Genealogy Blog
Welcome to the EFO Genealogy Blog...an eclectic mix of news, views, information, random thoughts, advice, tips, wishes and periodic rants together with anything else we feel to be important for those who are researching within the counties of England!
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The British Library’s Newspaper Moves strategy
Posted: 21/09/11
This information has been transcribed from a news listing provided by the Federation of Family History Societies to which we subscribe.
Thursday 13 October, 10.30 – 12.00, St Pancras.
In 2013 the British Library’s hard copy newspaper collections are scheduled to move from the current Colindale site to a planned Newspaper Storage Building at Boston Spa, West Yorkshire. Future access to the newspaper collection will be via microfilm and digitised copies in a dedicated Newspaper Reading Room at St Pancras.
Join us for a workshop to provide you with an update on the progress made by the Newspaper Moves strategy, along with a preview of the service currently being developed for St Pancras.
As a regular user of the newspaper collections, this session will give you the opportunity to give us feedback on the strategy, to help us manage the transition as smoothly as possible and help users adapt to access arrangements in the future.
If you would like to attend this session please RSVP to natasha.green@bl.uk
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A Life Without Work
Posted: 19/10/10
The following has recently been issued by Richard Taylor, Archives & Local History Development Manager, Communities & Neighbourhoods, City of York Council, 18 Back Swinegate, York, YO1 8ZD.
BBC2 will be transmitting a two part documentary under the above title at 9:00pm on Fridays 22nd October and 29th October. The documentary marks the centenary of Seebohm Rowntree's 1910 study of unemployment in York.
This, like his better-known 1901 study on poverty, directly influenced the social policies of the 1910-1914 Liberal/Labour coalition government and laid the foundations for the Welfare State. Given the current debate over the size of the State, the transmission date in the week of the Comprehensive Spending Review announcement is not a coincidence - the programme is made by BBC Current Affairs.
The first programme, which is the more archive-heavy, concentrates on the BBC's attempts to trace the descendants of the unemployed York families featured in the original survey. The second programme features the stories of people looking for work in York 100 years on, drawing parallels and contrasts with the situation 100 years before.
The BBC originally made contact with our friends at the York & District Family History Society for assistance in tracking down the families' descendants, as it turned out that Rowntree had used pseudonyms in the published study. This led onto the BBC using the city archives, in particular the Medical Officer of Health archives, to track down one of the families through the child vaccination and slum clearance archives we hold.
The unexpected outcome was that one of the families concerned turned out to be the great-grandparents of York actor Mark Addy ("The Full Monty", "Robin Hood", and those ubiquitous Tesco ads with Fay Ripley). So, "Who Do You Think You Are" in reverse - they started with a real historical story and uncovered a celebrity as a result!
It was obvious to us that the BBC were surprised by the amount of information about the lives of ordinary people in a Victorian/Edwardian city archive, and as a result they did a lot more filming and interviewing in the archives than originally intended. How much of this makes it through to the transmitted version we shall see!
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Somerset Heritage Centre
Posted: 01/10/10
As mentioned in a previous Blog posting (3 May 2010), as of 27 September 2010 the new Somerset Heritage Centre on the edge of Taunton is now open. Full details of this state-of-the-art archive facility can be found at:
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Borthwick Institute, York
Posted: 22/09/10
Sex, Violence and Religion in the Northern Province, 1300-1858
To celebrate the launch of the York Cause Papers Database, The Borthwick Institute for Archives is pleased to present a one day conference bringing together leading academics working on church court records. Topics will include the use of the cause papers in local and family history, ecclesiastical lawyers, gender and memory, storytelling in the courts, tithes, penance and marriage. There will also be an introduction to the database.
The conference is to be held on Saturday 13 November 2010 at The Berrick Saul Building, University of York.
The price for the day is £18.00 which includes refreshments and lunch. Full details can be found at http://www.york.ac.uk/media/library/documents/borthwick/projects/Conference_Flyer.pdf
The York Cause Papers, records of the cases held in the church courts of the Diocese of York between 1300 and 1858, are the most extensive records of their type in the United Kingdom. For the first time detailed records of over 13,000 individual court cases covering Yorkshire and beyond are available through an on-line catalogue, for further details http://www.york.ac.uk/library/borthwick/about-us/news/
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Tower Hamlets Local History & Archives
Posted: 14/09/10
Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives is currently offering a reduced service in preparation for forthcoming building works. They are open 9am - 5pm on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. They recommend that you make an appointment if you wish to use material on microfilm or microfiche
Temporary closure and reduced service
They will be closing the service temporarily from week commencing Monday 27 September 2010. They will take the opportunity of the disruption caused by the building works to rearrange and refresh the reading room, creating more space and better conditions for users and staff. The last day they will be open to the public prior to the closure is Saturday 25 September 2010.
Until then, they are currently offering a reduced service as follows:
Thursdays 9am - 5pm
Fridays 9am -5pm
Saturdays 9am - 5pmFollowing building works, the library will re-open at the end of November 2010. During the closure they will offer a limited remote enquiry service via phone and email.
Contact localhistory@towerhamlets.gov.uk or call 020 7364 1290.