The issues with the shop have now been resolved.

The shop is again open for business with an improved checkout process that means less clicks of the mouse.

Alan

The AGM of the Macclesfield group was held on the 24th September and the following committee were elected:

Group Leader:                                Jean Laidlaw

Secretary:                                      Gill Parry

Treasurer:                                      Rosie Rowley

Front of house at Meetings              Babs Johnson

Projects Administrator:                    Peter Ramsden

Programme Secretary:                    We still have a vacancy for a programme secretary - volunteers are vey welcome.

The AGM was followed by five brief talks and a display on World War II ancestors. The display be will available at the next meeting for those who missed it.  

Dig up your roots in West Lancashire

Saturday 5th October 2019

10.00 am to 4.00 pm

Emanuel Methodist Church

Derbys Street, Ormskirk

L39 2DC

 down load the flyer for full details and directions

See the above poster for details of the next Bloor society Meeting and AGM

On 1st and 2nd of July 2019 Thomas Duckenfield and his family visited Dukinfield. This was a long awaited visit. Tom and I have been friends and collaborators for around 12 years via the internet with our joint interest in the Dukinfield Family's ancestry, particularly their slave plantation interests in Jamaica and North Carolina.

This was a whistle stop tour visiting as many sites as possible connected with the Dukinfield Family and a Civic Reception at Dukinfield Town Hall, (photograph above. Thomas pictured with his ancestor Robert Duckenfield of Civil War fame).

Tom, a descendant from the Dukinfield Plantation in Jamaica, is a gracious, distinguished man with a lovely family which Dukinfield was delighted to entertain.

The main point of his visit was to meet with the Friends of Old Hall Chapel, Dukinfield to help further their ambition to preserve the Chapel as a Conserved Ruin. More on their website, http://www.oldhallchapel.org/

I have written a summation of my research into the Slave Connections in Jamaica and North Carolina.  Its an exciting story including slaves, pirates, the Lost Colony of Roankoe Island and the foundation of New Haven Connecticut by the Eaton family from Cheshire http://tamesidefamilyhistory.co.uk/duckenfieldvisit.html

My webpage also contains a couple of videos I took on the day.

Advance notice of Tameside Group's AGM Wednesday 11th September at 7.30 pm at Old Chapel Community Rooms, Dukinfield.

Sorry for this late notice but I have been inordinately busy. Thank you for your patience, agenda and reports later this week.

STRETFORD FAMILY AND LOCAL HISTORY FAIR

SATURDAY 7TH SEPTEMBER 2019

10 A.M TO 4 P.M.

ST MATTHEWS CHURCH HALL, CHESTER ROAD, STRETFORD, MANCHESTER M32 9AJ

ENTRANCE FEE £2

A talk on Local History is by Bill Newton & Bill Mather

Slides and Re-discovered Films From the Stretford House 50 Project.      A collaboration between Stretford Local History & Manchester Modernist Society at 10.30 a.m.

A talk on Family History is by Sylvia Dillon

The talk will be about death certificates and causes of death from 1837 through to the 20th century at 2.30 p.m.

Whether a beginner or experienced family historian or interested in local history there will be something for everyone

The stands and exhibitors includes a variety of family and local history societies, maps and genealogical supplies

This year the FHSC will be celebrating 50 years of Family History.

To Celebrate why not join to take part in the celebrations and what we have to offer. Over the 25 years I have been a member I have met wonderful friends, shared interests, visited many of the other groups, all very friendly and make you most welcome.

Becoming a member opens doors to exciting offers, free help, we show you how to help yourselves, you must do the hard work, its addictive once you get started you don’t want to stop! Who knows you could be related to Royalty or maybe not, but I can promise you, your journey takes you on a long path of twists and turns, intriguing, sometimes frustrating but never dull!

Let’s make this Golden Anniversary one to remember.

At the AGM held on Jul 3rd 2019, the following changes were made to the Committee

Group Leader  Peter Rowley

Secretary        Pat Eastup

Treasurer       Christine Leith

Committee      Linda Wilding & Maurice Littlemore

I would like to pay tribute to Linda who has been forced to stand down as Group Leader after 17 years of very active service. She has kept the Group going through a number of tough years for which we are grateful.  Although she has given up Group Leader position, she has agreed to stay on the committee to help me through my first year as Group Leader. I would like to thank Pat for staying as Secretary and Christine for taking on he task of Treasurer.

Welcome to the new and improved FHSC website.

You will notice the striking gold colour scheme to celebrate our golden aniiversary this year.

We will resort to our more traditional green on New Years Day 2020.

We have done extensive testing of the new look and feel, but ........................... there may be issues we havent found.

Please notify the webmaster via Contact Us if you find anything that is broken.

The main functional change on this revision is an improved Links system. We hope you like it. If you have any suggestions for additional links then just let the Web Administrator know via Contact Us.

Alan

FHSC Webmaster

The Family History Conference
at The Palace Hotel, BUXTON, SK17 6AG
organised by The U3A Peak District Family History Network on Saturday 21st September

• Adele Emm – Mill Workers - Reachers, beamers, carders and throstlers? What on earth did your mill worker ancestors actually do? An hour’s talk by Adèle Emm, author of several genealogy books, will explain the role of more than just spinners and weavers.
• Alison Kay - Driver, Draughtman, Cleaner, Clerk: Discovering your railway family at the National Railway Museum. This talk will describe how NRM resources can help you discover your railway family and learn more about their lives. It will describe some of our key personal archive collections and will feature newly discovered film footage as well as highlights from the vast oral history collection.
• Doreen Hopwood - Migration – why and how our ancestors moved. Our ancestors were more migratory than we think, over both short and long distances. This presentation explores the reasons why they moved and the mechanics of their migration. Whether your ancestors chose to migrate or had the decision made for them, it explains the many sources which are available to follow your ancestor’s movements within the United Kingdom- and beyond.
• Dr Susan Buckham – Graveyards – Dr Buckham specialises in the interdisciplinary study of historic graveyards, with a particular focus on Scottish burial sites of the post-Reformation period. Drawing on 20 years of experience in graveyard recording, conservation, research and interpretation, Susan’s knowledge and skills spans graveyard history and development, conservation good practice, and the policy and legislation relevant to burial ground management and protection. This talk will describe the history of graveyards and their present day focus for visitors and care by local societies but will also describe the differences graveyards make to communities.

14 exhibitors, a mix of commercial and family history societies will also be in attendance. The cost for the day, which includes the talks, refreshments and a 2-course finger buffet lunch is £23. There may be some free parking at the hotel otherwise please use side streets or the pay and display car parks in town.

For more details and a booking form email

The very recent problems for people renewing or upgrading their subscriptions by PAYPAL have now been resolvedby the software developers of our Memberhsip software.  Everything should be working fine now.

Rosie Rowley reminder

Members’ Competition Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of FHSC

“A Golden Moment"

This is your opportunity to get into print! To commemorate the Society’s Golden anniversary in 2019, the Society is launching a very special members’ competition. Members are invited to submit an article to the competition for publication in the CHESHIRE ANCESTOR. In addition to publication, the winner will receive a £50 voucher to spend on FHSC Society publications, and a one - year digital subscription to Family Tree Magazine kindly offered by Warners Group Publications. Two runners-up will each receive a £25 voucher to spend on FHSC Society publications. The competition is open only to those who are current members of FHSC, and who joined prior to 1 July 2019. The article should be about “a golden moment” in your family history journey. This could be about breaking through a brick wall or an unexpected discovery related to the life of an ancestor. Ancestors can be male or female and the article should explain your special moment in your family history research. Further details are available in the June edition of Cheshire Ancestor.

very best,

GAY

This is an opportunity to win a free 3-day pass, worth £149, to the UK’s biggest genealogy conference, RootsTech London 2019, which takes place at the London ExCel Conference Centre from Thursday 24th to Saturday 26th October, 2019. Keynote speakers include Dan Snow, Nick Barratt and Donny Osmond – see RootsTech.org for full details.

Please read the full article by Rosie Rowley on the Macclesfield Reflects webpage: http://macclesfieldreflects.org.uk/2019/08/13/2019-rootstech/

Major Release - Tameside Local Studies Library and Archives Centre gains Full National accreditation

We are one of just 5% of Archive Centres that have been awarded the Archive Accreditation Award, where we had to meet national standards relating to management and resourcing, the care of our collections and what services we offer. Our staff were praised for their innovative and effective service and our volunteer programme was especially commended.

Books can be ordered by post using the form  at the following link:

spreadsheet List of Publications (226 KB)

CHRIST CHURCH AND HER TWO SISTER CHURCHES

BY LINDA WILDING

Christ Church and her sister churches were built by the Weaver Navigation Company for its employees.

To read more download my article here....   pdf CHRIST CHURCH AND HER TWO SISTER CHURCHES (1.98 MB)

THOMAS MOFFATT by Linda D Wilding

Thomas Moffatt  a local man who fought and survived Rorke's Drift, for more information click here.   pdf THOMAS MOFFATT (721 KB)