25 November 2010

 

Where are the Redbourn Tabernacle Records?  Fiona is researching John CAMPBELL, The Tabernacle, Redbourn, 1870-1884 and asked a "simple" question about the possible location of records.  I chase up a number of possible sources and in doing so input details of two additional Redbourn books. I also discovered that the Rev. John Campbell spoke at the same 1884 meeting as the Rev. Thomas Watts (see 2003 reply on WATTS, St Albans, 1865-1880s).     Some additional Redbourn Sources     A Redbourn Commoner by Geoff Webb (1989)   The Character of Redbourn by Geoff Webb (1989)     Photographs from the Geoff Webb Collection of old Redbourn are available on the web site Hertfordshire Memories. The Hertfordshire Extensive Urban Survey on the archaeology of Redbourn is available online.

More Hertfordshire Views Old House, Bucks Hill, Chipperfield High Street, Northchurch Baldock Valentine Series 41577

Hertfordshire Extensive Urban Survey: A valuable web site giving maps of historical information, details of key buildings, information on local market places and industries, and useful bibliographies. Places covered are Abbots Langley, Ashwell, Baldock, Berkhamsted, Bishop's Stortford, Braughing, Buntingford, Cheshunt,  Cow Roast, Harpenden, Hatfield, Hemel Hempstead, Hertford, Hitchin, Hoddesdon, Potters Bar, Redbourn, Rickmansworth, Royston, Sawbridgeworth, Standon, Stanstead Abbots, Stevenage, Tring, Ware, Watford, Welwyn, and Wheathampstead. An entry has been added to the Key Site Menu, and entries will also be added to each of the menu of all places involved - and to the Vital Data Page and general Maps pages for those which do not yet have individual menus. St Albans Urban Archaeological Assessment: This has been published as the book  Alban's buried towns : an assessment of St Albans' archaeology up to AD 1610 by Rosalind Niblett and there is also a database, but the site is under development and currently closed to the public.

Herts FHS News   Next Meeting  11 December: Chris Chapman will talk about Christmas Past. Please note that this is a week earlier than normal. Hertfordshire People:  The December Issue is now out. There are the usual collection of successful family research stories and I noted articles entitled James William Floyd (1867-1958), The Lawman / King / Frost Families of Hertfordshire, From Butcherley Green, Hertford to North London (Hoddy), The Jackson and Hayden Families in Hertfordshire and From Stoneykirk to Hatfield (Corcran). There are articles on The Great Bed of Ware and the Parish Church of St Luke, Bishop's Hatfield, three book reviews, and other short news items and queries.

 

21 November 2010

 

The Resident Genealogist Reports     Following a short break from updating this web site  I have returned to spend a couple of days full time to get together some interesting new material, in addition to answering some queries. In future I plan to have weekly updates (although not all as big as this one). In my last blog I mentioned need to avoid dipping into my pension to support this web site, and things are moving in the right direction. My sales of duplicate material, etc., on ebay have more than covered my costs so far this month, allowing me to acquire some antique Bedfordshire maps to illustrate the northern borders of Hertfordshire, and some interesting old postcards. Where I cannot get review copies of recently published books I have decided to borrow them from the public library. This evening I have posted a number of items for sale on ebay (including some about Hertfordshire) - in each case the sale will result in a donation to the Children in Need appeal. Finally I am delighted with a generous donation which has boosted the amount received from the people who find this site useful, but at £663 (including Gift Aid) we are still in real danger of falling seriously short of the end of the year target of £1000. Remember, when you are researching your family history on the Web, in the comfort of your own home, that Christmas can be a very lonely time for people with mental health problems - and every little helps.`

Hertfordshire Family History Society   ===    November Meeting.   Have you had a good look at the original documents? On Saturday I attended the Herts FHS November meeting. The Computer Group speaker was Jeanne Bunting on "Is the Internet killing the thrill of the chase?" There were plenty of examples of the limitations of online indexes - with many errors, and  cases where the original documents contained vital information that is not recorded online. The lesson seemed to be that while the current online facilities allow you to identify the documents you need to consult - people who think they can simply work from online indexes (and other people's unverified family trees) miss out on much of the information that coverts those ancestral names into once living real people - and increases the chances of making mistakes, What did your Great Grandmother do? The main speaker was Nicola Verdon, who spoke on "Women's work in the 19th Century." One of the interesting aspects of her study is the problem of finding out what work country women did. Many accounts come from parliamentary reports on working conditions - and were written by middle class men who may have had little real understanding of daily life in a rural community. The census is some use, but does not record occupations for women who do a bit of this and that depending on the season of the year. Changes in HALS Opening Hours. The cutbacks in Local Government Budgets are beginning to bite. No libraries are being closed but hours are being cut back, and some may be closed entirely on some days. HALS will also be affected. December Meeting: This will be on December 11th when Colin Chapman will talk on "Christmas Past."

Questions and Other emails     Questions and Other emails     Questions and Other email   Was John's father a Knight? Simon is researching his Winch ancestors and John was baptised at Tewin in 1669 (see WINCH, Tewin, circa 1669). John was not born when the heralds carried out a visitation, so was he the son of Richard mentioned in the 1669 Visitation. The body to state whether John was the descendant of a knight, and hence entitled to use Arm, is the College of Arms, but I look at the Hertfordshire evidence. which confirms that at the relevant dates a Richard Winch, Esq., was resident at Tewin, but does not confirm he later became a Knight.      My answer includes a useful comparison between the various Hertfordshire County Histories (Chauncy, Clutterbuck, Cussans and the Victoria County History) and it seems that in this case the later authors simply followed what Chauncy had said, with little new information being added. While one of the problems with the internet is the ease that people can copy other people's research without checking, the same problem of copying without checking has always been with us (see The Dangers of Internet Genealogy) and emphasises the need to check original records (or their digital images) wherever possible when dealing with secondary sources. Other Emails      I have also been involved in various email exchanges. Some will hopefully lead to postings on this web site, such as information of Heath Farm Dairy which Gerard has found in an old (circa 1914?) St Albans Guide. Andy has drawn my attention to a broken link to pictures of St Albans, and some pictures he has on flickr and as a result I am am in the process of preparing a page on looking for pictures of Hertfordshire, and updating the St Albans information. Mary has promised to send two books for review.      Some queries do not involve Hertfordshire, but I find interesting. Paul originally spotted the page on E. A. Phipson - and is interested in his relative Emma Phipson. We have found she had an interest in wood carving, but why did she displayed a sideboard in the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876 which is not what one might expect of a Victorian Spinster with apparently independent means. So far we have no evidence of her producing, much less exhibiting, any furniture in England.     I also get some inadequate queries (often addressed to the "Webmaster" rather than the "Resident Genealogist") where it is clear that the questioner has been too lazy to find out what the site offers before typing in their question. In some cases it would seem that all they have done is to look up a few names on the web, having never read a book about searching for your ancestors, joined a local group, done an online tutorial, purchased a certificate, etc. As a result I have set up a friendly "circular" reply which includes a box where I can add a couple of friendly pointers. While I try to be helpful to beginners I honestly do not have time to draft replies which are little more than rewrites of help pages already on the web site.      I have also discovered a batch on earlier messages where I started to draft a reply, in some cases while waiting for further information which never arrived. Should you have contacted me earlier this year and are still awaiting a reply, please contact me again if you have still not sorted out the original difficulty. To help clear my desk I will be deleting all these old drafts at the end of the year if I haven't heard from you.

Bedfordshire Maps from 19th century   The Bedfordshire-Hertfordshire Border         Cary 1803   Collins 1850   Cassell 1863   Boundary Changes along the border have affected the following parishes: Caddington, Holwell, Kensworth, Markyate, Studham

Review of some 21st Century Books     If you (or your local history society) have a book or booklet that you would like reviewed tell me and I can supply an address for you to send me a copy.     Officers of the Hertfordshire Yeomanry 1794-1920 by J. D. Sainsbury A very useful reference source of information if your ancestor was an officer in the Hertfordshire Yeomanry and you want to know more about what he did. As an example of the type of information it contains I give the biographies of the Halsey Officers from Gaddesden Place, Great Gaddesden.     The Hertfordshire Volunteer Regiment ... 1914-1921 by J. D. Sainsbury This is another excellent military history from the pen of J.D. Salisbury, which throws light on an often unreported side of the war - the Volunteer Units which were the equivalent of the "Dad's Army" of the Second World War. As an example I give an extract describing a training exercise on No Mans Land Common in 1915.     Hertfordshire Children in War and Peace, 1914-1939 by David Parker This is a well  researched and detailed book which will throw a light on how the First World War, and the subsequent peace, affected the education of the parents and grandparents of many of us. It contains a significant amount of useful information and is a must for anyone researching a school history who wants some useful background on this period.     We have to deal with the Farmers by Margaret Bower This book contains a number of well written student essays on a variety of subjects. These include the effects of the Education Acts in the 19th Century, the management of Hertfordshire County Council Smallholdings in the early 20th century. There is material of particular interest to people researching the villages of Willian and Aston.

Some Early Post Cards etc       Mad Lucas - The Hertfordshire Hermit James Lucas (1813-1874) barricaded himself in his home at Great Wymondley and became widely known for his actions. I have added some additional information plus links to other sources.     Abbot's Hill, Abbots Langley  Abbots Hill was built at Abbots Langley by John Dickinson, the paper maker, in 1837, and later the home of Sir Arthur Evans, the archaeologist. It is now a school, I have added some notes from Abbots Langley, A Hertfordshire Village     Dr Tibble's Chocolate Factory burns down A post card showing the fire that destroyed Dr Tibble's Vi-Cocoa Factory at Callowland, Watford, on 7 February, 1903.     The Puckeridge Hounds A picture of the hounds from 1904 I have added an extract from a 1946 article from the Hertfordshire Countryside, together with some other sources of information about a hunt that dates back to 1725.     The Tallow Works Fire at St Albans in 1911 The page on Wiles & Lewis's Tallow Works in A Short History of Bernards Heath had a poor quality picture with flames painted in. This is a straight photograph of the same view.

The Web Masters Report I am in the process of checking (and correcting) some broken links, and also what to check out some further web sites which should be directly accessible from this site. This will include some new work on Wikipedia. Please tell me if you have any suggestions for improvement.

18 November 2010