At the Nursteed Centre, Devizes
Please scroll down for information about the Nursteed Centre, and also note that the Society's Resource Centre (ie for its office, libary, research etc) is on the Bath Road, at the other side of Devizes from the Nursteed Centre.
The Devizes Branch's regular meetings are on the third Tuesday of each month (except December) at 7.30pm. At some meetings we meet as usual and the presenter will 'arrive' on Zoom. See below for contact details, details of topics, venues and any changes. Everyone is welcome, and there is no charge. Tea/coffee available and time to chat or ask questions. Please keep an eye on this page for any changes.
Future meetings
Tuesday 20 January - "Preserving your Family History" by Ian Waller. What will you do with your research results: cloud storage, publishing your results, storing on a computer or even scrapbooking? All of these have both merit and drawback. He will also look at some of the ideas behind bequests of our material.
Tuesday 17 February - "Read all about it - using newspapers to bring your ancestors to life" by Claire Dimond-Mills. Using examples from her work as a genealogist, Claire will use newspapers to uncover neighbourly disputes, attempted murder, domestic abuse and bankruptcy as well as celebrating weddings, sporting achievements, gallantry on the battlefield and the lives of important local people
Tuesday 17 March - "Lloyd George Domesday 1910-1915 and National Farm Survey 1941 - 1943" - Gill Blanchard. The Domesday Survey (official name: Inland Revenue Valuation Office Survey) is a fantastic resource for house historians, social historians, and genealogists. The National Farm Survey was undertaken as a means of improving productivity during the war and leaves us with a revealing in-depth analysis of 300,000 agricultural holdings and the buildings on them.
Tuesday 21 April - "The life and death of a Country Policeman" Judy Rouse. Judy's talk will follow our brief Branch AGM
Tuesday 19 May - "Care of Photographs". Beverley Walker's talks are always welcome at our Branch. This one will cover a topic sometimes neglected as we work on extending our family trees. She will explain how to store photographs and to display them in albums with descriptions and memorabilia.
Tuesday 16 June - Helen Parker-Drabble is a family historian with a twist: she uncovers hidden stories using her counselling training to explore how our ancestors’ experiences might have shaped them. By combining psychology with her family history, she shows how to deepen our understanding of our ancestors, living family and the legacies that are left behind.
Tuesday 21 July - our local member Dr Norman Beale will tell us about the Battle of Roundway in 1643
Tuesday 18 August - our Branch's summer outing
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Recent meeting - December - our Branch Christmas Party was arranged by Bob and Lindsey. We enjoyed the light-hearted but challenging quiz and and an ample, and carefully chosen, selection of seasonal snacks. It was an excellent way to round off our Branch's year.
Recent meeting - November - "Sons of the Soil" - Janet Few has vast experience in family, social and community history research. She introduced us to the events and laws that had shaped the lives of our ‘aglab’ ancestors and of many other countryside occupations. Some of the topics were familiar to us, but in most cases Janet added little-used aspects worthy of research. In addition to censuses, tithe records and directories, she mentioned various surveys in England, Scotland and Ireland, animal descriptions, gamekeepers’ licences, estate records, school log books, newspapers and even weather records. With such a splendid range of topics to think about, we were relieved that Janet provides a downloadable handout for our future reference
Recent meeting - October -- "Maple Leaf Villa" - Ian Hicks, from the Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre, had personally uncovered the story of a young bear mascot brought to Salisbury Plain from Canada by troops in WW1. When his owner went to France, ‘Pooh’ was lodged at London Zoo where he remained for many years, apparently content. The Canadians had named their army hut “Maple Leaf Villa”, and after the War it became the first home of Wiltshire’s Library Service. Years later the wooden name board was the surviving piece of the hut and was displayed in the County Council Headquarters. Although without much family history as such, Ian’s talk was locally-centred and contained many aspects of relevance to our members.
Recent meeting - September Members' Evening - this was a short notice change from having a visiting speaker. We heard about the Poor Laws, conflicts between parishes, and particularly indecisive couple; about a promising's youngster's travel, university and then death on the Western Front; about the workers in the flax factory in Devizes and their secret War work that included parachutes; about local families, and finally about tragedy and murder in the London Gangland scene that involved a member's relatives and some friendly twins called Kray. It was a fascinating evening that emerged from little chance to prepare.
Recent meeting - August - Our Branch visit this year was to the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers' Museum at Lyneham. After some of us had lunched in the cafe, we were taken on a guided tour of the many historic specialist vehicles and equipment by an enthusiastic veteran. There were many reminders of the harshness of war and of the talents of the servicemen and women. The converted tanks were seriously impressive!
Recent meeting - July "Was your Ancestor a Gypsy" - Beverley Walker is a leading member of the Romany & Traveller Family History Society and has for many years been sharing information about Gypsies and how we might encounter them while researching our own ancestors. Not everyone who was described as a traveller, vagrant or hawker was a Gypsy, but many were, and Beverley explained how we could gather information to reach a conclusion. Clues might emerge from particular names and occupations or unexplained absences or frequent movements. More intriguing was the use of familiar words in a new context: for example finding a ‘marine store dealer’ in land-locked Wiltshire. If you have an apparently unimportant detail that you’ve been puzzling over, it may be worth checking the clues on the RTFHS website: you may have Gypsy blood after all.
Recent meeting - June - "History of the World as seen through my Family Library" - JJ Heath-Caldwell. Linley Wood was the home of the Caldwell family for two centuries before it was sold off, along with its extensive library, in 1949. Its books covered the dates back to the 1500s and some, like those from other grand libraries of the past, can be found today in antiquarian bookshops, often with bookplates or inscriptions inside the front covers giving clues to their original owners. JJ used examples of information revealed and his knowledge of the families involved to tell us of the lives and times of those involved.
The Nursteed Centre - our usual meeting place for the Devizes Branch of WFHS
Meetings: Nursteed Centre, Nursteed Road, Devizes SN10 3AH, (Click for map) third Tuesday of each month, 7.30pm
Access: 800 yards along A342 towards Andover: signed on the right by the pedestrian crossing.
Contact: Branch Chairman David Weaver on 01380 723191 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
