The
Bulletin
CHAIRMAN'S
NOTES
I am sorry that there were no Chairman's Notes
in the December edition of the journal. Among
other things, I would have wished each of you the
Season's Greetings. I take this opportunity to
wish you all a prosperous New Year. May you each
find that elusive long lost ancestor this year.
We have been advised by the Federation of
Family History Societies that our subscription
for 2001 - it is based upon the number of members
in the Society will be increased by 50%. This is
just one of the additional costs of running the
Society that we shall incur this year. Others
include increased costs of printing and posting
the Berkshire Family Historian; increased
costs of running the Research Centre; and reduced
income from bookstall sales. Taken together, I
think that these factors will almost inevitably
mean that membership subscriptions will be
increased from the beginning of the next
membership year in July. At the time of writing
these notes in early January the Executive
Committee has not finally reviewed the budgets
for the next financial year and has not decided
what action is required. If a decision to
increase subscriptions is made before this
journal goes to print then an announcement will
be included as a late news item. I am sure that
some of you will be unhappy that the Society may
need to make this difficult decision. I would
point out that subscriptions were last raised
five years ago.
There are a number of Society posts that need
to be filled at or by the AGM in June. I will
have been a member of the Executive Committee for
five years by the time of the AGM and under the
constitution I am required to retire from the
Executive Committee and therefore as your
Chairman. Similarly, we shall also need to
appoint a new Treasurer. Barbara Swiatek, who has
been our Treasurer since the last AGM, will also
have served for five years on the Executive
Committee. The Society is therefore seeking
volunteers to fill these formal Society posts,
that is to say, the constitution requires that we
have a Chairman and a Treasurer. In addition,
Margaret Pyle has decided after some years to
retire as one of the Membership Secretaries. We
therefore need a volunteer to fill this very
important post. Furthermore, Sally Pellow is no
longer able to continue as Bookstall Manager. If
you are interested in finding out about any of
these posts then please ring the Secretary or
myself. Job descriptions are available for each
of the posts.
I am pleased to say that the Saturday Computer
courses are proving to be very popular. In my
other role as Research Centre Manager, it pleases
me greatly to see that the centre is being used
in this way. We can use the centre seven days a
week and we should try to think of other
innovative ways of using the premises. Would
members be interested in other types of courses?
Perhaps you would let me know if you have any
ideas or suggestions.
Our own family history is making slow progress
at the moment. We are researching June's family.
(My brother is researching the Dickason name.)
June's maiden name is Marden and it seems that
her family originated in Kent. One good source of
information about our Mardens is June's great
aunt Elsie. She is now aged 99 and a bit frail
and deaf but when we see her she always recounts
amusing stories about her early life with her ten
brothers and sisters. In September, 2000 she
celebrated her 60th wedding anniversary. Did you
know that a 60th wedding anniversary qualifies
for a message of congratulations from the Queen?
The maiden name of June's mother is Webb. Her
grandfather came from Compton in Berkshire. We
were therefore very pleased when the Society
published transcripts of the parish registers for
Compton. This has been a great help to us. A big
thank you to those members who carried out the
transcriptions and to Jocie McBride who produced
the publication. June and I wish each of you a
very happy Easter.
Battle of the Atlantic
The BBC is making a majordocumentary series on
the Battle of the Atlantic to be broadcast on BBC1.
They are keen to hear from widows or sisters of
men who lost their lives on the following
merchant ships, torpedoed in October 1940:
Trevisa, Languedoe, Scoresby, Harpenden, Aenos,
Carsbreek, Shekatika, Beatus, Convallaria,
Creekirk, Empire Miniver, Gunborg, Blairspey,
Fiscus, Assyrian, Soesterberg, Empire Brigade,
Sedgepool, Clintonia, Niritos, Boekolo, Thalia,
and Snefield. These ships were part of convoy SC7.
Contact Victoria Brignell on 020 8752 5475,
alternatively write to the History Unit, Room
5433, BBC White City, 201 Wood Lane, London W12 7TS,
or email her at victoria.brignell@bbc.co.uk.
Shinfield War Memorial
The War Memorial has been moved onto the
village green as a joint millennium project by
the parish council and the local branch of the
British Legion. As part of this project Peter
Redfern has been trying to provide the background
to the servicemen commemorated. There are 28
Great War names recorded, the majority belonged
to the Royal Berkshire Regiment, but there are
some Marines and others from the Royal Navy. But
one name, Herbert Bailey, remains a mystery. So
far he does not seem to have a Reading or local
village connection. There are 1,400 Herbert
Baileys on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Roll of Honour, so only family information would
help to identify this particular casualty of the
War. If you have any information then contact
Peter Redfern on 0118-9885419.
American
quilts
During the Second World War many thousands of
quilts were made in America and Canada and sent
to Britain as Red Cross Aid. The quilts were
given to refugees, those who were bombed out,
hospitals, land girls, and many others in
different parts of the country. Sally Ward is
preparing a research paper for possible
presentation to the American Quilt Study Group on
the stories behind these quilts. She is anxious
to contact as many people who might have been
children in families receiving them before the
oral history they represent disappears. If you
know of somebody who still has one then email
Sally at  .
The
1940s House
Those who saw a re-creation of a 1940s house
on Channel 4 in January will be pleased to hear
that the house itself forms a major part of an
exhibition at the Imperial War Museum in London.
The Museum has faithfully re-created a typical
wartime home furnished and equipped as it would
have been in the 1940s. The pre-war suburban
'semi' at 17 Braemar Gardens, West Wickham, Kent,
will be on display until June 3. Visitors will be
able to tour both floors and part of the garden
with its Dig for Victory vegetable patch and
Anderson Shelter. The reconstruction includes
part of a wartime grocer's shop and displays
about life on the home front ranging from the
Blitz to the blackout.
Missionaries
For more than 200 years missionaries from
Britain have attempted to convert the heathen
souls who they believed ought to see the light.
At its height, between 1880 and 1920 some 60
societies were actively engaged in many parts of
the world, from China and Borneo to Africa and
the Pacific islands. By 1889 it has been
estimated that l0,000 missionaries were working
in the field. As a consequence archives, personal
papers, books, photographs and even films were
produced. A new project to facilitate and improve
access to this archive is underway and it is
hoped that eventually a web-based guide will be
produced. If you know of any materials which you
think may be of interest to the group planning
the project then contact: Rosemary Seton, School
of Oriental and African Studies, Thornhaugh
Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG.
Fairs
and Open Days
The South West Area Group of family
history societies will be holding their third
family history fair at the Winter Gardens, Royal
Parade, Weston-Super-Mare on Saturday,7th July
from l0am until 4pm. Eleven local societies will
be taking part with help desks staffed by member
societies. Parking is easy and there's a separate
restaurant and bar where visitors will be able to
enjoy a meal and relax.
Northamptonshire Family History Society
will be holding their 25th anniversary conference
on June 2 at the Cornmarket Hall, Kettering from
9.30 until 4.30pm. Speakers include Dr. Ruth
Paley on rogues and vagabonds and Muriel Catty
giving her lecture on the enumerator's tale. The
day will cost £12.00, which includes lunch and
refreshments.
The Berkshire Family History Society Open Day
2001 is on Sat, 19th May at Abingdon.
Family history magazines
If you already buy copies of Family Tree
Magazine, Practical Family History, or Family
History News and Digest then why not take out
a subscription through the Society? We take care
of the administration and the magazines are sent
to your home address regularly. The publishers
give the Society a small discount on
subscriptions, so by ordering through us you will
help to pay for new research projects. If you
would like to take out a subscription then
contact Jacky Holcombe, 36 Orchard Avenue,
Sonning Common, Berkshire RG4 9LT.
Royal
Archives
A number of members have contacted Sheila de
Bellaigue, the Registrar of Royal Archives, since
her article appeared in the December issue of the
journal. Please do not send money with your
requests for information as £io plus VAT is the
basic fee and does not include photocopies. So
don't include any money with your enquiry.
Spoof 1881 Census entry
According to an entry in the 1881 Census at 16
Acacia Gardens,
Paddington, Middlesex, lived the Goodman
family. Robert the head of the household, aged 52,
was described as an 'international playboy', his
son, Robert, aged 40 was described as a ponce.
There were 13 servants, born in places as far
apart as, Nepal, Afghanistan, Syria, the penal
colony in Australia and a curious spelling of
'Timbucktoo'. On the face of it this looks like
some enumerator having a joke with the census
until you come to one of the servants, John
Gordon, a footman, who was born in Pakistan in
1850. As Pakistan was not created until after
Indian independence in 1948, this is clearly a
joke perpetrated by one of the indexers who
transcribed the census for the Federation of
Family History Societies. We have already come
across a number of what seem to be humorous
entries, I just wonder how many more there are,
and how many were inserted by bored transcribers.
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