Gosh, September already. After a month of not doing too much (too hot), it is now back to normal. I did manage to get in some research time at Worcester Archives, but again ended up looking at things that were not really connected with my family history!
FORTHCOMING TALKS
NORTH STAFFS – Monday 5 September @ 7.30pm
Canal town Stone and Mersey Canal – Steve Booth
BIRMINGHAM – Wednesday 7 September @ 2pm. Live meeting only.
The Peplow Memorial Lecture – The role of women in medieval history given by Dr. Paul A. Fox.
¹ The Peplow Memorial Lectures were introduced by Dr Bernard Juby, former Chairman of the Heraldry Group, in memory of Gus Peplow, who was a founder member of the Society.
About this talk: Although seen as predominately masculine affair, women did play an important role in Heraldry, and many held their own personal arms differing from their husbands and fathers.
KENILWORTH – Wednesday, 14 September @ 7.30pm. Live meeting only
‘The Unknown Socialist: John Frearson – Hooks, screws and a giant!’
STOURBRIDGE – Tuesday 20 September @ 7.30pm
Herbert Austin and Longbridge by Max Hunt
WOLVERHAMPTON – 28 September @ 2pm
Who’s the Daddy? Given by Penny Smith
LONDON – Saturday 1 October @ 10.30am
Gypsy Ancestors in the Midlands – Beverley Walker
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
Heritage Weekend – 17 September 10am – 4pm
Key Hill and Warstone Lane Cemeteries: I shall be with the Friends of KH&WL. If you are in the area, please come along and say hello.
Sunday 25 September 2022 10:00 – 16:00 – The Birmingham Local and Family History Fair
From Phil Lamb:
This is a Society event held at the MAC, Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham and so far we have 25 groups attending featuring community groups, history groups, genealogy groups, small commercials, postcards, photographs, memorabilia, books, souvenirs and local artwork. Please come along and support your Society. There will also be a Family History Help Desk
The Lanchester Interactive Archive will have on display a 1932 Lanchester Motor Car. As any locals will know, Fred Lanchester built cars and engines in Birmingham, his business eventually becoming part of BSA and Daimler.
What can you learn at this event?
Learn about prominent city fathers buried in Key Hill and Warstone Lane cemeteries, Lost Children of Birmingham sent to far off Canada, Steelhouse Lane police lockup, what firemen did (and still do) to protect the city, how our ancestors were catered for in death, how Birmingham helped the world to write, Air Raids on our city in the 2nd WW., why Birmingham became known as the Venice of the Midlands, The Royal Warwickshire Birmingham Battalions in the Great War, Birmingham’s Irish Heritage, Romany & Traveller connections with Black Patch park, birthplace of Charlie Chaplin, how ocean travel was made safer by locally made bits of glass, how Birmingham and the Black Country merge and separate at the same time – Phil Lamb.
Dedicated website www.birminghamhistoryfair.uk
You can see a flyer for the event here – https://birminghamhistoryfair.uk/about
And a list of exhibitors here – https://birminghamhistoryfair.uk/exhibitors-in-2022/
Friday 16 September 10:00 – 16:00 – Building Recording through Time – Annual WM Historic Buildings Trust conference
Venue: The Undercroft, Worcester Cathedral. Speakers from: Historic England, Birmingham Museums Trust, Worcestershire Archive and Archaeology Service, West Midlands Historic Buildings Trust. A catered lunch and refreshments will be provided. Costs £22.15 – £54.49 Tickets available via Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/building-recording-through-time-annual-wmhbt-conference-tickets-388035533727
Wolverhampton archives – Who were your ancestors?
Friday 23 September @ 10.30am – 1pm
An Introduction to Family History course over six weeks, held each Friday morning from 23 September run by Penny Smith for Wolverhampton Archives. Course open to all.
Course fee £30 payable to the Archives. Call 01902 552480 to book a place.
PERTON LIBRARY – STARTING 18 OCTOBER AT 2.15PM
This is a free course run over five weeks on a Tuesday afternoon at Perton Library (Severn Drive, Perton, WV6 7QU). This course begins on Tuesday 18th October 2022 at 2.15 p.m. and is run by Penny Smith.
Places are limited. To book call the library direct on 01902 755 794. Plenty of free parking nearby.
SoG lunchtime talks
Just checked to see if Caroline’s talk on Midland Ancestors is on the SoG’s website and it is Wed 12 Oct 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM BST Live online
Lori Einstein at the SoG said that this rather informal event is normally only open to SoG members free of charge, but members of Midlands Ancestors can attend for a registration fee of £1.50.
There are loads of free talks available on the SoG website under Events. If you are a football fan of Chelsea Football Club (boo, hiss), there is a talk by Rick Glanvill, the Club’s historian on 16 November. http://www.sog.org.uk/events
Friday 11 November 6:00pm – 10:00pm GMT and Saturday 12 November 10:00am – 6:00pm GMT – Really Useful online Family History Show
Organised by the Family History Federation
Full details can be found on www.fhf-reallyuseful.com
BIFHSGO Virtual Conference – 28 September – 2 October.
For those members who live in Canada, the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa, (BIFHSGO) are holding a virtual conference entitled ‘England Wales: at home and on the move’. Further information is on the BIFHSGO website, www.bifhsgo.ca/2022-BIFHSGO-Conference.
HELP WANTED
I’ve had a request from one of our members, Eileen, who would like some help with a military question. Normally I would pass this on to Linda for inclusion in the journal, but as that has already gone to press, I will mention it here.
Eileen has been contacted by somebody about her DNA, but she cannot reconcile who in her family it could relate to.
She says: “It sent me in a tailspin because I could not fathom out how that happened.
There is one culprit? and he would be our Great Uncle who supposedly went to America after 1911 and was never seen again. (this is in Dublin by the way). I think I have found Him? in the Army but need to verify with hard evidence.
This soldier joined up to the Royal Dublin Fusiliers in 1912 and I have managed to get a lot of info on Him but the one thing I need most is His Enlistment Paper that will tell me when and Where He enlisted and His address in Dublin.
I know that the fire at the Archives bombing raid WW2 destroyed a lot of papers so I presume this is why I can’t find His Enlistment on Find my past and Ancestry.com”.
If you feel you can help Eileen, please get in touch with me and I will pass on your email address.
North Staffs Group
Rob Carter of our North Staffs Group has asked for help photographing headstones and internal monuments of churches in the North Staffs area. This has been an ongoing project of Rob’s for many years, but it is not something he can do on his own. If you are able to help, Rob can be contacted on Robcarter@hotmail.com.
Other useful websites:
I was going through a presentation today that I shall be giving to the U3A group shortly and came across something new to me (probably not to any of you!) www.familia.org.uk contains The UK and Ireland’s guide to genealogical resources in public libraries. Not sure if it is up to date, but it is worth looking at.
Also on our BMSGH Facebook page from Ann Simcox (don’t know how she does it) is a post from The Ancestor Hunt – Download for free this 5-page Quickset that lists over 300 links to Free Online Archives and Digital Collections that can assist you to discover more about your ancestors and their local history. You can download it easily at https://theancestorhunt.com/…/free-online-archives
Ann also mentioned that the University College London [UCL] have a huge range of books on OpenAccess, meaning that you can freely download them to your laptop/computer and read at your leisure. UCL Press is the UK’s first fully open access university press. Based at UCL, they publish scholarly monographs, textbooks and journals in all areas.
Link to Open Access books page, where you can browse the titles on offer or click on the links to access the rest of the site https://www.uclpress.co.uk/collections/open-access
If you are not on our Facebook page (Why not?) which is only open to Members of the Society, why not look https://www.facebook.com/groups/bmsgh
FINALLY
Save the Date – 14 May 2023:
The Society celebrates its 60th anniversary next year and it has been suggested that we hold a lunch event. It’s all in the planning stages at the moment, but I will post further details in the December edition of the journal.
Jackie
P.S. Sorry about the problems opening the September journal. That’s what happens when you are trying to do something in a rush late at night, after having three grandchildren for the weekend! This only applies to emailed journals, so if you normally have an email copy, please let me know. Or you can download it from the Members Area on the website (Password in the last journal).
