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Blackmore Vale Group

Dissecting the Documents: UK Censuses from 1801 to the Present

Posted on 19th August 2022

Please note 7pm start! Speaker: Dr Penny Walters This session will look at the development of the United Kingdom decennial censuses from 1801 headcounts through the decades to last year’s 2021 census A 100-year closure rule was established after the 1911 Census, so it has been very exciting to have the 1921 census revealed in January 2022 This was the first census after the First World War and Spanish Flu pandemic The 1939 Register, originally designed for the issuing of ID cards,... more

Parish Registers: A social history

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Speaker: Ted Udall Parish Registers are an amazing snapshot of life in a local area These handwritten books, usually kept in the parish church, contain details of weddings, baptisms and funerals From them, it’s possible to find out who lived where in a Parish and what was happening locally at any given time The Registers were introduced in England and Wales in 1538 – and, bearing in mind that ten-yearly censuses were not introduced until 1841, the importance of Parish Registers... more

Mad Earl Henry and other despicable relations

Posted on 11th February 2022

Speaker: Sue Burne An incredible tale of several generations of Sue’s family – with murder, kidnapping, treachery and... more

A message to the children

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Speaker: Jim Williams What do you wish you had asked your grandparents about A guide to compiling what YOUR grandchildren may want to know about life today We research our family history to discover the dry facts that our ancestors were servants and grocers – if only they had written the story of their... more

A day in a Georgian house or ‘Nothing like home for real comfort’

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Speaker: Gordon Le Pard An exploration of Georgian and Regency domestic life, using objects (many of which are original) We will journey through the day, from lighting fires in the morning to having a warming pan in the bed at night From the dangers of a Georgian kitchen, through the complexity of washing linen to the risks of drinking unregulated tea, and the question of whether to snuff a candle Despite the similarities, Georgian domestic life had many differences to that of... more