There is little doubt that the Internet is
beginning to dominate family history research.
Over the past 20 years genealogy has undergone a
dramatic change with resources like the IGI and
online facilities from the Public Record Office,
the Society of Genealogists and many county
record offices. Just this year perhaps one of the
most extensive and exciting trends has been the
opening of the 1901 census on the Internet.
But we continue to rely on books, parish
registers and census returns. For those starting
out there is plenty of good advice on what
records to look for, and how to navigate one's
way around places such as the Public Record
Office and the Family Records Centre. Many people
will begin their family history research by
visiting a local library and sometimes a local
record office. Others will begin a search on the
Internet and many will join a local family
history society. But how many people will think
of making use of a potentially very rich source
of information which is right under their noses -
their local museum?
Family and local history are inextricably
linked. For those whose ancestors were born and
bred in the same area, a local museum can provide
a mine of historical information, which sets
family history in context and can sometimes help
answer those elusive questions family historians
frequently encounter. Local history museums (most,
though by no means all, towns or boroughs in
England are served by one) can assist in ways you
may not have thought possible. In researching
your family history it becomes necessary to get a
feel for the kind of life your ancestors led, and
the types of objects and documents collected by
the local museum often cover a whole range of
human activity: from education, industry, trade
and religious life to military, civic and social
life. Museum objects help to piece together the
jigsaw and build up a picture of what life was
like for people in the past, the curiosity for
which underpins much family history. You may have
discovered that your ancestor was a serviceman,
for example, and the local museum may have
examples of the regimental badges worn by him, or
a uniform or even a photograph of the ship he
served on. Or perhaps you will find photographs
of the street your ancestors lived in, or the
schools and churches they attended, or examples
of the tools and equipment they used in their
work.
The Royal Borough Museum Collection (RBMC) is
the local history museum collection for the Royal
Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead. It comprises
some 6,000 items which give a picture of life in
the area from prehistoric times to today. These
items range from archaeological finds, maps,
paintings, prints and drawings to models,
photographs, books, costume and miscellaneous
objects. The whole of the borough is covered,
from Bisham to Horton and Eton Wick to
Sunningdale, including the three main towns of
Windsor, Maidenhead and Ascot, although the bulk
of the collection relates to Windsor.
Newspapers are a valuable source of
information for family history, and the RBMC has
a limited, but representative, collection of
original and copy newspapers; some copies of the
Windsor & Eton Express (generally one edition
only) for individual years from 1871 to some
copies of the Illustrated London News, 1862 and
1868, as well as the Windsor & Eton Gazette
and the Slough Eton & Windsor Observer.
We also hold a paper copy of the 1881 census
for the area, which many visitors find easier to
read than the microfilm in the library.
Street directories are another important
resource, and currently the RBMC has several
copies of Kelly's Directories of Windsor (various
dates) and Directories of Berkshire (1920 and
1935) and one of Reading (1958). There are also a
large number of books in the collection relating
to local history, which will provide useful
background material for family historians.
A major source of information for those whose
ancestors were known to have served in the Great
War is the RBMC's Ken Shepherd Archive. Ken
Shepherd was a local man who spent much of his
life tracing names on war memorials in the
Windsor area. He researched around 6oo men
remembered on memorials in Clewer, Dedworth,
Windsor and Eton Wick. An index of the archive
was created after Ken's untimely death in 1994, a
copy of which is held by the RBMC. The Ken
Shepherd Archive does not cover men who served in
the Berkshire Regiment who are covered on other
memorials, but it is an excellent resource for
family historians tracing ancestors lost in the
First World War.1 The RBMC also holds
some records of research carried out by a local
historian on war memorials in Maidenhead.
There are other documents relating to
servicemen in the museum collection, such as
death certificates, pension books and letters, as
well as a collection of military service medals
and costume. Museum collections can evoke the
past in a unique way. A soldier called William
Woolhouse who served in the First World War, for
example, is well represented in the RBMC by a
paybook, pension book, discharge certificate and
motor licence, amongst other items. It is moving
to read the postcard sent by William Woolhouse to
his mother at Eton Wick when he was a prisoner of
war in Germany, and then to learn that he was
granted a place in 1925 in one of the 'homes for
heroes' of the First World War in South View, the
first council houses in Eton Wick.2
A sample of the material in the Museum
There are items relating to the Berkshire
Provincial Yeomanry Company, the Royal Berkshire
Regiment and a number of photographs, newspaper
cuttings, a helmet, torch and medals belonging to
members of the Dyson family in connection with
Windsor Volunteer Fire Brigade. Local groups and
societies, from scout groups, swimming
associations, football teams and rowing clubs are
all represented in the RBMC by photographs,
programmes, tickets, cups and trophies. A recent
acquisition of minute books, correspondence and
costume regulation books from the Windsor Ladies
Swimming Club, provides a fascinating resource
for local family historians who may have known a
relative involved with the swimming club.
School records can be of real value to the
family historian. The RBMC has some school
certificates of attendance and excellence,
registers, photographs of pupils, school play
programmes and some report cards - for example, a
set of reports for a Jocelyn Stubbs at Maidenhead
County Girls School in 1956, on which her
mathematics teacher has written: 'She must now
learn to set out her figures more tidily!'
If your ancestor was involved in civic life,
the RBMC has some material relating to mayors and
councillors. There are several portraits of
mayors of Maidenhead, including Lord Desborough,
Alderman Richard Silver, Joseph Clark, Richard
Withal and Alderman Hewitt. Key historical
figures, such as Doris Mellor, Charles Knight Jnr.
and Snr., Sydney and Frederick Camm and Samuel
Logan are all represented by archives,
photographs and books in the collection.
Photographs will provide the family historian
with a great deal of assistance, but only if they
are clearly identified on the back. There are
over 1000 photographs in the RBMC, many of them
providing useful background information on
specific places, buildings, events or fashions.
You may even be lucky enough to spot someone you
know whilst browsing through them. Maps are
another key resource for family history research,
and there are a large number of maps of various
dates (copies and originals) in the collection,
from ordnance survey maps of the local area to
plans of the towns and villages of the Royal
Borough.
The Royal Borough Museum Collection is open to
the public on Wednesdays, and other days by
appointment. RBMC, Tinkers Lane, Windsor, 5L4 4LR.
Tel: 01628 796829. Email:
.
1 Berkshire Family Historian, Vol 19, No.3,
March 1996 and Vol 20, No.4, June 1997 for short
articles on the Ken Shepherd Archive
2 Judith Hunter, The Story of a Village: Eton
Wick (2000, Eton Wick Local History Group)
with any queries
