and members will be asked to approve the accounts for the year 2004 and elect accounts examiners for the coming year. Elections will be held for officers and members of the Executive Committee. Members who wish to bring forward any matters at the AGM, or to propose nominations for the Committee, are asked to write to the Secretary at the address below by 5th January 2005. The agenda for the AGM will be included in the next issue of the journal, to be published and distributed at the beginning of March 2005.

Diary Dates

Sunday 30 January: Bracknell Family Fair, Bracknell Sports Centre, Bagshot Road, Bracknell. West Middlesex FHS will be attending. 10-5.

Sunday 13 February: Sussex and South London Family History Fair, Crawley Leisure Centre, Haslett Avenue, Crawley, West Sussex. 10�5. Giant fair with 160 stalls, free parking and a Cafeteria.

Sunday 20 February: (Provisional) Bath Family History Fair, Bath Pavilion, North Parade Road. 10�4. Please check date before travelling.

Tuesday 22 February: Sunbury and Shepperton Local History Society; �The History of the Orleans Family in Surrey� by David King.The Theatre at Halliford School, Russell Road, Shepperton. Commences at 8 p.m. Donation �1.00 per head please.

Sunday 13 March: The Merseyside and Cheshire Family History Fair, Hulme Hall,Bolton Road, Port Sunlight Village, Bebington, Wirral, Merseyside. 10-5.

Tuesday 15 March: Sunbury and Shepperton Local History Society; � Sources for the History of your House and Garden� by Julian Pooley. The Theatre at Halliford School, Russell Road, Shepperton. Commences at 8 p.m. Donation �1.00 per head please.

Saturday 9 April: �The Good, the Bad and the Missing� Bristol & Avon Family History Society�s 30th anniversary at B.A.W.A. Leisure Centre, Southmead Road, Bristol. Incorporating The Federation Of Family History Societies A.G.M.


West Middlesex FHS Journal 22(4) (December 2004)

ORIGINAL CERTFICATES FOR SALE

Over the years members have kindly donated their unwanted certificates to us. We hope to shortly publish the list of BMD certificates in our area on the WMFHS web site, www.west-middlesex-fhs.org.uk but we are detailing them in the Journal starting with Births. The cost of each certificate is �3.00. Please apply, with sae, to Valerie Walker at the above address, but cheques in this instance should be made payable to WMFHS.

Return to top of this page

HAMPTON - Bridget Purr

Although Hampton derives its name from the Saxon hamm: a large bend in the river, and ton: a settlement or farm, archaeology proves that there has been human activity on the site from pre-historic times. At the time of Domesday the total value was �39 and consisted of around 200 people divided between villagers and smallholders, with meadow, pasture and fishing nets. Hampton included what is now Hampton Wick, Teddington, Bushy Park, Hampton Court and Hampton Hill and its southern boundary was the River Thames. Placed in Hounslow Hundred (later renamed Isleworth Hundred and subsequently in Spelthorne Hundred) the land was held by Walter de St. Valery...

West Middlesex FHS Journal 22(4) (December 2004)

LOCAL HISTORY ARTICLES

If you have expertise in a particular parish and would like to contribute to the Local Parish Series, please get in touch with Mrs Bridget Purr either at: 9 Plevna Road, Hampton, Middlesex, TW12 2BS, or through projects@west-middlesex-fhs.org.uk.

West Middlesex FHS Journal 22(4) (December 2004)

�TRACING A MERCHANT SEAMAN� - Talk given in September by Chris Watts, reported by Yvonne Masson

If one thing emerged from Chris Watts� talk it was that the records relating to Merchant Seaman are extremely complex and a certain amount of determination is needed to plumb their depths. Systems for recording the activities of shipping and the employment of seamen changed many times. And even for some of those records which have been archived a lengthy search through boxes of records may be necessary. Basically, Merchant Seamen�s records begin in 1835...

West Middlesex FHS Journal 22(4) (December 2004)

Return to top of this page

ALL AT SEA - Stephen C. Randall

This account of my search for an ancestor born at sea may be of help to those with similar interests prior to 1837. My grandfather William Edwards MBE, born in Plumstead, was a military man in the Dragoon Guards. His father John Edwards, born in Woolwich, was a RSM in the Royal Artillery. His grandfather was probably a Colonel or Field Marshall or�? I had to know, so off I went to the FRC to purge the Census and BMD records for the answer...

West Middlesex FHS Journal 22(4) (December 2004)

CHRONICLING THE CANTS - June Lines

My grandparents only just made it to the church in time for their eldest son to be legitimate; this I discovered from the marriage certificate lurking among my father's papers after his death. Research into grandma's family has more than once proved to me that it is easy to disbelieve records which at first sight do not accord with family tradition. To give a few examples:

• Until she was 59, grandma celebrated her birthday on the wrong date (we do expect our grandparents to know their own birthdays).
• Her grandfather had his young family in Kensal New Town (NW London) but BMDs there were recorded in Chelsea (SW London), both Middlesex then. (As the family had 'never been in Chelsea', these entries got overlooked.)
• Her grandfather died in Wiltshire, though he was born in St Pancras and lived there, in Kensal Town and then Kensington. For lack of any other clues, I eventually bought the certificate that matched his name, and then had to find out why and how he arrived in Wiltshire in the last months of his life.
• . . .

BOOKSHELF

• �Loftus Road Legacy�, by Frances Trinder.
  Covering the period 1880 to 1915, the book is of particular interest to those with West London ancestry - and more than 600 people are detailed by name in Appendix VI of the book. Off the pitch,the book portrays life in London at the turn of the century- an intriguing mix of local history and landmarks, family and social detail.
  Loftus Road Legacy: The History of Shepherd's Bush Football Club' by Frances Trinder (price �9.95), is available from the QPR Club Shop, South Africa Road; can be ordered from local bookshops, ISBN 0954783018; or direct from the Publisher: Yore Publications, 12 The Furrows, Harefield, Middlesex, UB9 6AT.

• �A Little Boy�s War�, by Roy Bartlett.
  In this autobiographical reminiscence of the war years, Roy Bartlett relates the experiences of a young boy living in the West London suburb of Ealing, particularly during the sustained German Luftwaffe �Blitz� on the capital in 1940, during which he sustained an injury. Millions of people in London and other cities, children as well as adults, survived the horrors and rigours of the war. Many accounts have been written, but few from the viewpoint of a child.
  �7.95 plus 90p post and packing from Roy Bartlett, 42 Drayton Grove, West Ealing, London W13 0LA

Return to top of this page

EDITOR�S NOTE

New material for the journal is always very welcome and I would be pleased to receive any new material that members might care to send in; remember it does not have to be a full article; a small piece on some aspect of your research, or your views about a family history matter, are also needed. Thank you to those who have already responded.
Deadlines for the quarterly issues of WMFHS journal are:

Christmas Quiz - Kindly submitted by Mrs Yvonne Masson.

Hidden in the following paragraph is a 14th century rhyming slogan which fostered discontent and stirred up a heap of trouble. Crack the code, extract from the text the appropriate words and rearrange them to reveal it.

Interesting Websites

For those new to Family History a few of the most well known sites are included.

• Circus, Fairground and Entertainer Family Research: www.thegalloper.com
  An interesting site with links to other similar sites.

• Birth, Marriage and Death records for 1837 � 1983: www.1837online.com
  A pay per view site which has been updated to enable full name to be searched. Previously, it was only possible to search by the first three letters of a name.

• Trade Directories: www.historicaldirectories.org
  Local and Trade Directories for England and Wales from 1750 to 1919.

• The Land Forces of Britain, the Empire and Commonwealth: www.regiments.org
  Makes some sense of military history.

Return to top of this page