First things first, Phil has asked me to remind you about the Society’s AGM which takes place on 4 May at 2pm. Full details are contained in the next journal, but just to remind you, the AGM will be held at the BMI both in person and online, full details on the website.
This year Andrew Lound will be following the AGM with a talk on ‘Lunatick’ Astronomy – Boulton and the Lunar Society. The Lunar Society was formed by the likes of Matthew Boulton, James Watt, Joseph Priestley, William Small to discuss science and they held their meetings on a Monday nearest to a full moon at the Birmingham & Midland Institute.
Knowing Andrew, it should be a very entertaining talk.
The reason I am reminding you early is, as I have mentioned, probably too many times, my husband and I are going to see our daughter and family in Melbourne, Australia on 9 March. I will be back for the AGM, but if you have any questions before then, contact Phil.
Did you enjoy Kirsty Gray’s talk on Heir Hunting recently? Fascinating stuff, I bet it isn’t as easy as it looks. I only know of one person who has been contacted regarding an intestate estate, and in her case, she was too young to help with the details of the family, but her mother could although she would not inherit. So you see, all our work on our family trees may prove useful at some point.
Kirsty also started the Genealogy Show online events, one of which is coming up on 1-3rd April. All 48 talks have been previously recorded and will be available for one month. You can find full details on https://thegenealogyshow.uk.
I have also been noting that there are a lot of comments on social media about the Government’s Wills/Probate on line service. I have tried it and “If it ain ’t broke, don’t fix it comes to mind”. It was relatively simple before, but now you appear to have to jump through hoops and if you already have an account, you might find that you need to put in a new password.
Dave Annal, well known family history speaker, has made a very helpful video – see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvgExKFbNXQ&t=13s – which explores some frustrations with use of the new probate site, but gives some cunning solutions for optimising your use of the site.
FORTHCOMING MEETINGS
North Staffs: The Atlantic Telegraph
Talk by Shawn Farrally on 7th March at 7.30pm at St. John’s Centre, Trent Vale, Stoke on Trent. ST4 6QD
Bromsgrove:Tuesday, 8 March 2022 Coroner’s Inquest Records, Stratford Road, Bromsgrove B60 1AS 7.45pm start.
Kenilworth: March 9th at 7.30p.m. KFHS Workshop
*Birmingham On Line Event: Kingsley Norris Memorial Lecture – Shady Rock Clent
Wed 16th March @ 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm GMT
A History in House Deeds. A Presentation by Linda Newey, BA Dip Gen QA
*Please note all meeting from April will be hybrid meetings, both on line and in person at the BMI, Birmingham.
Stourbridge: Louis Etienne Goulé, Part Two
Sat 26th March @ 2:30 pm – 4:00 pm GMT
Wolverhampton: TBA
Wed 30th March @ 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm BST
This will be an afternoon meeting. Doors open at 1.45 p.m.
Details will be announced shortly.
London: Talk on ‘The Startin family and the development of their coach building business’
Sat 2nd April @ 10:30 am – 12:30 pm
Wesley’s Chapel and Leysian Mission, 49 City Road, London EC1Y 1AU. Doors open 10:00.
Other Events:
If your interests are in Australia, why not visit the Society of Australian Genealogist website. www.sag.org.au. They have a list of events taking place online with may interest you.
Friends of Key Hill Cemetery and Warstone Lane Cemetery are restarting their guided tours: Next guided tours are 13 March and 10 April. Prior booking is essential – Please do not turn up on the day Tour Fees £5.00 per person, per cemetery.
The Society of Genealogists have put together a whole host of talks, not only on Family History but also social history. For more information go to https://societyofgenealogists.arlo.co/w/ You do not have to be a member of the SoG to attend.
The SoG are also planning to publish an index to their collection of 10,000 handwritten family trees. When exactly I don’t know, but if you want more information go to https://www.sog.org.uk/news/our-volunteers-pedigree-rolls-project/
It may interest you to know that the SoG will accept family trees in print or digital format, but only the family trees. They do not want extraneous paperwork, but it is useful to know if you do not have anybody to entrust all your hard work to, they will hold your tree.
I often get questions about the Black Country area, where to find records, etc. mainly to do with records for cemetery and non-conformist chapel registers as well as records dated after 1900. I have found a useful website www.blackcountryparishesregisters.weebly.com. It contains some very useful information and don’t forget to look at the Genuki webpages, but you may have to look under three different counties. https://www.genuki.org.uk/
The National Archives are putting on a webinar on how popular military records can be used in your research. Their experts will draw on the NA collections to explore how using these sources can enrich genealogical research.
Tuesday 15 March, 14:00 GMT. Book here: https://fb.me/e/2dGvEKDUA
Finally, my Ancestry subscription is up whilst I am away, so rather than cancel, I am having a holiday and have paused my account for two months. If you want to do this, go to your account settings to set it up.
Now, where did I put the suitcases …..
Jackie