This website will be useful for those with ancestors in the South West of England. As the name suggests the archive is of images of this part of England. I suspect that most genealogists will head for the Galleries where you can chose from Local Photographers, Local Business, Topical or Quick Links. I chose “Local Photographers” where you can chose from either William Gilhen or Gordon Sparks and then from a county or “other” section and then work your way through the images available for viewing online. Once you have found something of interest then it is possible to purchase a copy. A postcard size copy is £1.50 plus postage.
Archive for the ‘Local History’ Category
South West Image Bank
January 31st, 2012 
Linda Elliott Poor Law Records Online
January 6th, 2012 Linda Elliott 
I have written before about the Southwell, Nottinghamshire Poor Law records that have been available online via The National Archives website. However having revisited the site I see that there are quite a few other Poor Law records from places around the country.
The website has this list….
- Axminster Poor Law Union, Devon and Dorset, 1834- 1848
- Basford Poor Law Union, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, 1834- 1845
- Berwick upon Tweed Poor Law Union, Northumberland, 1834- 1852
- Bishop’s Stortford Poor Law, Union Hertfordshire and Essex, 1834- 1852
- Blything Poor Law Union, Suffolk, 1834-1840
- Bromsgrove Poor Law Union, Worcestershire, 1834-1842
- Cardiff Poor Law Union, Glamorganshire, 1834- 1853
- Clutton Poor Law Union, Somerset, 1834- 1853
- Keighley Poor Law Union, Yorkshire West Riding, 1834- 1855
- Kidderminster Poor Law Union, Worcestershire, 1834- 1849
- Liverpool Vestry (technically not a Poor Law Union, it retained vestry status throughout the 19th century), 1834- 1856
- Llanfyllin Poor Law Union, Montgomeryshire and Denbighshire, 1834-1854
- Mansfield Poor Law Union, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, 1834- 1849
- Mitford and Launditch Poor Law Union, Norfolk, 1834- 1849
- Newcastle under Lyme Poor Law Union, Staffordshire, 1834- 1856
- Newport Pagnell Poor Law Union, Buckinghamshire, 1834- 1855
- Reeth Poor Law Union, Yorkshire North Riding, 1834- 1871
- Rye Poor Law Union, East Sussex and Kent, 1834- 1843
- Southampton, Hampshire (technically not a Poor Law Union but an earlier incorporation), 1834- 1858
- Southwell, Nottinghamshire, 1834- 1871
- Truro Poor Law Union, Cornwall, 1834- 1849
- Tynemouth Poor Law Union, Northumberland, 1834- 1855
- Wolstanton and Burslem Poor Law Union, Staffordshire, 1834- 1851
Many of my ancestors knew all about the Poor Law having been on the receiving end of it, sadly however none of my parishes are covered, but you might be lucky !!
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/workhouse.asp
Aborfield, Berkshire Local History
January 2nd, 2012 Linda Elliott 
An website which will be of interest to all those with ancestors from the Aborfield area of Berkshire. It has a parish history timeline, a page about the families who have lived in the village for generations, information about properties in the village, memories of the village by long time residents and much more. Always good to find a website specialising in “your” village.
http://www.arborfieldhistory.org.uk/index.htm
Aborfield, Berkshire, Local History, Family History, Genealogy
Posted in Local History, Where Did They Live? 
Tags: Aborfield, Berkshire, Family History, Genealogy, Local History 
No Comments »PRONI launches a YouTube channel
December 18th, 2011 Linda Elliott 
It’s all happening at once, first I learn about The Family History Show vodcast (see previous posting) and then I hear that the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) are launching a YouTube channel.
The channel is offering a series of lectures which are being presented in conjunction with the Open University Ireland. The first lecture is entitled “What is Irish Local History?” and the second is “Poverty”.
Sounds interesting and having them on You Tube is great for us who can’t get to PRONI to hear the original talks. Dr Janice Holmes has started a blog to accompany the lecture series.
The sound is a little tinny, but hey nothing to complain about when we have the luxury of top speakers talking to us in the comfort of our own homes!!
Fire Insurance
September 29th, 2011 Linda Elliott 
When I lived in Fair Oak in Hampshire one of the old houses had a Fire Mark over the door in the shape of a sun. In the 18th century this was to show that the owners of the house had insured with the Sun Fire Office. I think the idea was that if it caught fire the company’s private fire brigade would arrive and put the fire out. I assume that if there wasn’t a Fire Mark for that particular company on the building they watched it burn!!
Anyway there is an index to some of these insurance policies online. You need to go to the advanced Search on A2A at The National Archives website
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/advanced-search.aspx?tab=1
and select the Guildhall Library from the repository list and then enter a “name” and/or “address” and the word “insured” into the all these words field.
I put in Pottinger insured and got 6 hits. One of which was this
Insured: William Pottinger, 27 Queen Street, Cheapside, tailor and draper. Other property or occupiers: Parish of Great Pornder, Essex (Law and others); Parish of Bloxham, Oxon (baker)
So enough to give you some idea if this applies to one of your ancestors.
There is a good leaflet about these records at http://217.154.230.218/NR/rdonlyres/E62730BB-5BFF-4ED7-8B7D-C7F4777A7805/0/48FIREINSURANCERECORDS.pdf
and an excellent article in the October 2011 edition of Your Family History magazine.
East Devon Tithe Maps
September 26th, 2011 Linda Elliott 
East Devon comprises 29 parishes and the Tithe Maps for these parishes have been digitised and are now freely available online. The site notes that the map for Rousdown is not at the Devon Record Office and the Sidford map is yet to be scanned.
A nice, straight forward easy to use to website with just one click to get you to the actual map.
http://www.eastdevonaonb.org.uk/dro/index.html
Posted in Local History, Maps, Take It Further, Where Did They Live? Tags: East Devon, Family History, Genealogy, Tithe Maps No Comments »Jersey Wikipedia
September 25th, 2011 Linda Elliott So that those with family in Jersey 
don’t feel neglected by the previous post the excellent http://www.guernsey-society.org.uk website has a Wikipedia for Jersey.
Posted in Getting Started, Local History, Take It Further Tags: Channel Islands, Family History, Genealogy, Jersey, Wikipedia No Comments »Guernsey Wikipedia
September 25th, 2011 Linda Elliott 
What an excellent site http://www.guernsey-society.org.uk is for genealogists with Guernsey connections. There is a separate Family History Section and also a Wikipedia called Donkipedia. Lots to look at on this site; A – Z of Guernsey families with family trees, articles, old photos, articles and selected books available to purchase or online.
Take a look!
Church Photographs
August 28th, 2011 Linda Elliott 
Have just found this rather useful website, it contains photos of churches and chapels, some are old postcards which give an idea of what the churches looked like before the modern day encroached on them.
Take a look!
Posted in Church Records, Local History, Take It Further, Where Did They Live? Tags: Chapels, Churches, Family History, Genealogy, Photographs No Comments »Selborne Hampshire Riots
August 22nd, 2011 Linda Elliott 
If you have ancestors who were involved in the Swing Riots of 1830 then you will be interested in this website. John Owen Smith gives good background history of the riots that occurred in Selborne, Hampshire.
On the front page of this site there are some good links to history websites for this area of Hampshire.
http://www.johnowensmith.co.uk/riot/index.htm
