Reduced Prices on 1841, 1851, 1861 Census Transcriptions at Borders Family History Society and Northumberland & Durham Family History Society

There was little welfare available before the 20th century, so people had to find work and that might have entailed moving.

Agricultural workers were usually hired at a hiring fair for 6 months, re-hiring by the same farmer could not be relied upon.

Workers might hear that a different farmer was a better employer or they might discover that the parish they lived in was an ungenerous provider of welfare so it made sense to move, if they could.

If you have ancestors in Berwick or North Northumberland, they may well have lived or worked in Scotland, too, most probably in the Scottish Borders, with Berwickshire and Roxburghshire being the most likely counties.

Borders Family History Society have a special offer on most of the 1841, 1851, 1861 Census Transcription booklets they sell but extremely limited stocks at the special offer reduced prices.

More details on their Publications Sales List.

Northumberland & Durham Family History Society are also advertising special offers on Northumberland and County Durham Census Indexes.

Berwick 900 Family History Festival, 11am to 4pm, 3 to 4 October, Berwick-Upon-Tweed

The Family History Festival runs from 11am to 4pm in Berwick Town Hall, Marygate, Berwick-Upon-Tweed,TD15 1BN and admission is free. Map.

• Berwick 900
• Berwick Record Office
• Borders Family History Society
• Eyemouth Museum
• Northumberland & Durham Family History Society
• Northumberland Archives
• The Great Performing Rope
• The Scottish Genealogy Society

will be there to help you research and understand your family history and record your family stories.

There’s an interesting programme of talks throughout both days:

There’ll be an opportunity to ask questions after each talk.

Look at the displays on local families, the last 2 Scottish governors of Berwick Castle, cross-Border marriages, the former Peel Hospital near Galashiels and the Eyemouth fishing disaster.

There is a giant family tree associated with the Greenses starting with John Burgon who was married to Catherine Whillis (both were born in 1730) and their descendants to the present day. Can you help us add to this tree, please ?

We’re also trying to find stories and information on people who lived in the Greenses and Ravensdowne.  Come and see what we have already and add to it.  We need your stories and help. 

There will be activities for children: colouring in and upstairs in the old prison area on Saturday, there’ll be workshops for all to help create sections of a 900 metre-long sculptural rope that will be woven around the town at the end of October. 

While we’re keen to hear or receive more family stories of people associated with Berwick, we’re even keener to help you start your family history, help you solve a family mystery or suggest how you can get more information. Therefore we’re offering one-to-one family history 20 minute sessions with local experts in English and Scottish family history between 11.30 am and 3pm each day.
Booking is essential in advance for a family history session.

To book,send an email and tell us whether you need help with English or Scottish family history.

 There are still some slots which can be booked.

If you are interested in family history or just want to know how to get started, come along and meet people who will be able to help you.

Family History Festival, Town Hall, Berwick-upon-Tweed on 3 & 4 October

Advance notice of our Family History Festival which will be held in the Town Hall, Berwick-upon-Tweed on 3 & 4 October, from 11am to 4pm.

Come along and find out about tracing your family history in England and Scotland.

Meet local family history societies and record offices; so far confirmed are Berwick-upon-Tweed Record Office, Borders Family History Society, Northumberland & Durham Family History Society, Scottish Genealogy Society.

There'll be a program of talks from 12 to 3pm each day.

We'll also be holding family history surgeries at 11.30 am, 12 noon, 12.30, 1pm, 1.30pm, 2pm, 2.30pm and 3pm each day with local experts, to help you start your family history, identify records for you to look at, help you scale that brick wall or solve a knotty family history problem.
Booking for these surgery slots is essential (first come, first served), please email us at the address below stating which day and time you prefer and if possible, whether your query is about Scottish or English family history.

There will be family history displays on local families, the former Peel Hospital near Galashiels, the last 2 Scottish governors of Berwick.

Bring along your local family trees and help us extend the Burgon family tree and add to our knowledge of families in the Greenses and Ravensdowne.

We'll also have activities for children and there'll be Great Performing Rope workshops for all in the prison area, upstairs on Saturday.

As always, we want to hear your family stories, too.

Update: Download next 2 month's programme of Berwick 900 events.

More about John Clay and Sarah Clay

Yesterday's article about Clay and Glynne Emigrants to the USA from Susan Johnson drew a flurry of responses.

Val Glass emailed me about John Clay, a Scottish farmer, an online biography of John Clay that mentions daughter, Sarah Clay, later Glynne.

That biography says "John Clay was bom at Dykegatehead, a farm in the parish of Whitsome, in the county of Berwick, on November 5, 1824" and that his portrait used to hang in his daughter, Sarah's house in Castle Terrace, Berwick-on-Tweed.

Val also said "I went to a talk about 10 years ago on the Clay family by, I think, Trevor Swan of Coldstream. All about their lives in USA. It is probably the same family who emigrated." and Tom Esk commented "I seem to remember that Trevor Swan gave a talk about a Clay family, possibly around March 2005 and it might have been in the Borders Family History Society magazine."

They're both right, and a search of the Borders Family History Society Article Index for 'Clay' shows a long article in issue 58 (which I think is June 2005) titlled 'The Purves, Clays, and the Crimean War' by Will Murray and Trevor Swan; the article is the text of the authors' talk to the Society titled 'James Charles Purves: a Coldstream Lad at the Charge' on 20th March 2005 about one of the participants in the charge of the Light Brigade, the battle, and some of James' family.

Trevor rang me this morning and confirmed that it is the same family that he has been researching, so I've sent an email from him to Susan and I hope that she'll be in touch.

If you know know more about this family or related families, please add a comment.

Does anyone have any pictures ?

Explore Your History at Bygone Borderlands, Berwick-upon-Tweed, This Weekend

It's almost here, the event that we've all been waiting for.

Following on the heels of a very successful Berwick and World War I event is Bygone Borderlands at Berwick Guildhall from 11am to 4pm on Saturday, 2 May and Sunday, 3 May.

Pose your family history question to Borders Family History Society or Northumberland and Durham Family History Society.

Discuss those local history puzzles with Ayton Local History Society, Belford Museum Group, Border Archaeological Society, Borders Family History Society, Bowsden History Group, Chirnside History Group, Coldstream History Society, Eyemouth Museum, Flodden 1513, Friends of Berwick & District Museum and Archives, Glendale Local History Society, Lowick Heritage Group. Northumberland and Durham Family History Society, Old Parish of Bamburgh Group; Till Valley Archaeological Society (Tillvas).

There's a downloadable programme of talks - 4 each day, starting at noon:

Saturday, 2 May

Sunday, 3 May


Download the Berwick 900 Festival's full programme of events. 

Bygone Borderlands 2014 - 10am to 4pm on 6 and 7 September

I'm sure it'll be fun for both adults and children  - a celebration of Border heritage and history, reflecting on last year’s commemoration of the 500th Anniversary of the Battle of Flodden.

It takes place at The Haining, Selkirk from 10am to 4pm on 6 and 7 September.

There’ll be displays by Berwick Record Office, Borders Family History Society, the Hawick Heritage Hub, Jedburgh Grammar School, primary schools in Hawick, Lilliesleaf and Selkirk; an arts and crafts tent, a storytelling and quill writing tent, and a tent for talks and music. Refreshments will be for sale, too.



Programme of talks and music:

Linda Bankier will be fielding your Northumberland family history queries.

Please note: There’s room only for disabled parking (blue badge holders) at The Haining, so they’re asking people to park at Selkirk High School, TD7 4EW (enter from Hillside Terrace) and there’ll be a free shuttle bus to take visitors to and from the Haining.

Admission is free, so we hope that you’ll all come and see us sometime this weekend.

Download the Bygone Borderlands 2014 brochure.

Hatches, Matches and Dispatches - What Do Certificates Tell Us ?

Northumberland and Durham Family History Society is holding a meeting in the Bell View Resource Centre, 33 West Street, Belford, Northumberland, NE70 7QF at 10am on 20 September titled 'Hatches, Matches and Dispatches - What Do Certificates Tell Us ?'

There are often problems with birth certificates, marriage certificates and death certificates whether you're looking at English or Scottish family history, so it's worth hearing what the speaker, Anthea Lang has to say.

On Sunday, 31 May next year, Borders Family History Society has a talk with a similar title, 'Hatches, Matches and Dispatches' but it will be given by Marjorie Gavin.

Berwick-upon-Tweed’s Fascinating Food History

If you had lived in the Scottish Borders in the 1840s and had a modest income as most people did, your diet would have been mostly oatmeal and potatoes with the addition of milk (and in a few parishes cheese) and garden vegetables. Bread was occasionally used, but butcher-meat very rarely. In the Scottish Borders, the most common meat was pork (or bacon or ham), the labouring classes rarely saw beef or mutton, except for dead or diseased sheep, though I suspect many may have eaten fish or rabbit.

Borders Family History Society's next meeting is on Sunday, 27th April, at 2.30pm in Coldingham Village Hall, Coldingham, TD14 5NL, when Derek Sharman will talk about Berwick-upon-Tweed’s fascinating food history. 

The Victorian period was a period of change and innovation in farming, fishing and the producing, processing and selling of food and drink.  It was also the heyday for Berwick’s trade in barley, herring and salmon. The town is full of reminders of its food-producing heritage - old salmon fishing shiels, ice-houses, herring yards, smokehouses, breweries, granaries and maltings. This talk offers fascinating glimpses into that time through a selection of extracts from local newspapers and photographs from the Berwick Record Office collection. 

I think you'll find this a very interesting talk whether you're interested in family history, local or social history and you're welcome to attend the talk whether you are a member or not.

Doors open at 2pm; the meeting begins at 2.30pm. It’s free to come in.

They'll have a range of family history publications available to buy, and there’ll be light refreshments (donation expected) available after the talk.
If you have a problem with your family history, please discuss it (no charge) with one of their volunteers.