Cheslyn Hay & District Local History Society

Coffee Morning this week is at the Salem’s Lecture Room on Thursday 13th January at 10am.  We are trying something different this time, with four speakers talking about their memories on the ‘old days’ in Cheslyn Hay on the topics of  Schooldays, Youth Clubs, Work and Rosemary Road.  Each will speak for only 4 – 5 minutes, one after the other, and then it is open forum for everyone to ask questions and to add their own memories.
Our Salem Base will be open as usual on Tuesday 10am to 4pm at the Salem with researchers of the Whitehouse and Lockett families coming in and also someone to look into the Bates and Stanton families.  Any other members of these families will be most welcome.
In a new project this year we are asking for any family tree researchers with local connections to email their trees to Rob Allan – rwallan@orange.net We will then link them together for one massive Cheslyn Hay Family Tree.  We have contacted everyone on our Family Tree database for this information this week and we have had an excellent response of 19 separate family trees within the first two days.  Rob prefers them to be forwarded on GEDCOM but will accept other systems and if you only have paper copies of them please post them to me at 42 Station Road, Great Wyrley, Walsall, West Mids WS6 6LQ.  This will be of course invaluable to everybody.
Further to this week’s family history activity, we have had quite a few requests on several families – the Scarrotts, Whitehouses, Reeds, Wrights, Cox, Lee, Robinson and Perrins.
Two photographs handed in this week and one is of the old National School in Pinfold Lane which opened in 1875 and closed in 1892 and later used Ernie Carter’s Boys Club.  And the other one is a Mystery Photograph of a Cheslyn Hay house with the name ‘Brookville’ – but its location is not known.
And more memories this week from Peter Cadman covering his days in the St Marks choir with recollections of his friends, colleagues and local characters such as Tim Perks, Ian Scott, Graham Lawrence, Philip Perks, Chris Jervis, George Perks the butcher, Mrs. Busby, Vic Mears’s corner shop, David Bray, Mr. Cheadle the choirmaster, George Evans, Westwood the butcher, George Lunt’s chip shop, Mrs. Ball’s newsagents, Ken Beeston, Ben Hawkins, David Hewitt, Cal Dace, Owen Lawson, Frank Walker the verger, Mr. Carter lay reader, Iain Guthrie, Alastair Guthrie, David Fenton, Anthony Seel, Fred and David Bray, Len and Roy West, Phillip Perks, Mike Walker, Norman Fletcher, Margaret Lawrence, Joan Dunn, Denise Bevington, George Evans, Joe Lawrence, Ben Whitehouse, Mr. Turner, Lynda Precious, Florrie and Sam Bevington the wood delivery man.
Colleen Horton’s funeral is on Wednesday, 12th January at 12.45pm at the Salem.
And more sad news is the passing of Margaret Kingston, who has been one of our stalwart members from the outset of our Society.
More information on any of these items can be supplied free of charge on request at the email address below.

trevor.cheslynhayhistory@talktalk.net

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We’ll like to wish you all a Happy New Year.
Received another request that involves one of our old favourite names – Moses Lockett.  It concerns a Moses Lockett born around 1770 who married  a Jane around 1790 and they had a son John Lockett born 7 Feb 1794 at the Weslyan.  We have a number of family trees around the Lockett family dating back to the 1700s and hopefully we will be able to help substantially.
Also an interesting response to a recent enquiry on the Perks family where a Sarah Perks was a maid.  More information shows that Sarah was no ordinary maid but she was a lady’s maid to Catherine Booth, the wife of William, the founder of the Salvation Army and Catherine’s Bible was given to Sarah Perks which is now in the keeping of the family.
Also plenty of information has been volunteered on the old Isolation Hospital from relatives of nurses there and young patients who were there during and after the war.
A cutting from the Cannock Advertiser dated 29 October 1982 has been handed in of the schoolchildren at Pinfold Lane School celebrating the School’s Centenary.
And this week we have included the memories of Joe Cadman, a much respected Cheslyn Hay man, who lived on the village, worked at Hawkins’ and became the Parish Clerk and his memories cover the Miners Strike in 1926 and the soup kitchens in Salem Church.  And also what it was like to be a young lad at those times.
Another 75 viewings of our photographs on the Staffordshire Past Track website for the month of December and they are Brittania Picture House 17, Salem 15, Albert Hawkins’ shop 11, Wootton’s Post Office 9, High Street 7, Walter Hackett 7, Walter Hackett’s shop 5, Garbett’s shop 4.
Our Base is open every Tuesday from 10am – 4pm.

trevor.cheslynhayhistory@talktalk.net

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Our Salem Base will be closed this Tuesday, 28th December.
We will be starting the New Year with a concerted effort of next year’s book ‘Cheslyn Hay Lives – Volume Two’ and we are appealing for anyone who has any knowledge, information or personal experiences of the Isolation Hospital as we intend to devote a complete chapter to it.
More sad news to end this year on.  Colleen Horton passed away this morning (Sunday, 26th December) aged eighty one years.  After a lifetime in the village, Colleen was a fighter in many senses of the word and many people and many organisations have benefitted from her support.  Another Cheslyn Hay personality who has been greatly admired throughout her life will now be greatly missed.
trevor.cheslynhayhistory@talktalk.net

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