THE WORTHING HERITAGE ALLIANCE Bringing the Community Together
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THE WORTHING HERITAGE ALLIANCE Bringing the Community together NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2016 Editor : Barry Richards E-Mail: [email protected] Web Site: www.worthingheritagealliance.org.uk The Worthing Heritage Alliance Bringing the Community together NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2016 Issue Number 2 Table of Contents INTRODUCTION ALLIANCE MEMBERS FROM TO CANADIAN ROOTS A-01 A-02 FAMILY AND LOCAL HISTORY RESEARCHER B-01 B-04 FRIENDS of BROADWATER & WORTHING CEMETERY C-01 C-03 FRIENDS of WORTHING MUSEUM D-01 D-03 HIGH SALVINGTON WINDMILL TRUST E-01 E-03 JANE AUSTEN SOCIETY F-01 F-01 SUSSEX FAMILY HISTORY GROUP G-01 G-02 TRANSITION WORTHING H-01 H-02 WEST SUSSEX ARCHIVES SOCIETY I-01 I-02 WEST SUSSEX COUNTY COUNCIL : WORTHING LIBRARY J-01 J-03 WEST SUSSEX GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY K-01 K-02 WORTHING ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY L-01 L-02 WORTHING NATIONAL TRUST M-01 M-01 WORTHING SOCIETY N-01 N-03 O-01 O-07 CONSOLIDATED CALENDAR OF EVENTS The Worthing Heritage Alliance NEWSLETTER - INTRODUCTION Bringing the Community together NOVEMBER 2016 Issue Number 2 The Worthing Heritage Alliance was established in 2010. Its aims are to represent, develop and promote the heritage of Worthing and its surrounding area. Membership of the Alliance comprises representatives from all groups and professional organisations which have an interest in the heritage of the area. The Alliance aims to work collaboratively with all relevant organisations to promote our heritage through fostering a wider interest and active participation in events, projects and attendance at heritage venues.The members of the Alliance meet quarterly and produce a bi-annual newsletter (May and November), available at Member Society meetings and outlets around the town. The newsletter is designed using a “template” approach in which each member Society is given a separate section to describe its objectives, latest news, and calendar of forthcoming events with special features and promotional material (e.g. posters) included as appropriate. At the end of the newsletter all forthcoming events across all member Societies are consolidated , summarised and printed in chronological order so that members of all Societies and visitors can clearly see what is coming and maybe of interest. Hopefully this will encourage a greater participation in society events and an increase in overall membership. MEMBER SOCIETIES Family and Friends of Friends Sussex Canadian High Jane Local History Broadwater and of Worthing Family Roots Worthing Salvington Austen History Group Researcher Cemetery Museum Windmill Trust Society Transition West Sussex WSCC West Sussex Worthing Worthing Worthing Worthing Archives Society Worthing Library Geological Archaeological National Society Society Society Trust CHAIRMAN : Tom Wye MBE CONTACT : Peter Stafford (Sec) on 243180 E-MAIL : [email protected] rthing WEB SITE : www.worthingheritagealliance.org.uk ANNUAL SOCIETY SUBSCRIPTIONSociety: £10 INTRODUCTION The Worthing Heritage Alliance NEWSLETTER MEMBER : CANADIAN ROOTS NOVEMBER 2016 ABOUT US: Canadian Roots UK is a not for profit organisation which helps children fathered by Canadian servicemen during or just after WW2 trace their Canadian family. Over 22,000 children were officially fathered by Canadian servicemen during WW2 in the UK but the actual number of illegitimate children born from relationships with Canadian servicemen isn’t documented. The Canadian soldiers started arriving as early as December 1939 and most stayed in the UK until D Day and then returned after the end of the war to be demobbed. It is well known that 1946 in question was the year of the baby boom, so many servicemen would have returned to the UK said goodbye not knowing that a child was on its way. During the war years servicemen left the UK, like during the Dieppe Raid in 1942 never to return. So for whatever reason there are many children now in their early 70’s who do not know who their biological father is and most have so many questions that may never be answered. The late Chris Vowles who founded Canadian Roots UK in 2008 was one of these children. Unfortunately Chris’s mother died whilst giving birth to Chris and it was left to Chris’s aunt to bring him up. Details of his Canadian father were never given, and throughout his life Chris tried many ways to trace this man, even trying DNA testing. Due to the strict Privacy Law that Canada has it is very difficult to obtain information on another person, but as long as the person looking has a certain amount of information there is a strong possibility that a family can be traced. Over the years Canadian Roots UK have had a good success rate and to date 138 families have been reunited. Canadian Roots UK is also responsible for the flying of the Canadian Flag on the sea front at the bottom of Grand Ave., West Worthing and in 2013 a Memorial to the Canadian Servicemen was unveiled which stands on the beach beneath the flag. An annual memorial service takes place on the 3rd Sunday in August to remember the Canadians that left Worthing and West Sussex never to return. LATEST NEWS: WW2 children are continuing to be reunited making a total of 142. On Sunday 21st August the annual service of remembrance took place and we were very pleased to have Lady Emma Barnard from Parham House who gave details of her families involvement with the Canadian servicemen that were stationed in and around the grounds of Parham during WW2. Around 200 people attended the service including Tim Loughton M.P., Major Tom Wye represented the Lord Leiutenant of West Sussex and the Mayor and Mayoress of Worthing. Cadets from the Navel and Air Corps handed out copies of the program. Canadian Roots are also involved with the revamping of the promenade area in front of the Memorial. Funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund is being investigated in order for this project to be achieved. It is hoped that a Canadian maple leaf will be imbedded on the prom along with additional benches plus further information board. CHAIRMAN : CONTACT : Pam Vowles on 340795 E-Mail: [email protected] WEB SITE : www.canadianrootsuk.org ANNUAL SUB : PAGE A-01 The Worthing Heritage Alliance NEWSLETTER MEMBER : CANADIAN ROOTS NOVEMBER 2016 CALENDAR OF FORTHCOMING EVENTS EVENT LOCATION DATE EVENT DETAILS & TIME Promenade bottom 20Aug2017 Canadian Memorial Day Service of Grand Ave., West Worthing CHAIRMAN : CONTACT : Pam Vowles on 340795 E-Mail: [email protected] WEB SITE : www.canadianrootsuk.org ANNUAL SUB : PAGE A-02 The Worthing Heritage Alliance NEWSLETTER MEMBER : FAMILY AND LOCAL HISTORY RESEARCHER NOVEMBER 2016 ABOUT ME: A seventh generation Worthingite who is descended from the Broadwater blacksmith, William Paine, my interest in local history developed while researching my family. I belong to several local history groups, including the Sussex Family History Group. I am also a member of the research group of the Friends of Broadwater and Worthing Cemetery, and a contributor to their tour guide booklets and newsletter. My case study, (no 42), The Paine Brothers of Worthing, part of the West Sussex and the Great War Project, can be found on www.westsussexpast.org.uk LATEST NEWS: The past few months have been a busy and rewarding time for research, with a number of things cropping up unexpectedly. In April, a lady from Australia posted a query on the FBWC website, asking whether anyone knew the whereabouts of a letter which had been written from Melbourne by my great uncle, Duke Paine. This letter had been published in the Brighton Guardian on 13 July 1853, and I was able to send her a transcription, along with one of a second letter written from Ballarat and published in the West Sussex Gazette in November 1855. These letters describe in great detail life in the Australian gold fields, along with news of other men from the Worthing district who had emigrated. By coincidence, Paul Holden wrote an article in the September 2016 edition of The Worthing Journal, which included extracts from Duke’s first letter. It was Paul who had come across this letter a number of years ago, when editor of The Worthing Sentinel. In May, Antony Edmonds wrote an article for the Nostalgia section of the Worthing Herald, based on advertisements for businesses from an old guidebook for Worthing. Two of these, Barnwell’s Nursery and Frost’s Bridge Pharmacy, had featured in previous cemetery tours, and as both had family connections, I had done the initial research. My cousin, Graham Bettelley, and I both contacted Antony Edmonds, and as a result, with Antony’s generous encouragement, and the support of James Connaughton from the Herald, I wrote an article on Frost’s for the 28 July edition of the paper, and Graham wrote one on Barnwell’s Nursery in August. Following the discovery of a long lost cousin, I have been compiling an account of our Worthing relatives dating back to the early 1700s, which I am sending to her in instalments. This has led to researching some of the more distant lines of the family, revealing even more connections to some of the other old Worthing families. With plans under way by the FBWC researchers for next year’s cemetery tours, there is plenty to look forward to in 2017. CHAIRMAN : N/A CONTACT : Rosemary Pearson on 238651 E-Mail: [email protected] WEB SITE : N/A ANNUAL SUB : N/A Page B-01 The Worthing Heritage Alliance NEWSLETTER MEMBER: FAMILY AND LOCAL HISTORY RESEARCHER NOVEMBER 2016 FEATURE ARTICLE: -- FROST’S DRUG STORES The advertisement for Frost’s Bridge Pharmacy in Railway Approach, which featured in Antony Edmonds’s article (Worthing Herald, May 26), brought back memories of my early childhood, although sadly the area currently bears little resemblance to the days when I would accompany my mother on visits to see my grandfather, Harry Bettelley, while he was working there.