The few weeks leading up to the weekend
conference at Coventry in mid-April have been
very busy for me, as I had been asked to prepare
a demonstration version of a new pay-per-view
website for the Federation of Family History
Societies. This was just one of three major
topics that were discussed by the delegates from
the Family History Societies attending the
general meeting of the Federation.
Of course, the 1901 census debacle was
discussed. Everyone expects that the census will
eventually be available over the Internet, but
one major worry is that answers to questions in
the House of Commons indicate that 78% of the
transcription was carried out in the Indian sub-continent.
A figure that wasn't revealed in any of the
meetings between the 1901 Advisory Panel and the
Public Record Office.
The White Paper Civil Registration: Vital
Change (www.statistics.gov.uk/registration/
whitepaper/default.asp) will have a much more
serious effect than any problems with the 1901
census. I can't really summarise a sixty page
document in a sentence or two, but the main
message for family history researchers is that
while there will be easier access to records of
people born over a hundred years ago, information
about address, occupation and cause of death will
be restricted for anyone born less than one
hundred years ago. The Federation of Family
History Societies has published a 'Points for
Discussion' document, and the text of the
Federation's initial response, within the
Archives Liaison pages within the Societies
Section News and Announcements on their web-site
at www.ffhs.org.uk. This highlights numerous
practical problems with the current proposals and
that 100 years is too long, particularly for
death and marriage records. The website www.montypython.cwc.net
links to all these pages.
As I was presenting my pay-per-view website
proposals at the general meeting, Cliff Debney
kindly represented our Society in the Federation
general meeting. Our society, like the majority,
gave the go-ahead for a pay-per-view web site to
provide another way of making our indexes and
records available to the public. This will keep
me occupied for the next few months while I work
on the software and other related matters.
I very much enjoyed the opportunity at the
conference to talk informally with officers and
other people from other family history societies.
One problem we all seem to share is the
difficulty of attracting members without local
interests to our societies. Without local
members, we don't have local people to help with
our Society and this affects all our members.
Similarly, I would urge our many out-of-county
members to investigate their local family history
society, to join and go along to their meetings
and help them help us in our research.
This is the final issue of the journal for the
current membership year. We have made strenuous
efforts to make renewing for the next year as
easy as possible by providing a personalised
renewal form. Unless your details have changed,
you only need to sign the forms and return them
with your payment - unless you're one of the kind
souls who pay by standing order from your bank
account. We've also been working on updating our
database of members' interests and you should
find any research interests you've sent in over
the past few years on a form. Please update this
form and send it back so we can update our
records and publicise your interests more widely.
Wiltshire 1851 Census Index
A neighbouring county, Wiltshire, has been one
of the more obvious gaps in the collection of
1851 census indexes in the Research Centre. This
has now been cured as we now have a complete
transcript on both fiche and CD-ROM, in addition
to a CD-ROM with an 1871 index. We donated a copy
of our transcript for the Hungerford area to
Wiltshire 1851 Census Productions to help them
check their transcript in the area where
Berkshire and Wiltshire overlap. The CD-ROM is
very detailed and includes a search program and
Access database for those who use Windows and an
Adobe Acrobat version for those who use other
types of computers. The search program is
effective rather than pretty. More details of
these publications can be found on their website
at www.wiltshireancestors.co.uk/wil~icen.htm and
they are also available via www.genfair.com
Dates for your diary
The Buckinghamshire Family History Society
open day will be held on Saturday July 27 from 10am
until 4pm at Aylesbury Grammar School, Walton
Road, Aylesbury (south east of the town centre
betreen the A41 and the A413 roads). There are
many attractions for Buckinghamshire researchers
including computer databases, library facilities
and computer group demonstrations. There's free
car parking and light refreshments will be
available throughout the day.
The Marlow Society will be running their local
and family history fair on Saturday August 17. It
will take place at the Shelley Theatre, Court
Gardens, Marlow from 10am until 4pm. Admission is
50 pence.
Warwickshire Family History Roadshow will be
held on Saturday 14 September from 10am until 4pm.
The venue is the Bulkington Village Centre,
Bulkington, Warwickshire. Admission will be £1.50.
PRO family history summer school. This annual
event returns with a beginner's guide to the PRO,
local and social history and using the Internet
for family history. The school begins on Monday
July 22 and ends on Friday July 26. The course is
usually full so it is worth booking early to
obtain a place. For further information and to
book a place contact the Interpretation Team at
the PRO on 020 8392 5202.
PRO Open Day. This popular. event will be on
Saturday September 21. It is likely to have a
1950s theme.
The Association of Genealogists and
Researchers in Archives (AGRA) is presenting a
day conference on Saturday, June 15, 2002, at the
Abbey Room, Reading Central Library, King's Road,
Reading, entitled 'The professional approach to
Genealogy and record searching'. It's likely to
be an informative day for anybody intending to
establish a genealogical or record researching
practice. The cost is £40 including a buffet
lunch with wine. Further details can be obtained
from AGRA, 29 Badgers Close, Horsham, West Sussex
RH12 5RU.
P is for pauper
Julie Grisman at the Berkshire Record Office
has found a document from Kintbury parish records
which shows the lengths to which officials would
go in their attempts to shame the poor into
providing for themselves. The document records an
agreement made by the overseers and churchwardens
of Kintbury requiring that, whilst in receipt of
poor relief, all members of that family 'shall
weare the letter P fairly cutt out of RedCloth,
and fast fixed on the Right shoulder of their
upper garment'. They were to wear this 'badge'
wherever they went. If they refused, the
churchwardens and overseers would 'not for the
future pay or give to him her them or any of them
so refuseing, any Collection or Relief.
Berkshire Marriage Index
The film copy of the John Brooks' marriage
index for Berkshire is now available at the
Berkshire Record Office. Although it's a bit
fiddly to operate as it is on 16mm microfilm it
represents the best there is before the BFHS
marriage database becomes available.
Error In March 2002 Issue
My apologies for the mistake in the March
issue when I inadvertently gave the date of the
Windsor meeting as June 15. It should, of course,
have been June 25. Fortunately there was enough
time for the correction to be made before the
meeting was held.
Local history websites In Berkshire
Some towns and villages in Berkshire have been
creating their own websites. Many of them have
been established by local historians and contain
valuable material for family historians. Two have
come to notice recently. One is, the portal for
the villages of Ascot, Cheapside, Sunningdale,
Sunninghill and Windlesham, and another contains
a brief history of the village and interesting
information on the variations in spelling of
Wraysbury. We would like to maintain a list of
all the Berkshire sites, so if you have come
across any pass them to the Editor at
.
Magazine subscriptions
If you purchase the Family Tree Magazine or
its sister publication Practical Family History
then why not take out an annual subscription
through the Berkshire Family History Society. We
can obtain a substantial discount which helps our
funds and you benefit by having them sent by post
to you directly. If you would like to take out a
subscription eMail
.
Obituaries
Sue Healey, until recently the curator of the
Thames Valley Police Museum at Sulhampstead, died
on Saturday February 2. She was a member of the
Berkshire Family History Society for many years
and also a member of GOONS researching Winckles.
Chad Hanna writes: 'I met Sue on a few occasions,
including a Society Day at the Holt School in
Wokingham, and on a Society trip to the Police
Museum. She was a very memorable character, and
very willing to help members of the Society'.
Another long standing member Dr. Michael
Dumbleton died suddenly earlier this year. For
many years he was a member of the Society and was
also a member of the Bracknell Local History
Society. I first met him when we did a MA course
in Landscape History at the University of Reading.
His research on Bracknell won him a distinction
and his quiet scholarly presence at meetings will
be sorely missed.
Postcards
Jacqueline Harbor has a number of postcards
which she would like to give away to anybody
researching the following areas:
Caswell Bay, Swansea Llandudno
Rhyl Gardens Rhyl Promenade Dyserth Falls,
Prestatyn
Prestatyn Holiday Camp (3) Weymouth Promenade
Steyning High Street Vale Royal Arches near
Northwich,
Cheshire
Ramsgate, Westcliff Chine
Coronation stone, Kingston-upon-Thames
Wemyss Bay Station
Weston-super-Mare bathing pool
Seiworthy war memorial
War Memorial, St. Michael's Mount
Market Jew Street, Penzance
Tourist main deck on 'Queen Mary'
Send a stamped addressed envelope to
Jacqueline Harbor (FHJun2002 postcards), c/o
BerksFHS, 131 Castle Hill, READING RG1 7TJ
with any queries
