The Hampshire Family Historian | Vol.49 No.3 | December 2022

Local Group Programmes

Contact: Jane Painter Email: fareham@hgs-online.org.uk

Fareham Evening Group Meetings are normally held from 7.15 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. on the fourth Thursday of each month at the Wallington Village Hall, Broadcut, Fareham.

No reports received Forthcoming Meetings:

No meeting

December 22nd

What Makes a Marriage? – Rules & Records – Antony Marr – via Zoom

January 26th

Contact: Email: fleetandfarnborough @hgs-online.org.uk

The group normally meets at the United Reform Church Hall, Kings Rd, Fleet GU51 3AF second Thursday of every month except August at 7.30pm. Fleet & Farnborough

Reports by Carol Gomm (July) Members’ Evening Ordinary People do Extraordinary Things

Four very diverse talks started with two from WW2. Lesley’s 1st cousin 3 times removed was George Rance. Having been beaten at school by a teacher because he was left-handed and couldn’t do copperplate handwriting (so badly that he remained in pain for the rest of his life), he began his working life as a servant, then as a market gardener, while during WW1 he was in the Rifle Brigade. After being encouraged to take the civil service exam he found a career that would eventually lead him to the sole charge of secretly fitting out the Cabinet War Rooms and responsibility for the smooth running of them during WW2. Described as a man of vast talent and enterprise, he was the key player behind the scenes and his relationship with Winston Churchill was such that he would not hesitate to say if something was out of order. For those interested – ‘This Secret Place’ by James Stewart-Gordon covers George’s role during these momentous times. The next talk by Martin was a story of courage and compassion. His paternal aunt Hendrika (Riek) and husband Repco Wieringa lived in The Hague during the war where in 1943 they fostered Elvisha Prins, a Jewish girl aged 18 months. Her parents were at a safe house in Amsterdam but this was not suitable for Elvisha so she was fostered away from the city to avoid the risk of detection. They called her Hetty, with the story that she was orphaned during the air raid on Rotterdam in 1940 (though in reality she was too young). She

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