September 2023 Meeting: AGM followed by We’re going down the pub – an evening of ‘local’ history with Susanah Farmer
In recent years, Andy Ketley has had a project to review and update the work “The Inns & Taverns of Wisbech” by Arthur Oldham. Andy has turned Oldham’s volume into a multi-volume set, full of details about the pubs and their licensees. As well as local history, this has given a lot of genealogical information […]
July 2023 Meeting: Annual Outing Friends Meeting House, North Brink, Wisbech
Following our presentation from Chris Donald last October, we persuaded him to give us a tour of one of our local treasures, the Friends Meeting House. The Quakers (or Society of Friends) had their first Meeting House on the site in 1711. There are records of Quakers in Wisbech in the 1660s, but, until the […]
June 2023 Meeting – Sue Paul, The biography of Thomas Bowrey
Imagine you are arriving in Madras for the first time, alone, and you are 9 years old! This is how the working life of Thomas Bowery began in the East Indies. Aged 7 he had travelled to the East Indies with his stepfather (Captain Samuel Smith). His father had died in the 1666 and his […]
May 2023 Meeting: Alan Johnson Gateways to history
As Alan noted, most people have Royal blood – the issue is how far back you have to go to find it! Sons inherit, but daughters marry. The royal blood being ‘diluted’ by nobility, then gentry, then yeomen, then landowners, down to farmers. His interest had come from a link to Susanna Drury of Cowbit […]
April 2023 Meeting: Diane Calton Smith – A leper house in Wisbech
Diane Calton Smith, author and historian, loves writing about Wisbech. She said that the place is such a rich source of inspiration. Fact or fiction she puts as much research into both her ‘history’ or ‘mystery’ titles about our local area and some of the people who lived here. This gives her books an authenticity […]
March Meeting: Members’ Meeting
Our March meeting was one of our regular members’ meetings where we enjoy a less formal layout. This allows for chat and encourages discussion about our family history and memories. Members had also brought in family items to put on show, about how they save their family information. From scrapbooks to embroidery, this came in […]
February Meeting: Jonathan Farmer Researching Military History: How to find your military (WW1 army) ancestors
Jonathan gave a lavishly illustrated presentation, and crammed an amazing amount of hints, tips, advice, and guidance into the hour. Pictures can be found in volume 60 of our journal, Ag Lab Chronicles. His aim was for those starting their search with little or no information. Jonathan gave ways of narrowing down your search from […]