Articles

A Remarkable Lady. Jackie Blow sheds a light on a little known pioneer – Louisa Rowe (neé Parsons) born in Sidbury Devon in 1856

The Stoter family name – history and meaning. Stuart Stoter delves into the origins of his surname

Who was Henry Stacey? Richard Croker looks into a mysterious appearance and disappearance within a family

Barry Hamblin tells us of a serendipitous event

Penny Stokes recounts the story of John Septimus Roe (1797 – 1878)

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

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.

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.”

Dennis Grover follows his paternal great-grandather Fred Grover’s journey to Australia

Richard Brown shares an example of why you should verify all the stories you’ve been told

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

Michael Barlow shows how much detail can be found from military records and how this enabled him to tell his grandfather’s story

In May 1939 the Military Training
Act was passed by the British Parliament. This required every man aged 20 or 21 to present themselves for 6 months military service. My father, Leonard Sidney Frank Walter was drafted into the Militia on 17th July 1939 – just after his
21st birthday. This is his story

February 6th 2018 marked the 100th anniversary of the passing of The Representation of the People Act, which extended the vote to all men over the age of 21 and to those aged 19 and above in the armed forces. However, more significantly, it gave the franchise to women, specifically those who were aged over 30 and who met the £5 property qualification.

There are obscure documents which, if discovered through a name search in archival catalogues, can reveal remarkable details of a person’s character and life, and perhaps assist in breaking through a brick wall in the parish and probate records. This was my experience when seeking to ascertain the parentage of one of my 8x great grandfathers, Richard Pinnell of Upper Lambourn (Uplambourn in many early records).

In an age when gentlemen and ladies often neither dined together, or shared the same church pews, Bath’s communal facilities must have come as quite a shock for the first-time visitor. When Edward Ward visited the famous city he observed a startling and deeply unattractive picture of the middle classes taking to the waters.

An article about the connection between two families from West Berkshire who came from very different backgrounds, but both resided in the Newbury area at the end of the nineteenth century, and their links with Patagonia.

An aunt showed me a bible belonging to her grandfather Alfred Purton. Inside was an inscription from Queen Victoria …

Over 400,000 baptisms from 156 parish and non-parochial registers of the “old” Royal County of Berkshire. Update available for first and second editions

Bearwood, St. Catherine Monumental Inscriptions 1815 – 2019 CD lists the names of over 1,600 people, and holds transcriptions of their monuments and memorials within the church and churchyard. There are photographs of every extant monument and interactive plans to show the locations of the memorials.

I began writing up my family history about twenty years ago. I wanted to turn my research into a story which included something of what life might have been like for my ancestors. One driver for this was an eager audience within my family who, I suspected, would be quickly bored by a list of dates and places.

David Moseley tells us what can happen when you search the internet. Family history can sometimes throw up some interesting stories and coincidences. One evening in 2017 I came across a notice in the London Gazette which surprised and intrigued me.

Paul Bryant unveils his confusing lineage: In the September 2018 edition of the Berkshire Family Historian there was an interesting article on the Civil War and its protagonists. Of course, there were many other side events taking place that are of more interest to the family historian.