Jackie Cotterill

Newsletter No. 14
Just when we thought restrictions would be lifted, the decision has been put back until July 19th, so we will have to hang fire a little longer before we can get back to ‘normal’ – whatever that may be.

After discussing our present situation ‘in house’, plus canvasing various members, it was felt that once Groups can open, the decision as to when and how should be left to them and their members. After all, they know will know what safety arrangements prevail in their area.
We do have a Health and Safety Plan, but as the situation keeps changing, we cannot release this. Of course, this would also be in conjunction with any local Heath and Safety that local venues may have.

My suggestion was that each Group might like to canvas their members as to when they would like to attend an open meeting, Sept?, Oct?, Jan? because no matter what the Trustees decide, ultimately it is up to each Group to know when the time is right to open.

Our London Group are in the unfortunate position of having to look for new premises. They have met at the Society of Genealogist building for several years, but the SoG are in the process of moving, so the London Group will have to find somewhere else to meet. Chairman, Dave Kerr, is looking for suitable premises, but with their members coming from such a wide area, it will have to be central to everybody. He suggested the TNA, but according to Dave who surveyed his members last month, 40% were still concerned from the health standpoint and some about getting to TNA. Hence the need for something more central. If you have any suggestions, I am sure Dave would like to hear them.

He also said they have a visit booked to the Foundling Museum in January – subject to Covid which will hopefully get people out and such visits may be the short term answer.

No decision has been made about opening the Reference Library yet, again this depends on what the requirements are in July and our own Reference Library staff. Some are quite happy to return to the library, but some are understandably nervous. It may also mean that the library will only open on certain days and with an appointment system. As soon as a decision is made, we will let you all know.

ONLINE TALKS

I managed to miss two out of three talks last month, which was very disappointing for me. The only one I caught was Penny Smith’s talk on ‘Who’s the Daddy?’ From Penny’s work it just shows you that you must look at everything, even if it seems irrelevant. Lost father’s must be one of the most difficult parts of family history especially if you do not know who they are. DNA may point you in the right direction, but that may be the last resort.

My mother never knew her father, although we did at least know who he was. I finally managed to trace him in 2017 with the help of Facebook. If you want to read about my search, it was published in the September edition of the Midland Ancestor 2017, Vol. 19 No 3.

Our next talk will be on 21st July @ 1:30 pm – 4:00 pm – Park Street Burial Ground – The HS2 Dig
You may remember that there was a tv programme on the archaeological investigations for the HS2 terminal in Birmingham which included Park Street. The burial ground was used as an overspill burial site for St. Martins and was opened in 1810, closing in 1857 to new burials. To register for this talk go to https://midland-ancestors.uk/event/online-event-park-street-burial-ground/

In my last newsletter I mentioned that I had been asked to contribute to an article on the West Midlands in the Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine. I have now received a copy of the magazine, and I am glad to see that they included my questioning of the term West Midlands. The West Midlands did not exist before 1974 and by referring to it new researchers could be looking for a historical area.

Mike Sharpe, Chairman of our Bromsgrove Group also has an article in the magazine on Brass Workers. It was often referred to as ‘toy makers’, but this was not children’s toys, it was a general term covering anything small and made in metal, buckles, boxes, taps, etc. There were so many little factories, that sometimes it is difficult to pin point where your ancestor worked. In this instance, trade directories could be a goldmine. The only problem with Trade Directories is that although it says it covers a certain period, the information could have been collated over two to three years, so the firm you are looking for may have moved by then.

My sister worked in a factory making brass coffin handles, for which she was paid on a ‘Piecework’ rate. The rate paid was for a fixed number (e.g. £1 per 100). If for whatever reason she did not reach her target, she would only get paid for the work she had done. My gran used to sew buttons on cards at home, earning ‘piecework’ money. If you visited, you always had to help sewing the buttons on the cards. Never an idle hand!

Mike Fisher, on the Worcestershire Ancestors Facebook page recommends a useful data set on Ancestry, Worcestershire, England, Electoral Registers, 1837-1974. The actual coverage is strange, but it is a useful data set. I’ve taken a look and it is strange as some of the places definitely were not in Worcestershire, but could be another useful resource www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62056.

Scotlandspeople has announced that indexed images of the 1921 Scottish Census will be released on scotlandspeople.gov.uk and in the Scotlandspeople Centre in the latter half of 2022. The release had been due on 20 June 2022, but that has been put back. For further details, see https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/guides/census-returns.

I have received an email from Riden Philip of the Derbyshire Record Society who are releasing a book on muster rolls for Derbyshire of 1638-9 listing over 18,000 individuals. They are publishing the work in two parts, the first of which should appear in July. I know that technically this is not within our area, but I know that lots of our north Staffordshire members may have ancestors in Derbyshire. I do not have any other information at the moment, but their website is https://derbyshirerecordsociety.org/

The Staffordshire BMD web site and the West Midlands BMD web site are part of the Local BMD Project group of Family History and Genealogy web sites. Both these sites are housed on our website http://staffordshirebmd.org.uk/ and http://westmidlandsbmd.org.uk/

Members of our North Staffs Group are involved in compiling these indexes and Bill Harrison, Chairman of our North Staffs Group, tells us that the Staffs BMD has been updated with the following:
Deaths: 598 for Lichfield (held at Lichfield RO), registers at Lichfield (1985-1987)
These are indexes only. The images can be seen at the relevant Archive offices.

We also house the Staffordshire Burial Index covering cemeteries throughout the County.
Ian Hartas of UKBMD tells us that The Staffordshire Burial Indexes has been updated to add: 38,400 for Bradwell Crematorium: 1965 to 1997

There are a Total of 497,242 contained in the indexes together with plans for most of the cemeteries.
To see the complete index, go to http://www.bmsgh.org/burialsearch/

Talking of deaths (!!!) can I remind you about Rob Carter’s ongoing project to record monumental inscriptions in Staffordshire. 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? Are they taken to the mother church? Are they left with the property? Are they dumped into a skip? Can you spare a little time to photograph the memorial located inside churches, chapels etc.

If you feel you can help, please email Rob and he will let you know which churches/chapels need to have their memorials photographed near you. robecarter@hotmail.com

Rob also produced the North Staffs newsletter which is available to download http://www.bmsgh.org/branches/northstaffs/newsletters/

If you haven’t done so, why not subscribe to the Family History Federation Really Useful Newsletter. It contains some really interesting information not just about various Family History Societies here and abroad, but also details of events, courses, etc. Just email Debbie Bradley at admin@familyhistoryfederation.com and ask to be put on the mailing list.

If your ancestors came from the Balsall Heath area of Birmingham, The Balsall Heath Local History Society publish a monthly newsletter, which includes information on the Middlemore Homes lost children project. Their website address is www.balsallheathhistory.co.uk and their Facebook page is: Balsall Heath Local History Society and lostchildrenproject.

There are lots of these smaller Societies dotted around our area, details of some can be seen on our website. Why not just put in a Google search and see what comes up.

ONLINE COURSES
The Society of Genealogists have some interesting courses coming up. If you are a member of the SoG you will receive a 209-35% discount on talks and courses. To view their online events go to http://societyofgenealogists.arlo.co/w

The National Archives has a free online event on 6 July at 14:00BST on top tips for using Discovery, their online catalogue where users can currently download 100 free records a month. To register go to https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/top-level-tips-using-discovery-tickets

Free Scottish Family History Virtual Conference – 10 July 2021
Learn how to trace your Scottish family history. The 11th Scottish
Indexes Conference will be held on 10 July 2021. For further details go to

Free Scottish Family History Virtual Conference – 10 July 2021

I think that is all for now. Can I remind you as well to send your articles to Linda for entry into the Magazine. I am sure she would rather have too many articles than too few. Linda’s details are in the Journal.
Jackie

By the time you get this, the deadline for registering for the AGM will have been and gone. I hope that many of you took advantage to join in with us to take part in the AGM online. This is another first for the Society to add to all those other firsts in the past twelve months. It means that all our members, wherever you are, can join in with the proceedings.
You may not think that attending AGMs are important, and I know I am as bad in this respect, but it is the only way that you can legitimately say whether you think the Trustees are doing a good job or not and voting accordingly. If you don’t agree with the way the Society is run, then join the Executive Committee and have your say.
If you are interested in attending an Executive Meeting (as members you are entitled to do this), let me know and I will send you details on the next meeting.
ONLINE TALKS
I am sure that those of you that listened to Rebecca Probert’s Talk on Marriage arranged by Leslie at our Kenilworth Group found it really enthralling. Rebecca certainly is a good speaker. Lesley said that there were 82 participants including visitors from Jersey, Dublin, and Australia.
Andrew’s Lound’s talk on Birmingham during the war certainly went down a storm (I was going to say a bomb but thought better of it!) We had over 80 participants listening in. W T Avery was one of many manufacturers in Birmingham bombed during the war.
One of the most famous was the BSA in Sparkhill. My dad and his brothers were all Firewatchers there. On the night of 19 November 1940, it was bombed and destroyed. One of the worst bombings of the war. Dad should have been on duty, but he had a bad chest and my mom talked him into staying at home. The man who took his place was killed. My Aunt’s husband went outside to have a smoke, and the bomb hit the building next to him. He survived but my sister-in-law’s grandfather was in the fire service there and he died that night.
If one of your ancestors served in the Home Guard, you might like to look at this website. http://www.staffshomeguard.co.uk/AWELCOMEstaffshomeguard.htm
We know there are so many family stories about the war which may be a long time ago now, but it is so important that these stories are told. If you have any anecdotes why not take the time to either write them down or tape record your stories for future generations?
TELLING YOUR HISTORY
My eldest daughter in Australia is doing just that. She said to me, “if you were an object, you would be considered an Antique now!!” Cheeky Madam! She sends me a list of questions each week about my childhood, etc. for me to write about. She says she will be putting it all in a book one day to pass on to our grandchildren. One of the latest questions asks if we have any notable ancestors, unfortunately not! Our ancestors were very lowly either Ag. Labs or Cobblers.
On the theme of writing your own history, I have had a book sent to me by a member in Australia. Her father, Paul Bruce FREE, wrote a series of essays for his grandchildren. He was born in Birmingham in 1923 and when he was 82 decided to write these essays about his life in Birmingham and Wolverhampton between the wars. His writings were on ordinary everyday life, visiting the grocers, home deliveries, the bus service etc. all of which is a complete world away from what we know today. These have all been collated into a book and published by his daughter Jane. As a Brummie I can relate to lots of the places and events remembered from my own childhood even though I hasten to add I was not born until after the War! Birmingham has changed so much during the intervening years, but there are some parts that are still Paul would still recognise now.
Something else received from Australia is a hand drawn family tree in the name of HADGKISS/HODGKISS originating from the Belbroughton and Bromsgrove areas. The person concerned is not a member but thought that we may be able to find somebody related to the family. It is very complicated to understand with quite a list of other names, but if this is one of your surname interests, let me know. NB: It is too big to photocopy.
MAY ONLINE TALKS:
Once again, we have a series of exceptional online talks for you, details below:
Bromsgrove: 11th May @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Goose Grease and Brown Paper – Speaker: Kath Reynolds
(This brings back memories!)

Kenilworth: 12th May @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm

The Blind Postmaster General and the Suffragist’ – Presenter Alan Godfrey FRPSL.The story of the lives of Henry Fawcett MP and his wife Millicent Garrett Fawcett. Henry was blinded at age 25 but went on to become a reforming Liberal MP and PMG. He introduced many innovations at the Post Office. Millicent was leader of the 50,000 strong NUWSS and was mainly responsible for obtaining votes for women in 1918.
(Alan is well known to us as he produces the Alan Godfrey maps)

Birmingham: 19th May @ 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm
Using DNA Testing to Trace Your Family Tree – Presenter – Karen Evans
This presentation covers how DNA testing works in very general terms, getting the most from the test (what the results mean) and how to use your results to validate your paper research or overcome brick walls such as illegitimacy. It also highlights the range and pitfalls of using DNA testing, particularly finding out where your family came from – Can you really be a Viking? Karen writes a monthly column for Family Tree Magazine on getting the most out of your DNA results.
As you know, Phil is the person who ‘twiddles the knobs’ for our online talks and he could do with some help. It’s about letting people into the meeting; it really needs two people. I don’t think you have to be a computer expert, but just somebody with some computer experience who can help. If you can help Phil, contact him direct.
FAMILY HISTORY FEDERATION
The Family History Federation are running a free four-week on line course on ‘Beginning your Family History’. I know most of us are perhaps beyond the beginner’s stage, but it is always useful to have a refresher course. For further details head over to the Family History Federation website https://www.familyhistoryfederation.com/events. Begins 4 May.
Also on their site, under Forthcoming Events, you will find many Societies listing their online talks. Some may only be open to Members, but others may be available to all.
SOCIETY OF GENEALOGISTS
The SoG also have some cracking talks coming up in May.
Thursday, 6 May – 6pm
Finding Death & Burial Records in the United States
A one-hour talk Cost £10.00
Searching for ancestors in the USA can be very different to searching for your British ancestors. In the UK, we are used to centralised records, especially those for deaths. In the USA, there is no centralised death index for death certificates.

Saturday, 8 May – 2pm
Irish Church Records
A one-hour talk with Dr. James Ryan, cost £10.00

To successfully find your Irish ancestors, you need to know their religion as well more obvious facts, like their names and where they lived. This talk, essential for Irish family historians, explains the central role the churches played.

Thursday, 13 May – 6pm
Finding and Using Parish Registers in England & Wales
One-hour Recorded Talk From £6.50 Else Churchill
In this talk, Genealogist Else Churchill provides a useful grounding on how to find and how to use these vital records.
Saturday 22 May 2:00 PM – 3:45 PM
Family Historian Software tutorial.
Given by John Hanson, who is very well known in Family History circles. The cost is £12.00.
(There is one on using the MAC, but that was on 1 May).

For more information on all these talks and more, go to the SoG’s website https://societyofgenealogists.arlo.co/w/
MEMBERS INTEREST DATABASE
I don’t know how many of you completed the form you were given when you first joined about submitting your surname interests for the MID. The first time you complete the form your surname interests are published in the Midland Ancestor magazine. You can only have these entered once in the journal, but you can add and update your entries in the database at any time. The database is available for all to view on the Internet, not just members of the Society. You never know, it may bring forth that missing ancestor.

FREE UKBMD ONLINE CONFERENCE
Free UK Genealogy, the charity home of FreeBMD have asked me to let you know that theyare holding an online conference on 22nd and 29th May.
The theme of the 2021 conference is Open, Global Genealogy. Free UK Genealogy was founded on the principle of “openness” with the aim of giving everybody free access to all their family history data.
The conference has been split into two sessions, being held at opposite ends of the day (UK time) with the sole intention of enabling as many people as possible to attend part (or all) of the events, wherever in the world they happen to live.
The dates and times are: Saturday 22nd May from 4pm-7pm (UK time), and Saturday 29th May from 8am-11am. Both sessions will run on Zoom, so attendees will be able to participate and enjoy the proceedings from the comfort of their own homes.
To register your interest in attending the conference, please complete this form: https://forms.gle/RaJ1rsAjNZcSBg298
WORCESTERSHIRE INDEXES AND GUIDES
I am always being asked about the holdings in Worcestershire Archives, so I thought I would send you this link:
https://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/info/20189/search_our_records/321/indexes_and_guides?fbclid=IwAR1Nl_K6PEVhjsVyRN601LwPii-TOynbdkUdPIR8wKbYga-DZVUnnUAfxng
FRIENDS OF KEY HILL CEMETERY AND WARSTONE LANE CEMETERY
Jacqui Fielding of The Friends of Key Hill Cemetery & Warstone Lane Cemetery tells me that The Friends are reintroducing guided tours round the cemeteries. Key Hill was opened in 1836 and is our oldest non-conformist cemetery and Warstone Lane opened in 1847 is an Anglican cemetery containing two tier catacombs.
The tours start on Sunday 9 May 2021 with the Tour of Warstone Lane Cemetery, starting at 12 Noon and the Tour of Key Hill Cemetery starts at 2pm.
Tour fees:
£5.00 per person per cemetery.
Children under 16 no charge.
Free to members of –The Friends of Key Hill Cemetery & Warstone Lane Cemetery Group who hold a current membership.
BOOKING essential: please email: friends-kh-wl-cem@outlook.com

FREE CENSUS ACCESS
Some of you may be aware of this, but there is Free access to all British censuses on Findmypast from 10am (London time) on Friday 30th April until 10am on Monday 3rd May.
FINALLY – Don’t forget to send Linda any articles you have for the Midland Ancestor.

Tara-a-bit !

Jackie

The Clocks went forward this week, so the days will be getting longer than the nights. It also means that the weeds in the garden will be springing up quicker than the plants! Shame our missing ancestors don’t pop up so easily.
Opening of Groups:
Lockdown is being eased slightly this week with more easing next month. I know that many of you are impatient for our Groups and venues to be opened, but we do have to continue to be cautious.
There are lots of things to consider before any of our Groups can open, we may still be dependent not only about social distancing but health and safety items such as how many people can be accommodated at one time: sanitising chairs and equipment, etc. and it should not be assumed that these tasks will be done by our volunteers, attending members could be asked to help.
To those who have visited our centre in Birmingham will know that it is not the largest space in the world, so there may have to be a booking system in place, you will not be able to just ‘pop in’. How many people can be accommodated in the library? Again, there is the sanitising of chairs and equipment. Books may have to be quarantined. All these things must be considered before we open our doors.
All these options will be discussed by the Exec. Committee, Group Leaders and volunteers, but at the end of the day I think we just need to be patient. If you attend one of our Groups, make sure they have your up to date contact details, so they can let you know when they will be re-opening.
AGM ONLINE
As you will have seen in the March journal, our AGM will be held online on May 5th. For those of you who do not wish to participate online, send me an A5 SAE and I will send you a postal vote.
The format of the online event will be run along similar lines as our normal AGM but this time, all our members will be able to participate either by Zoom or sending in a postal vote. From 5 April 2021 there will be a page on the Members Area of the Midland Ancestors website giving you full details. Registration will close on 28th April at 23:59 so allowing 7 days for validating memberships and emailing out confirmations. Full instructions on how the polling feature will work will be available on the website.
Postal voting forms must be returned by 28th April 2021.
Lockdown has provided us with an online platform so we can reach those members who are not able to attend our Groups. Even our Exec Committee meetings are held on Zoom, it saves on travelling and is much more convenient. This is where I hope we can persuade more of our members to stand as committee members at the AGM to help with the running and decision making in the Society. If you feel you would like to contribute in any way, please put your name forward and become a committee member.
The Trustees will also be putting forward a proposal to revise the Society’s Constitution to bring it more in line with the 21st century. The last revision was about 30 years ago, so this is long overdue. The revised Constitution will be available on the website, so please read and if you have any points to make, email me or Phil Lamb.
Online Talks:
Next month we have three brilliant talks for you.
On 13 April Online Event – Bromgrove Group presents Jan Pick talking about the Craythorne Family. Go to the Bromsgrove Group page on our website for more details. http://www.bromsgrovebmsgh.co.uk/cms/events/details/
13 April @7:30pm -9:00pm

On 14 April, Online Event – Kenilworth Group presents Professor Rebecca Probert talking about Marriage law and practice in the Midlands, 1837-1900. A very popular speaker.
14th April @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm

On 21 April, Online Event – When the Lights Went Out – Birmingham goes to War Speaker – Andrew Lound
Andrew will be talking about Birmingham people during the 39-45 war, focussing on W.T. Avery’s famous Soho Foundry as well as the darkened streets of Birmingham. Andrew is a member of the Society and gives lots of talk around Birmingham and about Birmingham.
21 April @ 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm

Sarah Moody gave us a very interesting talk on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission last month. Looking at their website, it has been completely revamped and includes links to their extensive online archive which contains over 10,000 items including personal correspondence, photographs, etc. Why not look at www. https://www.cwgc.org/
I would also like to mention the War Graves Photographic Project. This project involves volunteers travelling the world taking photographs of war graves. My husband was named after his uncle who died in Tunisia in 1943. We always said we would go and see his grave but were advised not to travel to that part of the world, so instead I asked the TWGPP to photograph the headstone for us at a cost of £4, which they then emailed to me. Wonderful. https://www.twgpp.org/
Last month I said that War. County Record Office had refilmed their parish register collection. This was not strictly true. WCRO have given Midland Ancestors copies of their parish register collection as scanned by the Latterday Saints in the 1970’s and 1980’s which we are rechecking and discovering hundreds of missing pages (or blurred and unreadable), which are then rescanned and including with our transcriptions.
Although we know that Ancestry, Findmypast and The Genealogist already have these images and transcribed on their sites, we can provide a free download of WCRO transcriptions to date, and you can view a list of all free indexes via the Midland Ancestor Shop Page on the website.
Unfortunately, we cannot publish these missing pages until 1 December 2021 as Findmypast have an exclusivity agreement in place, but we have already added loads of missing pages to the shop to go live on 1st December.
Transcription of these registers has been going on for 3+ years with 60+ volunteers. More volunteers are needed to finish this mammoth task, so if you feel you can help (does not matter where you live), contact our project manager, Kim Walker at email address littlealne@hotmail.com, and she will send you a register and a spreadsheet to complete.
As a reward for helping, once you have transcribed several registers, Kim with send you a discount code giving you 20% off shop purchases (excluding memberships). You do not have to be a member to help with transcribing.

DNA
I was talking to one of our members recently about DNA. She had done her DNA through Ancestry but had not got very far with any matches. I suggested she tried Gedmatch to see if she has more success. Gedmatch.com, is a free online service to compare autosomal DNA data files from different testing companies.
To make use of it you must open an account with Gedmatch, download your raw data from your DNA testing company and then upload it to Gedmatch. You can then use the matching criteria, such as ‘Onetomany’, to come up with a list of matches. What you are looking for is the matches in ‘Total CM’ column. The higher the number the better the match.
One thing you are now able to do is upload a Gedcom table and search other Gedcoms. Member Jacqui Fielding refers us to a blog on Gedmatch http://blog.kittycooper.com/2018/06/getting-started-with-gedmatch/
In May Karen Evans will be giving a talk on ‘Using DNA testing to Trace your Family Tree’. See our Journal for details or details will be on the website shortly.
Jacqui Fielding, who also belongs to The Friends of Key Hill and Warstone Lane Cemeteries Group, says a new magazine being published on the Jewellery Quarter. Called the Jewellery Quarter Heritage magazine. It is issued quarterly and costs £6. If you are interested go to https://jqheritage.co.uk/
Changes to the Marriages Register

From 4 May both the mother’s and father’s names will be included in the marriage register for the first time under reforms to the Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths Act 2019. Currently, only the father is named on marriage certificates.

Other changes from May, however, mean that the Clergy will no longer complete the formal register for the marriage nor issue the legal marriage certificate. Instead, they will be required to create a marriage document or obtain the marriage schedule before the date of marriage and return this to the register office for electronic registration before the certificate is issued.
Clerics will no longer be responsible for corrections in marriage registers, and quarterly returns for marriages in the church building will no longer need to be completed.
Hmmm …. Wonder if we will be able to see marriage certificates via Archives in future?
FHF Really Useful Family History Show

The FHF Really Useful Family History Show will be held on 10 April 2021. We are not attending this year, as we need to concentrate on the AGM. Apart from a plethora of speakers, Family Tree Magazine are hosting two exclusive online family tree study club meetings. For tickets and further information go to www.fhf-reallyuseful.com.

I would also recommend reading the FHS Really Useful Bulletin. It contains lots of news about websites, Societies, and general interest. Send an email to Debbie Bradley admin@familyhistoryfederation.com and ask to be put on the mailing list.

In the latest edition it tells you about missing census returns and where you can check for missing pieces.
https://www.findmypast.co.uk/articles/census-for-england-wales-and-scotland-missing-pieces

Online Conference by The Dugdale Society
You may not have heard of The Dugdale Society, but this Society, based in Stratford upon Avon, has been publishing edited transcriptions of Warwickshire’s important local historical records dating from the 11th to the 20th Centuries and making them accessible to family, local and academic historians for over 100 years. (We hold some in our library)
They are holding an online Conference on the weekend of the 15/16th May 2021 and it is free. The Conference is called Warwickshire’s Changing Past and for further details go to https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/warwickshires-changing-past-dugdale-centenary-conference-tickets-147765377221

The Midland Ancestor

Once again, don’t forget to send Linda Newey any articles you may have for the journal. The deadline is Monday 5th April 2021.

Finally, it is my birthday today and as I have missed the last two birthdays because of lockdown, does this mean that those birthdays don’t count !!

Jackie

Newsletter No. 10 – February 2021

This week has been a beautiful week, I actually heard my first sky lark. Such a welcome sound. We have blue skies, the snowdrops and crocuses are out, but it still has been freezing in the mornings. At least it would appear that the weather is going in the right direction (sorry if you are heading towards winter), the days are getting longer and hopefully with the vaccine roll out, things are looking up.

I must apologise to those members who received a reminder letter, but had already paid their subs. We are installing a new database and on transferring the old data, some of the information was not uploaded. This has now been fixed so next year (fingers crossed) it won’t happen again.

Thank you to all of you who chose to ring me, it was so nice to have a chat, especially those who live some distance away and cannot get to our meetings.

Talking of which, our February talks went well. Phil had over 100 viewers for the talk on Ag Labs. It is surprising just how much you pick up when listening to somebody else. One thing not mentioned in the talk was that if you are looking for baptisms of their children, widen your search. Sometimes, Ag labs may travel from one farm to another, so children could be baptised in the nearest church to where they live. Plus, and this could apply to everybody, if the couple married in the bride’s parish, look there for the birth of their first child. Quite often, the bride went home to mother when she was expecting her first child.

Paul Hudson gave an interesting talk on the Archives at Worcester. It is a shame we cannot interest Worcestershire Archives in using our expertise, we have tried.

We do hold the Worcestershire marriage index with some records dating back to 1533. We also hold some marriage licence indexes from between 1660 – 1754. These containing not just the couple’s names, but also in some cases, ages, occupation, where married and abode. There are also details of the Bondsmen and sometimes witnesses. These cover Anglican, Roman Catholic, Quaker and other non-conformist entries.

We also hold the Worcestershire burial index. This formed part of the National Burial Index, which is available on FMP, but sometimes our index gives other information, age, relationship, etc. and quite possibly covers later dates.

If it is baptisms for Worcestershire you are after, contact Malvern FHS. They have been transcribing the baptism for Worcestershire which are available on the Genealogist website. One other thing to remember is that some parishes in any county may originally be somewhere else. Shipston on Stour comes to mind, this is now in Warwickshire, but originally was in Worcestershire. This also applies to some places in Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Staffordshire.

You can search the indexes on all the major pay to view sites for free, it is only when you want other information that you must pay for it.

I know I have mentioned this before, but I always use http://www.dustydocs.com/. ; Enter your interested place and a list comes up of suitable indexes, some of which may be local indexes.

Familysearch uses batch numbers for their parishes, so if you use Archersoftware, you just click on the relevant batch number for the timescale you are looking for.

Once you click on the film for the parish you are looking at, insert the surname you are interested in. Click on the record details, which is just like a normal Familysearch page. If there is a film available there is a box in the right-hand corner saying “This record came from this set of images. You will need to look through several images to find this record”. You just click on the film. At the top of the page it will tell you how many pages are in the film. To change the page number, I alter the number in the box and press return and keep doing that until I get to the page I want. I have found this useful when looking for early records, not sure about later ones. They may not cover all records, but I have been lucky to find the ones I want.

If it is Warwickshire parishes you are interested in, Warwickshire County Record Office have rescanned all their registers, and we are checking transcribing and indexes each parish. Once completed these complete parishes and indexes will be available through our shop, but you can purchase various parishes now as a download without an index. If the parish you want is not shown, send Steve Freeman an email and ask if it is available.

Another set of records worth perusing is those of Internet Archives. https://archive.org; Put in the county of your choice and it comes up with image of transcripts of parish registers. They may not contain the images, but at least it gives you a helping hand to find your ancestors.

I must also mention the UKBMD indexes. We host the Staffordshire and the West Midlands BMD projects on our website. These are a collaboration between Family History Societies and local Registration Services to make the BMDs freely searchable via the Internet. This is not just on our patch but is available throughout the UK. Go to UKBMD for more information. You can also order certificates through your local registration office. Sometimes by checking on these local indexes, you will find entries that can be missing from the GRO index.

We also host the Staffordshire burial indexes, details provided by the Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Archive Service. Whilst it is only a index, there is an extensive list of all cemeteries it covers with dates.

March Talks

For our March talks online, on 17 March we have ‘the work of the War Graves Commission’ given by Sarah Moody. Sarah is public engagement co-ordinator at the CWGC and will tell us of their work. This is another talk I am looking forward to. Talk starts at 2pm.

On 23 March, the Bromsgrove Group will be hosting a talk on The Bromsgrove School given by Philip Bowen. Bromsgrove School is a co-educational, independent school within the town, very well known. Please note the date has been changed from 9 March.

For more details, go to the website and Click on the events/calendar.

Phil has been busy, when is he not. He has put the indexes to the 1888 Maps of Birmingham on our website. The index contains street names, churches, schools, pubs, etc. To find it hover your mouse over Resources drop down/ Hover over Birmingham and the maps tab with open.

Another useful set of Records are those of Staffordshire Archives. They now include Staffordshire Police Disciplinary Register Index 1857-1886 and 1904-1923 to their Staffordshire names index. Useful as well for criminal records relating to Staffordshire. www.staffsnameindexes.org.uk

I think that is about all I have to say now. (That is enough I hear you say). We appreciate all the feedback and encouragement you have given us. If you have anything you would like to cover in the newsletter or in the journal, either contact me or Linda Newey, who is always waiting for your contributions.

The UK 2021 census is being held on Sunday 21 March. We know as family historians just how useful previous censuses have proved, but I wonder if these censuses will be as useful in future years. In many ways, to me at least, it seems that there will be less information available about people in future. less marriages, less baptisms, no telephone directories or electoral rolls that we can view. Where would we be without previous censuses, electoral rolls, or other directories? We already know there is a big gap between the 1921 census and the 1951 census. The only thing in between is the 1939 register.

So when you complete the 2021 census (and it is against the law not to), keep a copy with your family history papers, it might prove invaluable in future.

Jackie

NEWSLETTER NO. 9 January 2021

It’s hard to believe it is the end of January 2021 already! Where did that month go? My mom used to say that the older you get the quicker the years fly by and that certainly seems to be true.
As the Covid situation is not getting any easier, the Trustees have put back any decision on re-opening our Groups and of course, the Family History Centre, until Easter. Hopefully by then the picture could be clearer.
ONLINE TALKS
I know that many of you enjoyed the talk given by John Titterton via Zoom (We had 100 viewers). Some years ago I read his article on pinpointing where an ancestor came from and tried it on my husband’s Cotterill’s. They came from around the Stafford area and I had managed to get back to about 1700 in my own research. This is where my investigations came unstuck because there are so many Cotterill’s in Staffordshire, all with the first names of Matthew, Samuel and Thomas that I was spoilt for choice and could go no further!
For those interesting in reading John’s article it is available online by going to the Local Historian Magazine website https://www.balh.org.uk/. You will just need to search in publications. Thank you, Kate, for telling us.
I also logged in to the Bromsgrove Group’s talk on the Whittall Street Explosion of 1859 last Tuesday and I know that one or two people had ancestors who were killed in that explosion. Very interesting and thought provoking. We forget nowadays that these types of accidents were quite commonplace.
FEBRUARY TALKS
Coming up next month we have three talks well worth joining.
9 February, Bromsgrove Group will be presenting Paul Hudson of Worcestershire Archives. I know that lots of you will never get to The Hive at Worcester, but it is a place I love mainly because it is open seven days a week! l was lucky enough to be invited to the Opening ceremony and managed to get the chance to see the Archives from the back – so to speak!
10 February, the Kenilworth Group will be hosting Mary Bodfish who will be presenting ‘The baby in the Locket’. As well as being a member of the Society, Mary is a well know speaker on the Family History circuit.
17 February, Jacqui Kirk, another member and a speaker we have had before, will be presenting ‘My Ancestors Were Boring – They were only Ag Labs’. Jacqui will endeavour to show that their lives were anything but boring.
(Details for these talks are available on the website, https://midland-ancestors.uk/category/events/ click on the Calendar and scroll down to the talk you want to join in with). Don’t forget to check the times and registering details.
Because we had so many people join at the last one, Phil, ably assisted by Gareth, said he will probably open registration earlier. If you want to join, please sign in when you can and don’t leave it until the day of the talk as you could well be disappointed.
Forthcoming Events (not Midland Ancestors)
• EVENT : St Philips , an Introduction to the Heritage of Birmingham Cathedral with Jane McArdle.
Online talk given by Birmingham Civic Society:
Non-Members £5.98
Birmingham Civic Society Members Free
Fri, 5 Feb 2021 12:30pm – 13:30pm GMT
Book at http://ow.ly/ztj150D7sg5 Information on the rest of the talk programme will follow soon.
• EVENT:25 – 27 FEBRUARY, 2021 RootsTech Connect: A **Free Online **Conference Experience
For the first time ever, the world’s largest family celebration event will be entirely virtual and completely free. Get ready to celebrate shared connections with people from around the world. Connect with friends, your family, your past, and your heritage and homelands—all from the comfort of your home and in your browser.

RootsTech Connect is different than any other virtual event—no boring speakers or falling asleep at your computer screen. Rather, enjoy dozens of inspirational learning sessions, uplifting messages from celebrity keynote speakers, and hands-on activities to help you celebrate your heritage all year long.
Register for free at: https://www.rootstech.org.
• EVENT: SATURDAY, 10 APRIL 2021 FROM 10:00am -18:00pm
Really Useful Family History Show

Landing

Early Bird tickets available now
• THE FAMILY HISTORY FEDERATION WEBSITE A variety of free podcasts is available on, as well as a collection of useful literature to help in your research. You will also find details of other talks given by Family History Societies up and down the Country. https://www.familyhistoryfederation.com/
Thanks to Jacqui Fielding for posting the following on the Birmingham Ancestors Facebook page.

A talk on Traditions of Death and Burial. Which can now be viewed on You Tube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwYuC1aNHvc&feature=youtu.be

This is something I didn’t know but may explain why sometimes you can get discrepancies between various sites.
FreeBMD provided Ancestry with their transcription of the GRO indexes for the period 1837-1915, but subsequent corrections to the FreeBMD database have not been uploaded to Ancestry.
Thanks to the Peter Calver and the LostCousins newsletter.
I know that many of you are wary of using social media platforms such as Facebook, there are so many specialist Groups available, you may find of interest, so why not dip your toe in the water and join. We also have a Twitter page, but this is not in my remit, but check it out if you are a Twitter user. Don’t forget to check out YouTube as well, this is useful for just about everything!
If there are any more websites or events that you think our members would be interested in, please let me know or get in touch with Linda for the Midland Ancestor.
Talking of which, I know that Linda is always on the lookout for articles for the magazine, so if you would like to submit an article get in touch with Linda at editor@mid-anc.uk
Finally, I know that many of you have already done so, but your subscription for 2021 is now due. To renew there are various ways to do this. Firstly you can complete the form in the December journal and send it to the address shown on the form with either a cheque or your card details; or you can renew via the online shop https://midland-ancestors.shop/ or you can telephone me and renew over the phone. My phone number is on the reverse of the Midland Ancestor.

Jackie
PS – This is for ladies only: Today my 10 year old granddaughter was watching the film Hairspray which was set in the 1960s. It took me straight back: the hair, the dresses, the make up !!! On the downside I remember ironing and starching those net petticoats, going to bed with rollers digging into your head, the stockings. I think I prefer todays fashions when anything goes!

NEWSLETTER NO. 8
December 2020
Happy New Year! Let’s hope that in 2021 some form of normality will resume to our lives.
I thought I would share with you some very kind words sent to me from Ann Simcock who would like these included in my monthly newsletter.
“I wondered if it would be possible to add a message from myself, and I would imagine, all those of us who have benefited and enjoyed all the Zoom meetings, in your next newsletter to say thank you to Phil for all the time and effort he has put in to make the Zooms possible. I know how much time it takes up to try and sort out the technology. Thank you Phil”.
I would also like to give my thanks to Phil, he has been a star this year! Not only dealing with our Zoom talks (and me!), helping Groups to master Zoom and as Chairman, managing the Society during these difficult times. Our thanks must also go to all the Executive Committee who thought their term of Office ended last May, but because of the pandemic agreed to carry on until the next AGM in May 2021. More about this will be in the March journal.
I would also like to say thank you to all of you who have sent in your good wishes for Christmas and the New Year via our Face Book page. It has been a terrible year, but I hope that we have been able to keep in touch.
The nicest thing is that using Zoom we have been able to reach members from across the world that we don’t normally see. It also amazes me how many of our members have taken on board using Zoom, not just for our Society but other organisations, church services, etc. I think it has opened up the world to an awful lot of people.

The Exec had hoped that our Groups would have been able to re-start for the New Year, but this is not going to happen. Some of our Groups are holding online meetings and talks, details of which will on the Calendar on the website.
I know that the Bromsgrove Group are hoping to put all their talks on Zoom, so look either at their page in the yellow programme booklet, or their website, http://www.bromsgrovebmsgh.co.uk.
Phil has another talk scheduled for January. On 20 January at 2.30pm John Titterton will be talking about ‘Pinpointing the Origin of a Surname’. This presentation looks at surname origins and distribution, explaining how a surname origin can be pinpointed statistically. Doing a one name study, John has traced his surname to a point in North Staffordshire around 1400. This should be interesting; I am looking forward to this.
Full details are shown on the website under the Events/Calendar tab.
Bill Harrison, Chairman of our North Staffs Group, has asked me to tell you that the North Staffs Group Newsletters are online for anyone to read.
http://www.bmsgh.org/branches/northstaffs/index.html
There are also some other categories on the website I would like to draw your attention to.
How many of you have filled in your ‘Members Interests’ forms and sent them to Haydn Lewis? When you joined the Society you would have been sent a form to complete. The first ten names on the form would be included in the next available journal, but that does not mean you cannot add or include more names. If you want to add names, either download a form from the Members Area of the website under Useful forms, complete and send to Haydn Lewis, full details on the website or just email Haydn. Although only members of the Society can enter their surname interests, Viewing of the database is open to anyone.
Whilst you are in the Useful forms area, there are lots of other forms and charts you might find useful for your research. They are free to use.
Something else you might be interested in. In the Members Only section you can download back issues of The Midland Ancestor dating back to 1983. There are also two useful indexes, one alphabetical and the other by contributor. This index currently includes the years 1983 (September) to 2020 (March).
I know that we are probably all full of Christmas cheer and good food, but can I remind you that Linda is looking for articles for the March journal. The deadline is 10 January 2021.
I received an email recently from member Robin Bird. Robin is a member of our Birmingham Group. He is researching the names on various war memorials within the Birmingham/West Bromwich area.
He would like to hear from anybody who had ancestors listed on the following WW1 or WW2 Memorials, so he can add their details to those he already has on the memorials.
• City of Birmingham Police Roll of Honour
• George Dixons Grammar School in Birmingham
• Or people from West Bromwich who served in the RAF in WW2.
If you would like to contact me in the first instance, I can pass on your details.
GRO extend birth indexes to 1934
If you use the GRO birth index for England and Wales online, you will know that there is a gap in the indexes. (I normally use the GRO online index and Freebmd to check entries) The GRO have now added all the remaining entries from the registers that have been scanned and indexed, taking them up to 1934.
Unfortunately for the period 1921-1934 it does not show the mother’s maiden name, but the quarterly indexes do. The one reason for using the GRO indexes after 1920 is to find out the full middle names of your relatives, as these are always shown in full; this information is not shown in the quarterly indexes.

Two events for your 2021 Diary!

FHF REALLY USEFUL Virtual Family History Show – Saturday 10th April 2021
www.fhf-reallyuseful.com
The early bird tickets are priced at £7.50.
If you attended the last one and had any suggestions on how to make it better, I hope you made your opinion known to the Federation. It worked well, but I can only say that from the Society point of view, I did not see it from the visitor’s viewpoint. I don’t know if the same format will be repeated, we will have to wait and see, but we are sure to be there again.
Familysearch have announced that RootsTech, will be online for 2021 and will be completely free. The dates are 25-27 February 2021 and to register your interest, go to https://www.rootstech.org/?lang=eng
Well, that is all I have to say for now. If you are celebrating the New Year, please remember social distancing and stay safe.

Jackie