Articles

Hora – Sicamma Coat of Arms – Susan Hora tells us about her family’s coat of arms

Leigh Dworkin, Chairman Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain (JGSGB) and Berks FHS Windsor Branch Chairman, continues his adventures in Poland

Can Anyone Have a Coat of Arms?
Hilary Waller answers the question –
in theory, yes they can but what are they and why might you want one?

Memories of going to Reading School 1945 to 1951: Lindsay Knott shares her father, Peter Barrie Knott’s, memories of life in Reading

Councillor Jones – A tale of long service: John Harman details a career in service to the village of Binfield

A Wartime Childhood: Lindsay Knott shares memories of her father, Peter Barrie Knott’s, life in Reading

George Barnard Smith (1885-1962): Michael Hill recounts his grandad’s life – carter, war veteran, and pugilist

Robert Claude Utley (1896-1911) – Eric Saxton tells a tale of a life cut short in a tragic incident – a drowning, while on a Scouting trip

Binfield Parish Council – The Early Days. John Harman takes a look at the early days of local government following the Reform Act of 1832 & 1894 Local Government Act

Polish Ancestral Tourism – Wolf Hunting in Womja (Lomza) part 2. Leigh Dworkin continues with his trip in search of his ancestors

Cheers from England to Australia. Jennifer Bolton details her convict heritage

Polish Ancestral Tourism – Wolf Hunting in Womja (Lomza) – Part 1. Leigh Dworkin takes us on a trip in search of his ancestors

Eric Saxton tells the story of a Soldier, Pioneer, and Arctic Explorer from East Ilsley

Fred Waite continues the story of a much-travelled ancestor – William Watkins Waite and his travelling family

Fred Waite continues the story of a much-travelled ancestor – William Watkins Waite and his travelling family

Terry Wickenden illustrates the problems that can be presented when researching a family

Fred Waite continues the story of a much-travelled ancestor – William Watkins Waite and his travelling family

Elizabeth Lloyd delves into her heritage, “sparked by the stories my Grandma told me of the forest of masts she could see over the roofs when she grew up in Rotherhithe in the 1890s.”

Catherine Sampson takes a look at some local men’s experiences in the Far East. VJ Day has always been something of a poor relation to VE Day, yet many Berkshire villages had men who were in the Far East, Purley included. Several villagers, including subsequent incomers, would laterbriefly recall their ordeal in the camps, including one of Purley’s rectors.

Richard Croker explains why he joined Berkshire Family History Society

Gillian Hazell tells us of her grandmothers’ life. Frances Ellen Marshall was born in 1894 to single mother, Elizabeth Marshall, an inmate of Wokingham workhouse, situated in Barkham Road.

Penny Stokes takes a look at a long gone substitute for divorce

Jewish genealogy is even more exciting than general genealogy, because it forces you to understand history, geography, new languages, new alphabets as well as social history. There were no Jews in this country between 1290 and 1657 so an ancestor of yours must have come to the UK from some other “old country” be it in Eastern Europe, Germany, Holland or elsewhere.

When perusing about 160 postcards that had been in the possession of my paternal grandmother and her mother, from the beginnings of the 20th century, I realised that they held secrets and clues that other family history sources do not hold

In 1914 Britain had a maritime empire. Goods, people, materials and ideas moved by sea. Nearly 2/3 of the food and drink consumed in Britain came from abroad. This global maritime supply network – that fed and fuelled civilian and military populations – was key to the First World War.