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NEWSLETTER APRIL 1999
Can you date this picture? Picture courtesy of Sue Smith. |
This is an abridged version of the Southern Region Newsletter sent to
Southern Region Members in April 1999 Issue No 3 Region Events November 1999.Visit to Newspaper Library at Colindale, N9 Introductory talk on the library plus guided tour of the departments. Year 2000. Visit to Institute of Historical Research Library |
CONTENTS :
| Editorial | National Journal | Parish Maps | Web Page | First General Meeting | FACHRS National Body | Future events, conferences and projects |
First my apologies for the delay in getting this issue to you. Due to the pressure of other commitments Christine Hayward was unable to produce this issue and has had to step down as our Newsletter Editor. I am sure you all join me in thanking Christine for producing the first two issues and wishing her and husband Keith success with their business.
I "volunteered" to produce this issue and must immediately thank Anne Leitch and Sue Smith for all their help. If you would like to take over as newsletter editor for future issues please see the article later in this issue on election of committee members.
Enthusiasm is more important than skill as we have plenty of "experts" to help you out. We also have a new programme of events and a report on what is happening nationally.
The Journal of the Family and Community Historical Research Society
Review by Anne Leitch
This is a short description of the first volume of this Journal, dated November 1998, published by Maney.The Journal consists of 96 pages, which contain an editorial, five articles, four reviews, a news section about research in the networks, (i.e. their name for local FACHRS branches - which are based on Open University areas), and details of the Society - committee members and network contacts.
The Journal, as one would expect, is carefully referenced throughout in a scholarly manner, beginning with the cover illustration entitled "The District Vaccinator - a sketch at the East-End" by Edwin Buckman, The Graphic, 1871: 324. An explanatory note sets the scene into the historical circumstances surrounding compulsory vaccination.
The editorial states that the Journal seeks to provide a "forum for detailed, down-to-earth studies of family and community informed by a wider and historical perspective" and is "designed for academic researchers, teachers and students". The five articles emphasise this attitude.
Professor Michael Drake shares four skills and approaches to research in "From old bills to sick pigs: four ways to capture community". He analysis two apparently "trivial" bills, demonstrates the testing of hypothesis, discusses the public service within a community, and urges historians to work together.
Professor Wrigley discusses work of the Cambridge Group, the myth of the "recent" arrival of the nuclear family, and separates the truth from the fiction of the industrial revolution.
Anne Cooper explores the community of Burnage near Manchester. This had no village centre, nor its own postal district, therefore Anne's article assesses whether or not such a place could be regarded as a "community".
Italians in Edinburgh form the focus of Wendy Ugolini's article. This is based on oral history - memories of the change brought about by the Second World War on these immigrants and their sense of "belonging". It was refreshing to read of this type of modern research based on views of people within living memory.
Our own school life could be mentally compared to those of 1880, when the Act of Parliament made schooling compulsory. Sarah Taylor researched the impact this had on families of Steeple Morden, Cambridgeshire, using data from school records and the census enumerator's books of 1881.
These five articles are followed by reviews of "both specific areas of studies in family and community history as well as work which explores wider historical debates". This issue reviews Geraint H Jenkins (ed.), The Welsh Language before the Industrial Revolution, Cardiff; University of Wales Press, 1997; JD Marshall The tyranny of the discrete. A discussion of the problems of local history in England, Scholar Press; Aldershot, 1997; R Perks & A Thomson (eds.) The oral history reader, Routledge: London, 1998; and finally Ruth Tinley, The Tinley-Glasier Connection. A history of tenant-farming families in Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire, published by the author , 1997.
This Journal is a superb booklet which reflects in a positive light the types of subject matters for research, and the interests shown by our local "network" members.
(To obtain a booklet order through: Subscriptions Department, Maney Publishing, Hudson Road, Leeds LS9 7DL, telephone: 0113 248 6983. Cheques to W.S. Maney & Sons Ltd. Volume 1 (one issue) £10; Volume 2 (2 issues) £21.
by Anne Leitch
The Bucks Community Action Group have a range of parish maps and are active in trying to get the whole country to create them for their own own parishes. These maps come in many formats - relief, murals, paintings, cloth, paper, to name but a few, and depict scenes from that particular parish in a variety of contexts. History is often a main underlying theme, plus wildlife, both flora and fauna, special buildings, monuments or areas of interest.
The range of maps held by the Bucks Community Action Group are shown below.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
* Aldenham & Radlett, Hertfordshire
* Aveton Gifford, Devon and one sheet of notes
* Buckland, Buckinghamshire
* Chadlington, Oxfordshire
* Charlbury, Oxfordshire and one sheet of notes
* Chearsley, Buckinghamshire
* Chideock, Dorset and one sheet of notes
* Cholsey, Oxfordshire
* Church Knowle, Dorset and one sheet of notes
* Colney Heath, Hertfordshire
* Combe Martin, Devon
* Common Ground Display x 11
* Common Ground Natures call for help
* Common Ground Tree Dressing Day
* Common Ground, rules for local distinctiveness
* Croxley Green, Hertfordshire
* Downley, Buckinghamshire x 2
* Emberton tapestry x 2 and one sheet of notes
* Fryent Country Park, Middlesex
* Garsington, Oxfordshire and one sheet of notes
* Gartmore, Scotland and one sheet of notes
* Great Marlow x one laminated, three ordinary but not for loan
* Haddenham in black and white, Buckinghamshire
* Haddenham in colour, Buckinghamshire
* Marsh Gibbon, Buckinghamshire
* Moorland, Yorkshire x 2
* Northmoor Green and Moorland and Fordgate
* Rattery, Devon
* Rural Action Parish Map x 1
* Shapwick, Somerset Printed tea-towel x 1 and one sheet
* Topsham, Devon
* Uplyme, Dorset and one sheet of notes
* West Hagbourne, Oxfordshire
* Westbury, Avon/North Somerset
* Westcott, Buckinghamshire
* Wingrave with Rowsham, Buckinghamshire
* Wymondham, Norfolk
These maps can be loaned out for displays and exhibitions by prior agreement of the Rural Officer in charge of parish maps. There are also a wide range of slides for presentations and a video of some groups that have created maps.
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This has since been followed up by a further presentation by Christine Hayward at the national conference.
If anyone would like a copy of the programme/songsheet which contains a wealth of information including some historic pictures, a map showing the location of London theatres and music and, of course, the words to all the songs featured, then contact our editor/membership secretary.
If you would like to see details of your research included, tell us about work in progress or problems encountered then contact our editor/membership secretary. (details on back cover and members interests list)
FACHRS National Body - AGM and Conference 24th April, 1999
By Anne Leitch
The programme included five "researcher's" items:-Dr Dan Weinbren, OU & co-editor of the Journal, reported on oral history.
Dr Keith Robinson of the Norwich school of Art & Design gave a talk on the "Democratic archaeology at Sedgeford" during which he showed slides of the dig revealing an Anglo-Saxon and Medieval community. Present-day villagers play a part in decision-making and feel an affinity with their past.
Dr Jean Turnbull, Lancaster University, presented the migration project of 1993-6, which she conducted with Colin Pooley.
Donald Dickson, demonstrated his enthusiasm for the use of the Internet for migration studies with his computer
Christine Hayward, accompanied by Margaret Searle, gave a vocal History of the Music Hall, joined by the audience for the choruses.
The business of the AGM was conducted briskly and professionally, led by the Chairman, Clive Leivers. Short updating reports on "Histories for the Millennium", and two of the Network branches were given, and during the breaks it was possible to browse through book stalls, explore the computers and CD ROM's, and view members' poster displays.
The day was interested, enlightening, and the superb lunch was a splendid opportunity to get to know other like-minded people from around the country.
Future events, conferences and projects
By Sue Smith
The committee of our parent society has decided to hold a conference in 2000 and are looking for ideas on a theme and venue for this event. Annual conferences are occasions when members can meet, offer papers and socialise and also provide a forum at which the distinctiveness of the society can be identified and its profile raised. Ideas being put forward as suggested themes for this conference are also possibilities for our own network (as sub-groups of the national society are now known), which could then feed into the conference in 2000 or the following years. An example of a theme which we might consider for speakers and/or papers to be presented include : -
You might be working on the history of your local pub and want to attend a conference on the drink trade and its effects. If others have similar or related interests you could jointly give presentations under an overall theme.
Examples of related headings given by FACHRS are :-
'The role of pub culture in village society' (based on a DA301 Final Project Report)
'Five generations of a family in the brewing industry' (a paper from a member of the Brewing History Society)
‘Women and temperance in nineteenth century Scotland' (a paper from an academic at Edinburgh University)
The steering group for our network has checked the list of members' interests, and, having identified several people who have listed related topics, have identified some common areas of research. These are
If you have ideas of how you would like to take these, or any other themes, forward as specific projects, or if you would like us to arrange a speaker or a workshop at which you can discuss your ideas with other members who share the same interest, just contact the Southern Region! The Southern Region has it's own web site, make sure you visit us and say hello!
Family History
Migration
World War One & Two
Women / Servants
Local History
Railway History
Copyright FACHRS 1999, 2000 This page was last updated 29 November 2005
