The Hampshire Family Historian | Vol.49 No.1 | June 2022

Local Group Programmes

Contact: Fiona Ranger, 56 Fishery Lane, Hayling Island Tel: 07747 580217 Email: Portsmouth@hgs-online.org.uk

Portsmouth

Meetings are normally held on the first Monday of each month (except January and August Bank Holidays) at 7 p.m. for 7.30 p.m. in the Baptist Church Hall, Havant Road, Cosham. (January)

(February) Overcoming ‘brick-walls’ in family history research – Chris Broom. 60 members including from Australia and Canada joined the meeting on Zoom. Chris explained some techniques for overcoming ‘brickwalls’ using alternative thinking. Names recorded could be confused by being heard wrongly perhaps due to strong accents, supplied by a third party, transcribed incorrectly and in some cases deliberately falsified. Similarly with place names such in Norfolk: Thurton, Thirton, Thurston, Tharston all correct but which is the place where you ancestors were? Was Leeds in Kent or Yorkshire? The use of wild cards in searches may help, if your ancestors name has several spellings are some letters the same? Depending on the site you may use. ? to indicate one letter not known or * several letters, so you might search for S???na if first and last two letters stay the same whilst the three others vary. Or P*i?? if the first is same, then differing number of letters before an i appears before two variable letters. The search may then reveal some possibilities. Sometimes a place seemingly unconnected may confuse research. If the ancestor was in an institution or hospital they may have been moved for specialist treatment so the census entry could be elsewhere or even a death recorded out of area. Another technique is if your ancestor may have been in a trade related club or society, or a hobby might have a society try the indexes for any records that have been transcribed. (The editors early ancestor was a publican which showed up in local history records, then Masons Lodge records show the date when he was made a mason, his trade as innholder and more importantly his age which was previously not known.) (March) Pubs, Inns & Taverns & their Signs – Tony Cross via Zoom

(April) Members Evening Forthcoming meetings:

Apprentices and associated records How to find the records of apprentices.

June 13th

Colin Moretti

Portsmouth's Roller Skating Past 1875-1950s Sue Shuttleworth

July 11th

August 8th No meeting in August September 12th Six of the Family of Lazarus

Lorraine Whale The story behind the newspaper headline from 135 years ago!

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