The Centre closes for Christmas on Monday 16th December and reopens Monday 6th January at 10.30am.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New year from all the volunteers at Berkshire FHS
Our July talk, given by the popular speaker Mike Cooper, was entitled "Finding (Great) Grandad: Army Records for the Great War
'Finchampstead and its Lords of the Manor' by Christine Cox; and Michael Rea`s talk entitled 'An odd Fyshe'
We undertake these inscriptions to publish for family history research and allow access by distant and overseas members
DECEMBER ZOOM MEETING REPORT An enjoyable social evening prior to Christmas with a quiz entitled ‘Christmas’ and one entitled ‘Family History’ both presented by our Quiz Master, Bryan Pledger. Most of the questions were multiple choice so as to give the best chance for all the audience to enjoy the fun. The presentations also included funny clip art and photographs of the Christmas lights at Kew Gardens to get everybody in the mood. We learnt how the Christmas Cracker and Card came to be invented and how a Mexican gave his name to a favourite plant at Christmas. In the Family History Quiz much hilarity was had with epitaphs. Tony Wight won the Christmas Quiz and Christine Wootton the Family History Quiz. After the quizzes a discussion ensued on why the numbers had declined for the Zoom meetings of the Branch. The ideas ranged from being scared of Zoom, problems with making Zoom work on tablets and mobile phones with laptops being easier…
Joint meeting 20th November 2020 Speaker: Martin Buckland A canal is defined as an artificial waterway which may join up rivers whilst rivers are natural waterways. Canals have locks and need to be able to climb hills such as The Cotswold Canal for example which climbs 106.68 metres. Canals were good at moving fragile goods such as pottery. A horse carrying about 2 cwt was slow and could break the product compared to a barge with a horse pulling 20 cwts in safety. Irrigation was the origin of the canals. Between about 520 and 510 BC the Persian Emperor, Darius I built a canal linking the Nile and the Red Sea and the Grand Canal in Venice built between 3rd Century BC and 13century AD is used for irrigation and transport. The Pont du Gard the ancient and highest Roman aqueduct bridge built in the first century AD to carry water over 50 km used only basic surveying equipment. Britain’s canals were started by the…
Report on the joint meeting of Bracknell & Wokingham Branch with Abingdon Branch by Bryan Pledger A few years ago Radley History Club was given a letter sent from Colditz Castle, a prisoner of war camp during WW2, which was written by Charles Lockett to his wife Evelyn who lived in their rented home in Radley. Stanley Baker the club’s archivist asked Christine whether she would like to research who Charles Lockett was. Christine discovered that Charles was born at ‘The Woodlands’ on the Welsh Road at Childer Thornton, Wirral, in Cheshire in 1910. He joined the RAF in 1931 and married Evelyn Mason in 1933. After the marriage…
Reported by Christopher Singleton The Edwardian Era, sometimes referred to as the Golden Era, spanned the years from the death of Queen Victoria in 1901 to the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. Tony King’s talk provided a framework to this period, from early Victorian times to 1918, with a wealth of images, film and sound. Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and Prince Edward, born in 1841 and later King Edward VII, were guests of Napoleon in Paris. Edward, who had a constrained existence in Windsor, was enthralled by Paris and wanted to stay. However, he did travel to Canada, USA Edinburgh, Oxford and Cambridge. Whilst attending Cambridge in 1861, an affair involved the intervention of Prince Albert. Albert contracted a fever from this visit from which he died and for which Victoria never forgave Edward. Edward, whose London home was Marlborough House, became known as the “Prince of Pleasure” with his country house parties, shooting and fishing. He was keen on…
Berkshire Family History Society works to meet the needs of those researching their ancestry across the UK and overseas – as well as those looking for former relatives in historic Berkshire. You do not need to be a member to benefit.
The society offers:
Research Zone in central Reading that is free to use and open to all
Free access at The Centre for Heritage and Family History to online resources like FindMyPast, the 1939 Register, The Genealogist, the British Newspaper Archive and Ancestry (the worldwide edition)
Regular free help and advice sessions
Meetings in Abingdon, Bracknell, Newbury, Reading and Windsor; and a virtual Computer Branch which meets online. All meetings are open to everyone
Community forum – informed answers to research queries and advice from experienced researchers
Members’ Area with data and other information not readily accessible elsewhere
Indexes and transcriptions of Berkshire’s historic records on CD — parish registers, probate documents, monumental inscriptions, maps, First World War history and more
Quarterly magazine, the Berkshire Family Historian, for members
a chance to join in project work, recording, transcribing and helping to preserve records
Links to the research experience, advice and support of members worldwide