NNWFHS JOURNAL April 2013 Nuneaton & North Warwickshire Family History Society Journal April 2013 Arnold Ball Barwell Beck Browne Clark Clarke Cooke Cooper Crispe Crosse Erpe Farrion Fetherstone Hall Hanson Hele Houlden Kendall King Leving Monck Mould Mylner Nichols Orton Page Palmer Prior Read Robynson Smart Smyth Spencer Stretton Tallis Taverner “impudent pillaging” – Austrey Taylor Turner residents seek redress ... Varnham Was your ancestor involved – see name list at left. Wakelyn Willington Wright www.nnwfhs.org.uki Price £2 (first copy free to members) NNWFHS JOURNAL April 2013 The opinions expressed in articles in the Journal are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily Contents represent the views of the editor or of NNWFHS. Cover picture Austrey church Copyright notice. The editor’s little box Page 1 For the record ... 2 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any Chairman’s jottings 4 form, by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, Migration over the seas 5 recorded or otherwise without the prior written permission of the The Fox & Crane (The Weddington) 6 Nuneaton & North Warwickshire Family History Society. Thomas Chamberlain, weaver of Bedworth 7 Personal data. Coton Centre Festival Day – see you there! 9 The Society holds personal data on our members – identity and The North Warwickshire pages 10 contact details provided on application and renewal forms. Austrey History 10 Under the Data Protection Act 1998 we can hold sufficient data to Civil Registration in N Warks explained 11 run the Society, but no more. The data must also be accurate, kept up to date and not held for longer than necessary. Incident involving the Atherstone Brass Band 14 To comply with the Act we will hold documents supporting current Austrey losses from levies and quartering of troops membership. This will usually be the last completed application 1643-1646 15 or renewal form. Earlier documentation will be destroyed. In the event of a member not renewing by the due date, previous New books 19 documents will be held for a further four months in case of late What is new on the members’ pages of the website 20 renewal. For ease of administration, an up to date copy of your personal New members and their interests 21 data will be held on an electronic database with your consent. It Back cover – HS2 - Help document our heritage will be assumed that you agree to this unless you tell us otherwise. If you do not agree to us holding such data electronically please contact the Membership Secretary. Data held electronically will be subject to the same retention policy as Submissions to the Journal are always welcome. These should (preferably) be in clerical data. plain text with no fancy formatting. (You might think that formatting it nicely saves me work, but it doesn’t!) Submit pictures as jpegs. If in doubt email me or send it in anyway! I can usually sort it out. Please do not send me Publisher files. Files with the suffixii .doc or .docx or .txt or .rtf are fine. NNWFHS JOURNAL April 2013 Committee members and their contact details Chairman: Jacqui Simkins, Langley Mill Farm, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, B75 7HR email: [email protected] Vice Chair: John Parton Secretary: Celia Parton and Val Pickard Hon. Treasurer: Bernadette Evans, 60 Kingsbridge Road, Weddington, Nuneaton, CV10 0BZ Email: [email protected] Journal Editor: John Parton 6 Windmill Road, Atherstone, Warks, CV9 1HP email: [email protected] Publications Sales & Help desks: Val Pickard, 108 Lister Road, Atherstone, Warks, CV9 3DF email: [email protected] North Warwickshire Co-ordinator: Celia Parton, 6 Windmill Road, Atherstone, Warks, CV9 1HP email: [email protected] Membership officer & Marriages / Burials co-ordinator: Dr Carole Eales, 5 Jay Lane, Aston, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S26 2GP Email: [email protected] Committee: Hilary Hodgkins Co-opted member on a temporary basis to manage the website: Pat Boucher, 33 Buttermere Avenue, Nuneaton, CV11 6ET email: [email protected] The editors little box. Following the events of the last few months we now seem to be back on an even keel. The vote in February confirmed that we are a society of members run for members. We are working on a new constitution which will include limitations on the length an officer can serve in post. This is good because it prevents the establishment of a self-serving caucus who think they have the right to hold their position for life. It also presents a problem. It is hard to fill certain posts, such as treasurer, webmaster and Journal editor. After their stint is over will there be a ready throng of candidates willing to take over? As I said above we are a society run by members for members. There is an onus on members to give (if they are able) as well as to take. Perhaps the prospect of holding a post for a limited time only will encourage more to have a go. Should some of these difficult to fill posts be exempt from time limitation? This is your Society. We need your views on how your Society should be run. You will find an advertisement for the post of Website editor on page 3. Note the term ‘editor’ rather than ‘webmaster’. The site is set up, but needs someone to keep it up to date. Geeky knowledge of things like bandwidth, HTML and FTP is not needed. Why not have a go! 1 NNWFHS JOURNAL April 2013 deemed “Officers” by the showing evidence that his For the record… Constitution that also gives challenges were without them “emergency powers” – substance. The solicitor We start this article with a sought advice from the received, prior to the EGM, a huge ‘Thank You’ to all Federation of Family History short reply to one letter, in members who have given Societies. That advice was which P. Lee stated he had support to your Officers in to use a specialist solicitor no further interest in their efforts to ensure this on both copyright issues and NNWFHS and would not be Society continues to serve on action required since the contacting NNWFHS its members in their quest to remaining committee was members in future. He also find and understand their below the number required stated he held no material forebears. Whether in the Society’s Constitution. given to NNWFHS other members live in North than Alan Roberts’ work on Warwickshire, or have The initial legal advice was Austrey [now with Nuneaton ancestors who passed to clarify operational matters Library]. through the area, all deserve by using the Constitution to a relevant Family History enable members to request The EGM took place on 12 Society. an EGM. Over thirty put February 2013. A number of their names to the request. members elected to vote on The events that required the On recommendation from the evening and the Extra-Ordinary General the solicitor, all members independent teller tallied all Meeting (EGM) in February were enfranchised by postal votes; a total of 164 have been explained in or electronic voting via an members participated which detail to members, but for independent teller, with is just under 60% of the sake of a permanent record those able to attend still membership. We thank all for those who follow over the enabled to vote at the members who took part. years, this is the briefest meeting. The results follow. explanation. Over the following weeks, P. Item 1: That the existing 12 Nov 2012 Annual Lee sent a series of e-mails, committee members as duly General Meeting held; challenging a number of elected in November be members of committee Officers past and present confirmed in post. elected. over the correctness of their YES - 141; NO - 23. 13 Nov 2012 Committee work during the period of his met and elected new chairmanship; he also Item 2: That the current Officers from its number. contacted NNWFHS constitution be revised to 26 Nov 2012 Ex- members promoting a new lower the minimum chairman, P. Lee, resigned group working directly committee number to six and threatened legal action against NNWFHS; contact to until the 2013 AGM. on copyright of his articles which a number of members YES – 142; NO – 22. published in past Journals. objected. All such By 5 Dec A total of six communications were Item 3: That the committee elected members had referred to the solicitor – be instructed to review and resigned from the your remaining committee revise the Constitution in committee. members refused to join a order to provide a document “slanging” match. which serves this Society The remainder of the correctly, is approved by committee members – seven Two detailed letters went FFHS and meets legal elected of whom six are from the solicitor to P. Lee requirements; and to place 2 NNWFHS JOURNAL April 2013 this document before the research nights in the same joined NNWFHS for in the membership for the AGM in month as quarterly Journal first place. 2013. distribution. You may print a YES – 144; NO – 20. pocket programme from the Again, we thank everyone website. for their support during this The committee takes on difficult time, and hope that board the instruction to After three long months, you will continue to support review and revise the when your officers have us as we work to meet our Constitution (a sub-group is shouldered far more than is new challenges. already at work) and has normally expected of also revised the programme volunteers in a family history for 2013 – reinstating society, we are looking The Committee cancelled speakers where forward with renewed vigour possible, and reverting to to getting back to what we all WANTED Website Editor NNWFHS needs someone to help maintain the website, doing general editing, keeping the events and news sections up to date, and in-putting content - such as articles, photographs and research resources submitted by others.