Westbury

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27th November -  Zoom Meeting - Debbie Bradley - Migration through the UK - In this engaging talk, Debbie will share the story of tracing some of her ancestors through a variety of records as they moved around the country.   She will provide information on the the methods and resources she used and how this can be used in your own research including why your own ancestors may have moved. Members will come away with useful hints, tips, and research strategies that can be applied to their own family trees, whether they’re just beginning or have years of experience. The meeting starts at 7.15pm and the talk will commence at 7.30pm. All welcome, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for joining details.

12th December  No meeting - Christmas Lunch

22nd January - Zoom Meeting - Eric Jackson  - History of the English Canals - The history of the English canal system from 1759 to the present day. Covering how they were built and operated from their conception as an essential element in the Industrial Revolution, through the 'golden age' of the late 18th/early 19th centuries, their steady decline in the face of rail and later road transport, their nationalisation after the Second World War and their renascence as a part of the leisure industry. The meeting starts at 7.15pm and the talk will commence at 7.30pm. All welcome, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for joining details.

26th  February - Zoom Meeting - Judy Rouse - The Railway Navvy – his working life - Navvy ancestors are notoriously difficult to trace due to the transient nature of their work, but this talk Judy will give researchers with navvy ancestors a flavour of their life and working conditions during the peak of the early railway building mania, and also later on in the nineteenth century, together with leads on tracing the movements of the navvies using the census, local newspapers and other sources. The meeting starts at 7.15pm and the talk will commence at 7.30pm. All welcome, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for joining details.

26th March - Zoom meeting - Helen Baggott  - Hands Across the Sea: a miscellany of stories written by our ancestors. Helen Baggott is an editor, speaker and writer from Dorset. Her most recent project is researching the stories behind postcards sent more than 100 years ago. This new talk shares a collection of true stories, including: a solo traveller whose epic journey took her across Europe, to Russia, China, Korea and Japan – and home via India, Nepal and Afghanistan; a family with connections to Jamaica's slave trade; a family connected with the bravery of the Kinder transport; a prince from India who played cricket for England and fell in love with a grocer’s daughter. The meeting starts at 7.15pm and the talk will commence at 7.30pm. All welcome, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for joining details.

23rd April - AGM and members evening

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25th September    Members Evening, a member let evening looking at the 'Travels of my forbears'

24^th July The Victorian Soldier -  David Chilton David’s talk is based on documents at the Berkshire & Wiltshire Regimental Museum and The National Archives, that you mostly won’t find online. He will be focussing on the men of the Royal Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiments in the Victorian period and how records throw light on their lives. David had a 30 year career in the Army, in infantry and then logistics. On early retirement, he became the manager and curator of The Wardrobe Berkshire & Wiltshire Regimental Museum in Salisbury for the next 9 years. He is now a front desk volunteer as well as responsible for creating and maintaining the 500 plus publications for Wiltshire FHS.His talk is based on documents at the Berkshire & Wiltshire Regimental Museum and The National Archives, that you mostly won’t find online. He will be focussing on the men of the Royal Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiments in the Victorian period and how records throw light on their lives. David had a 30 year career in the Army, in infantry and then logistics. On early retirement, he became the manager and curator of The Wardrobe Berkshire & Wiltshire Regimental Museum in Salisbury for the next 9 years. He is now a front desk volunteer as well as responsible for creating and maintaining the 500 plus publications for Wiltshire FHS.

26th June - Joseph Lancaster, the Poor Child’s Friend – Terry Ransome. When Terry retired he became heavily involved with the British Schools Museum in Hitchin, Hertfordshire. He managed the museum (as a volunteer) for 3 years, and was a Trustee for 6 years. It was there, that he developed a love of local history, acquired an in-depth knowledge of the early history of elementary education, and became an advocate of lifelong learning. Terry’s talk is about Joseph Lancaster who was a pioneer of elementary education. In 1798 he opened a school for the children of the ‘labouring poor’ in Southwark, London. At that time there was no Government interest in universal education; indeed it was actively discouraged by many  in the Establishment. The talk shows how Lancaster’s ‘Monitorial System’ worked with 300, 400, or even 600 scholars in one room, and how the Established Church and the Government belatedly accepted, funded, and eventually fully embraced elementary education for all.