LANCASHIRE FAMILY HISTORY AND HERALDRY SOCIETY

Rossendale Branch Newsletter March 2009

Coming Events

LFHHS Annual Dinner

Friday 5th June 2009

This year the Society’s Annual Dinner is being hosted by the Fylde Branch. Details in your February "Lancashire" magazine.

LFHHS AGM & Conference

Saturday 6th June 2009

The Society AGM, this year will held at St. Cuthbert’s Church, Lytham Road, Preston PR2 3AR. This change of venue has resulted in reduced costs for the AGM & Conference.

There will be three speakers at the Conference.

DAVID LAMBERT speaks to the title: "In the Name of God – Amen." Wills and probate records explained.

JOHN MARSDEN whose talk is: "A History of Cremation" Significant milestones in its development and acceptance.

PETER MARSHALL speaks on: "Heraldry from Hatching to Despatching" Funeral Hatchments described and explained.

The Conference with Buffet Lunch is £12. The Conference without lunch will be £5. Exhibitions:

The Society will be represented at the following Family History Fairs

Saturday 4th April, Pudsey,

Sunday 3rd May Barbican, London

Saturday 27th June, York,

Saturday 24th October, Liverpool,

Haslingden Library - Closure

As part of a big lottery project Haslingden Library will close for refurbishment on Tuesday 10th February 2009 at 7.30pm for a period till approximately 9th April.

Research and Advice Sessions at Rawtenstall Library

every Tuesday 1.30 – 3.30

The Rossendale Branch continues to hold regular Research and Advice Sessions at Rawtenstall Library. We have a group of members who are on hand to assist members of the public. We also, when time permits, do simple look-ups for LFHHS Society members who are not able to attend the library in person. Please note we do not have library access to the 1911 census.

Open Access to Registration Records

There is currently an e-petition to 10 Downing Street submitted by David Lloyd davide.lloyd@ntlworld.com It reads:

Having full and open access to the registers of births, marriages and deaths from 1837 to 1908 will make it easier for genealogists to research the records and ensure they get the copies they require. If copies were put on the internet this would simplify the process.

These records are over a hundred years old and should now be accessible to all with a small fee to cover the cost of copying the originals. The link is http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/OpenBMDrecords

Deadline to sign up by: 22 July 2009

World War II -Firsthand accounts wanted

Carol Harris is planning a series of books on WW II, using contemporary material such as diaries and letters. The subject areas for the project are:

Air Raids and ARP; Dunkirk; Military Nursing; VE Day, Women’s Land Army.

If you have any relevant material or memories you can contact Carol by email at. harbro@btinternet.com

or write to 15, Brockley Grove, London SE4.

Any original material will be copied and returned quickly.

UKGDL (UK Genealogical Directories and Lists On-Line)

UKGDL a companion site to UKBMD was launched on February 27th

Its home page states:

Genealogy and Family History are usually mentioned in the same breath as being the same hobby, but really they are two halves which go together to make a whole.

Building your family tree by collecting the raw events data such as birth, marriage and death dates is genealogy. Finding out about the people, who they were, where they lived and what they did is family history.

UKBMD has evolved over years to act as an aid to help you find on-line data rather than your family history.

So UKBMD now has this companion site: UKGDL http://www.UKGDL.org.uk

UKGDL helps you to find out about the history of your family by linking you to web sites that have on-line data which will help you discover what your families did and how they lived.

School lists, trade directories, elecoral rolls, passenger lists, old photographs etc., are all valuable sources of information which can help you complete your family tree – many are now listed under UKGDL’s menus.

Rossendale Miscellany:

News, notes and queries

As our Chairman will not be at our next meeting, could you please let me have any items and reports for the Branch AGM as soon as possible. At the time of writing this, I still have not received my February copy of our quarterly journal "Lancashire", but do bear in mind that if you haven’t renewed your annual subscription, you can’t expect to receive one.

This month’s article is by Wilfred Day, our Higher Booths expert. It is just one of the poignant stories encountered by transcribers and researchers which makes us think about the way our ancestors lived.

Next month Jean Harison will describe her research into the men of Stonefold, St. John, who died in World War II.

The Children of Miles & Elizabeth Lonsdale of Crawshawbooth

We moan and groan and generally bitch about the state of our lives, but are things really as bad as we think?.

This entry appears in the Grave Register for Rakefoot Wesleyan Methodist church at Crawshawbooth .

Grave 223

Miles & Elizabeth were married at St Paul’s, Ramsbottom in 1883 and after having two children in Rawtenstall they moved to Crawshawbooth where they had another 10 children.

Miles was a plumber by trade and employed several men so he would have been reasonably well off compared to most people in the village, but he could not stop seven of his children being buried before they got beyond seven years old, and all in the space of nine years.

Miles was buried in the same grave on the 6th December 1928 aged 65 years having died at the County Mental Hospital, Whittingham, Preston as also was Elizabeth on the 16th February 1950 age 87 years having died at Cross Buildings, Crawshawbooth.

So, next time life is getting you down, think of Miles & Elizabeth, count you blessings and ask yourself is your life really that bad ?

Wilfred Day.

If you are a member and have a story to tell about your Rossendale ancestors, or if you have hit a brick wall, you think someone else might have encountered, please let me know.

Rita Hirst.