I am pleased to report on our April 7th 2010 meeting. Our speaker for the morning was Mr. T Weston . He gave a very informative talk on ‘Starting out in Family History’, accompanied by many slides.
Mr. Weston started on this interesting hobby when he retired, as he explained that it soon becomes a very compulsive hobby, so much so that he definitely would not have had the time when he was in business ! He said that with the advent of the home computer that genealogy has become one of the fastest growing hobbies in the U.K. and the TV programme ` Who Do You Think You Are ?` stimulated great interest with the public.
Mr Weston said that the internet, with the help of various publications, now plays a fundamental role in the research. The Web sites (quoted at the end of this report) will be useful to those starting out to find their ancestral history.
Dates and many relevant details are available from 1800’s but the 1700’s can be more difficult to find. It was in 1538 that Parishes were obliged to keep accurate records of Births, Deaths and Marriages in the UK. The 1801 Census is a very helpful tool in research. Large libraries invariably have internet facilities and one can use them free of charge. The national records at Kew also have very good research facilities. School admissions and War Graves Commission records are other sources of basic information. He also mentioned the Mormon Church.
Mr Weston gave us some very good guidance -- “ when clearing out a deceased person’s house, do not throw away papers before examining them carefully. Speak to older members of the family before their memories fail. When you start to delve, do not worry about family skeletons in the cupboard, we all have them! “ He also advised us to keep careful records of all the names of people we are researching and note where we found the details, so that we can retrace our steps, as this can be a time waster if you go over the same ground twice!
At the end of the talk many questions were asked by our members -- this was an excellent talk with numerous slides, which gave many of us the inspiration to start our own family history research ! The Members showed their appreciation in the usual way.
The next meeting of Dean Rise W.I. will be at 9.45 on Wednesday 5th May which will be the Resolutions meeting accompanied by coffee, cakes and conversation. Visitors are always welcome.
Web pages ---
www.ancestry.co.uk
www.family search.org
www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates
http://freebmd.rootweb.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment