01935 429609
Somerset & Dorset
Family History Society

West Dorset

We are a small friendly group that usually meets at Loders Village Hall, Loders, Bridport, DT6 3SA. (It’s got free parking and the access is flat or sloping) There’s always a chance for a chat and a cup of tea and a biscuit with other members and visitors.

We meet on the second Saturday of the month in the Hall at 2pm and we’ll run a couple of zoom meetings a year. See the events list for the actual dates and details.

We often have a guest speaker with a local theme or a current issue. As many of our group don’t always have local ancestors, we also try to include talks with a wider appeal. We also run sessions with members, so they can share research, ask questions and generally talk about family and local history. Once a year, we have a workshop or exhibition so that members can bring their research.

There’s a Christmas lunch in November / December and a summer outing in July to a local attraction.

Programme

Simon Fowler and Sylvia Levi on Christmas food and drink

Date: 6th December 2024
Time: 14:00
Location: Zoom
Online | West Dorset Group

Join us as we find out what Dorset residents, rich and poor, would have eaten and drank over the Christmas period. Would they have eaten turkey and furmity? Or have drunk Smoking Bishop? And would the paupers in the workhouse have been allowed a pint of beer? All will be revealed.

Sylvia Levi is an enthusiastic food historian with a particular interest in what our ancestors baked.

Simon Fowler is a professional researcher, writer and tutor who enjoys his beer.

If you’ve already attended a zoom meeting we will have your email address on our circulation list

Otherwise, do contact Jane ([email protected]) quoting your membership number. We will then add you to our list.

Brought to you by the West Dorset Group on behalf of S&D FHS

Annual Business Meeting and members’ own stories and research

Date: 8th February 2025
Time: 14:00
Location: Loders Village Hall
West Dorset Group

We will be holding our annual Business Meeting to start. We’ll follow with your opportunity to share with other members, the highlights of your research over the last year (or so), the triumphs and failures, the new websites you’ve discovered, new contacts you’ve made, in fact anything however brief, that you like to share. It doesn’t have to be long, in fact short is good!
If you have any pictures contact Jane beforehand.

If any member would like to join any of the zoom sessions, contact Jane [email protected], and I will send you the details.

Contact

Use the form to send a message or telephone Jane on 01308 425710 . 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.”

    Whitchurch Canonicorum WWI Memorial

    Sylvia Creed-Castle organised an exhibition in March 2018 about the men listed on the Whitchurch Canonicorum WWI memorial. You can download here a list of the men with more details of their lives and deaths.

    4 SeptemberZoom meeting 2pm
    10 October‘Where the Dipping is Ripping’: the Dorset Photographs of Joseph Robert Potts – Carlos Guarita (Zoom meeting)
    14 NovemberHerrison Asylum Project’ – Jacqui Halewood (Dorset History Centre). (Zoom meeting)