Cheslyn Hay & District Local History Society

We welcome our monthly speaker Mike Hewitt from the Cannock Conduit Trust this Thursday, 29th April at the Salem at 7.30pm with a talk on ‘Old Cannock 1890 – 1900′.  It will be an enjoyable night and entrance will be £1 including refreshments.
Nine visitors on Tuesday again dealing with enquiries on Dundalk Lane, reviewing our archive collection plus information on an entire collection of photographs generously donated to us from the Walker family. This week we have also had a full set of the Pinfold Lane School Magazines from 1928 – 35 which are now available at our Base which is open this Tuesday 10am – 4pm.
More photographs have been handed in and family history enquiries made this week on the following names – Bate Parker Stanton Whitehouse Edgerton Stokes Hart  Heminsley Cuthbert Bale F Waltho Harry Dace Miss Thomas  Miss Hulse Mrs Price Mr Berry ‘Taffy’ Blount John Middleton  Ian Bickley David Gardner Victor Fidler, Follows, Jeynes, Smithyman.

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Had another eight visitors this week that included researches into local burials, reviewing photographs and handing in photographs to be copied.  But we also had visits from a law student, Gavin Wheatley, who is writing a book about the Edalji case plus Ann and Graham Collins who we have been liasing with re the history of Hawthorne Cottage.  Graham is a model maker and he has produced a magnificent model of the house to scale and this will be on display at our Annual Exhibition.  Our base will be open this Tuesday 10am – 4pm.
More family tree enquiries for the Whitehouse, Bate, Stanton/Staunton, Hodgekiss/Hodgekins, Parker, Stokes, Egerton and Paddock families.
One intriguing telephone call came in from Phil Burgess this week who left a message saying he has several old photographs of Cheslyn Hay Carnivals from his parents who went to live in Blackpool 25 years ago.  Unfortunately Phil never left his telephone number and hasn’t phoned back since.  Can anyone help me to contact Phil or does anyone remember the Burgesses who retired to Blackpool?
A fair range of photographs have been handed in for copying this week including the Hand family, the Whitehouses – Arnold, Sid and Eva going back to 1931, a school trip to Edinburgh Castle supervised by Miss Wilson, Miss Cross and Mrs Watson, but we only have Jean Parrington, Jill McLure and Ann Hewitt named.    But the two photographs that are outstanding are one of Glenthorne Stores in the High Street before the war and one of the full length of Cross Street in the 1930s.  Both of these will be used in this year’s book.
A local geologist Graham Worton is giving a talk at the Roman Way Hotel on the Watling Street next Thursday, 22nd April at 6pm and he will discussing the history of the West Midlands brickwork and explaining when brickwork clays were formed and why they were used.
trevor.cheslyhayhistory@talktalk.net

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Two weeks into our current year and we already have 144 members ‘signed up’ for 2010/11.
We had another ten visitors on Tuesday at our New Base and included enquiries on the Burton, Greensill, Norman, Perks, Farrington and Biddle families. Open this Tuesday 10am – 4pm. Requests this week have come from members tracing Harley, Boucher, Lockett, Butler, Marshall, Westwood and Garratt
family trees.
We have also received 30 photographs of the Perks/Saunders family this week as well as 23 of the Norman family that included individual pictures of Parbrook, Pee, Weetman, Hook, Whitehouse, Shorthouse and Jackson as well as scenes of Snapes Farm and Holly Hill cottages. Also a wedding group of the Willis and Lavelle families and a trip to Dudley Zoo in 1963 from GW School with names including Birbeck, Carruthers, Bridge, Willis, Heminsley, Horton, Pearce, Varty, Salt, Faulkner, Morris, Jones and Ridgway. And cyclists Dot Wilkinson, Marg James, Wyn Pearce and Lilian Dean enjoying the social side of the Clarion Club. All can be seen at our base or photographs can be ordered at the email address below.
One of our members has handed over copies of her research from a few years ago of local Births and Marriages between 1660 and 1671. Absolutely fascinating and there are, of course, plenty of current Cheslyn Hay families as well such as Hawkins, Dace, Bate, Brevett, Hall, Harvey, Hart and Smitheman. All available at our base but I will look any names up for anyone researching their family trees.

trevor.cheslyhayhistory@talktalk.net

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