24 July 2024 - Hybrid (Exeter Hall & Zoom). This talk will went through the 10 steps to develop an One Place Study with examples and explanations based on the speakers study of Bletchington. Various stories relating to events in the village will be retold. Each One Place Study is unique, but the principles can be applied to any study.
Monday 9 January 2023 - Via Zoom: A look at the program "Charting Companion" and how it can be used to tell your family history with great and original charts.
On 10 July 2023 -via Zoom. This talk will consider the types of roles women undertook on the Victorian and Edwardian railway, their recruitment, their working conditions and the limitations that were placed on their advancement. It will also consider the broader social forces and factors that shaped their employment. The talk will be appealing to those interested in railway history, railway work and women's employment in Britain in this period.
A talk held over Zoom on Monday 14 August 2023. Where Gay Evans looked at large families in the 18th / 19th century and the implications for the parents, especially the mothers.
On Monday 13 March 2023 via Zoom: A light-hearted walk through a variety of genealogical records, reinforcing the value of scrutinising original documents.
This talk given on 11 December 2023 over Zoom by Claire Bradley, concentrates on autosomal DNA explains the terminology, what companies offer this service, costs and how to use this tool to progress your ancestry. It finds cousins matches for you and also provides an estimate of deep ancestral ethnicity. It will also discusses the ethics of testing and considerations regarding the possibility of uncovering a family secret.
On Monday 11 September 2023 over Zoom: John will take us beyong the peace and serenity offered by our parish churches and look at some of the countless images of Murder, Sex and Mayhem that he has come across in his travels. From medieval murals and stained glass depict the martyrdom of saints from home and abroad, and the grisliest of dooms. At a lower level may be found misericords showing whippings, wife beatings, and brawls. Finally there are many monuments and memorials that show scenes of murder and mayhem in goodly measure including stagecoach crashes, bridge collapses, falling trees, falling bridges, falling chimneys, shootings, stabbings, mine collapses, shipwrecks and explosions.
22 May 2023 - Hybrid Meeting: This talk explored the little-known story of the Ascott Martyrs and their contribution to the campaign being mounted by the National Agricultural Labourers Union led by Joseph Arch to improve the wages of the agricultural labourer. In May 1873, 16 women from Ascott-under-Wychwood, some with babes in their arms, were sentenced to imprisonment with hard labour in Oxford Gaol, for what on the face of it, amounted to little more than a peaceful demonstration in support of a strike for a living wage by some agricultural labourers in the village.
In this hybrid meeting Kim Davies, Engagement officer at the Soldier's of Oxfordshire (SOFO) museum talked about Oxfordshire's Military Heritage using a number of objects form the SOFO museum's collection.
On Monday 12 June 2023 via Zoom: What better way to attract people to you and the data that you have than creating your own website. However, many are put off by the thoughts of the technical problems. This lecture looks at some of the alternatives there are and some of the questions that you need to answer on the way.
On 13 November 2023 over Zoom, Ian Waller will take us into the world of Royal Navy records a most comprehensive series of records outlining the service. The Admiralty was extremely meticulous at keeping records of operations, procedures and personnel and this talk provides an overview about such records.
Hybrid Meeting: On 24 April 2023 Malcolm talked about school log books and how they can be used to flesh out the bones of your family history. A recording of the talk is available to view.
On Monday 26 June 2023 Oxfordshire FHS held its AGM at Exeter Hall, Kidlington and over Zoom. The AGM was followed by a talk by Mark Davies entitled "Some Binsey Whimsey".
This hybrid talk, by Simon Wehham, will chart the development of the complex campaign, by various different organizations including the Suffragettes and the Women's Social & Political Union, to get woman the vote and how it was eventually won.
From very humble origins, James Ryman (c1795-1880) rapidly rose up the social ladder to become a famous art dealer. Ryman’s art shop on the High Street in Oxford, was much-frequented by the likes of J.M.W. Turner, John Ruskin and Lewis Carroll.Ryman used his wealth to radically reconfigure the house and expanding estate at Summerhill Villa and play an important role in the history of Summertown. A generous supporter of charitable causes, Ryman opened his pleasure gardens for charity events, garden shows, parties for school children and cricket matches. The estate became an important social hub for the residents of Summertown.
On Monday 13 February 2023 over Zoom: The relieving officer’s role was to monitor all applications for relief in his parishes and in co-ordination with other parties recommend whether the application should be approved by the Board of Guardians. His role was also to supervise any conveyancing of the poor from the parish to the Bicester Workhouse or its Infirmary or on occasion to Littlemore Asylum. Examination of the various records within the Oxfordshire archives from the various books and forms completed by the Relieving Officer were examined in the talk.
Phil's objective is to introduce each and every audience member to at least one useful new tool they haven't tried before. There will be a PDF handout for this talk containing URLs for each of the tools mentioned.
9 Oct 2023 (11am) - Via Zoom. When we find familiar jobs in our family tree, we usually have a good sense of the kind of work they involved and the industry we need to explore if we're to discover more. But what if you encountered a labbet amongst your ancestors? A lumpman? Or a water gilder? Far more than just a quick cross-checking point between record sets, occupations can yield rich insights into an ancestor’s daily existence, social status, and role within their local community. In this talk, we’ll delve into a range of resources and strategies for demystifying unfamiliar historical occupations, including some Oxfordshire-specific jobs and industries.