01935 429609
Somerset & Dorset
Family History Society
Family History Society
The Blackmore Vale Group is re-commencing meetings at The Exchange, Old Market Hill, Sturminster Newton, DT10 1FH on the third Wednesday evening of every month. The extended break has led many people to start researching their family tree and group members are happy to offer advice and share experiences.
There is, also, a fantastic line-up of interesting speakers presenting on a variety of topics.
The group meets on the 3rd Wednesday of the month in The Bow Room of The Exchange, Sturminster Newton. The presentations start at 7.30pm.
All are welcome at the meetings. To help defray costs we ask £4 per meeting.
To enter into service on an estate was often the only option available to working class women. Valerie has been investigating the Kingston Lacy estate wages ledger which presents a snapshot of a rural workforce and fascinating case-studies of working women.
Speaker: Valerie Brenton
The talk will discuss recent radiocarbon dating and DNA studies of later Iron age burials from Dorset, which have overturned the believed wisdom regarding the structure of Iron Age society in Dorset. The work has proven Iron Age Durotrigian society to be a female line (matrilocal) society and that the complex societal organisation revealed by what was considered the single event Maiden Castle ‘war cemetery’ was nothing to do with the Roman invasion.
Speaker: Paul Cheetham
The group meets on the 3rd Wednesday of every month
The Bow Room, The Exchange, Sturminster Newton at 7.30pm
Hot and cold drinks available at the bar!
All are welcome at meetings. Entry £4.
Use the form to send a message, or telephone Felicity Harrison at 01258 472942. Please use the form for any queries or comments about the programme.
While Group members have a good deal of local knowledge, they are not usually in a position to carry out documentary research. If you need research done, please see “How We Can Help.”
| January | No Meeting |
| 12 February (2) | Mixing DNA results with a paper trail—Penny Walters |
| 11 March (1) | Posted in the Past—Helen Baggott |
| 8 April (2) | A day in a Georgian house or ‘Nothing like home for real comfort’ – Gordon Le Pard |
| 13 May (1) | From blacksmith to online retailer – 100 years in the life of a Sturminster family business— Graham Hart and Jon Dart from Harts of Stur. |
| 10 June (2) | Family history on tablets of stone—John Damon |
| 8 July (1) | A message to the children—Jim Williams |
| August | Outing—more details later |
| 9 September (2) | Mad Earl Henry and other despicable relations – Sue Burne |
| 14 October (1) | The second oldest business in Sturminster—Rob Cowley |
| 11 November (2) | Where’s that to, then? – Adrian Bailey |
| 9 December (1) | My life as an African-American GI’s son—John Stockley |