The Hampshire Family Historian | Vol.49 No.2 | September 2022

Local Group Programmes

particularly admired Mrs Marshall who with other suffragettes camped out in caravans on Putney Heath to avoid the 1911 Census. But not so with ‘the gentleman gypsy’, Dr Stables who had built a huge luxury caravan called a land yacht to travel the length of the country with his servants. Jane/Alice punctuated her monologue with poems and letters. An interesting and entertaining evening. (June) Death records: bringing your ancestors to life – Jane Fox We are grateful to Jane for standing in as a replacement when the programmed speaker was unable to give their talk due to illness. She started with a quote: "In family history, death isn't the end, it's just part of the story". The underlying theme of Jane’s talk was that death records can help bring life to your ancestor. Many of the sources used in Jane’s talk are well known - death certificates, inquest/coroners' reports, wills/probate, newspapers, burial records/monumental inscriptions, accidents, war deaths - but she looked at them in a different light. One example was an inquest into an unfortunate man who died in a traffic accident. From this we learnt that he had given up his trade due to ill health but was now a nightwatchman, was a widower, lived with his daughter and son-in-law and rode his bike to and from work. Old medical terms used on death certificates can be searched on the internet and she also recommended Simon Wills’ book "How Our Ancestors Died". Other tips suggested by Jane were: don’t be satisfied with one newspaper account of an event, see if others had a different view; look at both sides of a gravestone; when using will/probate indexes note they use the date the will was proved and not the date of death (the difference could be several years); are your ancestors wearing mourning clothes in photographs? Jane also noted that wills were made by labourers as well as the well-off and are not always about money. One example was a will written by a man in a debtors’ prison. Wills for instance can tell you who the favourite relation was, where the testator would like to be buried (did it have memories?) and whether they supported a given cause or charity. Before 1858 the value of the property determined which of the three church courts proved the will. After 1858 the state became the authority for wills. Until 1870 married women could only make wills with their husband’s consent. Everyone seemed to enjoy the talk and went away with food for thought. Forthcoming Meetings: All meetings at 7:30pm

Members’ Evening

September 13th October 11th November 8th December 13th

Vagrants, Paupers … and the Welfare State Royal Hampshire Regiment 1702-1992

Jan Smith Ian Taylor

Christmas Social

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