Newsletters

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

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

I’m afraid this is rather a short newsletter. It has not been a good week for our family following a bereavement, so this has been a bit rushed.

However, to start I would like to qualify a couple of statements I made in my last newsletter. I referred to the Latter Day Saints finishing digitisation of their films and these should be soon available. Sharon Hintze, who was the London Director of the LDS told me that, as far as she knows the following could apply.

“First, the fact that they have ‘finished’ the digitisation does not mean that every film is now available to be seen online at this very moment.

Also, not every film is accessible even when it has been loaded for viewing, since some archives choose to restrict where it can be seen. An example is Scottish census images, which were filmed long ago and have long since been digitised. But as you know, Scotland’s People doesn’t allow other organisations to show the images. They have kept that for themselves. Similarly, people with Jewish ancestry are frustrated by the Polish archive restrictions. So sometimes you will get a message that an image can’t be displayed. These restrictions are by the record holder, and FamilySearch has no authority to overturn them”

David Pullar also sent me a comment about the Romsley parish registers. He said:

The burial register begins in 1857. Looking at some listings I have burials seem to be included in Halesowen. Also registers prior to I think 1728 were destroyed. It May be worth checking BTs.
We do tend to forget about BTs, but again these are always worth checking. Normally they don’t go as far back as the PRs, but they could fill in gaps.
Details of Birmingham parish can be found on our website https://midland-ancestors.uk/resources/birmingham/tyai-birmingham
Details of Warwickshire parishes can be found on https://midland-ancestors.uk/resources/_warwickshire/tyai-warwickshire/
Details of Worcestershire parish can be found on https://www.worcesterbmsgh.co.uk/
Unfortunately we don’t have a link to Staffordshire parishes, but you can find details of each one on the Genuki pages https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/STS

FORTHCOMING TALKS
Now that some of our Groups are now planning to open in person, they need your support (and attendance). If you are going along, why not take a friend?
This is a list of the November meetings:
Birmingham – Saturday 13 November at 2.30pm. Shirley Thompson, entitled ’65 Brunswick Road – The Musical’. UNFORTUNATELY THIS WILL NOT BE ON ZOOM due to the complexity of setting up the equipment and Phil needs about 10 pairs of hands to get it in place. The talk will take place in the Peake Room at the BMI, Margaret Street, Birmingham B3 3BS.
17th November @ 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm via Zoom ‘Why Pay For Information From the Internet ?’ Presenter – John Hanson. Registration open now.
More details on – https://midland-ancestors.uk/event/online-event-why-pay-for/
Bromsgrove: 9 November 2021 – 7.30pm. – Richard Churchley will be talking about ‘Old Occupations’. Methodist Church Hall, Bromsgrove. B60 1AS
North Staffs: December 6th 7.30pm – Steve Booth will be giving a talk on “Clarice Cliff ceramic artist and the young girls she trained.
Cancelled due to Bereavement  – Kenilworth: 10 November @7.30pm – 9pm via Zoom ‘Family Networks in Elizabethan England’ This talk is given by Cathryn Enis, Honorary Research Fellow at the College of Arts and Law, University of Birmingham.

Wolverhampton: 24 November, 2pm – 4pm. Research Afternoon. Perton Civic Centre, Perton WV6 7PD
Stourbridge, Tuesday 16 November 7 for 7.30pm. – My Family Heirloom – Members are asked to bring along a family heirloom, photograph, or interesting article. Meeting at St Peter’s Church Centre, Pedmore DY9 0SW
DATE FOR YOUR DIARIES
As you may have read in the press, the 1921 census is being released on 6 January 2022 via FindmyPast. Even if you have a subscription to FMP, there will be a charge involved to view the schedules. It will cost you £3.50 to view each household schedule and an additional £2.50 for a transcript. This type of charging is not new, we did the same for the 1939 register pages and the 1911 census schedules. I think we must be ‘very picky’ on what we want to view.

Phil has arranged with Myko Clelland of FMP to give a virtual presentation on Wednesday, 26 January to introduce us to the 1921 census. Time 2.00pm.

Something else you might like to put in your diary for next year. Kenilworth Group have invited Dr Nick Barratt to do a Zoom talk on 9th November 2022. The talk will be on Family History & the Media – Behind the Scenes at WDYTYA?

FORTHCOMING FAIRS

FHF REALLY USEFUL Family History Show on Friday 12 November 6pm-10pm and Saturday 13 November 10am-6pm. For further information and tickets go to https://www.fhf-reallyuseful.com/. There seems to be about 50 different organisations attending.

Finally, can I remind members that the password to the members area can be found in the current edition of TMA. It is changed each March but is always in the current journal under Member Benefits.

Jackie

I AM SENDING THIS NEWSLETTER OUT A FEW DAYS EARLY AS WE HAVE IMPORTANT NEWS ABOUT OUR GROUPS’ REOPENING, SOME THIS WEEK. (I’ve put these in date order of opening)
Wolverhampton: Physical meetings restart on 29 September at their new venue, Perton Civic Centre, Church Road, Perton Wolverhampton, WV6 7PD. Room opens 7.15 p.m. Meeting starts 7.30 p.m.
This will be just a get together and Penny is hoping to see as many members as possible.
London: meetings restart at a new venue on Saturday 2 October at 10.30am. The new venue will be Wesley’s Chapel and Leysian Mission, City Road (lovely building). This will just be a ‘get together’ and there will also be a talk by Brian Gubbins entitled “the mystery of the cabin boy lost at sea”. Dave Kerr says everybody welcome.

Birmingham: Informal Coffee Morning in the BMI
Members get together and catchup in the Theatre Bar (cafeteria)
Wed 6th Oct 10:30 – 12:30

Maceik and Martin will have the coffee on the go, they will also have some superb cake. Many can testify as to how tasty the cake is. Lemon Drizzle, Carrot & Walnut and much more. Tea, coffee, biscuits and snacks sandwiches and cake available, all at reasonable prices.

Take time to catch up with fellow members and see what ideas we have for 2022 in the BMI.

If you are planning to attend, could you please let me know by 3rd October just to make sure we have enough chairs!

You could also stay on a while and have a light lunch selecting from –
Good range of sandwiches –
Ham, tuna, cheese, chicken, turkey, egg
With optional additions of –
Cheese, tomato, mustard, cucumber, onion, pickle, bacon, lettuce etc.
Also available – apples, bananas, orange,
Chocolate bars, crisps,
Canned soft drinks, tea & coffee.

If anyone would like to visit the Family History Centre afterwards, they need to register via the website, so we don’t get too many people in the library. We still have social distancing rules in place, max 4 people at any one time.
Bromsgrove physical meetings restart on 12 October 7.45pm at the Methodist Centre. Mike Sharpe tells me that Graham Sutherland has been booked to give a talk about: ‘brandy for the parson’. Mike is looking forward to having members back face to face.
Kenilworth: will continue with zoom meetings for the time being. Their next zoom talk will be on Wednesday 13 October. Please note there has been a change to the advertised talk. Well known speaker, Vanessa Morgan, will now be talking about a ‘Brummie in the family’. Full details on how to register can be found on the website under Events.

North Staffs: Had hoped to restart in October, but repairs to the church hall are not yet completed, so they are planning to hold a meeting in December just to get going. Their next meeting after that will be February as they don’t hold a meeting in January.
Stourbridge: have carried out a poll and 42% said they would be willing to meet in person. No dates yet.
Phil would also like me to remind group organisers that the following guidelines should be adhered to:
The wearing of masks
Ventilation
Hand sanitizer
Social distancing
Logging of attendees and their contact details

YOUR SOCIETY NEEDS YOU!
HYBRID ZOOM MEETINGS
As Phil mentioned in the MA recently, he is investigating how these will work from the Birmingham meeting rooms. He would welcome involvement from any member with a bit of IT expertise and some free time. It will need a lot of setting up and managing and without more people being involved it will not happen. It is too much for just one person. That would mean either zoom meetings or Birmingham meetings being compromised. Get in touch with Phil to find out more and be there from the start.
ONLINE TALKS:
Our next online talk will be on 20 October at 2 – 4pm.
Anthony Marr, a former Deputy Registrar of births, deaths and marriages will be giving us a talk on the Hidden secrets of Registration. See Website for details on how to register.

OTHER NEWS:

Here’s an interesting fact. I had asked Mark in our library to look for a burial at Romsley, a small village quite close to Stourbridge and this is what he said:

“I’ve had a look at what we’ve got on Romsley and was a bit puzzled as to why we have transcripts of the baptisms and marriages, but no burials.

“However, looking at the website for the Romsley and Hunnington History Society (which also has a transcript of the parish registers), this gives an explanation. The first burials took place at Romsley in 1861 and before that, any burials would have been at Halesowen”.

So it just shows you not to take things at face value. You must do a bit of digging. Don’t forget on our website, under resources, we have details of the parishes in Warwickshire and Worcestershire which give details of the records, when they date from and where they are.

Most Family History Societies have been transcribing and indexing, etc. for years and are very knowledgeable about their area. Even if they can’t help, they could point you in the direction of the likely burial places, especially churchyards, etc. So if you do get stuck go to the experts!

If one of your ancestors died in Powick Asylum near Worcester, the Worcester Medical Museum contains details of patients from Powick Asylum from 1852-1916. Its records are available to search via their website Https://medicalmuseum.org.uk/powick-patients

Thomas Coram established the Foundling Hospital in London in 1739 for children whose mothers could not look after them. The mothers were allowed to leave their child something, a note, hankie, jewellery, piece of cloth and these have been kept at the hospital. After admission the children were baptised and given a new name to protect the identity of the mother. The hospital is undertaking a project to transcribe the handwriting from historic records in the Foundling Hospital archive, dating back to 1739. For further details on the hospital and project go to: coramstory.org.uk/corams-history
I see that the church of England is proposing to launch a free website next year where they intend to list every grave memorial in every churchyard in the country. It says that it will soon be possible to visit almost any Anglican burial ground in the country and see in real time the location of burial plots.
Two things spring to mind. What about the churchyards where the graves are overgrown, fallen headstones or are unreadable?
What about the graves that don’t have a headstone or where they have been grassed over?
Many Family History Societies have spent years transcribing headstones. I know it is not the same as seeing a photograph, but sometimes you may see the stone, but it unreadable.
You would think that they would first consult the very people who know the most about churchyards, Family History Societies, and get them on board. Or is that too easy?
Familysearch, the world’s largest free family history website, has completed its 20-year project to digitise millions of rolls of microfilm. They had expected this to take 50 years, but due to advances in technology, this has taken less time.
As you may be aware, our Family History Centre in Birmingham is an affiliate library to Familysearch, so we should be able to access all the online records. I look forward to going in and trying it out.
If your ancestors come from Staffordshire, have you looked at the Staffordshire name index published by Staffordshire & Stoke on Trent archive service. As my husband’s Cotterill’s come from Staffordshire, I look every now and again to see if any Cotterill’s that I have missed. https://www.staffsnameindexes.org.uk/

Forthcoming events:

Oxfordshire family history Society will be hosting a *free* family history Zoomfair on Saturday 2nd October 2021 which we will be attending.
There will be a selection of breakout rooms which will be hosted by partnering family history societies and other organisations. You may visit as many rooms as you wish in your session.
There will be two sessions: morning and afternoon, London time. Do register for either or both sessions, so you can join in and partake in what we hope we will be informative and lively chats about family history research.
Visit the OFHS website Zoomfair page to see the latest news and confirmed societies, and to register for the event. Https://www.ofhs.uk/news/ofhs-fair-2-october-2021
The Family History Federation will once again be holding A Really Useful Show online on 12-13 November. For further information go to: www.fhf-reallyuseful.com where you will find a comprehensive list of speakers.

Don’t forget to send our Editor, Linda, any articles for the Midland Ancestor journal. The next one is due out at the end of November. The deadline is 1 November 2021.

Finally, I know many of our Birmingham members will know Milly Ashford. Sadly Milly died recently. She was well into her 90s and was not only a long-time member she was also known as the ‘queen of the photocopier’. Milly turned her hand to anything. Lovely person, she will be sadly missed.

Jackie

You received this email because you are a member of the Midland Ancestors.
Midland Ancestors is the public face of the Birmingham & Midland Society for Genealogy and Heraldry which is a Registered Charity, number 505916. Registered Office: Birmingham & Midland Institute, Margaret Street, Birmingham B2 2BS

Newsletter No. 15 – July 2021

Well, we have just had about 10 days of glorious weather here in the UK – that’s our summer been and gone! The weather is now set to go back to normal, cooler with showers. Not that I am complaining, I don’t like the heat.

In my last newsletter, 19 July was supposed to be ‘freedom day’ when all restriction were due to be lifted. However what has happened since then we are having a ‘pingdemic’ because of the NHS app. that people have downloaded to their phone saying they have been in close contact with somebody who has tested positive. Luckily, I never downloaded it, but this has resulted in even more chaos than usual.

A decision has been made to re-open the Family History Centre from Monday 16 August when we will glad to welcome visitors once again, members or not. As we still have Covid 19 with us, there have been some necessary changes, we hope you will understand and not be put off from visiting.

The most important change is that there is now an Online Booking System to restrict numbers, no more than 4 people in the centre at any one time. Please do not just drop into the Centre as you will be turned away, it is most important you use the Booking system.

From 10 August, you will be able to find information on all the new procedures, times of opening etc, including how to Book a slot by going to the Midland Ancestors website www.midland-ancestors.uk. From that date (not before), hover your mouse over the Menu dropdown tab ‘News’, and click on the link FH Centre re-opens.

MONTHLY MEETINGS

At present, the BMI have hired out the entire building for Health and Safety training, so we can’t say when we will be able to hold our first monthly meeting there.

What I would like is for members who usually come to Birmingham, to let me know when they will be willing to come into a face-to-face meeting in Birmingham. It would be along the lines of the poll that Phil runs at the online talks. These are the questions:
Immediately Within a few Months Not till much later Maybe Not till next year

I would just like to know which of these statement you agree with. You can just send me an email with the word ‘Meetings’ in the subject box and whatever your response is. We can work from that as to starting our face-to-face meetings again.

Penny Smith at Wolverhampton had asked her Group to attend a meeting at their new venue in July, but the response was a bit cool, so it didn’t go ahead but we must start somewhere.

Dave Kerr in London had hoped to recommence their meetings in October, but as the Society of Genealogist Building is not available, he still has to find another venue.

Lesley at Kenilworth also asked her members about face-to-face meetings, but again they were not keen, so for the time being they will still be meeting on Zoom.

ONLINE TALKS

We had a very interesting talk on the HS2 dig in Park Street burial ground, Birmingham in July. There are other talks available on HS2, including the archaeological dig in Coleshill. Just put ‘webinar HS2’ in your search engine and click on whichever subject you are interested in.

You may be aware that previous exhumation of bodies at Park Street for the widening of the railway, resulted in bodies being interred in Witton, Key Hill and Warstone Lane.

There is a lovely film called ‘A stroll through Key Hill’ on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4jzG14Qzh4. The cemetery is such a lovely and peaceful place, especially in the summer. The Friends of Key Hill cemetery and Warstone Lane run tours around both cemeteries and their next tour is on Sunday 8 Aug. Tickets cost £5 plus booking fee and are on sale via Eventbrite. They do have a Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/39076159104. All monies raised go to reinstate fallen and buried gravestones.

On 8 September (7:30 pm – 9:00 pm) John Frearson will be giving a talk via Zoom at Kenilworth entitled Maundy Rodgers. Maundy was an Assistant Surgeon 4th Class from India, and served in France in the seaside town of Wimereux.
On 15 September (2pm – 3.30pm) Ann Simcock will be giving an online talk entitled ‘Spread the net wider and dig deeper’. Ann will show us how we can discover the stories behind our ancestors.

Full details of both these talks and how to register are available on https://midland-ancestors.uk/events

ARCHIVES REOPENING

More and More Archives are opening their doors to casual users, although venues such as National Archives would like visitors to use their booking service. Many are also extending their opening hours as well.

The Society of Genealogists have a full programme of Events in August, given by some well-known speakers. Some of the talks are free, others are chargeable. For further details go to http://societyofgenealogists

If you are interested in the Middlemore Home Children project, why not sign up to the Balsall Heath Local History Society newsletter. info@balsallheathhistory.co.uk or the Lost Children website is at www.thelostchildren.uk. There is also a facebook page as well.

There was a question recently posted on our BMSGH Members only Facebook page about hospitals in Birmingham. The Library of Birmingham have produced a blog under ‘The Iron Room’ regarding the records held in Birmingham https://theironroom.wordpress.com/2021/07/12/hospital-records-for-family-history/ It also lists other websites where you may find details.

Birmingham library’s catalogue is available online at http://calmview.birmingham.gov.uk/calmview/

Don’t forget to check out the National Archives Research Guides on hospital records.

Staffordshire Archives have an asylum project where volunteers investigate the stories of patients who were admitted to the Staffordshire Asylums during the nineteenth century. To Read more at https://staffordshireasylumrecords.wordpress.com/patients/

Finally, I shall be away at the end of August (Hurrah), so my next newsletter will be in September. Keep safe and I’ll be back in September.

Now where did I put my bucket and spade?

Jackie

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