Save Worcestershire Archives petition

The Friends of Worcestershire Archives has launched a petition to try to save its archive service (http://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/info/20019/archives_and_research). Here is the blurnb from the petition page:

Our award winning Archive and Archaeology Service which provides educational, cultural, local and family history resources is under attack! Worcestershire County Council intends to cut the Service's budget allocation by almost 60%.

Such a swingeing cut will destroy the Archive Service as it now exists!

This will:

• affect children's education
• delay or curtail planning applications and appeals
• damage research opportunities for local and family historians
• hinder outstanding students' research projects

There is the potential for our Archive Service to win further national awards, receive more bursaries and make more money to finance its vital work. Let's give our Archive Staff a chance.

Please sign this petition. Published by The Friends of Worcestershire Archives

To sign the petition, please visit https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/save-the-worcestershire-archives.

And good luck to the campaign.

Chris

My next Scottish Research Online course starts March 11th 2019 - see www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102. Details of my genealogical research service are available at www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk. For my Scottish and Irish themed books, visit https://britishgenes.blogspot.com/p/my-books.html. Further news published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Northamptonshire Archives drops charging plan

Northamptonshire Archives and Heritage Service has released a welcome statement on its plans to charge fees at the archive:

04 August 2017

For Immediate Release

STATEMENT: NORTHAMPTONSHIRE ARCHIVES & HERITAGE SERVICE

Northamptonshire County Council has reviewed its decision to change opening hours at its archives and heritage service after listening to the views of its regular users and supporters.

The archives service will now be open for free access on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, 9am to 1pm and 2pm to 5pm and the first Saturday in each month, 9am to 1pm.

In light of financial pressures and reducing visitor numbers, there will be a review of the service ahead of the next financial year as part of the budget setting process and this will include a full consultation around any proposed changes.

In 2016, the service was visited by a total of 3,500 researchers, a drop of 50 per cent compared with 2006.
County council cabinet member for public protection, strategic infrastructure and economic growth Cllr André Gonzalez de Savage said: “Having listened to the views of our service users here in Northamptonshire and across the UK, a decision has been made to reconsider the proposed changes to opening hours.

“However, given our significant financial challenges, changes to customer behaviour and a growth in online enquiries, we need to consider how best to use our limited resources and will be reviewing the service in the coming months as part of the annual budget process.

“As part of this there will be a full public consultation in which service users will be able to provide their feedback ahead of any changes being implemented.”

The archive has also added a clarification via its Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/NorthamptonshireArchives/):

Today’s press release details the hours for free access to the search room, index room and to original documents as follows: Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, 9am to 1pm and 2pm to 5pm and the first Saturday in each month, 9am to 1pm.

We would like to clarify that the option to pay for research room time outside of these hours will not be offered. Researchers can continue to book 1-2-1 time with our Research Assistant during the times we are otherwise closed, as has always been the case. It is this service that is charged at £31.50 per hour. The only change to our current arrangements is that the search room will be closed between 1pm and 2pm, though the public tea area and toilets will remain open

COMMENT: This is a welcome development in light of what the archive previously announced. Thanks to Dr Mary Ann Lund for creating her petition at https://www.change.org/p/northamptonshire-county-council-northamptonshire-county-council-don-t-charge-for-visiting-archives (now at 3681 signatures), to all who signed and promoted it, and to the archive sector, genealogy organisations and individuals that spoke up against the prospect of charging. The ball now lies with Northamptonshire County Council.

UPDATE: AGRA has issued a statement welcoming the council's move - see http://www.agra.org.uk/news-agra-welcomes-northants-cc-response-to-fees-protest-2017-08-04

Chris

My next 5 week Scottish Research Online course commences Sept 11th 2017 - details at www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102. For my genealogy guide books, visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html, whilst details of my research service are at www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk. Further content is also published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BritishGENES.

FindmyPast additions

FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk) has added the following collections:

Manchester Electoral Registers Browse 1832-1900 
Over 330,000 Manchester electoral registers are now available to browse. The Manchester Electoral Registers 1832-1900 include both the registers for local government elections; Citizens’ Rolls and Burgess Rolls, and the registers for Parliamentary Elections; Parliamentary Electoral Registers. The records are scanned copies of microfilms held at the Manchester Archives Central Library and cover Ardwick, Bradford, Beswick, Cheetham, Chorlton-Upon Medlock, Harpurhey, Hulme, Newton, Salford, Broughton and Manchester. In 1974 all boroughs of Manchester were combined formally to create Greater Manchester.

Irish Newspapers 
Nearly half a million articles and 8 fascinating new titles have been added to our collection of historic Irish Newspaper. The brand new additions come from all four provinces of the country, include both local and national press and cover the time period before, during and after The Great Famine (1805-1871). New additions include the Belfast Commercial Chronicle, Clare Journal and Ennis Advertiser, General Advertiser For Dublin and All Ireland, Northern Standard, The Enniscorthy News and County of Wexford Advertiser, The Pilot, Tuam Herald and Westmeath Independent. Substantial additions have also been made to three existing titles; The Belfast Morning News, Freeman’s Journal and the Cork Examiner.

Derbyshire Hospital Admissions & Deaths 
Derbyshire Hospital Admission & Deaths contain nearly 4,000 records taken from two different sources: Derbyshire Royal Infirmary, Deaths 1892 – 1912 and Victoria Memorial Cottage Hospital, Ashbourne Admissions 1899 – 1913. The Victoria Memorial Cottage Hospital was opened in Ashbourne in 1899 and was in operation for 65 years until its closure in 1964. The Derbyshire Royal Infirmary was first built in 1810 and rebuilt following a typhoid outbreak in 1890. Queen Victoria laid the foundation stone for the new hospital in 1894 and the hospital stayed in operation for over 100 years. Each record includes a transcript produced by the Ancestral Archives of Derbyshire.

New Zealand, Nelson, Petition After The Wairau Incident 1843
The New Zealand, Nelson, Petition after the Wairau Incident 1843 records list the names of nearly 600 settlers who signed a petition calling for action to be taken by the Governor of New Zealand following the notorious Wairau affray. The Wairau incident occurred on 17 June 1843 and was the first serious clash between New Zealand Company settlers and the local Ngāti Toa. Following a dispute regarding the settlement of the Wairau Valley, local Māori chiefs had the settlers temporary abodes burnt to the ground. The company responded by sending 49 armed men to arrest the chiefs resulting in a confrontation that left 22 settlers and 4 Māori dead. An investigation by the newly appointed Governor, Robert FitzRoy, found that the settlers claim to the land had been invalid and the chiefs were exonerated. Many settlers were enraged by the findings and submitted a petition that, along with active lobbying, resulted in Fitzroy being recalled in 1845.

Further details at http://blog.findmypast.co.uk/fridays

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including my recently released Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Imperial War Museum anti-cuts petition

I've been asked to flag up a petition to Urgently reverse current and future cuts to the UK Imperial War Museum's annual operating grant in aid so that it can maintain services and preserve its standing as an international centre for study, research and education. No problem.

Here's the full blurb:

One hundred years after the outbreak of the First World War, the Imperial War Museum is under threat.

The Museum is facing an annual deficit of £4m because of cuts in government funding.

It has drawn up proposals to:

• close its unique library and dispose of the majority of its collection
• cut important education services
• cut 60-80 jobs
• close the widely emulated ‘Explore History’ facility in London.

The Museum’s library gives ordinary people access to research materials on all aspects of British and Commonwealth involvement in conflict since 1914.

Prospect trade union believes the world's leading authority on conflict will be irreparably damaged by the £4m deficit.

It has launched this petition to help ensure that the Imperial War Museum continues to provide for, and encourage, the study and understanding of the history of modern war and ‘wartime experience'.

Please show your support by signing today.

Imperial War Museum Library

The Imperial War Museum Library is a collecting department in its own right and plays a key role in helping IWM staff do their jobs - curating exhibitions, helping to identify and understand artefacts and furthering their own knowledge.

IWM aspires to be a highly-respected authority on its subject matter, but this will be impossible without a library.

Once the Library and its professional staff are gone, the damage will be done.

It will be impossible to replace this unique collection of primary and secondary printed materials and the dedicated people who care for them and make them available to the public - remotely or in person.

The Library acquired its first item in April 1917 - a programme for a 'Dick Whittington' pantomime staged by the 85th Field Ambulance in Salonika - and has been a vital part of the Museum ever since.

The Research Room

The Research Room, available to all for more in-depth research, will continue to operate but at a reduced level, and without access to library materials.

These materials are vital for providing context to personal papers and interviews and are the most commonly used items in the Research Room.

Education

IWM attracted 433,000 learners in 2013-14 and 256,000 children took part in its on and off-site education programmes.

School educational visits to the paying branches at Duxford, HMS Belfast and Churchill War Rooms, with on-site teaching sessions led by museum and education professionals, are under threat.

The Museum is justifying the cuts at these original historic sites because of changes to the national curriculum and their ‘narrower exhibition focus’.

Formal education bookings at Duxford are steady and IWM London is already full to capacity.

‘Explore History’ attracted 55,000 visitors in 2013. It is a popular resource open to all, seven days a week, allowing the public to explore IWM’s collections and find out about objects or subjects not on display.

Westminster government funding

IWM was founded in 1917 as a place of study and memorial. Its London museum was refurbished at a cost of £40m and re-opened in July 2014. Demand for its services has never been higher.

IWM is successful in generating its own revenue - less than 50 per cent of its funding comes from the Westminster government, but that income is vital to the organisation's future.

IWM has faced funding cuts over several years but has not yet suffered the mass redundancies and reorganisations that have occurred in other national museums and galleries.

But the cuts announced in November 2014 will put the Museum’s educational and research functions in danger and experienced professional staff will be forced to leave.

Prospect fears that this is only the start and that further damaging cuts are likely unless there is widespread public support to maintain adequate levels of funding.

Please sign our petition and consider making a donation to IWM here: https://www.justgiving.com/iwm/ highlighting that your donation is a response to Prospect's petition.

The petition is available to sign at https://www.change.org/p/rt-hon-george-osborne-mp-urgently-reverse-current-and-future-cuts-to-the-uk-imperial-war-museum-s-annual-operating-grant-in-aid-so-that-it-can-maintain-services-and-preserve-its-standing-as-an-international-centre-for-study-research-and-education

(With thanks to @Save_IWMLibrary)

Chris

For details on my range of genealogy guide books please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html. To commission me for genealogical research, please visit my research site at www.scotlandsgreateststory.co.uk.

Home Office 'considering' adding mums names to English/Welsh marriage certs

The campaign to have mother's names added to English and Welsh marriage certificates - something that has been the case in Scotland since 1855 - has so far attracted 67,000 signatures. The campaign has now prompted a response from the Home Office, thanks to a written question by Caroline Lucas MP.

The response is as follows: "We are currently considering how the information contained in the marriage entry can be updated to include this, and to reflect changes since the coming into force of the Regulation of Marriages Regulations 1986, as well as the most suitable opportunity for doing so."

So, not a lot of progress as yet - but at least an acknowledgement so far from Westminster of the necessity to have it included. The full petition update is available at https://www.change.org/p/mothers-names-should-be-on-marriage-certificates/u/53b14b283519f622270070b8, where you can also add your name if you have yet to do so.

(With thanks to Ailsa Burkimsher Sadler via email)

Chris

Now available for UK research is the new second edition of the best selling Tracing Your Family History on the Internet: A Guide for Family Historians, whilst my new book British and Irish Newspapers is also now out. And FindmyPast - please reinstate the original Scottish census citations on your new site.

Petition demands mothers' names be added to English and Welsh marriage certificates

A new petition is online demanding the addition of mothers' names to marriage certificates in England and Wales. here's the blurb:

In England & Wales mothers' names are not on marriage certificates.
This is not fair.
This is 2014.
Marriage should not be seen as a business transaction between the father of the bride and the father of the groom.
This seemingly small inequality is part of a much wider pattern of inequality.
Women are routinely silenced and written out of history.
There is space for the name of the Father of the Bride and the Father of the Groom and their occupations. On civil partnership certificates there is space for mothers, and on Scottish and Northern Irish marriage certificates.
Act now - sign the petition - share it with friends. Get this anachronism changed.

If you wish to sign the petition please visit www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/mothers-names-should-be-on-marriage-certificates

(With thanks to Kirsty Wilkinson @genealogygirl)

Chris

My latest genealogy books are Tracing Your Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), Discover Scottish Civil Registration Records, and Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet. My next Pharos course is Scottish Research Online, which commences Feb 27th 2014, 5 weeks, price £45.99.

Save Walsall Museum petition

From Stephen Francis:

I am sending this link to as many organisations, members of Walsall Council, and others that I can.

Please read the comments submitted, I hope they will convey the need to keep Walsall museum open, the importance of having a museum in the town, and how closing the museum will be a disaster for the people of Walsall.

Please make people aware of the petition...

Stephen Francis.

www.ipetitions.com/petition/save-walsall-museum

Chris

My latest genealogy books are Tracing Your Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), Discover Scottish Civil Registration Records, and Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet. My next Pharos course is Scottish Research Online, which commences Feb 27th 2014, 5 weeks, price £45.99.

Barnardos photos to be destroyed?

The British Photographic History forum has reported that the original images from Barnardo's photographic archive, housed in Barkingside, East London, are in danger of destruction following their digitisation in Manchester over the next few months - apparently it is taking up too much room.

For further details, including details of a petition to save it, can be found at http://britishphotohistory.ning.com/profiles/blog/show?id=2680769:BlogPost:72775

Unbelievable...

Chris

My new book, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet, is now available from Pen and Sword. My Scottish land and church records ebooks are available at http://www.gen-ebooks.com/unlock-the-past.html, whilst my next Pharos Scottish course, Scottish Research Online, starts Sep 4th - see http://pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102. Time to smash a few brick walls...!

Prevent the Mendham Collection's break up

An update from Alixe Bovey of the University of Kent about the campaign to prevent the selling off and splitting up of the Mendham Collection (see http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/save-mendham-collection.html):

Dear fellow petitioners,

More than 3,500 people have signed the petition entreating the Law Society of England and Wales to reconsider their decision to break up the historic collection of Joseph Mendham. It is remarkable to have the support of people from all over the world, and with diverse interests in the material contained within the collection. Petitioners’ comments about why the integrity of the Mendam Collection matters makes for powerful reading.

The petition has caught the attention of the UK media, and the plight of the collection has been covered in such diverse publications as Private Eye, Country Life, the Independent, and the Sunday Times, as well as on the radio and TV news. Twitter and bloggers have played an important role in getting the word out, and in keeping the campaign in the public eye. A recent example is Michael Caines’s excellent post on the TLS Blog.

We believe that the petition and the media campaign has caught the attention of the decision makers at the Law Society, but we are still some way from achieving our goal of securing the future of the Mendham Collection in perpetuity.

I therefore hope that we can maintain or even increase the petition’s momentum, and I would be grateful if you could alert your personal and professional networks about the situation. The more signatures and comments that our petition attracts, the harder the campaign will be for the Law Society to ignore.

Our collective expression of the value of this collection as a public resource is proving to be a vital part of our argument to save it.

Thank you for your support,

Alixe Bovey

a.bovey @ kent.ac.uk

Chair, Mendham Task Force

University of Kent


To view the petition and all that it hopes to achieve, please visit www.change.org/petitions/the-law-society-of-england-and-wales-stop-the-break-up-and-sale-of-the-mendham-collection?utm_source=supporter_message&utm_medium=email and sign up.

Chris

Check out my Scotland's Greatest Story research service www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
New book: It's Perthshire 1866 - there's been a murder... www.thehistorypress.co.uk/products/The-Mount-Stewart-Murder.aspx (from June 12th 2012)

Scottish Catholic Archives reprieved

I've received a Tweet this morning from historian Michael Turnbull, one of the more prominent voices campaigning against the dispersal of the Scottish Catholic Archives collections in Edinburgh, to say that the facility has now been reprieved. Sure enough, an article from the Edinburgh Evening New earlier in the week has quoted Andrew Nicoll, the keeper of the archive, as saying that he is now confident that the facility will remain open for business and intact. The full article is at www.scotsman.com/edinburgh-evening-news/edinburgh/keeper-goes-on-record-with-hope-city-will-retain-catholic-archives-1-2464957.

In the piece the press office for the Catholic Church is still saying that no decisions have as yet been taken on the long term future for the archive, whilst Archbishop Emeritus Mario Conti of Glasgow has come out with an "it wasn't me guv" comment on the handling of the issue.

The SCA's website now has the following message on display:

The Scottish Catholic Archives is currently operating reduced reading facilities at Columba House in Edinburgh during August. It is hoped to increase access further during September before resuming normal service as soon as possible. To make arrangements for visiting the SCA and conducting research, please email archivists@scottishcatholicarchives.org.uk in the first instance, and staff will be in contact as soon as possible.

A recent online petition generated by genealogist Janet Bishop against the closures (see www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/the-roman-catholic-church-in-scotland-keep-the-scottish-catholic-archives-in-edinburgh-2?utm_medium=email&utm_source=share_petition), which this blog and many readers supported, generated 745 names and was presented to the Catholic Church last weekend. To all who supported it, a huge thanks - Edinburgh now retains both a great archive and a great archivist.

Good luck to Andrew and to the SCA for the future!

(With thanks to Michael Turnbull)

Chris

Check out my Scotland's Greatest Story research service www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
New book: It's Perthshire 1866 - there's been a murder... www.thehistorypress.co.uk/products/The-Mount-Stewart-Murder.aspx (from June 12th 2012)

Scottish Catholic Archives - limited access restored

From the website of the Scottish Catholic Archives (www.scottishcatholicarchives.org.uk):

Due to present circumstances, the Scottish Catholic Archives are temporarily closed. We are putting measures in place to provide limited access by prior confirmed appointment to bone fide researchers each Thursday, commencing Thursday 26th July 2012. It may be possible to arrange additional access on another day per week by appointment. Please check this website regularly for any updates. Should you have any specific enquiries at the present time and for appointments please email archivists@scottishcatholicarchives.org.uk.

There is no mention here though of the current plans to split the archive and to distribute its currently centralised resources across the country. A petition to implore the Catholic Church to change its mind on this has been up and running since Saturday 21st July and currently has 491 signatures. For more on this, the background to the current situation, and how to sign, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/scottish-catholic-archives-petition.html

(With thanks to @geneally on twitter)

Chris

Check out my Scotland's Greatest Story research service www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
New book: It's Perthshire 1866 - there's been a murder... www.thehistorypress.co.uk/products/The-Mount-Stewart-Murder.aspx (from June 12th 2012)

Scottish Catholic Archives - petition

A petition created by Fife based genealogist Janet Bishop is now online asking the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland to keep its resources centralised in Edinburgh and in the care of a dedicated archivist, rather than to have it dispersed across the country.

To sign the petition visit www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/the-roman-catholic-church-in-scotland-keep-the-scottish-catholic-archives-in-edinburgh-2?utm_medium=email&utm_source=share_petition

For the background to all of this, read recent developments at http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/shock-closure-of-scottish-catholic.html

(With thanks to Bruce Bishop)

UPDATE: In less then 24 hours, the initial target of a hundred signatures has already been reached. Thanks to all, but please spread the word to help get it to 200!

Chris

Check out my Scotland's Greatest Story research service www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
New book: It's Perthshire 1866 - there's been a murder... www.thehistorypress.co.uk/products/The-Mount-Stewart-Murder.aspx (from June 12th 2012)