Reading Branch meeting 27th February 2020  Speaker: Guy Grannum  Guy gave an interesting talk on how he came to research his Barbadian roots and the types of documents that can aid with Barbadian ancestry. Guys started researching for his parents 25th wedding anniversary, and discovered an international family covering South Africa, Gibraltar and Majorca. Unfortunately, early civil registration records gave no clue to the origins of the family name, as there were only a handful of entries. Most entries date from 1955 onwards. Through his work at The National Archive (previously the Public Record Office), Guy discovered his grandfather and great-uncles listed in Colonial Office Lists, stating that they were all born in Barbados. As Barbados was a British colony, and now an independent state within the Commonwealth, many of their records have a British base. The hardest thing is to work out where the records are held and what the access is to them. Some are available through subscriptions sites as well…

Reading Branch meeting 30th January 2020 Speaker: Simon Burbidge Simon spoke of his research into his ancestors who had been divorced by the time of the 1901 census. Prior to 1858 Divorce was subject to Ecclesiastical Law with basically consummated or unconsummated marriage. It required an Act of Parliament and grounds were usually separation, civil suit or adultery. Only 2 divorces a year were recorded in 1670, 322 between 1670 and 1838 and in 1900 there were 560 with only three women suing for divorce. Notable cases from past were 1804 De Manville which involved custody of a child, it was ruled that a child belonged to father unless in danger of being harmed. Other cases included Lord Melbourne the Prime Minister and Caroline granddaughter of Richard Sheridan. Palmerstone re launched a Bill in 1855 which became Law in 1858. In 1920 Legal aid became available for Divorce. Details are available online in Ancestry TNA index J77 / 78. This was a very…

Reading Branch meeting 12th December 2019 Speaker: Members There were two short talks by members, a Berkshire dialect quiz from Vicki and the traditional non-alcoholic mulled wine and mince pie courtesy of Rosemary and Angie. Angie Catt spoke about her great-grandfather John Gibbons (West) born in Bath who enlisted in the 12th Prince of Wales Lancers in 1849 in Reading. At his attestation he was stated as being eighteen and a half, and five feet nine inches tall. He was involved in the 8th Kafir War which was the longest military action in Africa lasting 100 years. It was actually nine wars in the Eastern Cape where Smith was disgraced and dismissed. He survived the sinking of HMS Birkenhead where the first use of the command “Women and Children first” was issued in 1852. His military career took him from battles with the Xhosa in Africa; Crimea 1845, Sevastopol 1855 and his last campaign was in the Indian Mutiny 1857. Retiring after 12…