Catalogues, Collections and ArChives Seminar Posted 9 May 2017 by Alan MoorhouseCatalogues, Collections and ArChives Seminar Chartham Village Hall, Station Road, Chartham, Kent CT4 7JA 09:30am for 10:00am on Saturday 15th July 2017 East Kent is rich in records for family historians and others and we visit Canterbury, home of Canterbury Cathedral Archives, whose records go back to the 8th century. We have assembled specialist speakers from the Kent area that should interest all attendees. With an optional visit to Canterbury Cathedral Archives and Library along with the possibility of a guided tour of the Cathedral this seminar will appeal to all. Twitter #GuildCanterbury Programme 09:30 – 10:00 Arrival: Registration and Coffee 10:00 – 10:10 Welcome to the Seminar – David Burgess 10:10 – 11:10 Church records over the centuries: the collection of Canterbury Catherdral Archives – Cressida Williams (Canterbury Cathedral Archivist) 11:10 – 11:20 Comfort Break 11:20 – 12:20 Using Canterbury’s Civic Records to uncover the lives of late Medieval Townspeople – Dr Sheila Sweertingburgh 12:20 – 13.15 Lunch Break 13:15 – 14.15 Probate Records and East Kent’s unrivalled Collections – Dr David Wright 14:15 – 14:25 Comfort Break 14:25- 15:00 Presenting Your Statistics – Dr Nikki Brown 15:00 – 15:30 Tea Break 15:30 – 16.30 When in Want or Distress: the records of the Parish Overseer – Peter Ewart 16.30 Close of Seminar Applications to attend are welcome from Guild members, family historians, genealogists, and members of the general public having an interest in the subject matter. The seminar cost including refreshments and buffet lunch is £20.00. Chartham is 4 miles from Canterbury and easily reached by train from Canterbury West or Ashford International. Chartham village hall is a few minutes walk from the station and there is ample car parking. On the afternoon of Friday 14th July there is the opportunity to visit the Cathedral Archives, with a further opportunity to visit, and join an optional private tour of, the Cathedral. Further details with tour joining instructions are available here and booking requests should be emailed to seminar-booking@guild-dev.org. We would like to ensure that any delegate with a disability can participate fully in this event. Anyone with any special requirements should telephone the Guild Help Desk on 0800 011 2182 or email seminar-booking@guild-dev.org. An accommodation listing, including details of a choice of 2 Friday evening meals, is now available here. A number of delegates and members of the organising committee will be staying at the Travelodge Canterbury Dunkirk and will meet for dinner at the adjacent Sheila’s Kitchen restaurant. The seminar organiser will be staying in Canterbury itself at The White House guest house and organising a table for dinner nearby at The Old Weavers Restaurant. Full revised joining instructions are now available here; the level crossing in Chartham has now re-opened. Booking To book on this seminar, you can use our our online form¹ in any of three ways: Book online and pay online via PayPal or credit card; For Guild members, book online and pay by direct bank transfer through your bank, quoting the reference number on the form (this is the method which represents the least cost to the Guild); Fill in the booking form online, then print it and send it through the post with your cheque. Alternatively, you can download our booking form flyer, which can be printed, filled-in, and posted, with a cheque to: Alan Moorhouse, [Seminar Bookings], 8 Strachans Close, STROUD, Gloucestershire, GL5 3EB. Bookings close on 2nd July2017. All bookings will be confirmed by email, with full joining instructions, on or shortly after this date. **Although bookings officially closed on 2nd July we do still have some late availability places so on-line booking is still live** Further information may be obtained by telephoning the Guild HelpDesk on 0800 011 2182, or by email to seminar-booking@guild-dev.org.
Z is for…….. Posted 30 April 2017 by Julie GoucherWe may have reached the end of the alphabet, but those of us with One-Name Studies will probably never get to the end of them! There is always something new to discover either at an archive, a library, a collection or record set digitised by the large genealogical organisations. We do have a number of members who are studying a surname with few descendants, meaning that at some point in the future the surname will die out. With the Guild’s various preservation options there is a way of ensuring that the research does survive into the future for genealogists and historians to enjoy. Do you have a surname in your genealogy that might die out? Why not leave a comment.
Y is for You and the Guild Posted 29 April 2017 by Peggy ChapmanNo matter where you are in the world, you can make 2017 the year where you become an active member in the Guild. What does an active membership mean? It doesn’t necessarily mean that you become a Committee volunteer, or attend every seminar, or write articles in the Journal. We all have different levels of time and energy available and going from passive to active status can be as small a step as reviewing the wiki to see what you are missing. You may not be following the Facebook page and decide to start. Take advantage of the knowledge base that is available to you as you progress in your study. Perhaps you would like to take on a DNA project but feel intimidated by the entire process. There are DNA experts, DNA information sources, and services to help you. Have you given some thought to how to preserve your study? An entire team of skilled and helpful volunteers can support you to set up a website through the Guild project. At the very least, take some time to review the website and I guarantee you will find information or a membership benefit of which you were not aware. It is true that if you live in Vancouver, Brisbane, or Chicago, there may not be a seminar in your region. The geography of some countries means there is not a cluster of members in a given area. As the membership grows internationally, and as technology allows the means to engage regardless of location, opportunities to participate in webinars, watch online presentations given at seminars, and ask questions on Facebook or in a forum, enhance the membership experience. Your regional representative may not live in the neighbourhood but can be a liaison on your behalf. They are easily accessed through email or perhaps there is a closed Facebook group for your area. Get the most from your membership – explore the topics that have been introduced in these posts and add to your one-name tools!
X is for…….. Posted 27 April 2017 by Julie GoucherRecord from the Surrey History Centre – marriage of Samuel Harris (Holt) to Sarah Diggins 1787 Frensham Surrey England There is something very exciting about seeing a document that one of your ancestors saw, signed and perhaps touched. The image shown here on the left is of my several times Great Grandfather marrying in Frensham, Surrey England in 1787. What is interesting to me is that it shows Samuel marrying, using the maiden name of his mother, which was Harris. Samuel was illegitimate and was the subject of a Bastardy Bond as the parish tried to chase down his father to extract money for the child’s upkeep. Samuel’s mother was rather shrewd. She baptised Samuel with the father’s surname which was Holt. She also used the surname of Holt for the Bastardy Bond. His mother subsequently married another man, but Samuel retained the surname of his mother. Following the lines downwards until I reached the birth of my Great Grandmother, who had the surname of Harris purely by fate, it was my Great Grandmother, whose knee I sat on as a little girl and the moment I saw her name on a census return, herself as a little girl I was hooked on my family history. The moral of this post is to say we need to examine everything we read in documents, because sometimes, things are not as they appear……and the link to X…? Samuel signed his marriage record with X as he could not write. The surnames of Diggins, Harris and Holt are not registered with the Guild, but one of our members does have an interest in the surname of Harris. If you search the Guild website, using the search box on the top right for the surname of Harris you can contact the Guild member who is researching the surname.