Essex Society for Family History

RECENT MEETINGS AT SAFFRON WALDEN

February 2010 - This month we were fortunate in finding a slot in John Drury’s diary. John, a local historian, who has written a definitive work on the subject of Essex Workhouses, gave an interesting and informative talk on his specialist subject to the members & guests attending. He commenced with the historical background to the relief of the poor which, in 1597, transferred the responsibility from the church to the parish. In 1723 the Workhouse Test Act was passed to codify prevailing Government thinking on poor relief. This set out guidelines which proved invaluable for managing what was a difficult subject for parish & government alike, but it was, compared with later thinking, on the whole, humane & fair. It was early in the 19^th century with the increase in unemployment, that from the new philosophy of people without work being idle and lazy the 1834 Act was born. It was cruel and harsh, resulting in the closure of the local parish workhouses, and shipping many people from their own locality to the new utilitarian, prison like buildings that sprung up all over the country. John was able to illustrate his talk with many pictures of the various buildings around the county that have been workhouses (both parish & union), including those close to & in Saffron Walden. He also covered diet, clothing and the various “officials” involved in the running of such institutions. From late Victorian times attitudes began to soften, & coupled with the 1908 Children’s Act the workhouses’ future altered noticeably with many becoming infirmaries for the elderly & infirm. It is ironic today that so many have been developed into very desirable properties, either in whole or as up market apartments. 

January 2010 - Despite the weather conditions there was a very good turn for the January meeting. This consisted of proof reading the first batch of St. Mary’s Baptism records coupled with an Internet research facility. Lively interaction and much discussion made the evening pass swiftly, and many “old hands” learnt new skills whilst accessing computer records. 

December 2009 - In December members & guests participated in the usual fiendish Stan Sutherland Christmas quiz, designed to stretch everyone’s minds. This was followed by an open forum where an exchange of views & ideas took place over the customary festive fare.   

November 2009 - November saw the embarkation of our group on a new major venture to list, tabulate and index the baptism records for St. Mary’s Parish Church in Saffron Walden. Although the parish records have been digitised from 1538 to 1749, they can still prove difficult to read and appraise. Mike Furlong had, with assistance from Brian Gough, printed & then photocopied in A3 format, the first 500 baptisms, mainly written on velum with varying degrees of legibility. The members attending spent a considerable time transcribing the entries onto worksheets for later input to Excel, and John Read acted as roving palaeographer. Fortunately the hall where our Branch meets has internet access, so additionally we are able to view the pages online, projected onto a large screen; this is invaluable in analysing difficult to read script. The project will continue into next year as we have many thousands of entries to evaluate and check before releasing a new CD with the information. 

October 2009 - Our October meeting was addressed by Eric Probert on the subject of “Lesser known sources for Family History”. Eric spoke to a full hall about his many years of experience in researching family members, leading to several obscure and little known places & records. During Eric’s investigations he has studied journals and magazines, including those of parishes and companies. Additionally he has looked at lesser known publications, including books, newspapers & the Gentleman’s Magazine. He further mentioned biographical dictionaries, & roll of honour documents produced by parishes & towns for First World War victims, not forgetting Inventors & Patent Records, Modern English Biographies, Dictionaries of Trades & Professions and most interestingly old Chemist Records. In expanding his theme, Eric pointed out that the Old Bailey Records are now online, and the National Archives has a hospital records database, although the 100 year closure rule usually applies for individual files. When looking at specific company records it is often useful to search pension details as well since these can contain useful information. Eric stated that he also found local & family history magazines a surprisingly useful source of detail in his research. Following questions he concluded by commending several specialised websites.

September 2009 - Our September gathering, which encompassed the Annual General Meeting, took on a differing theme from the usual monthly meeting. Following completion of the formal part of the evening, the members & guests were invited, via three workstations set up by the committee, to either access & navigate various genealogy websites, courtesy of the Baptist Church internet hub, or sit in on a brief internet tutorial. Prior to the meeting, members had been asked to submit details of elusive family, so that a meaningful outcome could be achieved. Much interest with lively & interactive discussion ensued, leading to several tricky problems being resolved. 

July 2009 - Our July meeting saw a welcome return for Bill Wittering who came to talk on the History of Post & Postcards, a subject for which he is well-known. Bill informed the members & guests that although “mail” as such had been around for centuries, by about 1830 questions were being asked about its effectiveness with the recipient of correspondence expected to pay for the privilege of receiving something they may not want. Indeed various ingenious methods were adopted where a code could be used on the outside of the letter such that the person receiving it could guess its content without actually paying for it-this was essentially classed as fraud. Rowland Hill stepped in with a proposal for the “Penny Post” whereby the sender paid in advance. Early letters had an embossed stamp but this was soon superseded by the Penny Black stamp (based on Queen Victoria’s William Wyon medal) following a competition. Unfortunately the stamp proved unpopular with postal staff since being black meant that the red franking was difficult to see (especially in poor light) so it only lasted 6 months. Various changes ensued, including pillar boxes (copied from the continent by Anthony Trollope), envelopes, and then, imported from Austria, the idea of a cheap alternative. Thus the first postcard appeared in Britain in 1870. It had no picture, was restricted to 5 words only for the message and cost a halfpenny which also led to the introduction of a new stamp. Additionally for a penny farthing one could buy a pre-paid card which could be sent anywhere in the world. Then in 1901 the back was divided and this was further accentuated with the invention of Kodak film by Eastman in 1913 and many amateurs started taking pictures which were turned into postcards. Coupled with this the outbreak of the First World War meant troops needed a simple and effective means of communication and postcards fitted the bill. Indeed they went on to new highs in design with silks (especially French) and pictures plus cartoons; and as photography blossomed, progressively more firms set up on the back of heightened demand. Companies even experimented with various materials such as celluloid, tin, foil facing and card to make their product more appealing. Bill finished off by showing images of local scenes that the family historian finds so appealing since they so accurately convey a true sense of the area in which ancestors lived and worked.   "

June 2009 - Richard Harvey visited us in June and prefaced his talk by saying that he would concentrate on “School Records”, as education records would take all night. In justifying this decision, Richard told the members & guests attending that school records can be so valuable as, not only do they give the name of the student, but usually the name of the father and often address. According to him there are 5 (five) categories of school with many sub divisions. These range from Public schools, including Eton, Harrow etc. through Charity schools with local parish & ward schools being included, State schools-following the 1870 Education Act, Private Schools, including prep and finally problem schools which would encompass Poor Law , Industrial & Reformatory schools. It should be noted that in the final category attendees often were sent great distances to attend such establishments, so looking for ancestors’ files, including census returns could prove difficult. Richard then moved on to the actual records to look for. Commencing with original files he mentioned admission records, log & punishment books as well as minutes of governors. Such files would include father’s name (or mother’s) if no father present and possibly also cover the discharge of a child (including where they ended up or even died). Additionally local interest may be recorded; this could include fairs or epidemics. One word of caution though related to “closure” with access to records being restricted as they may well refer to living individuals. Location of records can vary, they may indeed still be with the school, or deposited elsewhere (local record office) or possibly a central holding point such as the Church of England Records centre at Lambeth Palace Library. The London Metropolitan Archive has a fine selection of school records although they apply a 30 year closure on all records so held. There are many and varied published reports although it has to be said these mainly relate to boy’s public schools with the Society of Genealogists & Guildhall holding a good collection.  There may well be printed Rolls of Honour or Service as well as School histories which can be found in the local library. Additionally, quite a number of schools print their own “Old Boys” and “Old Girls” magazines. He also touched upon Local Directories such as Kelly’s, Village or Town directories, Schools directories and the Victorian County History project. Richard further pointed out that large scale Ordnance Survey maps show, and often name schools. Finally Richard covered the subject of “Ephemera” which families may well have inherited; these could be school programmes, or prizes awarded to pupils such as books or certificates giving clues to locations & names. "

May 2009 - For our May meeting, Laurie Page addressed the members & guests on the history of sport.  Although sport participation can be traced back to at least Ancient Greek and Roman times, much of the early games were rooted in military prowess (archery, jousting, javelin etc) and were obviously a way of honing the skills of participants for future battlefield encounters. Probably one of the earliest sports enjoyed by the working class (or peasants) was the mob football, pitting village against village with no rules, which started in the middle ages and alarmed the monarchy as it interfered with archery. Oliver Cromwell was later to become an active participant in the game. Sports for the masses (especially as spectators) were firmly established by the 18th century with bear & bull baiting & cock fighting being prevalent. There were also regular & famous bare knuckle bouts to watch and place bets on. The upper classes continued to enjoy their fox hunting, angling & game shooting and with the advent of trains people could travel greater distances to watch their favourite pastime although most workers were just too tired to participate until more time off  was allowed with such innovative legislation as the Bank Holiday Act of 1870. Possibly the two oldest established sports still in existence today are a) Cricket with records going back to the 16 century & b) Golf which was introduced by the Stuart monarchy when they brought it to England.   Many other pastimes grew in popularity during the Victorian era when it was realised that exercise was generally a good thing and public schools had a strong influence in this presumption. Swimming baths were constructed, gymnastics took off, and athletics and running caught on. This was followed soon after by cycling as a leisure activity. The first paid professional sportsmen were footballers in the 1880’s although rugby continued as an amateur sport. Before about 1800 there is little documentary evidence for sporting ancestors, indeed until the 1870’s when newspapers took up the cause and started publishing detail of games & activities, it is difficult to trace people. The only other useful source would be club records (display boards, cups & possibly club reports). Laurie finished his session with questions from the audience. 

April 2009 - Ian Waller addressed a packed April meeting on the subject of the lives, identities and records of Agricultural Labourers. Interestingly the term “Ag Lab” or Agricultural labourer did not exist before the 1841 census. It was the government of the day that sought to identify such characters and categorise them. Ian took the members & guests through a whole raft of topics relating to one of the most commonly found occupations for over 150 years. He commenced with an explanation about the difference between farm servants & labourers, the one living-in and usually single as opposed to married men in tied cottage or rented accommodation somewhere nearby. The contracts under which they were employed differed also. There was a third class, often youngsters (mainly boys) being employed by gang masters and paid a pittance. Children (boys and girls) as young as 7 years could become “Ag Labs” usually doing such work as stone picking, bird scaring or weeding. There were of course regional variations, and the more rural areas reflected the lower wages available as there was little competition for labour from factories or big cities. The working day was long and arduous and as pay was poor, much reliance was put upon wives and children earning additional coppers to make ends meet.  For genealogists Ian had many useful tips about finding ancestors and then cross checking data. Depending upon availability, Ag Labs can be found in the census returns, Overseers accounts, Bastardy orders, settlement certificates, birth and marriage certificates, removal orders & examinations.  Additionally there are often records of individuals held in Quarter session & petty session papers, farmer’s diaries, charity records (often village related to give money to the poor of the parish), estate records, maps & photos. Ian said that during the run up to the implementation of the Poor Law Amendment Act, labourers were interviewed by Royal Commission in 1832 about their circumstances and it was all written down, with names of those interviewed being recorded.   Much of the above relates to the years of turmoil in the countryside, after the wars with France, imposing high taxes on farmers who then kept wages artificially low and laying-off men leading to unemployment. The “Swing” riots erupted around 1830 in the rural areas and Ag Labs were very much involved. Ian also covered in some detail, the clothes (smocks and Billycock hats) worn by Ag Labs as well as the hiring fairs (maybe 15-20 miles away) that were a regular feature of life in the country. With unionism came regular meetings of those involved, all recorded in provincial newspapers and again names of participants written down for researchers to find.  Before questions (of which there were many) Ian finished off with a mention of the Tithe Survey of 1836 wherein, using the Map & key, ancestors’ residences can also be identified.

March 2008 - Our well attended March meeting saw one of our own colleagues addressing members & guests on the subject of Good Computer Practices and Family Tree Maker software. Brian Gough commenced with a list of the topics he intended covering and suggested that during the tea break, members would be able to share their own ideas with him as well as each other. Usefully he had produced a CD of his main points with a handy guide, for people to purchase at cost. Brian’s theme reinforced his underlying message about storage & retrieval of information, tidiness and a disciplined approach to all computer usage. Prior to the meeting Brian had asked members to send him their questions (particularly in relation to Family Tree Maker). He was then able to analyse each one in turn, demonstrating the best ways of overcoming difficulties experienced by members, as well as comparing FTM with other known popular software packages

February 2009 - Due to inclement weather, unfortunately our February meeting had to be cancelled. It is hoped we can invite John Drury back at another time to give his talk on Workhouses. In the meantime our Branch is preparing itself for the first ever Uttlesford History Fair, to be held in the Town Hall on Saturday 28^th March. This free event, being run by the Recorders of Uttlesford History, a federation of local historians and history societies from across our region, will have many local organizations, including village history recorders as well as our Group, in attendance. 

Mike Furlong

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