The Bulletin
From the Editor
Thank you to all of those who sent cards and
messages after my recent illness. After an
enforced rest I am now fully recovered, although
my diet has changed and I have been told to get
more exercise. So no more libraries and record
offices, I shall have to spend more time in
churchyards.
Civil
registration of births, marriages and deaths
Birth, marriage and death certificates can now
be ordered by email from certificate.services@ons.gov.uk
enclosing your credit card details and filling in
the subject line with one of the following codes:
QR (for applications when you are supplying the
GRO index reference) STD (for applications when
you are not supplying the GRO index reference)
RFD (when you have a query about a refund) RDR (when
you are enquiring about an order you have placed
but not received) GQ (when you have another
question not covered by any of the above). Note:
the code should be entered as a single word in
the subject line, separated from the rest of the
subject by spaces. Cliff Debney says he has used
this system several times and certificates arrive
in about a week.
It's now possible to order a certificate from
Southport (once you have obtained the reference
number) using a new dedicated telephone number.
The new number will be 0870 23 7788 and it will
be staffed as follows: Sam-6pm Monday to
Thursday, 8am-5pm on Friday and loam-4Pm on
Saturday. They will accept credit and debit card
payments.
Doodlebug days
For those of us who remember the Second World
War doodlebug the imperial War Museum will be
holding a series of doodlebug days from August 11-26
from 11.30am to 2.30pm. Actors will be playing
characters from the home front and you, and your
children, will be able to find out about life
during the dramatic summer of the V1 offensive.
Open days and
events
The Oxfordshire Family History Society Open
Day will take place on Saturday October 6
from loam until 4pm at Didcot Civic Hall,
Britwell Road, Dideot. Admission is free and
there will be the usual displays by other family
history societies. To celebrate the Society's 25th
anniversary Simon Fowler, editor of Family
History Monthly, will be giving two lectures.
Hillingdon family history fair will be
held on Sunday July 1 from l0am until 4pm at The
Great Barn, Bury Street, Ruislip, Middlesex.
Admission is £1.50 with free parking.
The Suffolk Family History Society annual
family history fair will be held on Saturday
August 4 at the Old School, Long Melford, from
loam until 4.30pm.
Warwickshire Family History Society's
family history roadshow is taking place on
Saturday September 8 at Bulkington Village
Centre, Bulkington, a few miles from Coventry,
Rugby and Nuneaton. It's on from l0am until 4pm.
Buckingham's Open Day will be held on
Saturday July 28 from loam until 4pm at Aylesbury
Grammar School, Walton Road, Aylesbury. County
and Local Studies records will be available, plus
computer demonstrations and stalls from a number
of local family history societies. Admission and
car parking is free.
Public
Record Office events
A one-day conference featuring recent research
into the Hearth Tax will be held at the PRO on
May 19.There will be lectures by Elizabeth
Parkinson on the assessors and collectors, family
names by Prof. David Hey and the houses of the
Hearth Tax by Sarah Pearson, former President of
the Vernacular Architecture Group. The conference
including refreshments and a buffet lunch will be
£35.
During the week beginning July 16 the second
family history summer school will be held. It
will combine teach-and show sessions with
opportunities for individual research, together
with a special preview of the 1901 census online
project. Tickets are £150 with £l00 concessions.
Additions
at the Berkshire Record Office
The baptism, marriage and burial registers of
Theale Congregational Church together with those
of baptisms and burials from 1868 to the 1990s at
Beech Hill have recently found their way to the
BRO. The spring exhibition at the Record Office
consists of the documents received or catalogued
in recent years.
Forward to the Past
The Society of Genealogists is organising a
major family history conference on twentieth
century records at Imperial College, London from
August 31 to September 2, 2001. There will be
more than twenty lectures ranging from Lloyd
George's Domesday survey and merchant seamen to
sources for women and GI brides and babies. The
total cost for the weekend including
accommodation, lectures and a gala dinner is £198,
but day tickets can be purchased for the lectures
at £30. Further information can be obtained from
the Society.
Wartime
records research
The Imperial War Museum will be organising a
series of events to help those who are
researching wartime records and experience. The
first is on board HMS Belfast for a learning
weekend on August 25, another at the Duxford
Airshow on September 8 and 9 and finally at the
imperial War Museum itself for the Armistice
Commemoration.
Ancestors
Ancestors is a new bimonthly magazine
published by the Public Record Office which aims
to provide practical problem-solving advice on
researching the past with the principle aim of
helping family and local historians identify
documents and sources. It's in full colour with
many illustrations and at £3.95 is well worth
the cover price. The first issue includes
articles on the 1901 census, tracing the history
of a house and finding military family history on
the Internet.
Foot and mouth
As this edition of the journal goes to press
we are just recovering from the latest foot and
mouth outbreak. Although not as seriously
affected as other counties it will undoubtedly
have profound consequences for our landscape and
farming practices over the coming years just as
the agricultural depression did in the last
quarter of the nineteenth century. Then the
agricultural economy was seriously affected by
the decline; farming methods were changed and the
number of labourers working on the land decreased
with a growing number leaving the land to work in
the towns. It affected our ancestors in many
ways; let's hope that this disaster will have a
more beneficial effect.
Western
European Vital Records on CD-ROM
Twelve and a half million vital records from
Western Europe are now available on CD-ROM from
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The Vital Records Index for Western Europe
includes information extracted from birth,
christening and marriage records from the Alpine,
Benelux, French, German, Italian, and Spanish
regions.
Ray Madsen, product manager for the Family and
Church History Department, says this is the first
time such a large database of records for Western
Europe has been made available for home research.
"It also has a very powerful search engine
that allows you to search not just for
individuals but for parents or particular
locations."
The set Of 21 discs can be purchased for £28.95
from the Church distribution centre at 399
Garretts Green Lane, Sheldon, Birmingham B33 0UH
or by credit card on 0121 785 2200. It can also
be ordered on the Internet at www.familysearch.org.
Protestation
Oath Roll
For those of us fortunate to be researching
Berkshire families during the seventeenth century
the Protestation Oath Roll is one of the most
important documents. In 1641 Parliament passed a
resolution requesting all males aged over 18 to
take an oath in support of the Crown and Charles
I. In Berkshire the returns date from the
following year 1641/2 between February and March.
Most men took the oath and those that did not (mostly
Papist recusants) were sometimes also listed. The
names were listed parish by parish so it acts as
a kind of mini-census at this crucial period
prior to the beginning of the English Civil War
when many men left their homes. The surviving
returns are held at the House of Lords Record
Office where they may be consulted. Returns have
survived for about l00 Berkshire parishes.
Family
History Centre, Exhibition Road
The largest of the Latter Day Saints Family
History Centres in Exhibition Road, London, is
about to get even bigger with the acquisition of
more microfilm material. By the summer the Centre
will hold up to 30,000 films formerly held by the
LDS distribution Centre at Solihull. Exhibition
Road is already the best of the Family History
Centres but this expansion of library facilities
will make it an unrivalled source for family
historians visiting London.
International
Conference on Jewish Genealogy
The 21st international conference on Jewish
genealogy will take place at the Hotel Inter-Continental,
London, from July 8 to 13. Lectures will cover
Jewish ancestry in most parts of the world from
the Middle East, Asia and Africa to Australasia
and the Americas.
Tracing your family
Just be thankful we are not flies. According
to a new book in just two months two flies can
produce more descendants than there are people on
earth. How big a family tree would be needed to
deal with their progeny?
Summer holidays
During the summer when you will be researching
your families in record centres and libraries
don't forget to think about writing something for
your magazine. The Editor is always keen to
receive submissions from members either articles,
letters, or help needed. In the meantime I hope
that you find that elusive ancestor.
Joiner needed
The Research Centre needs a joiner to fit
bookshelves in the Library. We will supply all
the materials if you can supply the skill. If you
think you can help give Ivan Dickason a call on
0118 978 6785.
with any queries
