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Somerset & Dorset
Family History Society

Women, ‘Gateway Ancestors’, and Sources

Many of us, when we first become interested in family history research tend to focus on our surname and try to trace it back as far as possible Certainly this was my approach when I first started some fifty years ago A few years after I began I found a distant 'cousin' Hugh Pitfield who was also researching our family We combined forces and have co-operated ever since Image - Fine Art America The result is that we now have a comprehensive genealogy of the PITFIELD family that Hugh has...
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To Blog or Not to Blog?

As I set out to encourage you to take up writing for our Family History Society's blog I realise that perhaps I should explain how I came to the personal realisation that I enjoyed writing stories and how having a computer and getting it to work for me has greatly enhanced my abilities and enjoyment overtime  I should begin with my first introduction to a computer back in 1991 when one was set up in the corner of the office I was working in I was sent on a morning’s course...
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A Victorian Loo

In the March 2021 Greenwood Tree, which had a House History theme, John Damon recounted the history of Beaucroft House, Wimborne, Dorset He now describes one indispensable part of its furniture and fittings   Beaucroft House was built in 1876 and, as I described in the latest Greenwood Tree, it played a part in both World Wars, first as a hospital and then as a billet for American troops In the 1950s, the house was divided into three residences My Damon family lived in one of...
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The Greenwood Tree – March 2021

House Histories, the theme of the March issue of The Greenwood Tree, provoked a greater response from members than any other topic in recent memory Perhaps not surprisingly, the focus was most often on the ancestors and other people who lived in the houses under review but there was a fair amount of interest in the buildings themselves Editor Paul Radford previews the edition which will be mailed to members in early March and which SDFHS members can already view or download from the Members’...
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Member and Guest Blogs Welcome

We welcome guest and member blog posts on any topic with a family history connection and invite you to send your contributions, which should include photo/photos, to the editor Barbara Elsmore

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