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The Greenwood Tree – March 2023

Posted on 26th February 2023

The theme of the March issue of The Greenwood Tree was Setting Sail and members responded with tales of their seafaring ancestors and stories of those who took the long voyages to the New World, Australia and New Zealand Editor Paul Radford previews the edition which will be mailed to members at the end of February and which SDFHS members can already view or download from the Members’ Area of the Society’s website There are several unusual features in the Setting Sail edition,... more

From Shaftesbury to New Zealand Part 2

Posted on 18th June 2020

Mrs Ngaire Greger shares part two of the story of one of her great grandfathers After the two Brickell boys - John and Robert - left the armed constabulary, in about 1869, they lived in the Napier area with their wives and children On 14 May 1874 John, then aged 27, died while crossing a swollen river on his horse He was a roading contractor He left a wife and three daughters Robert Bennett Brickell After leaving the Armed Constabulary Robert farmed He and his family lived in... more

From Shaftesbury to Auckland New Zealand Part 1

Posted on 13th May 2020

Mrs Ngaire Greger has recently joined the Society from her home in New Zealand, and here she shares part one of a story about one of her Great Grandfathers Part two is to follow On 21 September 1863 the ship Annie Wilson arrived in Auckland, New Zealand On board were two young brothers One was John Bennett Brickell aged 16, and the other was Robert Bennett Brickell aged 15 They had come from Shaftesbury, Dorset, England My Grandmother said that Robert had been educated for the Bank... more

Family History Day & AGM

Posted on 21st September 2014

Each year the SDFHS Family History Day, which includes our AGM, is organised by one of our ten local groups and this year it was the turn of the South Dorset Group who hosted the event at St Aldhelm's Church Centre in Weymouth The venue was excellent, very easy to find and with good facilities, and all the hard work done by the Group in preparation paid off, resulting in a very well-organised and interesting day In addition to the talks, there were several stalls (including our own SDFHS... more

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