I Was There: Growing up in Northeast England during the Depression
Wilf Tarbet’s Great Moment is a firsthand account of life in Jarrow, North East England, growing up during the Depression in a town where there was very little work. He will share details of his grandparents’ appalling living conditions.
New member Wilf Tarbet has researched his family history over the years, and after several years away he has picked it up again. He hopes his reminiscences will put flesh on the bones of the census data.
Treasures in The Attic
Gil Croome took a family story from his childhood, used the internet to confirm it … and then a came a great moment.
Gil Croome has been interested in genealogy since he wore short pants and asked his Grandfather Croome about where the family came from. His unpaid career of trying to connect all the Croomes has now lasted longer that his paid career with the end being a one name study is not yet in sight. By training a forester but by occupation an editor, tidying up trees has come naturally.
The Sail-Maker's Palm
A tool, owned by a former merchant seaman, started as merely an object of a child’s curiosity, but subsequently connected to a distant ancestor's work, and an understanding of how it was adversely affected by the end of the Napoleonic wars.
Maureen Amey grew up in London, England and immigrated to Canada in 1977. She has been researching and writing about her family history since the 1970s. This year, she rejoined BIFHSGO after being away for a few years. Maureen is a member of the Writing Group.
Far From Home: Mission Accomplished
Twelve years ago, Diana Beaupre and Adrian Watkinson of Canterbury, England, launched Far From Home, a project to locate, record, research and visit all 3902 gravesites of Canadian Great War casualties who died and are commemorated in Great Britain. The project concluded in September 2019 with one last road trip to visit several gravesites and to place a memorial to all these Canadians in Scotland.
Glenn Wright is past-president of BIFHSGO and author of Canadians at War, 1914-1919: A Research Guide to World War One Service Records. It was a privilege for him to be involved with the Far From Home project over the years, even more so to take part in the final journey, to visit several cemeteries and be present at a very special service of remembrance to honour all those who rest "far from home".
Open to the public
