Newsletter for October/November 2007
Some people seem to think I spend all my time at the computer, so I thought it might be appropriate to tell you about some of the things which have kept me very busy during the past month and which will mean the next Newsletter will not appear until the beginning of December
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Franci, who was 15 in August and who is still remarkably active, attended the Milton Keynes Agility Dog Show. He sat by the ring where they were competing for the Franci Trophy and watched several of the dogs jumping over the fences with interest. He then curled up and went to sleep, as if to say "You won't catch me doing that at my age." However he was in good form as he helped to present the trophy and expects at least one good walk a day.
We also had several opportunities to see our granddaughter Hanaa who greatly enjoyed blowing out the candles on her birthday cake, and have more visits planned
My voluntary work to get better mental health services in Hertfordshire continues. In August I became a Governor of the Hertfordshire Partnership Trust - which means changes in the committees I attend. I may also be involved in additional work when Mind in Dacorum expands become the Hertfordshire Mind Network - so that Mind services can be contracted on a countywide service in future.
However the big event was my wife's new knee. Helen has had severe mobility problems for some time and, apart from a brief return to hospital because of a minor infection, everything has gone very well. She is already far more mobile and has much less pain. However she will not be allowed to drive until cleared by the surgeon - and in the meantime I am doing all the shopping and acting as a chauffeur.
Last month I introduced a greatly revised set of pages for Watford, using a "Watford" menu and have had a number of favourable reports. As the approach clearly makes the site more friendly I have introduced two new menus.
Census: There is now a census home page with a menu which includes direct links to the main external web sites. Links from individual Answer pages have not yet been updated - this will be done during the coming month.
Books: Under Construction - there is now an A-Z menu of authors and a book home page, but the support help files need restructuring for greatest effect. This will be done during the coming month.
It is planned to introduce further menus for both help pages and the larger places, but this will be a long term project.
Several users of this site must be thanked for supplying additional illustrations. Martin provided a picture of Queens Road, Watford; Wally sent a picture of The Swan, London Colney; David sent pictures of old railway cottages for MINNS, Hitchin, 1860's; Betty provided a view of The Canal, Rickmansworth; and Jan sent pictures of her ancestors to accompany her query on MILSTED, Bernards Heath, St Albans, Early 20th Century.
I am considering making higher resolution copies of some of the old postcards and antique prints on this site available for a small donation to a mental health charity. The images would be up to 1024x768 bytes and dispatched by email on the receipt of a payment of about £2.50 to a mental health PayPal account (ie any credit or debit card). Let me know if you could be interested - as if no-one wants copies I will abandon the project.
Two external sites need a special mention. Google Maps has been improved and is now a very useful tool for tracing down where your ancestors lived - with satellite views and links to photographs on Geograph.
More sadly the UK site of ArchiveCDbooks closed for sales at the end of September. CDs were sold off at a 50% discount - and it may still be possible to get the discount by ordering via the US site. Fortunately titles will still be available from overseas - but there are likely to be a lot fewer new UK titles.
| Web Page | Change |
| NUTTER, Rickmansworth, Late 19th Century | John has been on a wild goose chase - and his problem could have been solved by checking the original census returns rather than relying on transcripts. See also Problems with finding census returns |
| Queens Road, Watford | Martin provides some additional information about the shop at 205 Queens Road, and also a photograph of the shop circa 1930, to complement the postcard showing the shop circa 1905. |
| www.hertfordshiregrapevine.co.uk | Matthew contacted me about his web site - which raises a question of policy. Of course it would be nice if this site could recommend places where people visiting Hertfordshire to research their ancestors could stay, or at least have a good meal. Unfortunately this is not practical as this in a non-commercial site and in any case the extra work involved would distract from the real purpose of this site. |
| The Swan, London Colney |
 Wally has provided
a picture and some information about the fate of
this public house in recent years. |
| Preston | Philip has drawn my attention to an excellent web site on the village - which should be visited by anyone whose ancestors come from the area.. |
| MINNS, Hitchin, 1860's | David is able to provide an update as he lives in one of the station cottages, and he has sent some photographs. Jacqui has provided an update covering earlier censuses. |
| St Albans | Kathleen has drawn my attention to a web site by Gary Houston which includes photographs of the St Albans area. |
| Reuben SMITH, Nettleden, circa 1810 | Rebecca's ancestor came from Nettleden - where there are problems of knowing whether information will be in Buckinghamshire or Hertfordshire records. I suggest the real difficulty may be that he was a non-conformist, possibly with an indirect link to the LDS church, and that there may be no surviving records of his birth/baptism. |
| Pound Field, St Michaels, St Albans, 19th Century | Kathleen could not find Pound Field on modern maps and my reply shows how the descriptions of the enumeration districts can help. It turns out that Kathleen is a cousin of David (see PECOVER, St Albans, 19th century) and also clarifies my earlier answer to DAY, St Michaels, St Albans, 19th Century. Because it demonstrates a useful tool a link has been added from Locating Census Addresses on Maps |
| WALKER, Flamstead, 19th Century | Linda has provided some exciting news of later developments, suggesting that William was the son of the unmarried Mary Walker. |
| The Canal, Rickmansworth | Betty has supplied a postcard image of the Grand Junction Canal near Rickmansworth circa 1925. |
| The Inns & Public Houses of Walkern | Carol has clarified the information about George Waldock and suggests he is related to James Culver. |
| Barbers Lodge Farm, nr Hatfield | Nigel was unable to locate this farm - and my reply includes many online links, and references to printed sources, which could help anyone trying to find where an ancestor lived . |
| CAMP, Cheshunt, late 18th century | There is no obvious baptism for John Camp (born circa 1755) but several possibilities. I provide Steve with a check list for gathering further information which could help in in his search. |
| St Christopher's School, Letchworth | Paul is researching Beatrice Ensor and is hence interested in this school. I have added relevant Wikipedia links. |
| Cemetery, Hill End Hospital, St Albans | A query about a burial from Linda, an observation from Jim, and my purchase of an old large scale map of St Albans have allowed me to show where the Asylum burial ground was aided with a Google satellite view! The opportunity has been taken to update the page Out of Sight, Out of Mind. |
| ISLES, Leavesden Asylum, 1876 | Bridget reports that there was an inquest when a former London fireman, William Isles, died in Leavesden Asylum, and I point out the difficulty in finding relevant records in Hertfordshire, although there may be some in London. |
| WILKINS, Tring, circa 1905 | Beverley asked about the orphanage Lucy Wilkins lived at. I can't really help but instead was able to locate "Hang Hill, Tring" - a tiny group of buildings on the edge of the Chilterns just over the county boundary in Buckinghamshire. |
| Callowland, Watford |
 Chris commented that the men in last month's
puzzle picture were all fishermen - one with a landing net and another
with what was probably a short fly fishing rod. However the individuals
are still not identified, |
| John BAIL, Hemel Hempstead, died 1854 | Shirley says that her ancestor was killed in a quarry accident at Hemel Hempstead. Detailed records of what happened are likely to be hard to come by - but I suggest some likely sites based on the local geology. |
| Victoria Wine, Bushey, 20th Century | Tracey is manager of a wine shop in Bushey, and I have been able to help her with a little bit of its history. |
| MILSTED, Bernards Heath, St Albans, Early 20th Century | Jan's question is really about how the Milsted family came to set up a commercial laundry at Bernards Heath at the beginning of the 20th century. I point out that trade directories provide some additional information - but end up asking more questions. |
| Ware Schools, circa 1840 & Wareside Grammar School | Anna provided information about her ancestor John Josolyne and using Google I was able to direct her to a satellite image showing Ingletts Hall, which John left to his son Thomas. |
Two
line drawings from