After a break of a couple of years I’m now back with a new series of family and local history talks.
These are:
Local Links to the Lusitania;
Tips for Researching your Great War Ancestors;
My Batley St Mary’s in World War One One-Place Study;
The Home Front: the White Lee Explosion of 1914.
Local Links to the Lusitania focuses on people with Yorkshire connections on board the Cunard liner, torpedoed and sunk off the Irish coast on 7 May 1915. The sinking did not affect only the rich and famous. Many Yorkshire people were involved. This talk explores some of their stories.
There is a possibility this talk can be tailored to your local area.
Based on my groundbreaking book The Greatest Sacrifice: Fallen Heroes of the Northern Union about rugby league players who died in World War One, the talk investigates the stories behind some of the men. It is also packed with tips for researching your own Great War Army ancestors.
My Batley St Mary’s in World War One One-Place Study is based on my ongoing study of the Catholic parish of St Mary of the Angels, particularly during the First World War. It investigates what a one-place study is, why I embarked on one, why I chose this particular focus, as well as my findings.
The Home Front: the White Lee Explosion of 1914 is a talk based around the events of December 1914 when a devastating explosion, caused during the manufacture of picric acid for the war effort, took place at White Lee. It resulted in deaths and injuries, as well as damage across a vast area of Batley, Heckmondwike and the Spen Valley. It is an event often overlooked because of later explosions in Yorkshire at Low Moor and Barnbow. This talk aims to provide more information about this Heavy Woollen District incident, the forerunner to the later explosions. The talk will explore the unlucky history of the site as well as the events on the day and the aftermath.
This is the latest update of the pages relating to my Batley St Mary’s one-place study, the details of which I announced here.
St Mary of the Angels, Batley
April saw the addition of eight new pages. Two other pages were updated.
The additions included five weekly newspaper pages for April 1916. I have accordingly updated the surname index to these During This Week newspaper pieces, so you can easily identify newspaper snippets relevant to your family.
More men who served and survived have been identified. I have updated that page accordingly. No new biographies for these men have been added this month. They will follow in due course.
I have written one biography for a War Memorial man: Lawrence Carney.
This month there are two new school log book pages. These are the ones for the Boy’s Department in 1914 and 1915.
Below is the full list of pages to date. I have annotated the *NEW* ones, plus the *UPDATED* pages, so you can easily pick these out. Click on the link and it will take you straight to the relevant page.
This is the latest update of the pages relating to my Batley St Mary’s one-place study, the details of which I announced here.
A selection of school log books – Photo by Jane Roberts
March saw the addition of seven new pages. Two other pages were updated.
Although March may therefore appear to have been quiet, I have been working away in the background on a new strand to the St Mary’s One-Place Study – the school. More of that later.
The additions included four weekly newspaper pages for March 1916. I have accordingly updated the surname index to these During This Week newspaper pieces, so you can easily identify newspaper snippets relevant to your family.
More men who served and survived have been identified. I have updated that page accordingly. No new biographies for these men have been added this month. They will follow in due course.
I have written one biography for a War Memorial man: Robert Randerson. A Batley rugby league player and St Mary’s school teacher, his first days at the school are also recorded in the brand new section to the study – the school log books.
These log books were kept regularly by the school – the infants, mixed and boys’ departments. They record the everyday routine of their running. Some of the entries may be mundane, register checking for example. But amidst these entries are some real gems – for example unusual incidents, disease outbreaks, school outings, and issues relating to individual school children or teachers. Interwoven through them is the religious context to St Mary of the Angels school, and how local and national events also impacted on it. They provide a snapshot of Catholic school life in a bygone time. Crucially for this study, these particular logs are not available online or in the archives.
This month there are two new pages relating specifically to these log books. The first is a general introduction. The second is the 1913 log book entries for the newly formed Boys’ Department. And it is on these pages Robert Randerson appears.
Below is the full list of pages to date. I have annotated the *NEW* ones, plus the *UPDATED* pages, so you can easily pick these out. Click on the link and it will take you straight to the relevant page.
This is the latest update of the pages relating to my Batley St Mary’s one-place study, the details of which I announced here.
Sam Sykes – One of the Newspaper additions this month
It has been a busy month. In total eight new pages were added. Eight others were updated.
I focused on occupations during February, with three new work descriptions added – those of confidential clerk, office boy/girl and willeyer.
I have added four weekly newspaper pages for February 1916. I have accordingly updated the surname index to these During This Week newspaper pieces, so you can easily identify newspaper snippets relevant to your family.
More men who served and survived have been identified. I have updated that page accordingly. No new biographies for these men have been added this month. They will follow in due course.
I have also written one biography for a War Memorial men: Dominick Brannan, also known as Dominic or George Brennan. I have updated five others (Michael Brannan, Michael Flynn, Thomas Foley, Patrick Naifsey, Austin Nolan). Also updated is Reginald Roberts, who was linked to the parish but not on the Memorial.
Below is the full list of pages to date. I have annotated the *NEW* ones, plus the *UPDATED* pages, so you can easily pick these out. Click on the link and it will take you straight to the relevant page.
This is the latest update of the pages relating to my Batley St Mary’s one-place study, the details of which I announced here.
St Mary of the Angels Church, Batley
In the past month I have added five weekly newspaper pages for January 1916. I have accordingly updated the surname index to these During This Week newspaper pieces, so you can easily identify newspaper snippets relevant to your family.
More men who served and survived have been identified. I have updated that page accordingly. No new biographies for these men have been added this month. They will follow in due course.
I have also written two new biographies for a War Memorial men: those of Peter Doherty and Thomas Gavaghan.
Below is the full list of pages to date. I have annotated the *NEW* ones, plus the *UPDATED* pages, so you can easily pick these out. Click on the link and it will take you straight to the relevant page.
This is the latest update of the pages relating to my Batley St Mary’s one-place study, the details of which I announced here.
St Mary of the Angels Church, Batley
In the past month I have added four weekly newspaper pages for December 1915. I have accordingly updated the surname index to these During This Week newspaper pieces, so you can easily identify newspaper snippets relevant to your family.
More men who served and survived have been identified. I have updated that page accordingly. No new biographies for these men have been added this month. They will follow in due course.
I have written one new biography for a War Memorial man, that of Thomas Finneran.
Finally for this month, I have added a new name to the page relating to biographies of men associated with St Mary’s who died but who are not remembered on the War Memorial.
Below is the full list of pages to date. I have annotated the *NEW* ones, plus the *UPDATED* pages, so you can easily pick these out. Click on the link and it will take you straight to the relevant page.
This is the latest update of the pages relating to my Batley St Mary’s one-place study, the details of which I announced here.
St Mary of the Angels Church, Batley
In the past month I have added four weekly newspaper pages for November 1915. I have accordingly updated the surname index to these During This Week newspaper pieces, so you can easily identify newspaper snippets relevant to your family.
More men who served and survived have been identified. I have updated that page accordingly. No new biographies have been added this month. These will follow in due course.
Finally for this month the biography for Second World War man Michael Flatley had been updated to include a colour photograph.
Below is the full list of pages to date. I have annotated the *NEW* ones, plus the *UPDATED* pages, so you can easily pick these out. Click on the link and it will take you straight to the relevant page.
This is the latest update of the pages relating to my Batley St Mary’s one-place study, the details of which I announced here.
St Mary of the Angels Church, Batley
In the past month I have added seven new pages. These include five weekly newspaper summary pages for October 1915. I have accordingly updated the surname index to these During This Week newspaper pieces, so you can easily identify newspaper snippets relevant to your family.
There is one new War Memorial biography, that of James Rush.
More men who served and survived have been identified. I have updated that page accordingly. No new biographies have been added this month. These will follow in due course. However, the biography of Thomas Donlan (senior) has been updated, with additional information.
The final new page for this month is an occupational one, that of a limelight operator.
Below is the full list of pages to date. I have annotated the *NEW* ones, plus the *UPDATED* pages, so you can easily pick these out. Click on the link and it will take you straight to the relevant page.
This is the latest update of the pages relating to my Batley St Mary’s one-place study, the details of which I announced here.
St Mary of the Angels Church, Batley
In the past month I have added eight new pages, including a major news announcement for September. This is the extension of the study to include those from the parish who died in the Second World War.
Although the church has no War Memorial commemorating parishioners who died in World War Two, with the help of Batley’s Roll of Honour I am seeking to identify them and publish mini-biographies as part of this one-place study. These new pages include the background to the Second World War element of the study; a list of those identified to date; and the first of these biographies, Michael Flatley.
Turning to World War One, there are four weekly newspaper summary pages for September 1915. I have accordingly updated the surname index to these During This Week newspaper pieces, so you can easily identify newspaper snippets relevant to your family.
The biography of Thomas McNamara has been updated, with additional information.
More men who served and survived have been identified. I have updated that page accordingly. This month I have published a biography for one of these men, Michael Rush. He survived both the 2nd Boer War and the First World War. The biographies of other men in this section will follow in due course.
Below is the full list of pages to date. I have annotated the *NEW* ones, plus the *UPDATED* pages, so you can easily pick these out. Click on the link and it will take you straight to the relevant page.
This is the latest update of the pages relating to my Batley St Mary’s one-place study, the details of which I announced here.
In the past month I have added seven new pages. These include four weekly newspaper summary pages. I have accordingly updated the surname index to these During This Week newspaper pieces, so you can easily identify newspaper snippets relevant to your family.
There is one new War Memorial biography – that of John Brooks. I have also updated the biography of Herbert Booth to include a new photograph of a Batley street, dating from around 1910.
I’ve also written the first post in the occupations and employment category, describing the job of a rag grinder.
Patent Rag Grinding Machine, The History and Antiquities of Morley, in the West Riding of the County of York, 1876 – out of copyright
And there is the first post in the families section, entitled A Death in the Church.
Finally for this month, more men who served and survived have been identified. I have also updated that page. The biographies of these men will follow in due course.
Below is the full list of pages to date. I have annotated the *NEW* ones, plus the *UPDATED* pages, so you can easily pick these out. Click on the link and it will take you straight to the relevant page.
PastToPresentGenealogy 