Discover Your Ancestors

Issue 127

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A warm welcome to the November issue of Discover Your Ancestors Periodical, your monthly digital mix of family and social history – once again in our new web-friendly format ideal for screens of all sizes!

In this month's hotpot of historical interest (a warming metaphor as the autumn sets in), we celebrate this year's 150th anniversary of the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich (although its history stretches back through previous incarnations as a royal palace and then a hospital for seamen). Nell Darby leads us towards the festive season with a cheery exploration of the glee club movement. Denise Bates delves into the joys of local history, and how written accounts can inform our genealogical research too – and there's more besides.

Don't forget to start making plans for next year's Family History Shows too – we now have events in three different parts of England, plus the usual annual online one. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy this issue…

Andrew Chapman, Editor.

Articles

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The Royal Navy’s elite training college

The distinctive twin domes of the Old Royal Naval College are instantly recognisable to anyone with a passing acquaintance with Greenwich and its maritime heritage. For more than a century, these magnificent baroque structures lay at the heart of one of the world’s leading training centres for naval officers, widely recognised for its excellence and attracting students not just from Britain but from China, Japan, Russia and former British colonies.

Teasing out the tithes

Recently the Welsh tithes lists, collated between 1839 and 1842, have been published on the TheGenealogist, and they have been very helpful in helping me advance my family history. Now able to link these lists to information from the 1841 census on the same site, I am a happy man!

Local focus

With so many modern tools now at the fingertips of the family historian, it is easy to overlook older printed sources.

A moment of glee

In 1787, a group of men met at the Newcastle Coffee House at St Mary-at-Hill in the City of London. They were not there simply to drink coffee, read a newspaper or discuss the latest gossip with each other – instead, they wanted to sing. This was the first meeting of what would be the first glee club in Britain: a choir group, essentially, but where the songs ('glees') chosen were short ones designed to be performed by a trio or quartet of singers.

Hitting the trail

Biggles Hits the Trail was the title given to one of the very early books in the series about the dashing aviator, first published in the 1930s and written by the author Capt. W.E. Johns. Using what records we can explore online, we shall hit a trail of our own and track the prolific writer from his birth in 1893 in Bengeo, Hertford through his First World War entry into the world of flying, to his eventual death in Richmond upon Thames in 1968 aged 75.

Pivotal battles: Evesham (1265)

Evesham was one of our more significant battles, the decisive moment of the 2nd Barons’ War.

News for November 2023

Welsh tithe collection completed online, plus new quarter sessions records

Books for November 2023

New books about Victorian Ireland, Isambard Kingdom Brunel and crime on the canals

Additional Information

Other Formats

You can buy a printed version of the annual Discover Your Ancestors bookazine directly from the publishers, please see www.discoveryourancestors.co.uk and click on ‘Order print copies’ at the bottom.

Editorial Office

Discover Your Ancestors Publishing,

PO BOX 163,

Shaftesbury,

SP7 7BA

E: editor@discoveryourancestors.co.uk

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Discover Your Ancestors – The Family History Show

The Family History Show, York!

Saturday 22nd June 2024
10:00 –16:00 (GMT)

Put your research questions to an expert, watch a talk, speak to a local society, archive or genealogical supplier.

Free talks all day, held in a large lecture hall.
Free Experts on hand to help with your queries.
Many family history societies, archives and companies will be attending from all over the country.

Special Offer! Buy tickets for £8.00 (£12.00 on the day)

Buy your tickets early and get two for the price of one!

Find Out More Purchase Tickets

Future Events

Unable to make the next show? We also have shows planned for the following locations:

Discover Your Ancestors Periodical is published by Discover Your Ancestors Publishing, UK. All rights in the material belong to Discover Your Ancestors Publishing and may not be reproduced, whether in whole or in part, without their prior written consent. The publisher makes every effort to ensure the magazine's contents are correct. All articles are copyright© of Discover Your Ancestors Publishing and unauthorised reproduction is forbidden. Please refer to full Terms and Conditions at www.discoveryourancestors.co.uk. The editors and publishers of this publication give no warranties, guarantees or assurances and make no representations regarding any goods or services advertised.