LANCASHIRE FAMILY HISTORY AND HERALDRY SOCIETY

Rossendale Branch Newsletter July 2009

Please Note – Due to circumstances beyond our control, the Visit to Bacup Natural History Museum, will now take place in September and not in August.

LFHHS - Publicity, Promotions & Public Relations Team.

The Society requires a new Leader for the above Team.

The Team's Terms of Reference are as follows: -

Design and development of all Society publicity and promotional material - Co-ordinate press releases and media contact for the whole society centrally, and through the branch network to local media - Maintain directory & magazine listings to ensure the Society is well represented- Assist newsletter development in support of branches - Responsible for the Society Website, and website support for branches - Co-ordinate the Society Stand at Exhibitions and Family History Fairs

We would like a volunteer, who would be willing to build upon the hard work done so far, as well as to bring forward their own ideas to develop this Team.

The Leadership of the Team includes membership of the Management Team. If you need any further information

please contact me by email:- sjward.highhouse@btinternet.com

Stephen John Ward, Chairman, LFHHS

Getting to Know the Lancashire Record Office

If you are a new user of the LRO or have not visited for quite a long time, the following sessions may be helpful to you (they are all at 3.00pm on Thursday afternoons): 6 August; 3 September; 1 October; 5 November; 3 December.

Each session will last 1 1/2 - 2 hours

Places are limited so advance booking is essential. To book a place phone o1772 533 039 or email the Record Office at: recordoffice@lancashire.gov.uk

1911 Census: All complete

Information from Roger Lewry Federation of Family History Societies Archives Liaison who says:

I have received an email from findmypast stating "We’ve added the final batch of records for the 1911 census, which means the entire census is now available for you to search. The newly added records – which follow the launch of the Welsh records last week – include the Channel Islands of Alderney, Guernsey, Jersey and Sark, and the Isle of Man.

They have also added records for around 135,000 soldiers based at 288 military establishments overseas, and around 36,000 naval personnel on 147 Royal Navy ships overseas.

exec.member.rl@ffhs.org.uk

19 June 2009

Rossendale:

News Notes and Queries

Research and Advice Sessions:

at Rawtenstall library every Tuesday 1.30 – 3.30

Rossendale Branch has a group of members who are on hand very Tuesday, to assist members of the public with their Family History enquiries. You will find us upstairs at the library adjacent to the new Community History facilities. Please note we do not have library access to the 1911 census.

Haslingden Roots has now reconvened the group is meets upstairs at Haslingden library, each Monday except Bank holidays from 6.00pm – 7.30pm,

The Registers of St. John the Evangelist, Bacup 1788 – 1812

Craig Thornber has sent me an advance preview of the Bacup register, which he has compiled for the Lancashire Parish Register Society. It will be published sometime in 2010 on CD ROM (NC 5). In the meantime he has deposited one copy at the Lancashire Record Office, one at Manchester Central Library, a third with the Rossendale Branch of the LFHHS and a forth has been given to the Rev. David Woodall, a vicar in the Bacup and Stackstead’s team with responsibility for St. John’s, Bacup. .

The Rossendale Branch copy will not be for loan but I will be willing to check the indexes for members of the Society. Please send your membership number with any request.

In his introduction to this work Dr. Thornber states that the church was built in 1788, as a Chapel of Ease to the church at Newchurch in Rossendale, in the Parish of Whalley. A census of 1798, quoted by Dr. Whittaker in his History of Whalley showed the population to be 1426 persons living in 306 households. The Reverend William Porter, of Cumberland became minister in 1798 and remained so until 1839.

Newchurch in Rossendale Registers

Prior to 1788, the inhabitants of Bacup used the church of St. Nicholas at Newchurch-in-Rossendale. The earliest surviving register for Newchurch covers the period from 1653 – 1723 and was published by the LPRS as volume 45 in 1912. A new version is being prepared by Dr. Thornber which is collated with the bishops’ transcripts and includes additional material for 20 of the years between 1606 and 1641. This will fill many gaps in the original volume.

The records for 1723 – 1772 and for 1773 – 1812 have also been transcribed by Craig Thornber, and also collated with the Bishops’ Transcripts, they are based in part, on the work in the late 1940s and early 1950s, of Milton Ormerod and are published by the LPRS on CD Rom as volumes NC2 and NC4. The later volume will not be available until later this year.

Edwin Waugh

This month’s article by Marie Ives tells of her love of rambling over the Rossendale Moorland and especially of her visits to Waugh’s Well, a memorial to Edwin Waugh, a Rochdale born, writer 1817 – 1890, who found inspiriation in this spot.

Walking to Waugh’s Well by Marie Ives (member 5075)

When we were moving house over 40 years ago now, I went to visit the lady of the house we were moving into, the house was very quiet when we went in. This was strange, because when I had been in the past, the house was always full of noise and children playing, as she and her husband were foster parents. I asked were they all were and she said her husband had taken them up to Waugh’s Well, it had been redesigned and there was to be an official opening. Previous to this I had never heard of the well.

It took us three or four Sunday afternoons over a period of a few weeks before we located it. On this particular day we knew we were in the right area, and as we walked along the track way to Cragg Quarry, we met two or three men who had been out after foxes with their dogs. We asked them if we were on the right track for the well, they told us to go back to were the pathways crossed and then follow the poles carrying the power line to the farm at Foe Edge. We followed the poles to the farmyard and 100 yards or so beyond was Waugh’s Well, at last our search was over. Over the next few years we went to the well on a regular basis and later went to follow the path and go up the valley beyond and look down on Ashworth Moor. Later we ventured over to the cairn and cross on Whittle Pike and then over the moor behind the well on to the Cragg Valley road, exploring the quarry and going on to the old track to Ding Quarry. All these moors were where our children discovered nature and learnt the names of all the distant hills. If at any time family members were not well we would take an extra bottle with us and fill it with water from the well, a cure for all ills. At the same time my neighbour lent me books which had been written by Edwin Waugh. So I was able to get an insight into his character and try to understand his poetry. Since these days I have always enjoyed reading his stories and his poetry.

Later with a friend, I went on the annual pilgrimage, hiking from Waterfoot to the well, on the third Saturday in July. These were lively affairs with recitations by most of the members usually 20 to 30 in number, always ending with "A lift in the Way" sung by Mr. Harvey Kershaw and his wife Mary. These members had walked up from Rochdale Road, meeting up with other enthusiasts at the well and afterwards would walk down to Waterfoot and up to Newchurch Methodist Sunday School for afternoon tea followed by a concert. Then for a number of years I was unable to attend due to other commitments but over recent years I have been able to walk up with the organised walk from Waterfoot. Sadly, most, if not all the members from Rochdale have died or are too old to make the trip; these people have their own event at their meeting room in Rochdale. However the people who now attend are just as enthusiastic about furthering the use of Lancashire dialect and reciting the poems of Waugh as the people who came in days gone by.

LFHHS Subscriptions Half Price Offer

Membership Subscriptions run from January to December but for those joining on or between 1st June and 31st December, we offer a half-year membership at half the relevant subscription rate. This is a good opportunity for non members to discover the benefits of membership.

For full details check the Society website www.lfhhs.org.uk