Essex Society for Family History
RECENT MEETINGS AT SAFFRON WALDEN
July 2008 -The members & guests attending our July meeting were treated to an entertaining & educational talk from Mrs Fiona Lucraft when she addressed them on the subject of “Georgian Dining”. A food historian, Mrs. Lucraft commenced her talk with popular cartoons of the time of the Napoleonic wars from which she could derive much in relation to the nation’s eating & to a lesser extent, drinking habits, including the size of joints & the large puddings enjoyed by the more affluent members of society. She also touched upon the development of eating utensils and the use of tablecloths for tucking under one’s chin to catch the wayward morsels! An early illustration of dishes making up courses one & two in a meal, which had to be symmetrical, usually depicted 10 different dishes in the first course and a further 10 in the second course. Such dishes as “Rabitts Larded, Green Pease, Pickell’d Fowls or Frigacy -White” featured. However Mrs Lucraft pointed out that if food was uneaten it was returned to the larder to be re-served again & again, sometimes many days after it was first seen on the table. Mrs Lucraft also cited the comprehensive work by Martha Bradley, aptly called “the British Housewife”, a compendium of cookery, gardening, animal husbandry and general household medicine which was published in two volumes in about 1760. Still available today in Facsimile version, it gives an amazing insight into domestic life in a relatively wealthy household of the era. There is much less actually available on the history of the poor in the same period, although we do have some records following a generation of Irish potato famines (where potatoes were not cooked through so they took longer to digest) as well as early published dietary sheets for the workhouses. Beer figured large at the time for its nutritional value as well as being generally safer than water. Mrs Lucraft wrapped up the talk with the famous witty & subversive William Hogarth illustrations of “Gin Lane” & “Beer Street” which were an acute observation of the impact on the poor and artisan population by cheap imported hard liquor.
June 2008 - In June Gary Baugh transported the members & guests back into the living history of artefacts and collectables. Gary has spent many years collecting memorabilia, but although he originally embarked on a quest to collect antiques & other interesting objects, he soon realised that it is more meaningful to target items that have a history, often directly known to members of his audience. This was prompted by his job in a residential home for the elderly, where he met a man who showed him his most treasured possession, namely his “soldier’s bible” from the First World War trenches. Gary started accumulating soldiers’ bibles and his collection currently numbers some 500, dating from 1795 to the Gulf War! Gary’s Salvation Army background came to the fore when he played his cornet as well as an old bugle from his collection. This, coupled with the compilation of 78 rpm records moved the evening along at quite a pace. After a refreshment break, when members were encouraged to pick up and examine the eclectic mix of items from clothing to comics, he took a variety of questions from his audience.
May 2008 - At our May meeting the speaker did not turn up, so Mike Furlong stepped into the breach with the Baptist Church Marriage transcript project. Members proof read the computer printouts to the original photocopy entries. By the end of the evening the whole 475 entries (over 8000 pieces of information) had been checked & ticked back. After the amendments have been keyed into the spreadsheet, a CD version will be made available for researchers.
April 2008 - The members & guests attending our April meeting were comprehensively entertained by Ian Waller on the “India Connection”, a subject which, historically spanned 100’s of years as well as spawning a diverse & far reaching company with interests in numerous geographic locations, although India and the far east were where fortunes were made and lives shaped & changed forever. He was, of course talking about the East India Company, established by Queen Elizabeth I in 1600 and still operating up to 1947 when India finally gained independence from Britain. In that time there were a total of 1.2 m employees, many who stayed in the United Kingdom, so it would not be unusual for anyone to find an ancestor somewhere in the records. There were three “Presidencies” established by the EIC in India, namely Bengal, Bombay & Madras so records can be quite spread around although the main source for research still remains The British Library (Dictionaries, “Who’s Who” & Thackers), with over 300,000 names in their biographical index. In addition to the many records held there are several indexes (some online) to help researchers. Furthermore the EIC records included ecclesiastical returns, salary books, and most importantly pension records and widows funds. The enormous spread of the Company’s business also encompassed Army, Navy & Indian Railway personnel, many of whom commenced careers in England, were posted, and (sometimes) died or returned to take up jobs back in their home country. The English end of the operation included the East India & Blackwall Docks, Haileybury College, Addiscombe (for military training) as well as Ealing Lunatic Asylum. The presentation was well received and many questions ensued.
March 2008 - The March meeting was addressed by the ESFH chairman, John Young on the subject of family historians’ acceptance (or otherwise) of official records. When John commenced his own research 8-9 years ago he soon realised that not all files explored were accurate or indeed complete. This led him on a quest to establish the presence of elusive ancestors which took in bigamous marriages, false age declarations and the many other pitfalls that we all have to endure. John spent much time at Kew studying military & marine records as well as visiting the now defunct Family Record Centre. During his quest he had unearthed surprisingly local connections, as well as linking the many names with clues gleaned from different sources. In the question & answer session he added a few useful comments and particularly drew attention to how the internet has impacted on genealogists’ approach to investigations.
February 2008 - Our February meeting consisted of a workshop to transcribe the marriage records held in the Baptist Church safe. The church only holds about 500 entries since all the previous books have been surrendered to Essex Record Office. Stage one of the transcription process was completed on the night. Stage two (entering the records onto an Excel spreadsheet) will take place later by volunteers working at home. Finally all the records will be combined into one searchable database for researchers to access.
January 2008 - For the New Year, our January meeting saw a divergence from our usual themes by introducing a different slant on historical records and access thereto. Mrs Susan Jellis gave an interesting and enlightening talk to a well attended meeting on the recently completed Kings Cross Voices Oral History Project, supported by the London Borough of Camden. This grew out of the original “Arrivals” project for the re-vamped St. Pancras station just before Christmas 2007 and the re-development of the King’s Cross area. The project provides a vital record from the people, of the transformation occurring around the stations & their environs. Mrs Jellis, using illustrations, was able to show some of the changes that have occurred over the years, including the Foundling Hospital’s sale and lease of land that impacted on what was then green fields & meadows. She presented a map of the area covered by the volunteers (between 20-30) who visited and interviewed many residents, and this included those people living on barges on the Regents Canal, which cuts right through the heart of the district concerned, on its way to Paddington Basin. In describing some of the characters and their stories, sound clips were used to emphasize what the team has achieved. Interestingly, in comparing the area with Saffron Walden today Mrs Jellis remarked upon the village atmosphere prevailing in the region of King Cross, which she feels Saffron Walden now lacks due to its recent growth. Indeed, she went on to develop the theme around the varying national communities such as the Welsh, Italians, Jews & Russians that were attracted to and grew out of a great transport hub. Her sincere belief is that there have always been immigrants-today they may come from different countries but the diversity of cultures continues. She also touched upon people’s memories of the evacuations during World War 2 and the damage sustained from attention by the Luftwaffe coupled with the more recent red-light and old pub scenes. Following questions from the floor, Mrs Jellis concluded with a selection of sound & video recordings. In closing she confirmed that most of what had been seen would be loaded onto a dedicated website for anyone to access and this should be available later in the year.
December 2007 - The December meeting was led by our own member, Stan Sutherland. Members were entertained and challenged by a quiz based on the popular panel game of “What’s My Line?” with many and varied occupations, drawn mainly from historical census records. Participants then enjoyed Christmas food & drink provided by the attendees.
November 2007 - Our November meeting saw the completion of the project to catalogue & record the history boxes from Saffron Walden’s newly refurbished library. The remaining 35 boxes were analysed and their contents added to the growing list of material that the Society has already completed. Finalisation of the recording to Excel spreadsheets will now take place by individual members before entry onto the database for access by the Village History project as well as a CD for personal researchers at the Town Library
October 2007 - For our October meeting Mrs Rosanne Kirkpatrick addressed the members & guests on the influence of the Quakers in Saffron Walden. Mrs Kirkpatrick, who is a Blue Badge Guide for the Town, commenced with a brief history on the religious background & subsequent persecution including regular fines & imprisonment, of Quakers generally as well as more specific named individuals within the vicinity; the Test Acts of the 1670s making life very difficult for dissenters. Many early followers were jailed for their beliefs and the authorities often sent them far afield (Colchester being cited), to make it difficult for friends to see them. The food was often so bad they could, and did starve and in the mid 1600s it could prove impossible for anyone to travel such a distance to assist them. Even with the introduction of the Toleration Act, allowing Catholic & Non-Conformist meetings to take place, Established Church tithes were still required and imposed. At that time, a cottage in Cuckingstool End (now the High Street in Saffron Walden) was licensed for meetings. The latter part of Rosanne’s address related to the Gibson family and their influence in the Town both in terms of business (banking and brewing) and the public benefaction that continued into the 20th century. Buildings, such as the Hospital, Museum, Town Hall, various Gardens, the Swimming Pool & several Schools as well as a Training College, saw the hand of Gibson on their advancement. Mrs Kirkpatrick finished her presentation with a large selection of slides depicting the various aspects of Gibson municipal influence.
September 2007 - Our September Annual General Meeting was held in the new venue of Saffron Walden Baptist Church, Lower hall. Following the official part, wherein all officers confirmed their willingness to carry on and were therefore re-elected, members continued with the sorting & transcription of the archive boxes from the Town library.
July 2007 The July meeting saw our own member Rosemary Coleby instructing the members & guests on the subject of Irish Research. Rosemary opened by giving a brief outline of the history of the Gaelic and English influences culminating in the formally recognised partition in 1922 following the destruction of a large majority of valuable archives. These records included Church of Ireland (Protestant) registers, wills, and census records. However, the civil registration records of Births Deaths and Marriages starting in 1864 were not lost, nor were the registers of Roman Catholic churches, which were kept by the parishes, with Government records held by the GRO office in Roscommon. There are 2508 civil parishes in Ireland, these being divided into sub-units called townlands or clachans. The names of many townlands were anglicised by the English settlers. The censuses of 1901 and 1911 survived, with fragments only of earlier records but in view of the loss of census records between 1861 and 1891, an important source is that of Griffith’s Valuation which listed all property in Ireland with owners and occupiers between 1847 and 1864. Other useful records are the tithe valuations of 1820-30 and each county of Ireland has a Heritage Centre, which holds local records. Surviving Church of Ireland records are held at the National Archives, and the Reciprocal Church Body Library, whilst Roman Catholic records are held at the National Library; and the Registry of Deeds are located in Henrietta Street, all in Dublin. However the deeds are poorly indexed, though some may be found in “Hayes Indexes to Manuscripts” which are in large green volumes, a copy of which is in the Cambridge University Library
In London there is an Irish Genealogical research Society with premises near Monument Underground Station and a modest annual subscription and the Irish Civil Registration Index is on microfilm at most Mormon Libraries around the UK."
June 2007 - In June Ian Waller entertained our members & guests with a talk on domestic servants and the hierarchical structure of the larger houses, particularly during the Victorian period. In citing Mrs Beeton he was able to illustrate the significance of income within a household dictating the number of servants employed and the aspirant middle classes would often have servants, albeit small in number. Wages were not particularly good although some of the live-in staff were often on an “all found” basis so pay represented pure spending money. Licences were required to employ servants & tax was levied between 1777-1852, these tax records are held at the TNA-they are a useful tool in researching earlier ancestors who may have been in domestic service. Outdoor servants included coachmen, gardeners, gamekeepers etc and often accommodation was provided. Significant changes in demographics between 1861-1911 meant that the numbers of large employers of servants (especially in the western sector of London) shrunk quite dramatically. Most importantly, servants always needed a written reference (which they had to carry with them) before taking up any employment; without it there was no chance of a job. Domestic service often drew in girls from the Poor Law authorities that regularly ran apprenticeship schemes in “Housewifery” with girls having little choice but to accept a placement. Schools sprung up in many parts of the country and competition was fierce to gain a place. The most well known of these was the Domestic Service School in Oxfordshire [1807-1925] where all girls were guaranteed a position after their 5 year training. Even with a half day off each week permitted, the “maid of all work” had a long and often arduous day starting at 5.30 am and finishing at 10.00 pm at night, providing, of course the “upstairs” members of the house had finished with her.
May 2007 - The May meeting saw our own member Brian Gough stepping into the breach left by the scheduled speaker who cancelled at short notice. Brian brought the members & guests up to speed with a very proficient address on the use of the www.ancestry.co.uk website. He made it clear that broadband is essential to utilise the site to its full potential. However, he suggested that if anyone was contemplating joining, one idea is to use it online at the local library before actually signing up. Although, as he agreed during questions, there is a free trial period, it is very difficult to ensure that if you do not want to continue you have to give the correct amount of notice, otherwise Ancestry will take the whole sum in one go. On the point of payment, he stressed that there were several options; continuous annual payment, monthly, and pay per view, but his method is to cancel for the summer months & re-join in the autumn, thus making a considerable saving. In closing Brian reminded everyone that he had produced a CD with a simple guide to save people having to memorize what was covered in his talk.
April 2007 - With the total refurbishment of the Saffron Walden town library in full swing, our workshop theme for this year is the cataloguing of records held within the archives. For the April meeting our members & guests tackled a disparate collection of material from Victorian to modern, covering almost any subject, not only for the Town but also surrounding villages. These are stored mainly in box files, many with no previous index. The library holds about 80 boxes and the Group managed to sort and catalogue almost 30 in one evening. Stage two will entail the content being entered onto Excel spreadsheets for collation by the library, leading to ultimate access for the public via the database as well as the Uttlesford village history project.
March 2007 - For our March meeting we welcomed Martin Astell, the sound archivist from Essex Record Office. During his brief introduction to the members & visitors, Martin explained his role as well as that of the archive, which contains a collection of video and sound recordings numbering about 3000-catalogued items, as well as roughly the same number un-catalogued. By way of illustration, he also played one of the earliest recordings, believed to date from about 1906. ERO adopts a three-fold approach to the archive, namely Acquisition, Preservation and Access. On the latter point he said that the ERO's online computer system (SEAX) allows access to the database. The range of records is quite wide and they have been categorised into 5 sections i.e. (1) Oral history; (2) Broadcast material such as BBC local radio, talking newspapers etc.; (3) Music including Essex, Folk Jazz etc.; (4) Miscellaneous items; and finally (5) video (moving images). Martin also informed everyone about the mobile exhibition which has embarked on a road show around Essex and will be visiting Saffron Walden museum later in the year. The second part of his presentation continued with him playing a selection of sound archives and he finished off with film & video footage from varying dates & genres.
February 2007 - Our February meeting had to be cancelled at short notice due to inclement weather conditions.
January 2007 - For our January meeting one of our own members (Brian Gough) entertained and enlightened those present, on the use of the "Genes Reunited" website. Brian pointed out that numerous people who access the site do not possess their own computer. Indeed many use the site for tree-building since they have no other way of keeping records electronically. This led on to him stressing the importance of people using their local library facilities, making access to Genes free (although generally times had to be booked in advance). Genes Reunited boasts some 5 million members with about 90 million names available on the searchable database. Brian then, with the use of his laptop, took members through the procedural screens to get started and showed how it is possible not only to upload information about your ancestors (by exporting GEDCOM files) but also not having to pay anything if you so choose! He stressed that obviously by not paying, (membership is less than £10 p.a) certain facilities are withheld but nonetheless anyone can still make great use of the resource. He also covered the issue of confidentiality and showed ways of avoiding the pitfalls that some members have experienced in using the site. Brian had produced a presentation CD for members to purchase at nominal cost to get them started if they so wished. His talk concluded with a lively question & answer session.
Mike Furlong
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