Cheshire Ancestor December 2014

84 Pages·2014·1.96 MB·English

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The Family History Society of Cheshire
www.fhsc.org.uk
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Location of Groups
(see inside cover for contact details)
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The Journal of the
Family History Society of Cheshire
MOBBERLEY RESEARCH CENTRE
Rajar Building, Town Lane,
Mobberley, WA16 7ER
Tel: [phone]
The Rajar Building is situated
on the corner of Town Lane
(A5085) and Ilford Way. The
entrance is at the front of the
building on Town Lane.
Free access to findmypast
Ancestryand The Genealogist.
Parish registers on film,
national probate index,
extensive library and much
more. Large tree printing,
fiche/film and A3 scanning In this edition
available –please enquire.
Oliver’s Story A Dip into Church Court Records DNA and the
Non-members admitted by prior booking only, with proof of identity
Grandmother Conundrum Revisited Herbert Massey Diary
required, or they may join on arrival
Extracts The Little Mayor of Chester Macclesfield Cemetery and
Admission charges apply. Closed on bank holidays. Parking available.
the Great War Net That Serf and more...
Opening hours: Monday-Friday 10.00am-4.00pm
Please refer to website www.fhsc.org.uk for holiday closure dates.
Volume 45 December 2014 Issue No.2
CHESHIRE ANCESTORprinted by: Deanprint Ltd., Cheadle Heath Works, Stockport SK3 0PR
ISSN 1460-0277
OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY GROUP LEADERS
CHAIRMAN CHESHIREBMD & UKBMD MEMBERS’ INTERESTS ALSAGER GROUP COMPUTER GROUP NORTHWICH GROUP
Paul Simpson, Ian Hartas, Chris Hughes, Peter Rugman, Geoff Johnson, Helen Green,
14 Jubilee Gardens, [email protected] The Anchorage, 157 Sandbach Road North Garth Nook, Well Lane, 17 Green Lane,
Nantwich CW5 7BS 105 Marine Drive,
Alsager, Little Budworth, Wincham,
Tel:[phone] MOBBERLEY RESEARCH Rhos-on-Sea,
Cheshire ST7 2AX. Tarporley CW6 9DA Northwich CW9 6EF
[email protected] CENTRE REPRESENATIVE Colwyn Bay,
Tel: [phone] Tel: [phone]. Tel: [phone].
Alan E Jones, Conwy LL28 4HU
HONORARY SECRETARY 7 Beaufort Close, Tel: [phone] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
Howard Martin, Alderley Edge SK9 7HU [email protected]
2 Roxburgh Close, Tel: [phone] BEBINGTON GROUP CONGLETON GROUP RUNCORN GROUP
Macclesfield SK10 3QE [email protected] ELECTRONIC PROJECTS Bob Wright, David Smetham, Linda Finnigan,
01625 613310 Peter Davenport, 9 Lough Green, Little Trees, 10 Ashbourne Avenue,
[email protected] PUBLICITY OFFICER Glenside, Bebington, Gawsworth Rd, Runcorn WA7 4XY
Peter Johnson, One Oak Lane,
Wirral CH63 9NH Gawsworth, Tel: [phone].
HONORARY TREASURER 57 Helston Close, Wilmslow SK9 2BL
Victoria Doran Brookvale, Tel: [phone] Tel: [phone]. Macclesfield SK11 9RA [email protected]
9 Birkett Road Runcorn WA7 6AA [email protected] [email protected] Tel: [phone].
West Kirby Tel: [phone] [email protected] TAMESIDE GROUP
Wirral [email protected] RESEARCH ADVISER BIRKENHEAD GROUP Gay Oliver,
CH48 5HT Richard Corbett, Janet Cooper, CREWE GROUP 26 Woodville Drive,
Tel :[phone] LIBRARIAN 113 Saughall Road, 62 Hinderton Rd, Margaret Spate, Stalybridge SK15 3EA
[email protected] Joan Irving, Chester CH1 5ET Crewe Group, Tel: [phone].
Birkenhead,
62 Orme Crescent, Tel: [phone] c/o Crewe Library, [email protected]
HONORARY EDITOR Macclesfield SK10 2HS [email protected] Wirral CH41 9AE Prince Albert Street,
Jean Laidlaw, Tel: [phone] Tel: [phone]. Crewe, CW1 2DH, TARPORLEY GROUP
47 Sycamore Crescent, [email protected] WEBMASTER [email protected] [email protected] Jan Craig,
Macclesfield SK11 8LW Alan Bennett, 10 Dunns Lane,
[email protected] JOURNAL DISTRIBUTION 8 Barford Dr, Lowton, BRAMHALL GROUP
John Lord, Warrington WA3 1DD Ian Bickley, MACCLESFIELD GROUP Ashton Hayes,
BOOK SALES & 17 Rowan Drive, Tel: [phone] Lumb Cottage, Rosie Rowley, Chester CH3 8BU
OUTSIDE EVENTS Cheadle Hulme, [email protected] 21 Lavenham Close, Tel: [phone].
David Johnson, Cheadle, SK8 7DU Lumb Lane, Tytherington, [email protected]
91 Stretford House, Tel: [phone] PROJECTS - Bramhall, Macclesfield SK10 2TS
Chapel Lane, Stretford, [email protected] ADMINISTRATOR Stockport SK7 2BA [email protected] WALLASEY GROUP
Manchester M32 9AY Lesley Smetham, Tel: [phone]. Irene Birch,
MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS
Tel: [phone] Little Trees, [email protected] MIDDLESEX GROUP 9 Arundel Close,
& GIFT AID
[email protected] Gawsworth Road, David Arnold, Pensby,
Maurice Stokes,
Gawsworth, CHESTER GROUP 150 The Ridgeway, Wirral CH61 8TB
19 North Drive,
CD & FICHE SALES & High Legh, Macclesfield SK11 9RA David Guyton, North Harrow, HA2 7DD Tel: [phone].
FICHE LOAN SERVICE Knutsford, WA16 6LX Tel: [phone] Springfield, Tel: [phone]. [email protected]
Len Davenport,
Tel: [phone] 22 Lache Lane, [email protected]
10 Daleswood Avenue,
[email protected] Chester CH4 7LR WEST WIRRAL GROUP
Whitefield,
Tel: [phone]. NANTWICH GROUP Rod Caird,
Manchester M45 7WP
[email protected] MEMBERSHIP ENROLMENT [email protected] David Higham, 15, Neale Drive,
Sue McNulty 1, Heywoods Ridge Greasby,
59 Cedarway
Audlem, Wirral, CH49 1SL
Bollington
CW3 0EF Tel: [phone]
Macclesfield
Tel: [phone] [email protected]
SK10 5NR
(new members only) [email protected]
[email protected]
Cheshire
AnCestor
Registered Charity: 515168 Society website: www.fhsc.org.uk
Contents
AGM Reports 2 Cheshire Registers Post 1910 41
Family History Websites 15 Herbert Massey - Diary Extracts 43
Book Reviews 17 The Little Mayor of Chester 46
Help Wanted and Offered 20 Macclesfield Cemetery and the 50
Oliver’s Story - 1887 - 1918 23 Great War
A Dip into Church Court Records 32 That Sewing Machine! 51
Certificate Exchange 33 Net That Serf 54
DNA and the Grandmother 36 Group Events 66
Conundrum Revisited Membership 75
Cover picture:
Chester Town Hall was built in 1865-9 and opened on 15 October 1869 by
HRH The Prince of Wales. Designed by William Henry Lynn, it is a Victorian
reinterpretation of the 13th century Cloth Hall at Ypres in Belgium.
See article on page 46.
Cheshire AnCestor is published in March, June, September and December (see last page).
The opinions expressed in this journal are those of individual authors and do not necessarily
represent the views of either the editor or the Society.
All advertisements are commercial and not indicative of any endorsement by the Society.
No part of this journal may be reproduced in any form whatsoever without the
prior written permission of the editor and, where applicable, named authors.
The Society accepts no responsibility for any loss suffered directly or indirectly by any reader or
purchaser as a result of any advertisement or notice published in this Journal.
Please send items for possible publication to the editor: by post or email.
All items should include name & membership number or postal address of submitter.
Our society was founded in 1969—
one of the first family history societies
Cheshire AnCestor 1 December 2014
Editorial
by Jean Laidlaw
First may I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a
happy and healthy New Year with lots of successful
family history researching.
I hope you found the last issue interesting and thought-
provoking. Many people worked very hard to produce
articles about various aspects of the First World War and
they are all to be congratulated, especially our competition entrants. Over the
next few issues I will include the articles which could not be included because
of space constraints.
In this issue we have the article from the second prize winner in the competition
to commemorate the centenary of the First World War, an interesting article by
Peter Deakin continuing his quest for the truth about hisgrandmother Florence
Ethel LEESON and how DNA has helped, Net That Serfis back together with
all the other regular features. There is also a list of some baptism, marriage
and burial records available at Mobberley, but not online. Why not come and
see what else we have at Mobberley. The volunteers will help you find resources.
I am always pleased to receive articles and short pieces for the journal and of
course always welcome new ideas. As I keep saying the journal is only as
interesting as you the members make it. I’m sure we all have one article, even
a short one, in us!
Chairman’s Annual Report
The 45thFamily History Society of Cheshire AGM. by Paul Simpson
First of all I would like to thank Gay Oliver and the Tameside group for
organising this event. It was nice to meet those of you who attended.
Once again this has been a year of austerity which has had an effect on leisure
activity for many people. Maurice Stokes tells me membership is down again
this year with fewer membership renewals; other societies are suffering too
but if anything we are faring better than most.
On innovation in the coming year will be a digital version of Cheshire
Cheshire AnCestor 2 December 2014
AnCestor. This will also be available on the new website once it is updated.
Members will be able to opt to receive either a digital version or the normal
print copy.
As I mentioned this time last year a full review of subscription charges was
needed and this has now taken place. The proposal put before the AGM, and
accepted by the members present, was to retain the membership fee for UK
members of £13, if members opt to receive a digital copy of Cheshire AnCestor,
and to increase the subscription to £18 to include a printed copy of Cheshire
AnCestor. Overseas members will pay £13 membership and receive a digital
copy of Cheshire AnCestor, a special arrangement can be entered into if a
printed copy is required. Family membership will be £2 per subscriber more
than the corresponding single membership. The initial joining fee will be
discontinued and all back copies of Cheshire AnCestorfor new members will
be sent digitally. The subscription rate will be reviewed in 2016 and any
changes will be advised to the membership at the AGM in 2016 for
implementation in 2017/2018. The change is the first in 5 years and is valid for
2 years. The increase reflects the enormous rise in both printing and postage
costs. The costs of room hire and speakers has also risen significantly in this
time but I feel this is still very good value.
Alan Bennett and Gay Oliver have been working on an update to our website
and this is progressing well. It will feature many new and improved items.
Cheshire Archives and Local Studies have recently published the results of a
user survey concerning their relocation. The choices included Ellesmere Port,
Crewe, Winsford, Northwich and Chester. The report includes some very
strongly worded comments from historical groups but it is showing the
preferred locations to be either Chester or Northwich with Winsford a
possibility, but it has poor transport links. The results of the Relocation
Consultation 2014 are available on the Cheshire Archives and Local Studies
website.
Finally I would like to thank on your behalf all the volunteers that keep our
society running so well from the volunteers at Mobberley and Crewe research
centres, the committee, the membership and events teams and of course the
group leaders and their teams for the tireless task of arranging your monthly
meetings. Special thanks go to Lyn McCulloch who is retiring from her active
role in the society after many years of dedicated volunteering.
One last special mention is to our editor Jean Laidlaw who has the hardest task
of all in creating the Cheshire AnCestoreach quarter and rounding us all up
to provide our reports on time. More content – from all members - is always
welcome.
Cheshire AnCestor 3 December 2014
Honorary Treasurer’s Annual Report
by Victoria Doran
The consolidated accounts for the year ending 30 June 2014 show a net deficit
for the year of £204, a substantial reduction from the corresponding figure for
the previous year.
However, it was noted last year that £2,763 of the deficit was accounted for by
a change to the way that we are now dealing with membership subscriptions.
In the past, they have appeared in the year when the money was received. Now
they are accounted for in the membership year. So there was a one-off
adjustment at the end of the 2013 financial year. A further £3,150 had been
written off from our stocks of CDs and fiche and this did turn out to be a
‘one-off’ as expected. Taking these 2 factors into account the ‘real’ deficit for
the year ending 2013 was £4,413.
The deficit for all the 16 groups combined has improved this year to £2 from
£2,199, and the ‘real’ deficit for the central funds has decreased from £2,214 to
£202. Note that the groups collectively really lost £6,400, the amount they
received from the central funds as group allocation. There are wide variations
between the groups.
During the last year I have been working with Carol Drummond (who actually
does the bookkeeping) to rationalise and increase the number of headings in
the Chart of Accounts (the ‘buckets’ we use to allocate the money around) so
that it is easier to see from where income is derived and expenses incurred.
There is now a more detailed breakdown of expenditure for 2014 available than
appears in the year end accounts.
As a result of this, it should be noted that the Genfair income is now zero.
Genfair is in fact just a payment method, and its gross receipts have now been
redistributed correctly to membership, books, CDs and fiche, with the
associated costs now appearing under ‘Membership expenses’ and ‘Direct
expenses – books/CDs/fiche’. Note that Genfair receives 5 per cent of each
membership subscription and 12 per cent of each item sold. Most Genfair
income is membership.
On the income side, we have now invested £60,000 in 1 year bonds with the
Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), which this year has yielded £315 and next
year will yield about £700. Book and fiche sales were somewhat higher, as was
the Mobberley Research Centre income. Real membership income (and
therefore Gift Aid) was less as membership continues to decline.
On the expenditure side, the magazine printing and postage costs appear to
Cheshire AnCestor 4 December 2014
have been the wrong way round at 2013 year end (2012 figures were printing
£9,487, postage £5,854). It still costs very close to £6.00 to print and post 4
Cheshire AnCestors per year to a UK member, but this will rise as postage
and printing rates increase. Also we receive very favourable printing and
postage rates for the quantities we currently have, and we may lose these
benefits as membership falls.
It has only proved possible to slightly reduce the amount we spend on asset
insurance. This is now mainly for the library books held at Mobberley and
Crewe. The Committee agreed that in future we will ‘self insure’ any assets
held by groups, that is, any losses will be reimbursed from central funds. There
must also be a possibility that the Federation (FFHS) will have to increase their
subscription which includes liability insurance cover.
The increase in membership expenses is partly due to the transfer of costs from
Genfair, but mainly due to increased postage costs for new members being sent
back copies of Cheshire AnCestor. Following another committee decision,
these costs will reduce next year, as in future all back copies of Cheshire
AnCestorfor new members will be sent electronically.
The fair at Ellesmere Port only just broke even, and the committee has decided
not to hold a fair in 2015.
Website expenses were significant, due to work on developing a new website
by Alan Bennett, and because Alan belatedly claimed some costs from 2013
that he had paid himself. We have paid some costs for up to 4 years ahead,
and I do not expect this level of expense next year.
Although we broke even this year, projections of future income and
expenditure are not promising. As for most other family history societies,
membership is declining, whilst costs are increasing. In the not too distant past,
book, CD and fiche sales provided a substantial proportion of income, but
nowadays their combined net income is only around £1600, and declining. As
most Cheshire data is now available online on Find My Past, and books are
readily available on such as Amazon, this is not likely to improve again. Also
fairs are no longer likely to provide significant net income, and attendance at
Mobberley Research Centre is not encouraging.
We still have liquid central assets of over £85,000, but on certain projections
these could disappear in a very few years.
The full set of independently examined accountsis available by request to the
Treasurer.
Finally I would like to thank Carol Drummond for all her very willing help in
revising the chart of accounts and for her continued support, and our
accountants Heywood Shepherd for their work on behalf of the Society.
Cheshire AnCestor 5 December 2014
Cheshire AnCestor 6 December 2014
Honorary Secretary’s Annual Report
by David Smetham
Thank you to Gay Oliver and the Tameside Group for hosting this event.
For the past year Doreen Holtermann and I have been sharing the Secretary
tasks supported by Howard Martin. Howard offered his services as Secretary
and was co-opted at the January 2014 committee meeting. Howard is standing
for election but was not able to be with us as he is away on holiday. Thank you
to Doreen Holtermann for preparing and submitting the report to the Charities
Commission. I have represented Cheshire at the Federation of Family History
Society AGM and GM and also at the North West Group of Family History
Society meetings.
I would like to thank Howard Martin for taking notes at the committee
meetings and delivering the minutes. Howard has been getting up to speed
on the Secretary duties through the last 9 months. Our committee meetings
have been held at Rajar. As always we are very grateful for the wonderful
cakes that accompany our teas and coffees at the break, courtesy of Pat Eastup,
Aileen Thompson and others.
Membership of FHSC stays relatively strong at 2824 members (2999 members
total in 2013) at the end of the last subscription year. Thanks to our
Membership officers, Maurice Stokes and Sue McNulty for all their work with
members. We were expecting a fall in membership for the last subscription
year, the fall was a 5.8 per cent reduction in membership and this is in line with
trends for most of the large family history societies in England and Wales.
We run 16 groups and a Computer Group across Cheshire and also a Middlesex
Group. Our thanks go to the group leaders and their committees for all their
work in delivering value to our members. We are currently exploring the
possibility of a new group at Mobberley. We continue to operate two
research facilities, one at Mobberley and one in Crew. Thanks to Alan Jones,
Joan Irving and the team at Mobberley; and to Margaret Spate and her team at
Crewe. We continue to produce an excellent journal four times a year with
thanks to Jean Laidlaw and to Geoff Johnson for Net that Serf. For its
distribution thanks go to John Lord. Despite our website undergoing
revitalisation, it remains an example of what can be achieved and Alan Bennett
and Gay Oliver are to be congratulated for its quality. Gay continues to push
for more value for members via the website; the result is impressive and
Cheshire AnCestor 7 December 2014
continues to become a focus for our members and for the public. We continue
to complete projects and produce new CD publications thanks to Peter and Len
Davenport. We still operate a bookstall, although with limited attendance at
fairs; thanks go to David Johnson. Thanks also go to our treasurer, Victoria
Doran, supported by Carol Drummond and of course to Paul Simpson
Chairman, Richard Corbett research adviser, Chris Hughes who takes care of
members’ interests and Peter Johnson publicity . Lyn McCulloch is stepping
down as an officer at this AGM after many years working for FHSC. Many
thanks Lyn for all you have done.
Our Family History Day this year was held in May at Ellesmere Port. It was a
new venue and achieved our objective of spreading family history around the
county. Thanks go to Irene Birch in particular but also to all those who helped
on the day to make this event a success.
We were represented at Who Do You Think You Are Livein London and recently
at the Family History Fair in Stockport via the North West Group of Family
History Societies.
We have so many wonderful volunteers, too many to mention, without them
there would be no Society- thank you to you all.
Mobberley Research Centre
by Alan E Jones
In August we were pleased to have a visit from
members of the West Wirral Group. Groups are always
welcome to visit by arrangement. We would like to see
more members making use of the wide range of
research facilities available. If you have internet access
why not browse the list of Library Holdings on the So-
ciety’s website then come and delve in. Even if you do
not have internet access, just come and explore.
Twelve months ago we introduced a trial look-up service for UK members not
able to visit Mobberley. In the ten-month period since then, our volunteers
have been able to assist about 30 members with their enquiries. However, some
of the requests we receive go far beyond a simple look-up but we cannot offer
to carry out in-depth family history research. The fun is to come and do it
yourself but if you are not able to get to Mobberley we may be able to give you
a little bit of help. We have attempted to clarify the scope of this service in the
Cheshire AnCestor 8 December 2014