15th July 2010
Sylvia Henry announced to the meeting that there are now two volunteers on the “steering committee” for the 10th anniversary celebrations and would be pleased if a few more names could be added. She has some archive material, but would appreciate anything more members may have in their attics. A quiz is being compiled by Jo Arnold and Jean Brown and the cake has been ordered. Diaries for next year have been received and distributed. If there is anyone else who wishes to have one, please let her know a.s.a.p.
Sylvia introduced this month’s speaker, Janet Few, who proved an expert at family history and kept us enthralled at her knowledge and experience. We were warned of some of the many pitfalls and the fact that we would not get instant results. We should not be confused between genealogy (construction of the family tree) and family history, finding out about the history of the ancestors.
The obvious source of information is birth, marriage and death certificates along with census records and the internet has enabled us to access this information far easier. Janet had some web site addresses for all those interested. Of course there is nothing better than information given by family members, grandparents, aunts and uncles, etc. We were warned that census are not always accurate, literacy not up to to-day’s standards. Other sources of information are parish, church and banns records and, something not always considered, wills and tax records.
Finally, Ewan Davies thanked Janet on behalf of everyone for such an informative and entertaining afternoon.
Linda Bunker
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