EoLFHS What's New Archive Sep 2001-Aug 2002

The Society produces it's 2nd CDROM, the Surname Index of Monumental Inscriptions and Burials of St. Andrew's, Hornchurch, Essex.

MEMBERS ONLINE & SURNAME LISTS
The new submission forms seem to have been well received with 42 existing and new members adding or amending their contact details in the last month. Additionally members have submitted 159 new surname entries in the last month. These entries have been added every couple of days within the month, as indicated by the change of date on this page HERE

Whilst these lists grew over the month it isn't possible to pick out the latest entries from your last visit. To overcome this and to show the latest additions, the Latest Members and Latest Surnames pages now display the last 30 days additions in date order with the latest at the top of the list.

MANAGING ENTRIES IN THE DATABASE
There are now over 1,000 members and over 4,500 surnames in the online lists and keeping the lists up to date is an ongoing process. This month is the last in the 2001/2002 membership year. There are still some entries in the online lists for members who ceased membership in the last 2 years. These lists will be purged after October when subscription renewals indicate which members have discontinued their membership.

MEMBERS ON LINE
A major change has been made to the method used for members submitting their email contact details and surname interests. The new method gives members the ability to enter their information and check their own submission details before they are published to the website. The details you have submitted are held in a temporary database and will be transferred in a couple of days to the main site. When your information has been transferred you will be able to check all your submitted details in the Member Profile section (linked from HERE)

Note for new members: Your email address and surnames are NOT automatically included on the website when you join the Society. Details you send as part of your application are for the purpose of including new members' in the magazine. To appear in the Online listings, you need to complete the following forms.

New Member Contact Details HERE
Select "Add My Name to Online List" and complete other boxes. Details required are: Member No., First and Last Name, email, country, county/state. Location Town is optional. When details are complete you have the opportunity to check your information and resubmit if necessary.

Existing Member Contact Details Amendment HERE
Select "Amend my Contact Details" and complete other boxes. Details required are as above.

Surname Interests HERE
Details required are: Member No., email, Surname (interest), Period, EoLFHS Town. When details are complete you have the opportunity to check your information and resubmit if necessary.

Archive CDBooks Project
If you haven't come across this project yet, Guy Etchells gives an introduction with emphasis on publications relevant to the EoLFHS area HERE

Mystery Church - can you identify this church?
Rob Hopwood from Hull asks for the help of EoLFHS members in identifying a church which could possibly be in the Societys area.

FIRST EoLFHS CDROM PUBLICATION
The Society has produced on CDROM the Burial Index for Romford (Crow Lane) Cemetery 1871-1953 listing 20,000 entries. Order form HERE

COCKNEY ANCESTOR FEATURE
An article from the Cockney Ancestor appears on the website to coincide with the delivery of your latest magazine. Dian Elvin (Member # 7905) from Sydney, Australia, has written an article 'A Grandfather's Note' featuring her Elvin ancestors. Read the full article HERE

MEMBERS & SURNAME DATABASE ENTRIES
Online membership continues to grow as we welcome our 1000th member online this month. With another 100+ surnames also added this month, the total Surnames online is now over 4,400. Can online members check their entries, particularly email addresses, as we receive undelivered mail from time to time. The onestop check page you need is the Member Profile page, linked from the Surnames page HERE Instructions on how to add, edit or remove entries are included on that page.

MEMBERS & SURNAME DATABASE ENTRIES
These new web pages have attracted over 4,000 hits since they were introduced last month. The latest entries for this month have been published and can be viewed by following the links on this main page HERE There are over 100 new surnames this month bringing the total surname list to over 4,000. 16 new members have joined the On line list this month bringing the total up to 984 which represents over 30% of the Society membership. The site as a whole is attracting over 4,000 hits each month and continues to attract more visitors when compared with previous years.

FORMER MEMBERS AND SURNAME INTEREST PAGES
All entries on these page have been deleted. The pages will remain for a month or so as they include a link to the new database section.

1 Mar 2002
To help you locate Towns in the EoLFHS area there is a new map HERE

There have been quite a few changes to the website this month and a lot of new pages for your interest.

WELCOME TO OUR NEW COCKNEY ANCESTOR EDITOR
Geoff Latham makes his own introduction.

CHANGES TO THE WEBSITE
The main changes have come about owing to the increased size of the web site and an attempt to make the navigation more user friendly and easier for members and visitors.

The links on the left side of the page, which display the same links as before, now include links about Joining the Society, Subscription information and new Help pages for New Members. Note that links are shown in Red but are no longer underlined e.g. move your mouse over Contents Page and your status bar will tell you this is a link.

The biggest change to the site is the introduction of real-time database searches for Surnames and Members.

[The remainder of this text about the new database searches has been placed on it's own web page as the information will be helpful to new members - new page HERE]

HELP FOR NEW MEMBERS
It was suggested some time ago that members who are newly on line may find it useful if some pages were constructed for them to get them started with genealogy on the internet. A couple of pages have been prepared which can be viewed HERE

MAJOR CONTRIBUTION FROM A NON MEMBER
Dina Broughton, Membership Secretary & Webmaster for the IOW Family History Society, has kindly offered her 40-page transcription of Benjamin Towndrow's Biography for us to publish on the web site. This document makes fascinating reading about Benjamin's life in and around the East of London in the 1800's. Benjamin is the great-great-uncle of Dina's husband, David Broughton.

The Society's Annual General Meeting took place on 19 Jan 2002. The Chairman's Report can be read in full HERE

A big welcome to Geoff Latham who is taking over from Joan Renton as Editor for our members' magazine, Cockney Ancestor. Thanks are due to Joan as well for her hard work and enthusiasm in putting together the magazine over the last few years.

Belated Happy New Year to all visitors and members. The Online Membership list continues to grow as does the number of surnames submitted to the site.

The main news lately has been the arrival of the 1901 Census on line, however there have been some difficulties with access due to the heavy demand made on the site.

ABBEY STREET SUNDAY SCHOOLS
David Ferdinando has completed an index to the following book:
"The History of the Abbey Street Sunday Schools, Bethnal Green is a book published in 1890 recounting its 50 year history. There are over 100 surnames of local teachers, superintendents and visiting dignitaries as well as a series of adverts from local traders included in the book. This link takes you to an index of those names and allows you to view scanned images of the book".

Richard Goring is compiling a register of Essex Related Dead of World War 2 and is willing to do lookups for researchers. Read more about Richard's project HERE

Barbara Hadon has forwarded two photographs of her grandfather's factory in Bethnal Green 1880-1910 HERE

The Publication lists have been updated as part of the annual review. Overview of the publications pages HERE

The Online Members List and the Members' Surname Lists have been tidied up with the removal of entries dated 1997 and 1998. Modified statistics reflect these changes as shown HERE

News over the past month has been dominated by the tragedy in the United States. EoLFHS Chairman, Ian Whaley, published a message of sympathy on behalf of the Society Executive Committee and Membership. A special page was created where members and visitors could record their own messages. This book was closed on 11 October 2001 but remains on the web site for viewing HERE, in memory of the victims and families.

MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN

On Behalf of the Executive Committee and all members of the East of London Family History Society I would like to pass on our condolences to everyone who has lost family or friends as a result of the atrocities, which took place at The World Trade Centre, The Pentagon and in Pennsylvania in America. Mere words are unable to express the deep shock, disbelief, and feeling of great emptiness, at what has taken place.

Our thoughts are with you at this harrowing time.

Ian Whaley (Chairman EoLFHS)

EoLFHS Condolence Book
Read the messages in support of our friends in the US

This Book closed on 11 October 2001

MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS
The Summer Edition of Cockney Ancestor should now be with you, or certainly on the way to you. Included this month is your Membership Renewal request form. You are asked to complete the form and return it with your membership fee as soon as possible to ensure continuity of membership. The next edition of Cockney Ancestor will only be sent to those who have renewed their membership.

QUICK LINKS
A Quick Links navigation bar has been included on our Home Page to help visitors (old and new) to quickly access the Society's main information i.e. What's New (this page), the Surnames List page, How to Join the Society and Search the Site.