WW1 Book Launch: A Village Remembers (Bushey)

BOOK LAUNCH

Sunday 12 July

2 - 5 pm

Bushey Festival Garden Party

Bushey Rose Garden

Admission free

(In case of bad weather - Bushey Museum, Rudolph Road)

Buy a signed copy

£11.95

All proceeds to Bushey Museum

New Book - A History of Preston in Hertfordshire

Philip Wray is in the process of getting this book printed for distribution mid February. He says that advanced orders have already exceeded the planned print run - but he will be increasing the number at the last moment.  The are extensive details of the book online and if you want a copy you should contact Philip ASAP. Philip is a highly competent local historian, and the Preston web site is one of the best historical village web sites in Hertfordshire. If you have any ancestors in the village I am sure that it will be excellent value for money at a price not exceeding £15 (plus post and packing).

A History of Preston in Hertfordshire

Book: De Haviland and Hatfield

De Haviland & Hatfield

Books

If you are interested in the development of the aviation industry in Hertfordshire you will be interested in a new book which is to be published shortly. It is De Haviland and Hatfield and the author John Clifford found my web site useful when researching the book. It includes the kind acknowledgement "Chris Reynolds of Hertfordshire-Genealogy.co.uk provided invaluable material, especially relating to Victorian Hatfield."

• 
  
• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Fonthill Media (31 Jan. 2015)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1781553602
• ISBN-13: 978-1781553602
• Product Dimensions: 15 x 2.2 x 21 cm

"Bushey during the Great War" Exhibition opens.

Bushey

During the Great War

A Village Remembers

at The Bushey Academy

4th-24th August

More information

The exhibition was opened at 11 am on 4th August by the

Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire, the Countess of Verulam.

A musical interlude was provided by the 

Tonic Choir

The centre of the exhibition was dominated by a series of about 40 excellent display panels, such as the example shown here.

To one side there were tables and further panels relating tho those who did not come back - with about half a dozen volumes of biographies of individual servicemen, with pictures were available.

Another series of panels showed document from the war - including photocopies of a large number of letters sent from the front to the family in Bushey.

There were two display with original artifacts on display at the opening which I suspect, for security reasons will not be in the full exhibition.

One was an imanagitive project relating to the war put together by pupils at St Margaret's School.

The other, accompanied by two soldiers in contemporary uniforms, was a display of weapons and other kit of the type used at the Front. 

There was also a book on sale "Bushey During the Great War 1914-1918" published by the Bushey Museum Trust (ISBN 978-0-9511145-4-4) which I will be reviewing later this month.

There are also a number of interesting sounding events to accompany the exhibition during August.

The Trustees of Bushey Museum, and their enthusiastic helpers need to be congratulated on such a well planned and comprehensive exhibition - and they have set a high standard for other towns and villages in Hertfordshire to follow.

The "Missing" Lunatics of Harpenden Hall

Harpenden

Two years ago I launched an Xmas "Competition" to identify the mentally ill patients who were resident in Harpenden Hall in the 1851-1901 censuses. The results were very satisfactory but there were five patients, listed only by initials, who could not identified.

At the HALH meeting last Saturday I discovered that Gary Moyle, of HALS, has contributed a chapter  Madhouses of Hertfordshire 1735-1903 in the newly published book A Caring County? Social Welfare in Hertfordshire from 1600 [review planned]. Gary's chapter includes a list of the known patients at Harpenden Hall and this has allowed me to put names to the initials of these five "missing" patients. They were: 

From the 1851 census

H P = Henry Pigott [1850-1853 - died of epilepsy] Unmarried, 35, Formerly Stock Brokers Clerk, St Albans, Herts

From the 1891 Census

S, E  =  Eliza Slack [1890-1891] Widow, 56, Widow Of Solicitor

C, E  =  Ellen Mary Crump [1888-1893] Widow, 31, Daughter Of Solicitor, London, Primrose Hill Rd

B, E E A  =  Ellen Annette Eliza Bertlin [1889-1891] Widow, 27, Daughter Of Merchants Widow, Hampstead, London

A, R C  =  Rosa Clemence Ashwell  [1890-1896] Widow, 50, Daughter Of Clergyman C Of E, Wales

The dates are the dates the patient was in the asylum, and it turns out that some of the initials were mis-transcribed. If you can expand on any of the above, linking them to their families, etc, I can include the additional information when I update the existing list of "census" patients next month.

Full Employment for Everyone - but nobody listened!

On May 20, 1854 the above advertisement appeared in the Bucks Herald newspaper, advertising a book "Pauperism Abated" by Thomas Tearle, and published by Ebenezer Charles Bird, and bookseller and printer of Tring, Hertfordshire.

Unfortunately what I am sure was the solution to the problem of poverty seems to have been ignored by the disbelieving world - as I can find no other adverts for this book, or references to it, or its author. It would seem that whatever Thomas Tearle had to say has been lost for ever. ... or has it?

Does anyone know where a copy might be obtained?

Many Berkhamsted area books on sale

A few years ago all the good local second hand bookshops for miles around closed - but now they are being replaced by charity book shops - and some of them, such as the Oxfam shop in Berkhamsted, and another in St Albans are as good as some of the best of the past. This afternoon, while my wife was buying a new pair of shoes I glanced into the window of the Berkhamsted shop - and was staggered with what I saw. Every book in the window was related to Berkhamsted or neighbouring areas - and inside there were many more. I didn't count but there could well have been 80 to 100 different titles. I don't think I have seen such a display of local second hand books for sale for decades. If you live locally you may well be able to fill in some of the gaps in your own collection.

The Great Northern London Cemetery

The End of the Line by Martin C Dawes

I have posted a "draft" review page for this book and will add a contents list and review on request. This will allow me to include more books - only reviewing those that are of proven interest to visitors to this site. If you have a copy why not help others by sending me a review.

Hertfordshire Gardens on Ermine Street - by the Hertfordshire Garden Trust & Richard Bisgrove

I have posted a "draft" review page for this book and will add a contents list and review on request. This will allow me to include more books - only reviewing those that are of proven interest to visitors to this site. If you have a copy why not help others by sending me a review.

Kimpton Hoo

Books

I have just discovered this useful book online. 
(If you spot an online book on Hertfordshire I have note noted help everyone by telling me about it.)

NOBLE & SPLENDID
Scandal, Honour and Duty:
the Families of Kimpton Hoo
By Peter Hale
For The Kimpton History Group

2008

Online Copy (pdf)

Help Desk

I have also had a query from Jana about  an Elizabeth Winslow, who was the dairy maid at The Hoo (Kimpton/St Pauls Walden)  in the 1881 census. I will post details if we can find any further Hertfordshire connection.

Some Hertfordshire Books in the HathiTrust Digital Library

Herts Books

The HathiTrust Digital Library is a digital preservation repository and highly functional access platform. It provides long-term preservation and access services for public domain and in copyright content from a variety of sources. Some of the Hertfordshire books I found in full text were:

Historical Sketch of Rickmansworth and surrounding parishes, by Rev. R. Bayne, 1870

Two Lectures on the History and Antiquities of Berkhamsted, by J. W. Cobb, 1855

Topographical and Statistical Description of the County of Hertford, G. A. Cooke, 1800

The Noble Science: A Few General Ideas on Fox-hunting ... Hertfordshire, by F. P. D. Radcliffe, 1839

History of the Ancient Town of Hertford, by Lewis Turnor, 1830

A blue-coat boy's recollections of Hertford School, by G. A. Wickham, 1841

General view of the Agriculture of Hertfordshire, by Arthur Young, 1804

The Trial of John Thurtell and Joseph Hunt at Hertford, 1824

There are undoubtedly other books in full text, and an even larger number of copyright books with search facilities.

Charles Lamb and Hertfordshire

Charles Lamb in 1825

Books on
Hertfordshire

Charles Lamb, who with his sister Mary, wrote Lamb's Tales from Shakespere had many connections with Hertfordshire. The Hitchin historian, Reginald Hine, wrote an very readable book Charles Lamb and His Hertfordshire which includes plates and many line drawings - a significant number being views of Hertfordshire. I have added a sample text and a brief review of the book, and also details of Button Snap, Cherry Green, Westmill, near Buntingford, where he lived for a time.

The book was first published in 1949, and republished in 1973 - so there a plenty of secondhand copies available online at reasonable prices.

[I have used the opportunity of this review to update the pages on Westmill (including details of the farm at Wakeley) and Reginald Hine.

A Major New Publication about the Grand Junction Canal

Books

The Grand Junction Canal

The book "The Grand Junction Canal" by Ian Pettigrew and Wendy Austin has just appeared - and is a very significant document recording the history of the canal (now normally referred to as the Grand Union Canal). In addition to a detailed history of the canal it contains many old photographs, maps, and extracts from original documents and newspaper articles - together with references and footnotes. I have created my normal reference page, to help people to discover the book - but will not be writing a detailed review at the present time - because the book (340 packed pages of A4 text) is available online - and you can see what a valuable reference work it is by looking at it yourself.

Canals

When I find time to complete the canal pages on this web site, and to post even more modern photographs of the Canal and its branches in within 10 miles or so of Tring, I am sure I will be including many references to this work.

Hertfordshire Archaeology - Volumes 1-6

Books

Hertfordshire Archaeology has been published at intervals since 1966, and contains articles and reports of research in Hertfordshire. The majority of papers are not directly relevant to the genealogy aspects of this web site because they deal with excavations and architectural research covering the prehistoric to medieval periods. However if you are interested in local history, or want to know more about the longer term history of the place where your ancestors lived, there could be something to interest to you.

In connection with my recent post Hertfordshire (and other) Books on ebay, I have just prepared content lists for Volumes 1-6 for the ebay adverts for some duplicate copies - and felt it would be useful to provide a list of articles and notes on this site.

A Bundle of Books about Harpenden

I have just posted a page which includes details of a large number of books about Harpenden. In most cases there is a review page for the books - but in many cases the review has not yet been written. This works on a "priority" system. If you are interested enough to tell me you want a review I will write it, looking particularly at whatever aspect of Harpenden you are most interested in (assuming you tell me who or what you are interested in). This reduces my work load, as I never have to write a review for books that no one wants to know about. So the more people who are not interested in the history of the places where their ancestors came from the less work I have to do! 

			Please note that  this list relates to  books I have easy access to, and is not  a comprehensive list of books on Harpenden

If you do want a review just click on the book - and if there is no review tell me or write a comment below, and I will add the book to the "Review in 2013" list.

If you have a copy of the book and would like to write a review that will also be very welcome.

You can also suggest towns where you would like a similar list of books.

Community Life in Hertfordshire - 2000

This book was produced to record what was happening, relevant to history, across Hertfordshire in 2000. It was written by the local recorders of the Hertfordshire Association of Local History and there are reports on over 60 places (listed on main page, together with the introductory section) and many of these include a brief history, and accounts of local organisations or events.

I am considering a short review describing, as examples, two or three of the reports - and if you add a comment saying which places you are interested in I will consider mentioning them in the review.

Major Hertfordshire History Books Online

Familysearch is busy beta-testing their online library and I note that the following relating books to Hertfordshire are currently available:

Clutterbuck: "The history and antiquities of the county of Hertford, Vol. 1 : compiled from the best printed authorities and original records ..." and "The history and antiquities of the county of Hertford, Vol. 3 : compiled from the best printed authorities and original records …"

Cussans: "History of Hertfordshire, ... Vol. 1. History of the hundreds of Braughing, Edwinstree, and Odsey", Vol. 2. History of the hundreds of Hitchin, Hertford, and Broadwater" and Vol. 3. History of the hundreds of Dacoarum and Cashio"

The Victoria history of the county of Hertford

Middlesex and Hertfordshire notes and queries, Vol. 1, Vol. 2 & Vol. 4

The Herts genealogist and antiquary by William Brigg

 Hertfordshire parish registers, marriages. V. 1, V. 2 & V. 3, The parish registers of Aldenham, Hertfordshire, The parish registers of St. Albans Abbey, 1558-1689, etc

Memorials of old Hertfordshire, The book of Shenley, Monken Hadley, Hemel Hempstead through the ages, etc, etc

Redbourn Memories - The Football Club and much more

I have just added a copy of Redbourn Memories by Geoff Web to my reference library. Like his other book The Character of Redbourn it contains a large number of photographs including people - with names. For instance the Redbourn Football Team is pictured in 1899, 1906/7, c 1909, c 1910, 1912/13, c 1920, 1923/24, c 1925, 1930/31, 1935, 1937, c 1948, c 1950 and 1955. There are many other group pbotographs - of the schools and the boys football team, and also of Redbourn Cricket Club (earliest picture c 1890).

Redbourn Football Club - 1899

Back Row: ? Carke, ? Belshaw, J. Holtham, --, Walter Hyde, Sam Skillman, Perce Jarman, ? Arnold, John Sansom, ? Rose

Middle row: ? Halsey, T. Squires, Tom Jarman, F. Pratt

Front row: C. Purdey, Dick Quick

While this is (and its companion books) are excellent sources for pictures showing named inhabitants of Redbourn in the first half ot the 20th century there is, unfortunately no index!