West Middlesex Family History Society

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Computers are so literal! Couldn’t work out why #Ancestry wouldn’t record my 8xgreat aunt’s life span as 1688-1704. Then I realised I had recorded her burial but not her death in the Facts area. They thought she’d been buried alive 🤣

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And yet more goodies! #WMFHS will be at the #OxfordshireFHS show on 25 October. Come and say hello and see if we can help. We don’t confine our activities to West Middlesex!

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Not at our #WMFHS meeting last night? Well you missed a wonderful evening with Phil Isherwood talking about Aunt Gonda. If you’re a member, you can hear the recoding for up to a month. Try it out!

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Whatever happened to Aunt Gonda? You don’t know? Then come to the #WestMiddlesexFHS talk on Thursday 16 Oct and hear Dr Phil Isherwood talk about her . Hybrid meeting at St John’s Isleworth, doors open 7.30. To join by Zoom go to www.west-middlesex-FHS.org.uk. See you there!

Black History Month Open Day in our Searchroom today, Sat 11 Oct! Drop in between 11am to 2pm to see a range of sources from our collections, including a tabletop display of the exhibition 'Cultural Diversity in Waltham Forest'. Hope you can join us!

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In #familyhistory you get used to random spellings and weird transcriptions but I would never have thought of searching for Thumpage when I wanted Humpage! Thank the gods of genealogy for the person who submitted the error report.

Beautiful Shrewsbury. Look up and see the history #shropshire #Shrewsbury #history

Here's a bit of history about the model railway and how it came to be at Ulverscroft: www.shuttlewood-clarke.org/ulverscroft-...

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In 1891 a #Ludlow man notched up his 80th appearance in court for drunkenness. Accusations of too much leniency were made and there was talk of a petition to the Home Secretary. I wonder what they thought he could or would do?

Every family has a story waiting to be told. Ready to uncover yours?

Our expert team has over 13 years of experience in tracing family histories with care and precision.

Contact us today on 01249 476 777 to start your journey!

#FamilyHistory #Genealogy #FamilyWiseLtd

A wonderful surprise this morning in the form of the latest publication from @wiltshistory.bsky.social.

Have a quick flick through @lrylandepton.bsky.social’s ’Langley Burrell and Kellaways, A History’, available now from @hobnobpress.bsky.social.

Semi-detached corner housing

Street scene of terrace housing with verges and trees

🚨 New on Substack: my post on the post-war history of Wolverhampton's Low Hill Estate: ‘a popular place to live’
municipaldreams.substack.com/p/the-low-hi...

Man in coat and flat cap stands smiling to someone off-camera; an electric train and platform is behind him. Courtesy Chris Cornell.

We're delighted to have hosted this blog from @chris56cornell.bsky.social, about his grandfather, Charlie.

A really significant story & so needing to be told in #Railway200 - a #Portsmouth railway worker of colour, c.1913-1966.

#BlackHistoryMonth

www.railwayaccidents.port.ac.uk/charlie-corn...

It's #BlackHistoryMonth.

We've offered a few thoughts about railway workers of colour, and their relative absence in our project, here:

www.railwayaccidents.port.ac.uk/black-histor...

My blog about the tragic deaths of a sea captain from Liverpool and his wife. Both drowned at sea …but 15 years apart

I researched their story after seeing a memorial to Annie Rothery in St Peter’s churchyard, Formby

#31daysofgraves #day2nautical

historicalclues.blogspot.com/2025/02/tale...

The boatmen who died were:
captain Charles Bexon born c1832 Loughborough, married with children
William Taylor born c1840, not married
Jonathan Holloway born 1856 Oldbury, not married. Jonathan was identified from a photo by his family some days later.
#UKCanals #BoatFamilies #OnePlaceStudies

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What has 32 ancient parishes, a wealth of experience provided by members and committee, monthly talks, a quarterly journal and is offering you 15 months membership for the price of 12? #WestMiddlesexFHS.
west-middlesex-fhs.org.uk/content/memb....
Go on, you know you want to 😀

Never mind remembering 5 November, remember Saturday 4 October! The #FamilyHistoryShow is at #KemptonPark and so is #WestMiddlesexFHS! Come and see us there!

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116 years ago - 2 October 1909 the first rugby match took place at Twickenham. #Harlequins beat Richmond 14-10. And this week the #RedRoses won the Women’s Rugby World Cup there.

Sometimes you can’t be sure 😹 I once saw a road sign near Guildford for Burpham Court Park Farm - obviously they were hedging their bets in case the owners changed their mind!

On 12 December I'm going to be speaking at St John's Church in Bury St Edmunds about the ghost stories of M. R. James in theological perspective. You can book tickets here: wegottickets.com/event/677163

All About That Place. Image: The title slide for a YouTube video presentation, "One-Place Studies" by Liz Craig. youtube.com/@oneplacestudies/videos Images: logos of the Society of Genealogists, the Society for One-Place Studies, Project Kin, and the British Association for Local History. #AATP25

We promised some new material from us for #AATP25, and the first video is now live on our #OnePlaceStudies YouTube channel! Check out Mini-AATP - Welcome and getting started presented by @willsmanonename.bsky.social Liz Craig on this wonderful #OnePlaceWednesday

Probably not but that’s no reason why someone (you?) shouldn’t do it!

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Save the date! Saturday 25 October. #OxfordshireFamilyHistoryFair is being held at #CherwellSchool in Oxford. #WestMiddlesexFHS will be there. Come
and visit us - were there to offer help and advice wherever your ancestors came from!

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If you’re missing summer fun, try something new for autumn! Come and visit #WestMiddlesexFHS at #theFamilyHistoryShow at #KemptonPark on Saturday 4 October. Stalls, talks, expert advice, cafe - and if you fancy a bit of exercise, there’s a paddock to run round!
thefamilyhistoryshow.com.

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It’s that time again! #WestMiddlesexFHS are holding their monthly talk.Thursday 18 September sees is Linda Hammond’s talk “Help! What do I do before 1837?” Hybrid meeting on Zoom and at St John’s Centre Isleworth. Doors open 7.30. All welcome. Zoom joining details on www.west-middlesex-fhs.org.uk

With it being #BankHolidayMonday I thought that a seaside view might be appropriate. This is "Chesil Bank from Portland by Harold Steggles from 1938 from the joint show with his brother, Walter at Lefevre that year. We showed it again at the Lighthouse Gallery in Poole in "Dorset Days" in 2023.

Kent marks 150 years since Matthew Webb swum the English Channel Kevin Murphy, who swum the channel 34 times, talks about how Webb's achievement inspired the world.

Today, 25-Aug, is the day in 1875 when Captain Matthew Webb became the first person to swim the English Channel without any artificial aids.

Due to my background know that there are events and exhibitions happening both in Dover, Kent, England and Telford, Shropshire, England.

Funding sought for new open source searchable database of UK probate records | Today's Wills and Probate A free, charity-funded genealogy search service is launching a new probate service and is looking for financial support for the venture

Funding sought for new open source searchable database of UK probate records #genealogy #FamilyHistory todayswillsandprobate.co.uk/funding-soug...