West Middlesex FHS Journal, Volume 38 (2020)

This page provides a summary of the articles which appeared in all four journals of 2020. You may select an article and go straight to the right page in the journal, or use the links below to browse the journal from its cover.

Monthly Talks - Ann Greene and John Seaman
Notes on the talks given at three recent meetings: Gill Thomas on One Street Studies (November); Christmas celebrations (December); Yvonne Hewett and Paul Leonard on A Brief History of York House, Twickenham (January).
West Middlesex FHS Journal 38(1) 7-13 (March 2020)

A Notorious Ancestor - and curious nineteenth century justice - Margaret Watson
Margaret's investigation into her ancestors finds her on the trail of Charles Gray. He was not with his family in 1861 as he was in the county jail, and he seems to be in permanent trouble with the law.
West Middlesex FHS Journal 38(1) 14-17 (March 2020)

Matthews Brothers of Staines - Martin Matthews
Martin examines the life of the Matthews family in Staines about the end of the 19th century, when most of the family were engaged in the Gentleman's Outfitting business. The editor also contributes on the significant public buildings in Staines.
West Middlesex FHS Journal 38(1) 18-22 (March 2020)

St. Lawrence Church, Brentford and associated graveyard and cemetery. Help needed. David Shailes & Jim Storrar
This is an appeal for help about those who were buried at St. Lawrence, which is now derelict.
West Middlesex FHS Journal 38(1) 23 (March 2020)

Help!!
Brian Page asks for feedback on the 2019 version of Family Tree Maker.
West Middlesex FHS Journal 38(1) 24 (March 2020)

Recent website updates - Roland Bostock
Webmaster Roland outlines recent additions to the website: Parish Maps, a new Church Index, a new Burial Places Index, Poor Law records, the Society's Data Privacy Policy, and 'On Joining the Committee'.
West Middlesex FHS Journal 38(1) 25-27 (March 2020)

West Middlesex Family History Matters This item includes the full text of a short document that has also been placed on the website, titled: On Being a Committee Member. There's no great mystery about it, but this piece aims to answer most of the questions that anyone considering joining the committee is likely to ask.
West Middlesex FHS Journal 38(1) 32-35 (March 2020)

Monthly Talks - Ann Greene
Notes on the talks given at a recent meeting: John Collis on I wish I had asked more questions (February). The March and April meetungs were cancelled on account of the coronavirus pandemic.
West Middlesex FHS Journal 38(2) 5-7 (June 2020)

Reckingen's Englishman or the minister's son: the story of a forgotten romantic novelist from Chiswick - James Marshall
James tells the story of an eccentric English gentleman named Percy Azleby Vincenti de Pereda Donovan, and his travels from Chiswick to The Valley of the Goms in Switzerland.
West Middlesex FHS Journal 38(2) 8-13 (June 2020)

Harry Caswill in Chiswick - Chris Caswill
Chris digs into his family's past and presents the life story of Harry Caswill, born 1891 in Chiswick, West London. Having emigrated to Canada Harry returned to England in 1914 to enlist in the Canadian Mounted Rifles. The story will continue in September's journal.
West Middlesex FHS Journal 38(2) 14-16 (June 2020)

St. John's, Hillingdon, a churchyard with surprises - Roland Bostock
Roland highlights some of the unusual graves found at St. John's, Hillingdon when reading the inscriptions there.
West Middlesex FHS Journal 38(2) 17-21 (June 2020)

Monthly Talks - Roland Bostock
Notes on the talks given at recent meetings: Janet Few on Sons of the Soil: Tracing your Agricultural Labouring Ancestors (July). This was our first online talk from a virtual meeting after the meetings scheduled for March, April, May and June had been cancelled due to coronavirus rectrictions.
West Middlesex FHS Journal 38(3) 10-11 (September 2020)

George Horton Wood 1911-1990 - April Wood Ashton
April gives an account of the life of her uncle George Horton Wood.
West Middlesex FHS Journal 38(3) 12-13 (September 2020)

Making our data work for us - Roland Bostock
This article was written for the March issue of the Family History Federations' Member Society Newsletter. It provides an account of the various data that the Society has submitted to Find My Past over the last 17 years, and shows how much revenue each type of data earns for us.
West Middlesex FHS Journal 38(3) 14-17 (September 2020)

Harry Caswill in Chiswick (Part 2) - Chris Caswill
Chris continues the story of Harry Caswill and his family, with focus on the war years. Harry died in 1944 aged 52 years.
West Middlesex FHS Journal 38(3) 18-21 (September 2020)

A Pinch of Salt? - Patricia Williamson
Patricia investigates her great grandfather, reputed to appear in a novel as 'Old Will, the gardener', and she finds the reference - to Good Will, the gamekeeper. .
West Middlesex FHS Journal 38(3) 22-23 (September 2020)

Lady Jane Coke, Anna Maria Draycott and Lord Pomfret - John Seaman
John unravels the story behind a statement in the Bath Chronicle of January 1761 that the body of Lady Jane Coke was taken to be buried in the family vault at Sunbury.
West Middlesex FHS Journal 38(3) 23-24 (September 2020)

The Strangest Pub Name in the World??
Hillingdon Library helps to identify the pub - called "Who'd Have Thought It?".
West Middlesex FHS Journal 38(3) 26 (September 2020)

Be sure your sin will find you out - Muriel Sprott
Among her ancestors Muriel finds the birth certificate for one Edwin Vivian Hann, with father's name not given. Muriel tells how she found the father's name.
West Middlesex FHS Journal 38(3) 27 (September 2020)

Help!
Seeking the address of Joan Alison Barraclough
West Middlesex FHS Journal 38(4) 3 (December 2020)

Annual General Meeting
Minutes of the AGM covering the year 2019 held on 15th October 2020 using Zoom.
West Middlesex FHS Journal 38(4) 4-8 (December 2020)

Monthly Talks Summaries - Yvonne Masson, Ann Greene, Roland Bostock
Notes on the talks given at recent meetings: Kirsty Gray on Some very silly occupations (August); Mia Bennett on What Did They Do? (September); Kirsty Gray on Burials and Burial Places (October).
West Middlesex FHS Journal 38(4) 9-16 (December 2020)

We Will Remember Them - Maggie Coleman
Maggie gives an account of the war service of Harold Frank Upton, named on the Isleworth War Memorial, and of her efforts to have his name included on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website.
West Middlesex FHS Journal 38(4) 17-18 (December 2020)

Serendipity ...... - Ann Greene
More delvings into the lives of soldiers mentioned on the Isleworth War Memorial.
West Middlesex FHS Journal 38(4) 19 (December 2020)

ASK AGRA: Family History Question Time Podcast Project
Detail of the program of Podcasts now being run by AGRA.
West Middlesex FHS Journal 38(4) 20 (December 2020)

A Difficult Brass - Roland Bostock
Roland describes how a memorial inscription inscribed in Latin in 1421 on brass was cleverly interpreted and translated by Yvonne Masson.
West Middlesex FHS Journal 38(4) 21-22 (December 2020)

My DNA Experience: so far - Yvonne Masson
Yvonne gives an account of how she was able to follow up on some leads given to her by taking a DNA test with Ancestry.
West Middlesex FHS Journal 38(4) 23-25 (December 2020)

Albert Franklin's Final Resting Place - Roland Bostock
An unusual account of looking for a gravestone in one churchyard only to find that the deceased had been re-interred elsewhere.
West Middlesex FHS Journal 38(4) 26 (December 2020)

Recent Website Updates - Roland Bostock
What it says on the tin.
West Middlesex FHS Journal 38(4) 29-30 (December 2020)

We're all Zoomed - Yvonne Masson
Yvonne reviews how we are all getting used to using Zoom, and provides feedback on the Society's first experience as an exhibitor at the Federation's recent virtual event called the Really Useful Family History Show.
West Middlesex FHS Journal 38(4) 31-32 (December 2020)




Society news

Notice Board

The Notice Board was last updated on 28th January 2024.

Next Meeting

Our next meeting is on Thursday 18th April 2024. The focus of the meeting will be a talk by Ann Larkham titled Dating and Identifying Family History Photographs. Ann will be speaking on Zoom. Members may be remote or at St. John's.

Next Fair

Our next family history fair is the Family History Show - London at Kempton Park Racecourse on Saturday 5th October 2024.


Previous news


Recent updates

22-March-2024

New image (and tip) of the month.

22-March-2024

The memorial inscriptions of St. Mary, Hanwell are added..

9-March-2024

Digitised journals now go back to 1982, all fully indexed.

8-March-2024

The Last Accounts page has been updated to show the Society's signed 2023 accounts.

8-March-2024

The Society's Safeguarding Policy has been updated.

8-March-2024

Committee minutes for January 2024 added to Members Area.

26-February-2024

Digitised journals now go back to 1983, all fully indexed.


Previous updates


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