Bletchley Park is the home of British codebreaking and a birthplace of modern information technology.
The site, which played a major role in WWII, is now a musuem and heritage attraction which is open daily - 👉️https://bletchleypark.org.uk/
Did you know that the Bletchley Park Podcast has a wealth of fascinating stories from Veterans, staff and volunteers alike and it's well worth having a look at what is on offer via podcast - some wonderful stories
Lorine McGinnis Schulze, of Olive Tree Genealogy and one of North America’s greatest and most generous genealogists, passed away very unexpectedly on Thursday in Ontario.
15 February 1971 was Decimal Day in the United Kingdom when the old currency of pounds, shillings and pence with the pound being worth two hundred and forty pennies was replaced with a currency of pounds and pence with one hundred pennies in each pound.
The announcement of the change to decimal coinage came in 1966 and as hundreds of millions of new coins were needed and expansion at the existing Royal Mint at Tower Hill in London was not practical, it was decided to find a new location outside London. More than 20 sites were considered, however in keeping with the government's policy of transferring industry from the capital to development areas, Llantrisant was eventually chosen as the site for the new Royal Mint. It had a suitable 38 acre site with a readily available workforce and crucially had the backing James Callaghan, who as Chancellor of the Exchequer was Master of the Mint and also an MP for Cardiff.
Work on the new mint began in August 1967 with the first phase opened in December 1968 in time for decimalisation. The second phase of construction began in 1973 involving a progressive transfer from Tower Hill which was completed in 1975. The Royal Mint at Llantrisant now houses some of the most advanced coining machinery in the world and it has a larger capacity than any other mint in Western Europe.
Images & Information c/o History of Wales via Facebook
Congratulations to FHSC member John Fallows who entered the Family Photo Competition run by Who Do You Think You Are? that was advertised on our social media and news pages during the latter part of 2020.
John was announced as a runner up in the 'Dressing-up' category with the wonderful family image shown above
The image is of Florence [Florrie] Pownall Smith Fitton, born in Bolton 1887, where John’s family mainly lived. Florrie was a qualified seamstress, as is obvious from this magnificent costume. The image is taken circa 1917. Florrie's mother was Caroline Hodkinson Pownall, born on 22 December 1859, she came from Hurdsfield, Macclesfield. She was born in Hurdsfield Road and later lived in Lansdown Street.
The Portable Antiquities Scheme is a DCMS funded project to encourage the voluntary recording of archaeological objects found by members of the public.
PAS Finds Liaison Officer for Cheshire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside at the Museum of Liverpool is Heather Beeton and she is resuming her 'Finds Days' across the area
Email Heather to book an appointment at any of the dates if you'd like to record your finds
By now all FHSC members will have received notification of the February Seminar
𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐈𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐀𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲
presented by Natalie Bodle.
Wednesday 16th Feb 7:30pm
Irish genealogical research has the reputation of being difficult due to the number of records lost. With 20 years’ research experience, a Post Graduate Certificate in Genealogical Studies and membership of the Association of Professional Genealogists, Natalie is well placed to help family historians find their way with Irish ancestral research.
Her talk will cover how you can best get started, which records are available and best of all which are free! This talk will give you a good grounding to making a start or continuing your journey to find your Irish ancestors.
PLEASE NOTE - Seminar presentations are one-off showing, we do not have permission to record or reshow any seminar presentations. The one exception was the 1921 census talk, Myko gave permission for that as part of his roadshow of talks to introduce FMP's launch.
Don't forget to register for the special one-off event
A live Q&A zoom with non other than genealogical mystery crime writer Nathan Dylan Goodwin:
the author of the highly popular series of books about Forensic genealogist, Morton Farrier.
Registration for this members only event is now open and closes on 5th February after which the Zoom links will be sent out. normal Seminar registration apply, see newsletter sent via email on 28th January for details
This represents an exceptional and unique opportunity to personally ask Nathan any questions that you may have about his work live on Zoom.
You can submit a question in writing beforehand if you would rather [to ] and we will ask it on your behalf or just attend the evening to listen to what will be an very interesting conversation.
The Seminar Team would like to express our appreciation to Nathan for taking time out of his extremely busy schedule and hope that FHSC members will take full advantage of this generosity and take the chance to explore the use of family history techniques in a fictional context by interacting with Nathan, one of the leading authors of the genre.
Joe Saunders is joined by Janet Few, historian, President of the Family History Federation, former chair of the Society for One-Place Studies and author on the subject, Pam Smith, former professional genealogist and passionate local historian who is co-founder of the local history data management app Name & Place and Elizabeth Walne, professional genealogist, writer, tutor, speaker and One-Place researcher.
One-Place Studies are rich local and community histories that involve similar skills and sources as family history.
The trio discuss how to go about choosing and carrying out your own study and the pleasures and pitfalls of doing so.
If any FHSC member was unable to attend the very enjoyable and informative talk to the Society by Myko Clelland on 19th January then we are delighted to inform members that the Seminar Team was given pernmission to record this talk and have arranged a reshowing which will take place on 27th January at 2:30pm.
Of course any members who wish to listen again are more than welcome to come along - there was so much information that you may need a second bite at it!
This is an event for full members of the Society and you will need to register - members will have received a newsletter this week with full details
St Mary’s Church on Monks Lane in Acton have organised ‘Holly Holy Day’ Battle of Nantwich events this Saturday January 22.
The church will be open from 9am until 11:30am serving hot drinks and buttered toast.
At 10am Mike Lea (local historian) will give a talk “The Civil War explained” inside the church.
At 11am a guided walk will head off to view the battlefields without treading through the muddy fields.
Acton Church is well ventilated, but while inside the church visitors should wear a face covering and use hand sanitiser whilst entering and leaving the church.
A representative from St Mary’s Church, Acton said: “We are very fortunate to have Mike Lea to come and explain the Battle of Nantwich to us; the hot buttered toast is a welcome treat too…on a cold January morning!”
The ‘Battle of Nantwich’ occurred during the first English Civil War (1642-1646) and was fought between the Parliamentarians (Roundheads) and the Royalists (Cavaliers) who were loyal to Charles I.
At the end of 1643, the Royalist army had secured much of the North West and Cheshire with the exception of Nantwich where, surrounded by Royalists, the Parliamentarian garrison held out under siege.Namptwiche, as it was then called, was Cheshire’s second major town and very important due to its strategic position on the road to Chester. A Parliamentarian force under the command of Sir Thomas Fairfax (1612-71) advanced from Lincolnshire to relieve the town. This army engaged the Royalists in the Henhull area to the west and defeated them in the Battle of Namptwiche. As Fairfax’s forces marched on Acton, Col Richard Gibson deployed four Royalist regiments of infantry to meet them. The Royalists fell back to Acton Church where Col Gibson surrendered to Fairfax. Many of the officers took refuge in Acton Church and were also taken prisoner after surrendering. The battle took place on 25th January 1644 and it was a Parliamentarian victory. To celebrate the Parliamentarian victory people wore sprigs of holly in their hair and hats.
Join Heather and Kate from Cheshire Archives and Local Studies to delve into the CWAC Library collections for historic recipes and culinary traditions from the 17th to 20th centuries.
Cooking historic recipes not only connects us with the past but historic ingredients, pickling and preserving have a lot to tell us about food miles, food waste, eating locally sourced food and seasonality. We also experience the process of passing treasured recipes down through generations of the family.
Join in live, on Saturday 29th January 12pm - 1pm for Heath and Weebeing week through the CWAC Library Facebook page [link bleow] where there will be a special recorded chat focusing on archive recipes, followed by a live question and answer session.
This fasinating index is now live to search on the Staffordshire Name Indexes website, which is brought to you by Staffordshire & Stoke On Trent Archive Service
Background
The early 19th century saw intense debate about how the problem of pauper lunacy should be addressed. At this time, costly private asylums and pauper workhouses offered the only alternative to treating the mentally ill at home. This problem was exacerbated by the long-term detention of criminal lunatics in County gaols.
The 1808 County Asylums Act (Wynn’s Act) enabled counties to raise funds for asylums. The Lunacy Act of 1845 extended this legislation, making it mandatory for counties to provide for the care of the mentally ill. As a result of this legislation, 3 county asylums were established in Staffordshire before the end of the 19th century.
About this Index
This index includes patients at the hospitals in the period 1818-1920 only since medical records less than 100 years are not normally available for consultation by the general public.
Please be aware that hospital records can be distressing and that terms used to refer to people with mental health problems are historic and reflect the attitudes and language of the period. These terms might now be considered derogatory, or offensive.
A successful search of the index can provide you with some or all of the following information:
Surname
Forename(s)
Occupation – This refers to occupation recorded on admission
Union of Residence – Poor Law Union. To view Staffordshire parishes/places within a Union, please see the link below. Where abode was given rather than Union, this has been marked with an asterisk, e.g. Leigh*, Albrighton*
Institution – This field includes the 3 county asylums: Stafford Asylum, Burntwood Asylum, Cheddleton Asylum.
Year of Admission, Discharge, Death - You may only find a date of admission or death or discharge as there are gaps in the records or because the dates are in other documents that were not consulted for the index. You may get multiple dates if a patient was readmitted
Diagnosis - This is the diagnosis recorded on admission
Additional Items - This field records items that may be included in the case book, such as a photograph, notice of death, or newspaper cutting.
Continuing Notes – This may include a reference to the previous case book, or any following case book in which a patient’s treatment is recorded.
Repository - This is the repository where documents can be viewed.
Document Ref - This may be the reference number of a register or case book. There may be more than one document referenced for a patient, depending on whether entries were made from more than one case book or register.
Page Number - Page numbers only apply to case book references.
Record Title – This is the title of the document, for example, “Admissions Register”, “Female Patients Case Book”.
1,095 females to 1,000 males - in 1921 there were 1,720,802 more females than males. In 1911: 1,179,275 more females than males. The 1921 census figure for males doesn’t include ‘members of the Army, Navy and Air Force and of the Mercantile Marine who were out of the country on the census night’.
The significance – the 1.8 million population increase during 1911-1921 was ‘numerically about one half of the increase in the preceding intercensal period; it is less than any corresponding figure since 1811 while proportionately it is far lower than any hitherto recorded’
£50,000 - The total cost of taking the 1921 Census, including staff and materials
£20,000 - The cost for the 1921 Census forms for England and Wales to be printed by the Government Stationery Office Press at Harrow, £16,300 were paper costs.(Costs were mentioned in a House of Commons debate, Hansard, 1 March 1921)
A 2 year prison sentence with hard labour was faced by any of the 38,000 enumerators of the 1921 Census should they divulge any of the confidential information that they acquired on the forms.
A £10 fine for everyone who failed to fill in/provide the details for the 1921 census form or who provide false information (this is an increase on the previous £5 fine for such form-filling malpractice on the 1911 Census)
A £2 fee was paid to each of the 38,000 enumerators, plus 4s for every 100 people enumerated and 6d for each mile over 5 miles that the enumerator has to travel on his beat.(Page 3, Dundee Evening Telegraph, 29 March 1921)
The 1921 Census enumerators had all to be appointed by 31 March 2021, and then had to master the 20 page rule book, before, from 11 April, starting to distribute the 11 million household census forms.(Page 3, Dundee Evening Telegraph, 29 March 1921)
HIS RETURN - The head of the household was thought and sought to be male - And suffragist loving housewives were to be ‘stifled’ according to a newspaper report in the Staffordshire Advertiser, which invited the enumerators to remember this.(Page 7, Staffordshire Advertiser, 26 March 1921)
St Marks Day - 25th April 1921 The day that the census enumerators were orginially due to return to collect the completed household census forms.
'Everyone will soon be in the Workhouse' - This phrase was jokingly bandied about at the time of the 1921 Census, as the Ministry of Health had rented Lambeth Workhouse from the Board of Guardians and was using the Workhouse as it’s HQ to organize the completed householder schedules… thus everyone’s name would be in the workhouse
Lodgers were deemed to be a separate household, therefore needing their own census form. Boarders, however, would have their details entered alongside that of the rest of the household.(Presumably this means that we should also search the 1921 Census by address to ensure that we have found everyone enumerated in a household – otherwise the fact that our family had a lodger may elude us?)
If you have an ancestor who died between 25 April 1921 and 20 June 1921 you will be frustrated that the postponement of the census of England and Wales means that you will not find them enumerated. But, if you have an ancestor who was born in England and Wales between these dates, you will be happily able to search for them – as they will be included, whereas if the postponement hadn’t gone ahead, they wouldn’t have been.
The census was due to have been taken in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland on 24 April 1921. For the first time in the history of the census it was postponed, however. It was deemed too costly to print new forms, so the paperwork was retained and used when the census was taken in June. The unprecedented postponement was caused by, the coal miners’ strike, and the threat of strike action by the railway and transport workers. In the afternoon of 14 April 1921 Sir Alfred Mond announced the postponement of the census in the House of Commons. The events surrounding the Irish War of Independence had meant that the planned 1921 Census for Ireland had already been shelved on 1 April.
Edith Abbot’s article, ‘The English Census of 1921’ was published in Journal of Political Economy by Chicago University Press (December 1922, vol 30, issue 6).Today it’s a 15 page pdf free to download
The question on the 1921 Census forms surrounding the number of living rooms was an attempt to get a handle on the living conditions of the population at the time.For detailed stats about living conditions and numbers of living rooms see https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/census/EW1921GEN/4
The questions on the 1921 Census surrounding place of work and employer were to ascertain how far people may have to travel to work, and the likely implications for the transport network.
The question of orphans and dependants was raised particularly in regard to pensions and payouts: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/census/EW1921GEN/10Apparently 500,000 children lost their fathers, who were serving in the British Armed forces in WW1!
While not providing a precise date of birth, like the 1939 Register, the 1921 Census will go one step closer to providing detailed leads for those seeking their ancestors’ birth details as ages will be given in years and months (not just years as previously).
The question as to ex-soldiers being employed as enumerators raged on in the months leading up to the census.There were many soldiers out of work, but the argument against employing them was that the role of enumerator was just a temporary position so may preclude them from obtaining work (people accepted as enumerators, but who went back on this acceptance, were fined heavily for doing so).
4.14 people per family - This was the size of the average family in 1921, a 5% drop from the 1911 Census (which recorded an average of 4.36 persons), and the average number of occupied rooms per person was 1.06 rooms.Note that these figures are for ‘private families’. When it comes to people living in ‘room accommodation’, however, then 54.5% of people living in room accommodation had an average density of 1 to 2 people per room:https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/census/EW1921GEN/4
(All details from Census of England and Wales 1921, General Report, England and Wales, 1921 and thanks to Family Tree Magazine)
By now members would have received the exciting news that author Nathan Dylan Goodwin is joining us at FHSC for a live Zoom Q&A session on the evening of 7th February
Watch out for the registration opening on 20th January for this event and in the meantime make a note in your diary.
Below is my review of Nathan's latest book The Foundlings and a link to his website where purchasing details can be found.
It would be quite difficult to review this book, the 9th in the Moreton Farrier series by Nathan Dylan Goodwin, without spoiling the plot for you. Suffice to say that this is a fast-paced story, which unfolds in the author’s distinctive narrative style of moving between flashbacks to the present day, with enough twists and turns to keep even the most ardent Moreton Farrier fan guessing until the last page. Having read all in the series I did feel as if I were returning to visit a family friend when I picked up this book, although it must be said to those new to the series that each book can be read as a stand-alone story.
In his latest adventure Farrier introduces DNA to his genealogical toolbox as he tries to discover the identity of the mother of three women, all abandoned as babies. The case soon becomes emotionally charged for Farrier with his own family history so clearly embroidered throughout the tapestry of the story. It helps that the author is a family historian himself, with the descriptions of the various websites being exactly right and all family historians will find themselves relating to the various online and archival records, you will even find yourself, as I did, second guessing what steps Moreton would take. The explanations of the science behind DNA are not over complicated, which they could so easily become, and the creative dexterity involved in drawing all the threads together to bring everything to a credible conclusion is sublime.
The Foundlings is right up there with the previous books and you don’t have to be a genealogist to enjoy this latest offering, an appreciation of well written crime/mystery/murder thriller is all you need, and I highly recommend it.
The full list of the previous books in the Nathan Dylan Goodwin’s Forensic Genealogist series are listed below in order of publication
For full purchasing details, not only for this book but for all in the series, then visit the author’s at the following link - https://www.nathandylangoodwin.com/
There are also a number of reviews of previous Nathan Dylan Goodwin books in the Cheshire Ancestor that can be downloaded via the website - details below
Reviewed by Babs Johnson
The Chester Creek Murders - Cheshire Ancestor Vol 51 No 4: June 2021 page 15
The Sterling Affair - Cheshire Ancestor Vol 51 No 1: September 2020 Page 23
Reviewed by Jackie Jones
The Suffragette’s Secret - Cheshire Ancestor Vol 49 No 4: June 2019 Page 20
The Wicked Trade - Cheshire Ancestor Vol 50 No 1: September 2019 Page 17
Reviewed by Jean Laidlaw
The Spyglass File - Cheshire Ancestor Vol 48 No 3: March 2018 Page 16
The Missing Man - Cheshire Ancestor Vol 49 No 1: September 2018 Page 18
The America Ground - Cheshire Ancestor Vol 47 No 4: June 2017 Page 20
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