New Venue for Barking & Dagenham Branch Meetings
23/03/12 05:26
Please note, the new location for Barking & Dagenham Branch meetings is now:
St. Elisabeth's church. Corner of Hewett Rd/Wood Lane, Dagenham RM8 2XT
Bus routes: 5, 62, 145 , 364 to Martin's Corner
Rail & Tube: 62 bus passes Chadwell Heath BR Station and Becontree Tube Station (District Line)
Link to map
Link to Transport for London
Barking & Dagenham Branch Newsletter
19/02/12 05:21
The Barking & Dagenham Branch Newsletter for February 2012 is now available for downloading.
Click on the image to download:
Email Scam: Office of National Statistics
30/01/12 04:19
"Population Census: a message to everyone - act now"
There is a scam email circulating with the above subject line.
The Office of National Statistics has issued the following statement:
Email Scam
Issue date: 27 January 2012
Type: Statement
We are aware that an email entitled 'Population Census: a message to everyone - act now' is being circulated, allegedly in the name of National Statistician, Jil Matheson. This email demands individuals provide further personal information, supposedly for the Census and threatens fines for non-compliance.
This email is a scam and a hoax. It has no connection whatsoever with the National Statistician, the 2011 Census or the Office for National Statistics.
We believe the links in the e-mail could download malware to any computer where the user clicks on the links. This could put your personal data, including financial information, at risk.
Anyone receiving this, or similar emails, should delete them, not open any links and certainly not provide any information.
For more information on how to protect yourself from this type of threat, please see www.getsafeonline.org
If you wish to, please report receipt of any such suspicious emails to www.actionfraud.org.uk
Many thanks to Dick Walker for bringing this to our attention.
Barking & Dagenham Branch Newsletter
29/01/12 03:48
The Barking & Dagenham Branch Newsletter for January 2012 is now available for downloading.
Download here
Chairman's Report for 2011
24/01/12 05:21
Read our outgoing Chairman's Report for 2010/2011: Link to Chairman's Report
The Society wishes to thank Stephen Park for all his hard work and effort on our behalf over the past three and a half years. We look forward to his continued involvement in the Society, especially as a guest speaker at branch meetings.
Special thanks are also due to our retiring Treasurer, David Wright, who leaves the accounts in a healthy and streamlined state, making the job for his successor so much easier.
Carole Moon and her team claimed just over £5,000 before Christmas for 2010 and the total Gift Aid reclaimed by the Society amounts to approx £37,000. Well done Carole!
Our new Chairman, Charlie Mead, was elected by unanimous vote and we thank Charlie for stepping forward to accept the challenge.
Last but not least, thanks are also due to all the volunteers, especially to our Membership Secretary, Sandra Patchett and the Society Book Store Manager, Melissa Ford and husband Lofty, who helped in the organisation and execution of a very successful AGM.
Newham & Redbridge Newsletter January
24/01/12 05:14
The Newham and Redbridge Branch Newsletter for January is now available for downloading. Click on the image to download:
AGM 21st January 2012
10/01/12 04:44
SATURDAY 21 JANUARY 2012
Sarah Bonnell School,
Deanery Road
Stratford E15 4LP
We hope to welcome as many of you as possible to our Annual General Meeting.
Please note that voting at the AGM is restricted to one vote per membership.
The Programme
9.30 – 10.00 Doors open….registration….light refreshments will be available in the piazza.
10.00 - 10.15 Welcome by our Chairman, Stephen Park
10.15 - 11.30 Family History and the Media in the 21st Century –Dr Nick Barratt, President of the Federation of Family History Societies.
There will be time for questions at the end of the talk.
11.30 – 13.30 Free time to look round stalls and lunch break.
Selection of lunches available at a modest cost.
Other Lunchtime Attractions:
Society Bookstall, Newham Books and various stalls, displays of local interest available all day
Presentation of short films of local interest
Please check at the Front Foyer for more details when you arrive.
13.00 Registration for the AGM will start - you will need your membership number.
13.30-14.30 Annual General Meeting –The Society’s Reports and Accounts
14.30-15.00 Break: Refreshments will be available
15.00-16.15 Finding out more about your Cockney Ancestors using local authority records and other unusual sources at Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives – Malcolm Barr-Hamilton, Tower Hamlets Archives
There will be time for questions at the end of the talk.
16.30 Close and departure.
Barking & Dagenham Branch Newsletter
10/01/12 04:22
The Barking & Dagenham Branch Newsletter for December 2011 is now available for downloading.
Download here
Changes at the LMA
25/11/11 04:07
We have received the following information from the London Metropolitan Archives:
The latest time at which orders for microfilms can be placed is 5.40 p.m. (even on late nights) and it is currently not possible to advance order microfilms via LMA's on-line ordering system.
You should phone the day before and advance order microfilms up to the maximum number of advance order documents (which I believe is 15).
You can find the film reference numbers using the LMA website: when you order by phone you must quote the X---/---- film numbers and not the P/-/-/- reference.
LMA have also removed one set of parish binders (the black binders where you look up your film reference) leaving only one set.
London Family History Centre Closing for Refurbishment
01/08/11 01:19
The London Family History Centre’s South Kensington premises are due for refurbishment this autumn.
To ensure a continuity of service for their patrons they are looking at options and are in discussion with The National Archives on temporarily relocating their facility to The National Archives in Kew.
While no decision has been made, the feasibility work is at an advanced stage and an announcement will be made once an agreement is reached.
In any event, the London Family History Centre will close for refurbishment after Saturday 20 August 2011.
Please watch www.londonfhc.org for announcements.
Projects Co-ordinator
21/07/11 02:30
Linda is currently managing the project on the St Luke’s Canning Town registers and requests all volunteers who have been working on this project and either have data saved on their computers or are still in possession of any source documents to contact her.
Linda will also be looking for volunteers willing to help with future projects.
If you are interested and willing to help, please get in touch.
Click here to email Linda for further information
East London Cemetery WWI Plaques - Help Needed
08/07/11 22:44
East London Cemetery plaques commemorating servicemen killed in WW1.
The plaques are on the outside of the chapel and the crematorium.
The names on them are now illegible.
The owners of the cemetery would restore them, but only if they can find the complete list of names.
The names were listed on postcards (probably C 1919) and we are trying to find anyone who has any of these postcards.
Please contact the Society here
Make sure you receive Message Board notifications!
22/05/11 08:55
Depending on your Internet Service Supplier or your own email settings, automated email notifications from the Society's Message Board may end up in your Junk email folder.
To ensure you receive notifications to your email inbox please add the following email address to your Contacts:
Many thanks
New Books available in the Store
19/05/11 02:28
Two two new books available from the Society Store:
This book tells you how to research your East End Ancestors, available from our Society Store or at Branch Meetings.
As author Jane Cox writes in the preface, the East End of our great grandparents’ days was another world, and her fascinating and accessible guide to East End ancestry will help you find out about it.
She takes readers through the maze of courts and alleys that was the home of their ancestors, bringing to life that vibrant, polyglot society, and describing the many sources researchers can consult – archives, records, books, the internet – in order to discover the lives of individuals who lived in the area or passed through it.
Our price £12.00 + P&P (Retails at £14.99)
London is a key site for family historians. Many researchers, seeking to trace their ancestry back through the generations, will find their trail leads to London or through it.
Yet, despite the burgeoning interest in genealogy and the importance of London in so many life stories, few previous books have explored the city’s history or provided guidance on the research resources family historians can use to discover the life of a London ancestor. This is the purpose of Jonathan Oates’s invaluable handbook.
An excellent book to help trace your London Ancestors, available from our Society Store or at Branch Meetings.
Our Price £10.50 + P&P (Retails at £12.99)
Britton Family DNA, London 17th century
20/03/11 09:12
I am looking for the English ancestors of John Britton who was born in England about 1672 or 1673 and was living in Henrico County, Virginia by June, 1684.
Since the links between Henrico and London in the 17th century are strong and well documented, I believe that he was sent to Virginia from the London area, probably in the autumn or winter of 1683/4.
DNA results of seven of his descendants indicate that the family was of Anglo-Saxon, Danish Viking, or perhaps Norman stock, with a probable origin somewhere in eastern England.
Even a low-resolution match to another Britton family in England should be proof of common ancestry, because our DNA signature is so rare that we do not match anyone else of any surname within the past 750 to 1,000 years.
Elizabeth Lindsey Britton
Administrator of the Britton DNA Project
You can email me here
Since the links between Henrico and London in the 17th century are strong and well documented, I believe that he was sent to Virginia from the London area, probably in the autumn or winter of 1683/4.
DNA results of seven of his descendants indicate that the family was of Anglo-Saxon, Danish Viking, or perhaps Norman stock, with a probable origin somewhere in eastern England.
Even a low-resolution match to another Britton family in England should be proof of common ancestry, because our DNA signature is so rare that we do not match anyone else of any surname within the past 750 to 1,000 years.
Elizabeth Lindsey Britton
Administrator of the Britton DNA Project
You can email me here
In Memoriam
03/02/11 02:05
It is with great sadness that I have to tell you that Deborah Earrey died at lunchtime yesterday in St Francis Hospice in Havering atte Bower. As you will all know she had been suffering from cancer for several years. She was 50 years old.
Deborah's membership number was No.86 and with her parents Jack and Pauline at No.87 shows they were members since our earliest years.
Whilst Deborah had work committments that often prevented her from attending meetings, she was busy behind the scenes working as Strays Coordinator and later closely with Jacqui Crompton on projects (1994-1996) and assisted Pauline with the National Burials Index.
Her smiley face and friendship over the years will be sorely missed.
No doubt I am sure all our thoughts and prayers are with Jack and Pauline.
The funeral will held be on Monday 14th Feb at 12 noon at South West Essex Crematorium. Corbets Tey, Upminster.
Stephen Park
Chairman
AGM Awards
03/02/11 01:49
The following awards were made at the Society's AGM on 22nd January 2011 at the Old Town Hall, Stratford, East London:
Jean Vagg, member 193, former General Secretary (twice) and latterly first Secretary to the Newham and Redbridge Branch, was awarded an Honorary Life Membership.
Vera Bangs, member 2457, was made an Honorary Vice President of the Society.
Enid Thorogood, who for over 20 years has produced the familia "Yellow insert" in cockney ancestor detailing new members and their surnames of interest, was awarded an Honorary Life Membership.
Jo Fitz-Henry of Nottingham (who salvaged and donated to the Society the Calendar Volumes of the National Probate Indexes (c1861-1941) which were sold to Ancestry.com and are now available on that website - a truly valuable source for family historians) was also awarded an Honorary Life Membership.
Janet Seward kindly offered to undertake the role of Society General Secretary.
View the Gallery for images of the day
Jean Vagg, member 193, former General Secretary (twice) and latterly first Secretary to the Newham and Redbridge Branch, was awarded an Honorary Life Membership.
Vera Bangs, member 2457, was made an Honorary Vice President of the Society.
Enid Thorogood, who for over 20 years has produced the familia "Yellow insert" in cockney ancestor detailing new members and their surnames of interest, was awarded an Honorary Life Membership.
Jo Fitz-Henry of Nottingham (who salvaged and donated to the Society the Calendar Volumes of the National Probate Indexes (c1861-1941) which were sold to Ancestry.com and are now available on that website - a truly valuable source for family historians) was also awarded an Honorary Life Membership.
Janet Seward kindly offered to undertake the role of Society General Secretary.
View the Gallery for images of the day
AGM and Society Accounts
22/01/11 01:00
The file is 2.4mb in size and requires Adobe Reader (free).
Download the Accounts
Download Adobe Reader
These accounts have not been formally adopted by the membership and are provided for information prior to the AGM to be held on Saturday 22nd January 2011.
Nominations are invited for the posts of Chairman, General Secretary and Treasurer. Nomination forms are available from the General Secretary (address inside the front cover of the Cockney Ancestor).
Members are advised that motions for discussion are now closed.
Attendance at the AGM is restricted to Society members only and you will need your membership number to register.
There will be the usual raffle with many exciting prizes including free subscriptions from:
Timetable:
09.30 - 10:00 Doors open/Registration/Refreshments
10.00 - 10:15 Welcome by our Chairman, Stephen Park
10.15 - 11:15 Talk: “London Over the Border” – John Marriott, Professor of History, University of East London
11.15 - 11.45 Refreshment Break
11.45 - 12.15 Presentation by Jean Jeffrey, Communication Officer, London Borough of Newham
12.15 - 14.00 Lunch
14.00 - 15.00 Annual General Meeting, the Society’s Reports and Accounts
15:00 - 15:30 Refreshment Break
15:30 - 16.30 Talk: "The Secret East End" by Diane Burstein, Tour Guide and Broadcaster.
16.30 Close and departure