The Hampshire Family Historian | Vol.48 No.4 | March 2022

Local Group Programmes

Contact: Alison Davis or 07806 985671 Email: ringwood@hgs-online.org.uk

Ringwood We normally meet at 7.30 p.m. on the third Wednesday of every month at Greyfriars Community

Centre, Christchurch Road, Ringwood. Visitors and new members are most welcome. We continue with Zoom, this is still very popular and gives us a chance to reach a wider audience, and most of our members prefer Zoom. (November) Pubs and Publicans Kay Lovell gave us a very interesting talk on the history of relatives and ancestors who worked in the pub trade in Southampton. (January) My family and other smugglers Roger Guttridge Roger`s interest was sparked as a school boy by his maternal grandfather William Ridout and his family stories of Roger Ridout who ran one of Dorset`s most notorious smuggling gangs. The peak period for smuggling was 1776 to 1811. In 1770 the biggest smuggling gang in Dorset was led by Isaac Gulliver, Roger Ridout and William Beale. Fiddleford village seemed to be the centre of smuggling and the mill was used to store contraband. The goods were landed on the coast and transferred to land gangs who moved it with horses and waggons to London, Bath, Bristol and even as far as Worcester. In one year, 80,000 barrels of brandy were landed on Bournemouth beach. The gangs were so large the army and navy had to be called in to help and battles took place on the beaches. Roger has done a lot of research in Dorchester record office and Kew in the days before computers. Because of all his research over many years Roger has many interesting tales to tell of the exploits of his smuggling family ancestors. A very interesting talk. Forthcoming meetings:

Female Inebriates in Victorian England

March 16th April 19th

Jane Fox

Henry Smith A most notorious, naughty, false, lying fellow, a global black sheep or a maligned character? Sue Paul

Contact: Kay Lovell Email: romsey@hgs-online.org.uk Tel: 01794 515316

Ros Boon reports: (November) Dad’s Army Fact and Fiction – Steve Roberts. Romsey Meetings normally take place on the first Monday of the month (except Bank Holidays) at Crosfield Hall, Romsey, at 7.30 p.m. Newcomers are welcome. All meetings for the foreseeable future will by Zoom.

Steve gave us a wonderful talk and did a great job in striking a balance between the facts and the fiction; the true stories we heard were real eye openers. Dad’s Army, or the Home Guard,

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