Author: Roy Montgomery
Don’t Always Believe It
January 31, 2018
The tendency is to accept what appears in official documents as being correct. As usual there are always exceptions to the rules and in genealogy there can be quite a few. – read more…
Portsmouth Independent Orange Street Register
January 2, 2018
Mixed Independent details in Portsmouth v.2 Orange Street Independent register Many interesting entries appear in the 1785 to 1837 Independent register for the Orange Street chapel. Some entries include the address where baptisms took place while others have additional details. An example was Octavius Henry JACKSON who was born on 6 February 1829 and […] – read more…
Got a few spare minutes?
September 1, 2017
If you have a few spare minutes then why not browse through some of the items added to the site over previous years. Many of these cover Hampshire stories, people, places and items of interest. Scroll down to Archives, select a year and then browse through all the items and maybe find something of interest. […] – read more…
Hardship Cases in a Portsmouth Court – Correction
June 26, 2017
HGS member David Hall has kindly pointed out an error in the original post I added to the website in October 2014. I had incorrectly stated that William Jeremiah ATRILL married Elizabeth GRIFFITHS on 2 July 1808. These details are correct but the William in the court case was a labourer who married Elizabeth THOMPSON in Alverstoke […] – read more…
MEMORIAL INSCRIPTION CORRECTIONS
May 24, 2017
Two errors in the HGS Memorial Inscriptions for Longparish and Southampton Hill Lane Cemetery have recently been found. The one in Longparish is on a memorial inside the church, number 162 in our index, where it gives the dates for William Arthur DURNFORD as being 1653 – 1940. William was obviously not nearly 300 years […] – read more…
Will of John Biggnall of Kingston
May 19, 2017
Can an early will help with family trees John Biggnall The early registers for both Portsmouth parishes have disappeared. Later 17 Century registers are not always complete. Trying to trace early families on Portsea Island can be difficult but early wills may help. John BIGGNALL of Kingston wrote his will on 8 February 1684/5 and […] – read more…
Odiham School Teacher
February 26, 2017
Teacher at a private school in Odiham around 1900 Ellen Valentine James HGS member Peter GODWIN’s Great Aunt was Ellen Valentine JAMES. She was the youngest of three sisters and was born on St. Valentine’s Day 14 February 1869 in Notting Hill. Her parents were Henry George JAMES who had married Ellen MOREY in the […] – read more…
Inquest verdict of Visitation of God
January 27, 2017
Term used in a coroner’s verdict to explain an unexplained death Hampshire inquests The Hampshire coroner’s records were all destroyed which means that no official records exist. The best remaining source is from local newspaper reports though not every inquest and verdict was reported. When reported the content varied from very brief to quite detailed. Examples of […] – read more…
Hampshire Centenarian
November 12, 2016
Born in Meonstoke in 1916 and shortly to celebrate her 100th birthday Edith Cavell SMITH Edith a twin was born on 17 November 1916 in Meonstoke and was baptized there in St Andrew’s church on 14 January 1917. Her twin brother was Lloyd George. They were named after the WWI nurse Edith CAVELL and Prime […] – read more…
Harmony Hall later Queenwood College
October 23, 2016
Two unique educational establishments in East Tytherley Harmony Hall In 1839 Sir Francis GOLDSMID leased land at East Tytherley to socialist reformer Robert OWEN. His aim was to create a pioneering project in community living. The house he built could accommodate 700 but never reached this number. Harmony Hall was one of several similar places […] – read more…