Interested in Family History? Discover your Ancestors from Birmingham, Staffordshire, Warwickshire & Worcestershire.
By Phil Lamb
By Phil Lamb
HAPPY NEW YEAR
Well I hope it will be a Happy New Year as personally 2021 was a disaster and Christmas was even more disastrous. I won’t bore you with the details, suffice to say in the words of the song “Things can only get better”.
This will only be a short newsletter as I just wanted to tell you about decisions that have had to made about meeting up in January.
Firstly, the Family History Centre will not now open until Monday 10 Jan. This is due to the rising infection rates and the omicron variant and to keep our volunteer librarians safe when they travel backwards and forward into Birmingham city centre.
The reopening decision will be dependent on any government restrictions or guidance that may be in place at that time, so please check before you travel.
If you wish to visit the Family History Centre after that date, please remember that you need to use the online booking in system. To register, email fhc.bookings@gmx.com
MEETING CANCELLATIONS
We also have two meeting cancellations for January. Paul Handford’s talk on The Friends Ambulance Unit scheduled for Saturday 15 January at the BMI in Birmingham will not now take place. This is due to the uncertainty of what the Government intends doing in the New Year about placing further restrictions on us.
Also cancelled is the visit to the Foundling Museum on 8 January organised by our London Group and again is due to the large numbers of covid cases in London. The London Group’s next meeting will be on 2 April at their new home, Wesley’s Chapel and Leysian Mission in City Road, London. (See programme booklet or website for details).
OTHER MEETINGS
On the plus side, most of our other Groups will be holding their meetings later in January or on Zoom, full details are either in the programme booklet or on the website.
Kenilworth Group are holding their monthly meetings on Zoom up until April, mainly due to the dark nights. Full details are in the programme booklet.
On Wed 26th January Myko Clelland from FMP will be telling us how to get the best out of the 1921 census. Time 2pm – 4pm. Booking arrangements are now open on this website under events or follow this link – 1921 Census
As you know this will be the last census for a while. The 1931 census was destroyed during WW2 and there wasn’t a 1941 census, so the next one will be the 1951. I don’t think I will be around to see that released!
THANK YOU
Thank you to those members who came up with suggestions for my elusive Millward family. They must have come from somewhere, but where I have no idea! Apart from Worcestershire, there are a great many in South Wales, Derbyshire and Warwickshire. So it is a bit like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
My daughter has pointed out that there are some trees on Ancestry that go back further than I have done, but as I pointed out to her: A. you don’t know if the information is true and B. whether it has been proved. I’m afraid that I don’t believe anything I cannot prove myself.
One thing I meant to mention during my talk was that one of my ‘remote’ ancestors was tried at the Old Bailey for murdering his wife. He was a boatman travelling back from London and apparently when two barges using horses pass each other there is a well-known system to do so, but that didn’t happen in this case and his wife was knocked into the canal and was drowned. He was accused of her murder but was acquitted on the evidence of the other boatman. I must admit that I didn’t find this by chance, this was another ‘tale’ told to me by my aunt which, of course, I had to investigate. Old Bailey records are available on line: Proceedings of the Old Bailey, 1674-1913 online. https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/ Something else that you may not be aware of, is that individuals who intended to serve food and alcoholic beverages in a public house had to apply for an annual licence. From 1522, a person wanting to sell alcoholic drinks had to apply for a licence from the Quarter or Petty Sessions and it is from these courts records that most publican records originate. Most records and documents are held at County Record Offices and are arranged by the name of the pub and not the name of the publican. Trade and street directories as well as electoral registers can help track down the name of the pub and location. Simon Fowler, who is a long-established author and editor in the world of family history publications has written a very comprehensive book called Researching Brewery and Publican Ancestors. It costs £5.95 and is available through our online bookshop.
REMINDER
Can I remind you that your subscription is due on 1 January. The cost is still £14.50 and there is a renewal form in the December journal, or you can renew via the online shop or better still set up a regular payment via your bank. If you bank on line this is quite easy to do.
That all folks, Happy New Year to you all. Hopefully 2022 will be better than 2021.
Jackie
By Phil Lamb
Christmas is just around the corner, and I don’t know about you, but this year seems even longer than last year but then all of a sudden, we are at the end of the year. Just when we felt we were getting back to normal, it is still in the lap of the Gods when that will be.
RECENT TALK
Did you manage to listen to John Hanson on ‘Why Pay for Information from the Internet?’ Amongst many of the interesting facts that he mentioned was that on the Ancestry and Findmypast only carry BMD indexes up to 1983 although births are up to 2007.
When the BMD books were first digitalised, and the Family Records Centre in London closed, there was a hue and cry from people saying that they could not access the up-to-date indexes, so provision was made for various centres around the country to hold up to date indexes (within six months of the present date). These were: • the Library of Birmingham • Bridgend Local and Family History Centre • the City of Westminster Archives Centre • Manchester Central Library • Newcastle City Library • Plymouth Central Library • The British Library (you’ll need to register first)
They were on micro-fiche the last time I looked in Birmingham (that may have changed).
‘Normal’ BMDs are not the only indexes available, there are many non-standard indexes available for the Army, Navy, Overseas, etc. Findmypast hold many of these additional indexes. These are also available to view at National Archives.
FORTHCOMING TALKS
2nd December, 5pm to 6pm
This is not one of ours, but I feel many of you would be interested in joining in and this has come to me from Lesley Plant of Kenilworth who tells me that Rebecca Probert is releasing a new book and will be giving a talk via Zoom on it on Thursday 2nd December and it’s free. (Apparently the first trench of tickets went very quickly, but capacity has been increased, so you may be lucky to get one).
To register go to: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/rebecca-probert-getting-married-the-legacy-of-legal-history-tickets-199688492657?utm_sour .
6 December 7.30pm – North Staffs Group
Back at their normal venue, St. John’s Centre, Newcastle Road, ST4 6QD. A talk on ‘Clarice Cliff ceramic artist and the young girls she trained’. I bet that will be very interesting.
8 December, 2pm – KINGSLEY NORRIS MEMORIAL LECTURE – GENEALOGY – THE MILLWARD FAMILY – VIA ZOOM
Kingsley Norris was a pioneering founding member of the Society and after his death, these talks, always given by a member of the Society, was inaugurated in his memory.
I could not escape Peter’s gaze, so this year it is my turn. I shall be giving a talk on my MILLWARD family. This is my paternal line and something I started 50 years ago. Not so much from a family history point of view, because as you will see from my talks that was not much in evidence at the time, but it was more to do with the many tales and stories that we had been told and I really wanted to know what was true and what was a lie.
Door Prize Kindly donated by Steph Russell, today we have a “Door Prize” which is a copy of Family Tree Maker software to assist with recording your family history research. To be eligible all you must do is be in attendance on the day. A name will be selected at random from the Register of Participants at the end of the meeting and the result announced immediately. Family Tree Maker for pc or Mac, download normally priced at £79.95 – thank you Steph.
We had hoped to run both Zoom and, at the BMI, but unfortunately that is not to be, and it will be on Zoom only. Registration is now open. Go to: https://midland-ancestors.uk/event/birmingham-my-millward-family-kingsley-norris-memorial-lecture/
1921 CENSUS
You will all know by now that the 1921 census is due to be released in January through Findmypast. Unfortunately, there is a cost involved – £2.50 for every record transcript and £3.50 for every original record image. For all 12-month Pro subscribers, there will be a 10% discount on any 1921 Census purchases.
26th January 2022: 2pm – 4pm – Myko Clelland – The 1921 Census – On ZOOM
This is a must! Midland Ancestors has been able to get Myko Clelland, Regional Licensing & Outreach Manager at FindMyPast will tell us all about the 1921 census and how we can use it to enhance the knowledge of our ancestors.
Myko (aka The Dapper Historian) has family roots in our area so is ideally placed to be giving us this presentation.
To register, follow this link 1921 Census
This is a little tip, if you are not in a hurry to view the 1921 census, you can view the census for free down at National Archives, Kew. When the 1911 census was released, I made a note of all the references for people I wanted to view, and then ‘blitzed’ the census down at Kew, where it was free to view. The same will apply to this one. One word of warning, according to TNA website, you will not be able to print off copies, you will have to save to a memory stick or email them to yourself.
Hopefully, TNA will allow coach trips again the in New Year. The Family History Federation have a new series of family history podcasts, covering a range of topics and expert guests. Introduced by Joe Saunders. You can find details on https://www.familyhistoryfederation.com/podcast It also lists talks given by other Family History Societies. Talking to Jacqui Fielding of the Friends of Key Hill Cemetery and Warstone Lane cemetery this morning, she was saying how busy they are with lookups at the cemeteries. Although their tours have finished for this year, they restart on January 9 with tours round Key Hill cemetery and Warstone Lane cemetery. Well worth it. Look on Eventbrite for details. She also mentioned that you can view forthcoming events on the Eventbrite website, some are free some you must pay for, but there are some really interesting events coming along. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/d/united-kingdom–birmingham/all-events/
Somebody mentioned on our Facebook page a few weeks ago looking for sailors and ships, so this may be of some help. The Lloyds Register of ships is online and dates back to 1764. Full details on what is available is on https://hec.lrfoundation.org.uk/archive-library/lloyds-register-of-ships-online
If you have ancestors in Northern Ireland check out the North of Ireland Family History Society, they are also holding some really interesting talks in the New Year. https://www.nifhs.org/events/
A 2022 programme booklet will be with your December journal for next year, some of the meetings in person and some via Zoom, but please do check before you journey to any of the meetings just in case things change.
Phil had hoped to be able to offer hybrid meetings both on zoom and in person, but it is proving a little more difficult than we thought. It is more than a ‘one man’ job, so if you have any experience in this regard, he would be pleased to hear from you.
I have been asked by a member if anybody can help him decipher a 16th century Will. He tells me it is only one page long, so if you can help, please let me know.
You may have read that we suffered a bereavement recently, my eldest brother died (not unexpectedly). I have been helping his daughter to sort out their house that he and my sister in law (who died last Christmas) had lived in for 60 years. Apart from my sister in law keeping every scrap of paperwork since they married, there were lots of photographs which my niece has given me to see if I recognise the people in them.
So I know I have said this before, but if you have some photographs that you know who the people are, but nobody else does, write on the back who they are, where the photo was taken and the approximate date, so your descendants don’t have the same problem.
The other thing we came across, were lots of Super 8 cine films from the 1960s. Julie had them put on DVD and memory sticks and distributed them round the family. It is wonderful to see people who have long since left us, but I don’t remember ever being that young and SLIM! So if you have the same, get them converted. I am going to do the same to my daughter’s dancing videos and I know how much she will love that!
Not sure if I will send out a newsletter at the end of December, depends how busy I am over Christmas, but I might send one out early in the New Year.
Best wishes to you all.
Jackie
By Phil Lamb
I hope that those of you who have been attending our ZOOM talks have enjoyed the experience. It seems that this will be the way forward for the foreseeable future and I think all attendees have managed to cope with the trials and tribulations very well. I must give thanks to Phil at this point as he is the one who has dealt with the technology. If you have not tried it, why not give it a go. Download ZOOM and then just register for our talks on our website and follow the instructions.
Our next two talks for August have been planned and details are available on the website under EVENTS or details can be found on the BMSGH Members Facebook page.
On 5 August starting at 2pm Phil Lamb will be telling us about Research at National Archives Kew. If you have never been to Kew, or have not been for a long time, it is worth viewing Phil’s talk, although to be fair, under the current conditions it has all changed again. I first went well over 20 years ago and how it is organised now bears no relation to how it was organised then.
On 19 August starting at 2pm Penny Smith, Chair of our Wolverhampton Group and Vice-Chair (Genealogy) of the Society, will be telling us the story of Mabel Shaw OBE. Mabel was a Wolverhampton Grocers daughter and worked with the London Missionary Society. Should be a very enjoyable afternoon.
Can I just point out that when you register for an on line talk, we do need your full name, not an unrecognizable email address, or nickname as we need to know who you are to keep us all safe from ‘undesirables’. If we don’t know who you are, you won’t be allowed to participate.
I know I have mentioned our Facebook pages before, but many organisations like SoG, National Archives, Warwickshire Archives and many more are posting events/talks that they are holding either online or as Podcasts. When these come to me I either forward them on to our own Members page, or to the General Midland Ancestor page. So if you have not done so already, why not take the plunge and have a look.
Jackie Cotterill
NEWS FROM THE GROUPS
Bromsgrove Group:
With restrictions on large-scale gatherings continuing, Bromsgrove Group will be moving its autumn 2020 meeting programme online. Meetings will be held at the original dates and times but will be hosted on Midland Ancestors’ Zoom account instead. The upcoming meetings and speakers are:
All meetings will commence at 7.30 pm. Attendees will be required to register in advance in order to access the online meeting link. See the Bromsgrove Group website for further details.
Without the restrictions of distance, this is an opportunity for MA members outside of the Bromsgrove area to participate in our meetings and we look forward to seeing as many of you as possible.
Mike Sharpe, Chairman.
London Group posts:
The London Branch has been in regular discussion with the Society of Genealogists since they closed their doors. Although there is some limited reopening it is not felt that we are yet ready to take advantage of any possible room availability in the near future. Concerns over the length of travel for all of our members is uppermost in consideration as well as the rather cramped conditions of the SoG. So the earliest we expect to hold a meeting is 9th January 2021. Even this is subject to what happens during the winter. For the first one or two meetings we will rely on members to talk to us as this will provide maximum flexibility without inconveniencing outside speakers. However the committee is considering a zoom meeting at some point in the not too distant future – and would encourage members to keep a lookout on the meetings listing on the Midland Ancestors web site for the fortnightly zoom meetings which will be taking place – and which are well attended around the world.
Dave Kerr, Chairman
North Staffs Group: More and More churches and chapels are being lost or turned into restaurants or residential properties, so this begs the question were do the memorials go?
Can you spare a little time to photograph or transcribe?
If you feel you can help please email me and I will let you know which churches/chapels need to have their memorials photographed near you. robecarter@hotmail.com
Rob Carter
Family History Centre, Birmingham
There are ongoing discussions about opening our own library. First and foremost, obviously, is the safety of our volunteers who man the library and we need to get their views as to whether they will feel safe coming in. We also need to discuss how we can operate safely, especially in view of social distancing, etc. I will keep you informed of any decisions made
Some Archives and Record Offices, are re-opening their doors but in a very different format to what we had before. In most cases forward booking is necessary (most are using an online booking system) with a time slot as well as is perhaps ordering records, etc. Steve Freeman has told me that although Warwick Archives are reopening, we will not be operating our Help Desk for the time being.
This has come from member Ann Simcock on our BMSGH Members Facebook Page:
Next month Ancestry will be updating their DNA matches. The result will mean that matches under 8 cms will be lost from your list. I know that I do not usually take one of these matches in isolation as there are many caveats using them in that way but if they appear in a group they could indicate a distant ancestor and give a helpful link. It is suggested they will not be removed if you have put them in a group, added a note or have contacted the match.
Something else Ann has posted on our Facebook page which may be of interest to our members regarding DNA:
Over the last few days there have been problems with the GedMatch site due to 2 security breaches. A similar problem has occurred with My Heritage. Emails have been sent regarding an upgrade and asking for details. It probably would be a good idea to be very wary of any emails coming from any similar site. Stay safe
Correction to item mentioned in last newsletter about a One-Name Study. The one name study has come to light regarding the surname SMALL (and vars.) with a linkage to DAUNCEY (and vars) around Himbleton, WOR in the late 1700s to early 1800s. Then back to 1600s. Also to Wootton-u-Edge. If this is of interest to you, please contact me
Going Forward
Now would seem to be a good idea to see if there is anything you, our members, would like to see or done by the Society. Unfortunately, we cannot re-open the library, but should we be doing something more either in terms of the website, journal or in general something else that you think could be helpful?
By Phil Lamb
Welcome to my second attempt at a newsletter. Thank you for all the nice comments I received following my first one.
I have been advised that due to GDPR I have to tell you that the reason you are receiving this newsletter is for the Society to keep in touch with you, our members, especially during these uncertain times. If, for any reason, you do not want to receive this newsletter, please contact me and I shall take your details off our mailing list.
Jackie Cotterill
“NEWS”
Our online presentations have been well received. In these difficult times it is a good way for us to keep in touch with you all and it is always good to for us all to see faces. Hopefully by the end of July I will have been to the hairdressers!
Lots of different groups are now using various online platforms, it is amazing how because of Coronavirus people have become ‘Internet Savvy’. Choirs are singing, orchestras playing and I know that many U3A Groups are using Facebook and Zoom to keep their Groups going.
Our last talk given by Phil Lamb on Maps and Mapping, Exploring for Family Historians threw up some minor problems, so Phil made some changes on how you log in. So please make sure that you read the instructions properly.
Our next presentation will be on 1 July when I will be giving a talk on The Parish Chest and Poor Law.
If you can’t get to it, you can always see it on the website later, under the Members Area.
If you have not used Zoom before, go to our website and check out these facts
Parish Chest is an important section when it comes to researching back before 1800 and hopefully it will prove to be useful when you are searching for alternatives to the Parish Registers.
Full details of the talk and how to join is available on the Midland Ancestor website, click here Please note that we will restricting the numbers to 50 attendees, just to make the event more stream-lined, so if you are not able to join us, the presentation will be available later.
more items added, click on the link here to see a list of items included –
17 July 2020 Mark Thursfield and Censuses
The earliest census of any real use to family historians was held in 1841. Mark will explain this and others and how we can use the census to help us learn about our ancestors. Mark is a society member and regular presenter at the Midland Ancestors series of lectures, First Steps and Further Steps.
Full details on how to join these online talks are available by clicking here
Register no earlier than 7 days prior to the talk. All registrants will be acknowledged with full joining instructions included. Meeting times are prompt, please allow yourself good time. “Doors Open” at 1:30 pm for 2:15 pm start. Registration closes at 12:00 noon on the day prior and is currently restricted to 50 people.
Can I also mention that at the moment the talks being presented are the property of Midland Ancestors, but in future it may be that we will have outside speakers who may or may not want us to upload their talks to our website, so please be aware of that.
The lockdown has produced a flurry of online talks and webpages. These are a few that you may be interested in: –
Carl Chinn talking about the Peaky Blinders
Don’t believe all the hints on Ancestry This will take you to the Midland Ancestors Facebook page
NEWS FROM THE GROUPS
London Group remains in limbo along with the rest of the society. At least zoom means that Dave has now been able to attend a committee meeting of the parent society and this will be very helpful in understanding where the society is going and what is being planned. It’s difficult to say much about not very much but it looks as though it is unlikely that here will be any meetings for the rest of this year. There is still no definitive news on the reopening of the Society of Genealogists and even at one metre (plus!) distancing getting a group together in the pretty enclosed room (with no through passage) will be next to impossible. Concerns on the travel on public transport for all the members is another problem that would have to be faced. The room is booked for the four meetings next year and we must hope that by January we are able to get started again. Meetings will be arranged to avoid speakers having to travel long distances so we may well have a couple of meetings within the group – which we were planning to do anyway. So keep save and avoid busy beaches and all night raves! And we’ll see everyone again when it is save to do so.
North Staffs More and More churches and chapels are being lost or turned into restaurants or residential properties so this begs the question were do the memorials go?
Can you spare a little time to photograph or transcribe:
If you feel you can help please email me and I will let you know which churches/chapels need to have their memorials photographed near you. robecarter@hotmail.com
Don’t forget the deadline for the September edition of the Midland Ancestors is 10th July 2020.
By Phil Lamb
This is my first attempt at creating a newsletter, so I hope you will bear with me if I don’t get it right!
I know that some of our Groups send out their own newsletters, and I thought it would be a good idea if, in these unprecedented times, we keep in touch with our members here and abroad. ‘Lockdown’ has a very strange feeling, not only do you feel isolated, but you are bereft in some way from social contact. Thank Goodness for the Internet and social media!
Jackie Cotterill
“NEWS”
One of the ways we are trying to keep in touch is holding online meetings and presentations using the ZOOM Presenting App.
Stourbridge group held their first online committee meeting recently, which was very successful, so this is something that our other Groups could look at.
Mike Sharpe, Chairman of our Bromsgrove Group, gave a very interesting inaugural presentation on “records before 1837” recently using ZOOM. The slides to his presentation are available in the Members area of the website.
Our next presentation will be on 17 June when Phil Lamb will be presenting “Maps & Mapping, Exploring for Family Historians”.
Full details of the talk and how to join is available on the Midland Ancestor website Click Here
Please note that we are restricted to 100 attendees, so if you are not able to join us, the presentation will be available on the website under the Members Area.
Available in Midland Ancestors shop, about 400 very detailed street maps of Birmingham and its surroundings that were surveyed by The Ordnance Survey around 1887-1888 have been filmed and digitally available. Street index available with pubs, post offices, police stations all listed. If a street you are interested in is not shown, or if it straddles more than one map, the Map Man can help out. See first the Index downloadable from the shop website Click Here
See Website for Details, while stocks last