Fleet
Air Arm Pilot
The appeal for surviving relatives of the pilot
killed in France during the last war has been
successful. You may remember that an appeal was put
out in the June issue of the Berkshire Family
Historian for anybody who could help to trace the
relatives of Lt. Rodgers who was killed in the
village of Villeneuve-les-Beziers in August 1944. The
village named a street after him and the mayor was
anxious to have relatives at the naming ceremony.
Soon after the story appeared in the journal I was
contacted by an actress, now living in New Zealand,
who was his daughter. She told me that her mother had
married again and at one time owned 'The High', the
health food shop in Reading Market Place, and also a
cafeteria in Friar Street. She was so pleased to hear
about the ceremony and is planning to visit England
and France next year.
Unknown
Berkshire records
While reading a copy of the Genealogists' Magazine
for September 1946 I came across the following
advertisement: 'Berkshire Genealogy and Local History.
A composite index of Berkshire marriages, including
parish registers transcribed by Mrs. E.E. Cope and
other copies available in print or manuscripts.
Berkshire local collections at the Reading Public
Library or in private custody.
Miss Maplesden, M.A., 15 Northcourt Avenue,
Reading, will undertake searches in the above and
other Berkshire material, or in London and elsewhere,
and will transcribe or catalogue old documents and
deeds.' Miss Muriel Maplesden was still living at
Northcourt Avenue in 1956, but what happened to her
afterwards and where did she leave her collection of
indexes and documents? The index of marriages alone
would be interesting as would her own collection of
local documents. If anybody can shed any light on
this interesting family historian then let me know.
Popular
surnames
If your name is Smith, Jones or Williams, Taylor,
Brown or Davies, it won't surprise you to know that
they are the most popular names in England and Wales.
In a survey carried out on the National Health
Service Central Register 39, 33% of the Register
contains the top 500 names. What is certainly
surprising are the names emerging further down the
list. Migrations change naming patterns: the Irish
brought with them Murphy, Connor, O'Reilly, Kelly,
Donovan while the great Jewish migration in the
nineteenth century greatly increased the number of
Goldsteins, Blooms and Jacobs. Now the database
contains Patel at number 24, Khan 64, Singh 70,
easily overtaking Cook, Turner, Hill and Ward.
Oxfordshire
Family History Society Research Centre
A new facility has just been opened to help family
historians with connections in the ancient county of
Oxfordshire. A new Research Centre with parish
registers and monumental inscriptions transcripts,
the IGI, and many reference books, some of which can
be borrowed, is now open at the Holford Centre,
School Lane, Stanton St. John, Oxford OX33 1ET. It is
currently open for only three days a month and to get
details of opening times write to the Centre
enclosing a stamped, self addressed envelope.
Reading
Market Place
A legal document concerning a notice to quit some
tenancies in Market Place has just come into my
possession. It involves Peregrine Lediard of Reading
Linen Draper and it's dated 25th March, 1864. It
involves Thomas Selby Little and Thomas Evans, who
were agents and solicitors for Peregrine Lediard. The
copy of the notice takes the form of a letter sent to
Thomas Evans of Chepstow. The area of the tenancy is
described in some detail and clearly refers to
properties on the eastern side of Market Place.
Tenants mentioned in the notice include Sarah Knight
and George Heathrington. Macaulay's Reading Directory
refers to P. Lediard as having premises at numbers 3
and 4 Market Place where he carried on a business as
linen draper, silk mercer, and undertaker. It would
seem to be a bizarre combination, but further along
Market Place is William Jessett, linen draper and
undertaker. According to the 1851 census Peregrine
was 38, while his wife, Anne, was 37.
Railway
records
The Great Western Railway was at one time a major
transport route through the old county of Berkshire,
with its main line and branch lines. So much so that
many of us have steam in our blood with ancestors who
worked on the railway. You may be interested to know
that some 60,000 British Railway archives from 1848
onwards are to be transferred to the Public Record
Office at Kew. Most of the staff records were
transferred some time ago, but now the administrative
records held by British Railways Historical Records
at Porchester Road, near Paddington are going to the
PRO. However, no date has been set for the transfer.
Wyvern
Midland Railway index
Although the old Midland Railway was not the
largest of the great steam companies it did serve a
larger part of the British Isles than any other. A
team of dedicated enthusiasts is in the process of
compiling a surname index from staff records from
1844 to 1923. So far they have gathered 11,000 names.
They are also including all references to accidents
on the Midland which involved staff, workmen or
passengers, using transport records at Kew and local
newspapers. If you would like to search the index
send a stamped self addressed envelope, or three
IRCS, plus £1 sterling for each surname searched to
Chris and Judy Rouse, 18 Sarsen Close, Swindon,
Wiltshire SN1 4LA. Unsuccessful matches will be held
on file for future contact.
From
the cup of love
If you have already read the article by Joan Dils
on the archdeaconry records you will have discovered
that our ancestors' sexual and social proclivities
were not much different from today. Often the laws of
the church or the civil authorities were ignored, and
sometimes it was expedient to pretend that it never
happened. During the weekend of April 20-22 next year
(2001) the Federation of Family History Societies
will be holding a conference entitled 'From the cup
of love'. Issues being discussed include:
prostitution, contraception, bastardy, incest, sin
and sex in the bawdy courts, bigamy and the morals of
army wives and camp followers. If you would like to
attend write to Mrs. Jeanne Bunting, Firgrove,
Horseshoe Lane, Ash Vale, Surrey GU12 5LL.
1901
Census
The Public Record Office has recently confirmed
that record offices and libraries will be able to buy
microfiche or film copies of the Census. This
concession will help all those who do not have access
to the Internet. The PRO say that they will review
the sale of microfiche beyond record offices and
libraries at a later stage.
The 1891 Census returns for Norfolk will be used
for a pilot study. The returns will be scanned,
transcribed and made available over the Internet. It
is hoped that this will be made available in the
spring of 2001. The pilot service will be charged so
that all aspects of the system can be tested before
the launch of the 1901 service. The exact rate of
charging has yet to be fixed.
Credit cards can be used to pay for the 1901
service. If you have a credit card you simply log on
and enter your details and then view your selected
images or transcriptions (about 80p per image and 50p
per transcription). There will a minimum charge,
probably about £5 but once you have used up the
first £5 it will be simply pay-as-you-go at the cost
of each individual transaction.
Users will be able to conduct a number of searches
for individuals using a free index. First a basic
search using name (forenames and surnames), place and
age. If this first basic search returns too many
results then an advanced search is available using a
variety of other fields to refine your search such as
,occupation' and 'where born'. Users can also search
on an address or place, an institution or vessel.
Place names will be transcribed as they are written
on the original returns. Welsh place names will not
be bilingual but as written on the returns.
Overseers
Project
Now the BRO is open for business it is hoped to
resume the Overseers Project with the Saturday Work-ins
to transcribe the outstanding six volumes. Twenty of
the twenty-six volumes are complete and can be seen
in the BFHS Reference Library in Yeomanry House. If
you wish to help with this project or to have more
information please telephone Brian Hunt on 01344
483426
Gypsy
archives
A major collection of gypsy archives has been
handed to the University of Reading Rural History
Centre at Whiteknights. The collection contains a
large collection of books, notebooks and manuscripts
recording research undertaken by Robert Dawson. For
anyone with a gypsy ancestor the collection is a
major source as it contains photographs and
recordings of life on the open road. The collection
has now been catalogued and is available to
researchers.
Criminal
records
A microfiche of British Trials 1660-1900 has just
been acquired by the Public Record Office. It
consists of pamphlets written at the time of the
trial giving a record of what was actually said in
court from murder to commercial disputes. The
official documents of cases held at the PRO and in
county record offices frequently provide no more than
an outline of the case and the defendants. Details of
the trials of highwaymen, forgers and burglars were
avidly sought after by the public for their Sunday
reading, just like the News of the World of today.
During the suppression of the Chartists, and those
involved in the Swing riots, printed pamphlets were
often produced with a record of the face-to-face
confrontation under cross -examination. The
microfiche has a detailed index by name of defendant,
victim and the type of crime.
Members'
interests
Just a reminder that all the members' interests
listed in volumes of the Berkshire Family Historian
are cumulatively published on our website. The
website lists the names being researched by
individual members identified by membership numbers.
Addresses are not given. If you would prefer not to
have the names you are researching on the website
then let the webmaster know.
