Mid-February Quickies

Help Desk

Churches

Over the last couple of weeks I have been busier that ever with emails flying in all directions and I have been spending more time than I should on local and family history - except, of course, that I enjoy it and it helps keep me mentally active. In the January progress report I mentioned I had started to sort out my large collection of post cards to help plan future picture updates and the main activity in the last two weeks has been to launch the new church page and the first associated indexes. This will help me to ensure that all suitable views (and in some cases interior pictures) of parish churches are accessible at an appropriate high resolution. Despite this I have also found time for even more posts on my other blog Trapped by the Box.

So here are some of the short items which didn't justify an individual blog post:

Tring

Mikki and I have both added to the page containing details of the From Rags to Riches story but there is still a problem in identifying Rose Louisa Eley. It is possible she is Rosina Sarah Lewis Ely and if she was a prostitute may have deliberately claimed to be younger than she was, and given an incorrect father's name and place of birth. If anyone can find any evidence that clarifies the situation it would be helpful.

Military

Meg has commented on a picture of young soldiers, undoubtedly in connection with the First World War, who had been photographed at the Australian Studios, Watford.  She says: These soldiers are dressed in the typical AIF uniforms of WW1 - they would have a bandana supporting a belt which held their ammunition when at war. I have no idea who they are. Unfortunately we still not know who they are.

I will be attending a Herts at War meeting at County Hall, Hertford, at the end of the month, and will be posting details of how visitors to this site can help. Other First World War activities relate to pictures of the soldiers who ended up in Napsbury and the school site Hemel at War school site which currently concentrates on the Second World War but which is planning to include more material on the previous conflict.

St Michael's, Watford.

The February issue of The Sword, the parish magazine of St Michael's and All Angel's Church, Watford, includes an article on the history of the church in the early years of the 20th century, illustrated by post card images from this web site.

Post Card by Harradance of Ware

Many shops sold post cards with their name and address on "as publishers." In many cases they will have been approached by a post card printer and selected the design from a pattern book. Kate commented that the post cards of the Dunmow Flitch Factory have the same frame as cards sold by Harradance of Ware. Presumably they were printed by the same printer and have a similar date, possibly around 1908.

Markyate

Geraldine tells me that the Markyate Local History Society as a new URL http://www.markyatehistory.org.uk/

Cycling

Following a request from John I am in the process of adding new material to the "Cycling" page.

More about Little Berkhampstead

Place Index

Cycling

A major upgrade of the information on Little Berkhampstead (or is it Little Berkhamsted) with separate pages on the Church, the Monument, and the Old Manor House (which catered for cyclists in the early years of the 20th century). However I am still not had anyone asking about ancestors who lived there.

 ...

Why Cyclists stopped at Little Berkhamstead circa 1905

At the HALH Symposiun on Sport in Hertfordshire John Pearson gave an enthralling talk on "Cycling in the Edwardian Period" illustrated with a large number of pictures of bicycles and their riders. These helped to explain the way that the coming of the bicycle encouraged people to come out into the countryside around London - especially Hertfordshire, in the period prior to the First World War.

Evidence of this can often be found in early post cards such as this one of the Old Manor Farm House at Little Berkhampstead. All the cyclists touring the countryside would require refreshments - and sometimes overnight accommodation - and signs welcoming cyclists started to appear in the towns and villages of Hertfordshire. At the time there were few cars - but after the war the amount of motorised traffic increased and the signs were replaced by signs welcoming cars.