ACTIVITY DETAILS AND FURTHER INFORMATION
| Activity | FAMILY & LOCAL HISTORY GROUP |
|---|---|
| Leader | Vacant |
| Admin | Gladys Mallon |
| Contact E-mail | ag4dvc@hotmail.co.uk |
| Contact Phone | 028 2766 4036 |
| Meeting Day | 3rd Tuesday of month |
| Meeting Time | 11 a.m. |
| Venue | Holmes Memorial Hall |
| Activity Description | Exploring way to expand our knowledge in researching local and family history both through books, web-site and visits to places of interest. |
| Current Arrangements | VIA ZOOM |
10 August 2021
On Thursday, 10 August, a small band of our members braved the possibility of inclement weather and gathered in a semi-hidden car park in front of a nondescript, elongated, industrial like building purporting to be Garvagh Museum, situated off the main road and next to the now closed Garvagh High School. A short distance away was a walled garden laid out in grass and to one side could be seen farm machinery from another era. It was not at first a visit that boded well for our band of keen amateur historians. However, appearances are often deceiving.
We stepped from sunny daylight into a Tardis. Laid out on three levels was a cornucopia of our past from the 19th century and perhaps even earlier to almost modern times – artefacts of daily living, items from the first and second world wars, areas set out as bedrooms and working rooms of centuries past. There was a profusion of different items: farm machinery, early radios, a pupils wooden double school desk with cut outs for the ink bottles, bedpans, cut throat razors and their later replacement the safety razor, second world war gas masks, late 19th century rifles, milk and butter churns, beautiful glass windows, beautifully painted drums and banners, cameras, a two wheeled pony trap, early medical equipment, wonderful photographs of farm workers at work and the surrounding areas of Garvagh, beautifully hand written letters (from a bygone age when people spent time composing and writing clearly), and on and on. A second and perhaps third trip would be required to take it all in.
Admission is free and the volunteer staff are helpful and knowledgeable. You can leave a gratuity to cover their costs for maintenance of the building if you wish. All the artefacts, photographs, banners, letters, etc. were provided without cost to the museum and detailed descriptions of many items are on display. Many of us, who are old enough, will remember many of these items for they were in daily use when we were children: the school desk, our fathers using cut throat razors and then moving onto safety razors, bed pans, ...
Garvagh Museum is a time capsule of our past and where we all have come from. It evoked many memories of our youth. This “nondescript” building is a “jewel in the crown” of Garvagh, a treasure trove of our past and well worth repeated visits. It was almost then an anti-climax for our members to travel to the Bushtown Hotel for afternoon tea, coffee and scones with butter, jam and whipped cream - and two strawberries that we were all too well brought up to take as we could not subdivide them equally amongst us. But, lo and behold, we learnt, as we enjoyed our scones and tea and coffee, from our members who recounting stories of their youth: the man who had “long arms” (and never starved at the kitchen table), our cyclist in the late 1950’s stopped by the Garda Síochána in Dublin for dangerous cycling because he cycled with his hands in his pockets in the dark, and the early days of do it yourself black and white photography … It was a very enjoyable end to the day where the weather was in our favour, the museum fascinating and the effect of the museum and good company enabled and encouraged us to recount stories from our pasts.
Our thanks to Kathleen, Gladys and Irene for arranging this very enjoyable day, and to Garvagh Museum and its volunteers for giving us an exclusive viewing of their museum.
Michael Diver
On Thursday, 10 August, a small band of our members braved the possibility of inclement weather and gathered in a semi-hidden car park in front of a nondescript, elongated, industrial like building purporting to be Garvagh Museum, situated off the main road and next to the now closed Garvagh High School. A short distance away was a walled garden laid out in grass and to one side could be seen farm machinery from another era. It was not at first a visit that boded well for our band of keen amateur historians. However, appearances are often deceiving.
We stepped from sunny daylight into a Tardis. Laid out on three levels was a cornucopia of our past from the 19th century and perhaps even earlier to almost modern times – artefacts of daily living, items from the first and second world wars, areas set out as bedrooms and working rooms of centuries past. There was a profusion of different items: farm machinery, early radios, a pupils wooden double school desk with cut outs for the ink bottles, bedpans, cut throat razors and their later replacement the safety razor, second world war gas masks, late 19th century rifles, milk and butter churns, beautiful glass windows, beautifully painted drums and banners, cameras, a two wheeled pony trap, early medical equipment, wonderful photographs of farm workers at work and the surrounding areas of Garvagh, beautifully hand written letters (from a bygone age when people spent time composing and writing clearly), and on and on. A second and perhaps third trip would be required to take it all in.
Admission is free and the volunteer staff are helpful and knowledgeable. You can leave a gratuity to cover their costs for maintenance of the building if you wish. All the artefacts, photographs, banners, letters, etc. were provided without cost to the museum and detailed descriptions of many items are on display. Many of us, who are old enough, will remember many of these items for they were in daily use when we were children: the school desk, our fathers using cut throat razors and then moving onto safety razors, bed pans, ...
Garvagh Museum is a time capsule of our past and where we all have come from. It evoked many memories of our youth. This “nondescript” building is a “jewel in the crown” of Garvagh, a treasure trove of our past and well worth repeated visits. It was almost then an anti-climax for our members to travel to the Bushtown Hotel for afternoon tea, coffee and scones with butter, jam and whipped cream - and two strawberries that we were all too well brought up to take as we could not subdivide them equally amongst us. But, lo and behold, we learnt, as we enjoyed our scones and tea and coffee, from our members who recounting stories of their youth: the man who had “long arms” (and never starved at the kitchen table), our cyclist in the late 1950’s stopped by the Garda Síochána in Dublin for dangerous cycling because he cycled with his hands in his pockets in the dark, and the early days of do it yourself black and white photography … It was a very enjoyable end to the day where the weather was in our favour, the museum fascinating and the effect of the museum and good company enabled and encouraged us to recount stories from our pasts.
Our thanks to Kathleen, Gladys and Irene for arranging this very enjoyable day, and to Garvagh Museum and its volunteers for giving us an exclusive viewing of their museum.
Michael Diver
20th April 2021
The Family History Group met on Tuesday 20 April on Zoom. After welcoming all the members we offered condolences to Gladys on the loss of Gretta who died Friday 9th April 2021. Grett was a founder member of our Family History Group and will be missed by all of us. Gladys commented ‘Gretta enjoyed being a member of the Family History group, making new friends and looking into her family history. As my sister in law she was also a good friend and meetings will be very different without her now’.
We were then given a PowerPoint presentation, showing how much information is contained in the Ordinance Survey Memoirs of Ireland and how it can benefit family historians. These Memoirs contain a vast range of information from topography, produce and turbary, maps of areas, natural features such as bogs and woods, schools and even in some areas details of emigration. We concentrated on the areas of Ballintoy, Ramoan (Ballycastle), Ballyscullion, Rathlin, Armoy, and Ballymoney. We even learned that there were, and may still be, sweat houses on Rathlin Island. We are so blessed to have Kathleen Connolly, with her incredible knowledge, who prepared this presentation for us and she was ably assisted by Irene.
After the presentation a member was then assisted in locating her current home and past ownership using the Griffiths Valuation Records. The benefits of having the meeting on Zoom was highlighted by the fact that we all had access to information that could be sourced almost immediately and we were all looking at the same documents at the same time.
The next meeting will be held on 18 May 2021. New members are invited to join us and are always welcome. Contact us on groupsbu3a@gmail.com quoting Family History in the subject line.
The Family History Group met on Tuesday 20 April on Zoom. After welcoming all the members we offered condolences to Gladys on the loss of Gretta who died Friday 9th April 2021. Grett was a founder member of our Family History Group and will be missed by all of us. Gladys commented ‘Gretta enjoyed being a member of the Family History group, making new friends and looking into her family history. As my sister in law she was also a good friend and meetings will be very different without her now’.
We were then given a PowerPoint presentation, showing how much information is contained in the Ordinance Survey Memoirs of Ireland and how it can benefit family historians. These Memoirs contain a vast range of information from topography, produce and turbary, maps of areas, natural features such as bogs and woods, schools and even in some areas details of emigration. We concentrated on the areas of Ballintoy, Ramoan (Ballycastle), Ballyscullion, Rathlin, Armoy, and Ballymoney. We even learned that there were, and may still be, sweat houses on Rathlin Island. We are so blessed to have Kathleen Connolly, with her incredible knowledge, who prepared this presentation for us and she was ably assisted by Irene.
After the presentation a member was then assisted in locating her current home and past ownership using the Griffiths Valuation Records. The benefits of having the meeting on Zoom was highlighted by the fact that we all had access to information that could be sourced almost immediately and we were all looking at the same documents at the same time.
The next meeting will be held on 18 May 2021. New members are invited to join us and are always welcome. Contact us on groupsbu3a@gmail.com quoting Family History in the subject line.
23rd February 2021
The Family History Group met on Tuesday 23rd February on Zoom.
We started off with a short demonstration, inputting information onto Family Tree Maker which is a Family Tree building program.
Subsequent discussions were on townlands and where to find information on the Internet. It was interesting to note that there can be townlands with the same name in different areas. Confusing to say the least but we are thankful that we have Kathleen who directs us and shares information with us to enable better searches.
One member had discovered a very interesting webpage which has some very interesting and valuable information on graveyards in and around Portglenone, Kilrea, Maghera, Bellaghy, Innisrush and Tamlaght areas in Counties Derry/Londonderry and Antrim. This same website gives us a list of the oldest recorded people in certain areas a small selection of these can be found below.
Once again a really interesting meeting, sometimes going for little walks down memory lane, and if there are any members who wish to join us you would be made most welcome.
You can contact us at groupsbu3a@gmail.com… quoting Family History Group in the subject line.
Gladys Mallon and Irene Ross
The Family History Group met on Tuesday 23rd February on Zoom.
We started off with a short demonstration, inputting information onto Family Tree Maker which is a Family Tree building program.
Subsequent discussions were on townlands and where to find information on the Internet. It was interesting to note that there can be townlands with the same name in different areas. Confusing to say the least but we are thankful that we have Kathleen who directs us and shares information with us to enable better searches.
One member had discovered a very interesting webpage which has some very interesting and valuable information on graveyards in and around Portglenone, Kilrea, Maghera, Bellaghy, Innisrush and Tamlaght areas in Counties Derry/Londonderry and Antrim. This same website gives us a list of the oldest recorded people in certain areas a small selection of these can be found below.
Once again a really interesting meeting, sometimes going for little walks down memory lane, and if there are any members who wish to join us you would be made most welcome.
You can contact us at groupsbu3a@gmail.com… quoting Family History Group in the subject line.
Gladys Mallon and Irene Ross
From Website mentioned above…. Some people living to a very old age!
16 February 2021
The History Group met via zoom on Tuesday 16th February. We welcomed a new member Ann. Ann is looking for any information on her family history. Kathleen was able to give her information on which web sites to access to get her started.
Other members of the group gave her some pointers and tips on how to look for and access the information .
The group then discussed the role of the Workhouses in Northern Ireland. Kathleen recommended a book Pauper to Patient which is a good source of information as how many of the workhouses developed into hospitals.
Finally the last 15/20 minutes the group were reminiscing about Ballymoney and Davy talked about his time working in Stevenson’s Pork Store.
Next meeting is Tuesday 16th March at 11am via zoom.
The History Group met via zoom on Tuesday 16th February. We welcomed a new member Ann. Ann is looking for any information on her family history. Kathleen was able to give her information on which web sites to access to get her started.
Other members of the group gave her some pointers and tips on how to look for and access the information .
The group then discussed the role of the Workhouses in Northern Ireland. Kathleen recommended a book Pauper to Patient which is a good source of information as how many of the workhouses developed into hospitals.
Finally the last 15/20 minutes the group were reminiscing about Ballymoney and Davy talked about his time working in Stevenson’s Pork Store.
Next meeting is Tuesday 16th March at 11am via zoom.
19 January 2021
The Family History Group met on Tuesday, 19 January 2021 at 11 am.
We watched an very interesting video about Dervock and some of its interesting residents. The Group agreed that they enjoyed videos about our local area.
Kathleen informed the group about films that the BCRC are putting on each week and told us how to gain access.
The discussion then turned to Fairy rings, Fairy trees, Fairy forts and Ring Forts. Kathleen and Davy were able to tell us where these could be found locally. It is amazing how much there is of interest, historically, right here on our doorstep.
Irene shared a lighthearted document she had come across from the Mormon Society about names and occupations found on census records which were both interesting and amusing. e.g ‘A woman named Rose married Robert Garden’ and ‘A women’s birthplace was listed as ‘in a Stagecoach between Nottingham and Derby’!’
Davy shared some extracts and pictures from an old book he has about fitting machine guns onto planes through the wings.
It is not unusual for our group to deviate from a planned discussion and very often a ‘walk down memory lane’ is of great value too.
Next meeting Tuesday 16th February 2021 at 11.00am
Anyone wishing to join us please contact us via groupsbu3a@gmail.com with ‘Family History Group’ in the subject line.
The Family History Group met on Tuesday, 19 January 2021 at 11 am.
We watched an very interesting video about Dervock and some of its interesting residents. The Group agreed that they enjoyed videos about our local area.
Kathleen informed the group about films that the BCRC are putting on each week and told us how to gain access.
The discussion then turned to Fairy rings, Fairy trees, Fairy forts and Ring Forts. Kathleen and Davy were able to tell us where these could be found locally. It is amazing how much there is of interest, historically, right here on our doorstep.
Irene shared a lighthearted document she had come across from the Mormon Society about names and occupations found on census records which were both interesting and amusing. e.g ‘A woman named Rose married Robert Garden’ and ‘A women’s birthplace was listed as ‘in a Stagecoach between Nottingham and Derby’!’
Davy shared some extracts and pictures from an old book he has about fitting machine guns onto planes through the wings.
It is not unusual for our group to deviate from a planned discussion and very often a ‘walk down memory lane’ is of great value too.
Next meeting Tuesday 16th February 2021 at 11.00am
Anyone wishing to join us please contact us via groupsbu3a@gmail.com with ‘Family History Group’ in the subject line.
17 November 2020
The Family History Group met on Tuesday, the 17th of November at 11 am via Zoom.
A short video entitled The Story of Your Life was shown emphasising how important it is to record family information, especially information about ourselves. Following the video and subsequent discussion It became apparent that the majority of the members felt that nobody would be interested in anything that we had done which is probably not true.
We then went on to discuss the townlands of Buckna and Slemish and the demise of the linen industry. It was decided that when the pandemic is over we would like to visit one of the places where Linen is/was made, possibly Clarke’s of Upperlands, for one of our away days.
Kathleen spoke about the inaccuracies recorded during the transcription of documents and how some of them are being rewritten. It was decided that there will be a December meeting and although Tuesday, the 15th of December was set this may change and we will notify our members closer to the time.
In the meantime stay safe and if anyone would like to join us please forward you contact details to groupsbu3a@gmail.com quoting ‘Family History’ in the subject line.
Irene Ross
The Family History Group met on Tuesday, the 17th of November at 11 am via Zoom.
A short video entitled The Story of Your Life was shown emphasising how important it is to record family information, especially information about ourselves. Following the video and subsequent discussion It became apparent that the majority of the members felt that nobody would be interested in anything that we had done which is probably not true.
We then went on to discuss the townlands of Buckna and Slemish and the demise of the linen industry. It was decided that when the pandemic is over we would like to visit one of the places where Linen is/was made, possibly Clarke’s of Upperlands, for one of our away days.
Kathleen spoke about the inaccuracies recorded during the transcription of documents and how some of them are being rewritten. It was decided that there will be a December meeting and although Tuesday, the 15th of December was set this may change and we will notify our members closer to the time.
In the meantime stay safe and if anyone would like to join us please forward you contact details to groupsbu3a@gmail.com quoting ‘Family History’ in the subject line.
Irene Ross
20 October 2020
The Family History Group met on Tuesday 20 October on Zoom and together we watched a short video, ‘Billy Church A History of Billy & Derrykeighan Graveyards’.
The present Church at Billy was built in 1815 and there are records indicating that there was a Church there in 1305 and some ruins of the old Church are still in existence. The oldest headstone in the graveyard dates back to 1620.
Robert Quigg VC, a recipient of the Victoria Cross, awarded for his actions during the Battle of the Somme in the First World War has his grave in Billy Church graveyard.
The members enjoyed this so much they all requested that a link to the video be forwarded to them so that they could watch it a second time. Many thanks to Kathleen for making us aware of this video.
Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday 17 November at 11:00am when we hope to investigate and discuss ‘Brick walls’!
New members are welcome and contact can be made by emailing us at groupsbu3a@gmail.com quoting ‘Family History Group’ in the Subject line.
Irene Ross
The Family History Group met on Tuesday 20 October on Zoom and together we watched a short video, ‘Billy Church A History of Billy & Derrykeighan Graveyards’.
The present Church at Billy was built in 1815 and there are records indicating that there was a Church there in 1305 and some ruins of the old Church are still in existence. The oldest headstone in the graveyard dates back to 1620.
Robert Quigg VC, a recipient of the Victoria Cross, awarded for his actions during the Battle of the Somme in the First World War has his grave in Billy Church graveyard.
The members enjoyed this so much they all requested that a link to the video be forwarded to them so that they could watch it a second time. Many thanks to Kathleen for making us aware of this video.
Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday 17 November at 11:00am when we hope to investigate and discuss ‘Brick walls’!
New members are welcome and contact can be made by emailing us at groupsbu3a@gmail.com quoting ‘Family History Group’ in the Subject line.
Irene Ross
Getting out and about to find, and share, new information about the history of our town.
What a happy bunch we are!