Members Evening this year is different as we have a Sarah Hann who is a volunteer coordinator with the Heritage and Culture  in Warwickshire and she is coming to the library to talk about "Our Warwickshire " web site and as the meeting is upstairs we will all be able to access computers to have a look and participate in this project look forward to seeing you there

Our next speaker Graham Sutherland has had to advise us he is unable to attend so a replacement speaker has been found a David Howe and his talk will be                 "Prime Ministers and the Midlands "

Members will be sorry to hear that Peter Davies, our chairman for the last ten years, has decided to stand down as chairman at the AGM in December.  The good news is that he is willing to continue as a member of the committee.

We thank Peter heartily for his hard work and insight, both as chairman and in the many other roles he has performed for so long.  We hope that he will continue to perform these other roles as a member of the committee.

Peter has prepared an outline of the tasks and responsibilities of the chairman. See below.

 The committee would be delighted to hear from volunteers or proposers for the post of chairman.  In order to give candidates plenty of time to consider the role and to understand all that is involved, please do not leave it until the AGM!

ROLE OF RFHG CHAIRMAN

1. Chair meetings – Monthly Talk, monthly working evenings and Committee meetings (3 or 4 per annum) and AGM.

2. Liaise with programme secretary over proposed dates for the coming year’s programme and any queries that there may be during the year.

3. Liaise with the Percival Guildhouse over classes, day-schools, and meeting dates as necessary. These can be handled by one of our tutors or the Programme Secretary. 

4. Liaise with the Secretary over AGM and committee meeting agendas, and approval of draft minutes for these meetings.

5. Attend West Midlands Area Group meetings, usually at BMSGH Room  (usually 2  per year). Take part in area events and FFHS stand at Hobby Craft in NEC. (Usually 2 per year)

6. Arrange participation in local events such as Heritage Open Days.

7. Ensure that there are folk to sell raffle tickets at group meetings. Ensure that there is someone to organise the meeting register regularly, getting people to sign in and collect donations from visitors. At meetings, the Chairman to welcome all, give notices at start of meeting,  including  advice of future meetings, and appeals for Kith & Kin items. Welcome and introduce the speaker. Draw the raffle at the end of the meetings.

8. Ensure that the positions on the committee are filled: Secretary, Treasurer, Mag Editor and assistant (as required), programme secretary, FFHS representative, Librarian(s), Project Co-coordinator and Web Master.

9. Write Chairman’s notes for K&K – 3 times per year. Write monthly notes for Rugby Advertiser District Diary (required a week before publication).

10. Organize the Harry Batchelor competition, including selecting judges, providing copies of magazines for judges etc and passing name of winner to Trophy provider.

11. Deal with any emergencies, crises etc.

We have received information about two events that our members might be interested in. Unfortunately both on the same weekend.

From GOONS (Guild of One-Name Studies)
Bookings have now opened for our next Guild seminar on Saturday 17th May 2014 at The Temple Centre, Nuthall, Nottinghamshire.

This seminar will cover a number of interesting areas of "printed sources", from old newspapers to libraries and a few really unusual items we trust will be new for your One-Name Study or general family history research.

As usual with Guild seminars, we welcome all interested parties; you do not have to be a Guild member to attend.

Full details are on the events page of the Guild website: http://www.one-name.org/seminar_2014may_printsources.html

For queries on booking, please contact: 

Alan Moorhouse 
[Seminar Bookings],
8 Strachans Close, STROUD, Gloucestershire, GL5 3EB
 

 

 

From FIBIS (Families in British India Society)

FIBIS Conference 2014 – ‘Researching Ancestors in British India’
16-18 May 2014 at The Best Western Manor Hotel, Meriden, Warwickshire

Building on the success of our one-day open lecture meetings, FIBIS trustees are now preparing a three-day conference. This will be a friendly and social gathering where FIBIS members and the general public can learn more about this fascinating period in their ancestors’ lives.

Expert speakers will cover a range of topics relevant to the period of British influence in India. These will include something of the historical and political background, further detail on ancestors’ lives in the Army, the Civil Service, other professions and unofficial inhabitants, women in India and, of course, the railway network. Also Experts, Workshops etc.

Full details at http://www.conference2014.fibis.org/

We have received the following information from Warwickshire Register Offices:

All of the registers held by Warwickshire Register Offices are being filmed
as part of a vast digitisation project and so there will be disruption to
our certificate production services over the coming months

There will be information on the warwickshire website stating more or less
which registers are unavailable and when but it is probably a good idea if
people wanting to get certificates direct from Warwickshire Register Offices
call our call centre 03005 550255 or pop in to the relevant register office
so we can advise them whether the relevant registers are away for filming.

They are filming Nuneaton's registers  first then Rugby's then Warwick's.
Nuneaton register will be filmed in 4 tranches. The first tranche went for
filming before Christmas and  is returning 13th Jan when the second tranche
will be taken. there will be a delivery / collection approx every 2 weeks

this is the link to the website
http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/copycertificates