This talk was jointly hosted by Kent FHS and East Surrey FHS for members of both Societies. East Surrey FHS hosted the talk on Tuesday 14th May and Kent on 21st May.
Colin started by adding to the title of his talk With Whom Did Your Ancestors Meet?… they didn’t live in a vacuum or a sterile room!
In fact, during their daily lives they would have met all types of people from all walks of life. Many family history write-ups focus just on the family and miss out interactions with other people which, Colin said, if included would make their histories all the more interesting.
Colin listed sources; some are more obvious as we use them all the time but, we probably don't think to take down all those named within them.
• Births/Baptisms. Marriages and Deaths/Burials: its an obvious source, so looking at them from a slightly different angle. Colin said he is certain we all know to note the witnesses to a marriage. But few of us will include names of the vicar performing the marriage/baptism or the registrar who recorded a birth. But the vicar will have spent time with the couple prior to the wedding and he may have known the family. Colin showed a family connections with a vicar and a groom from a marriage certificate. The vicar and the groom had the same surname and further research proved that they were brothers.
• Photos and Portraits: hopefully all our photos are noted on the back with the actual names of the people in the photograph on the front? But how many of us take a note of the name and the address of the photographer? It could turn out to be of use in our research later, so it’s worth keeping a note of it.
• Autograph Books: as a boy Colin said he was very interested in Rugby and showed the book in which he kept the signatures of players. He had met several sportsmen, albeit for the short time it took them to signed their names.
• Bank, Building Society and Post Office Books: it was interesting whilst looking for names that the mortgage repayments were £33 a month for a 3 bedroomed house in the London area!
• Censuses and Street and Trade directories - Colin suggested when looking for neighbours we are mindful of street numbering variants on Censuses and in Directories. Properties may not be as close as they appear on the census. For example, some enumerators would save space on forms by adding a street which was not necessarily next to the one your ancestors lived in. An example of ‘next door’ neighbours Colin showed names listed consecutively in a street directory. What it doesn't show is if it was a detached or semi-detached house. Nor that despite it being semi- detached they hardly ever met their neighbour in the other half of the semi as their entrances were on opposite side of the building to each other.
• Courts Appearances - not only those in the dock but Jury service and who served with them on the jury.
• Education, Employment, Military Service, War Memorials. especially in WWI businesses often recorded their war dead, as did schools and you may find a name on a list that will confirm employment or the school they attended and others of their friends. School Log books contain a wealth of names too.
• Markets and Hiring Fairs - important for considering where they might have found their future spouse when they were from different parts of the county.
• National ID Cards – during WWII these cards named your official supplier of rationed foods and gave the entitlement that the shopkeeper was to supply the household. Don't forget that rationing did not stop at the end of the war but for some foods such as sugar continued for sometime after the cessation of hostilities.
Other Sources mentioned were:
• Assizes and Petty Sessions
• Awards for achievement
• Committees, Clubs & Associations
• Diaries and letters
• Electoral Roll
• Health
• Manorial Records
• Militia Lists
• Newspapers
• Residences – homes where they lived …and many more.
This talk gave us many name rich sources and much food for thought about how we could use them to enhance our research.
Report by Tricia Baxter
Speakers Secretary for Kent FHS