Over time I have heard class members tell stories of the support they received when they established contact with, or visited, local historical societies. I recently received a message via my blog from a person researching my great, great grandmother, Frances Emily Hooper nee Freame, and my great grandfather, George Charles Beech Hooper.
Hi Beverley, thank you, I really enjoyed reading your blog and seeing the old photos.
I thought I would drop you a line as I have just purchased the Part One transcription of the diaries of Ethel Freame (23 FEB 1860 - 2 MAR 1952 Gillingham Dorset). Ethel was a first cousin of George Charles Beech Hooper. Ethel really liked George’s brother, Peter Mortimore Hooper (5 Dec 1851- 22 February 1937) and writes about him. I could send you some extracts if you like.
I was wondering if you could tell me why George emigrated to Melbourne? His parents seem to have been well to do.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Alice (Sydney AUS)
I replied to Alice, confirming that I would be interested in reading some extracts, resulting in her sending me extracts from a book located via the Gillingham Museum and Historical Society in Dorset, England.
The extracts about the Hoopers selected by Alice in Hooper Extracts from Part 1 of Ethel's Diaries provide a disarmingly honest description of daily life of my great grandfather's mother, sisters and brother in England in the late 1880's and early 1890's, over two years after he had migrated to Australia as a 'goldseeker'. I'm not sure I would have liked Ethel! Had she not liked me, this would definitely have been taken up with some vitriole by Ethel in her diary
The access to and sharing of Ethel's diaries exemplifies the role that local history societies can have in giving information about a family, in this case the museum/historical society in the town of Gillingham, in Dorset.
Ethel Freame - A Gillingham Traveller - https://www.gillinghammuseum.co.uk/post/the-gillingham-historian-march-2022
"Using Local Histories for Genealogy" Family Tree Magazine
Town, county and other local histories rank among the best sources for biographical information about your ancestors. If your ancestor was a prominent citizen or an early settler, you might find a biography with details of family, occupation, religious affiliation, education and military service. Even if your ancestor isn’t mentioned by name, you might still gain clues for further research.
Here are a few of Family Tree Magazine's favorite tips for finding your ancestors in local histories.
Google your ancestors
A quick Google search could turn up references to your ancestor in county and local histories, including matches in Google Books, the largest online book collection. To focus just on Google Books, use the Advanced Book Search. For exact matches, enter the name in the Exact Phrase box. To focus on the most relevant matches, add a place name, like 'Bath', in the Title box.
My simple Google Search for Frederick Robert Crutwell brought up "Bath Records Office – Archives and Local Studies" Cemetery Records for both Frederick Robert and his father Robert:
https://www.batharchives.co.uk/cemeteries/bath-abbey-cemetery/frederick-robert-cruttwell
Search other online book collections
Enter a name in the search box on HathiTrust and select the full-text option to find the name anywhere in the digital library. Put quotations marks around the name to search on the exact phrase. In the results, click on the link for a match’s Full View. Then search the text of that book for the name. Internet Archive also has a huge collection of digitized books. Click on the orange icon that looks like an open book to search just ebooks and texts. Then select Text Contents to search for the term anywhere in the books.
Check specialized genealogy book collections
The FamilySearch Digital Library has over 500,000 genealogy books, including local histories and yearbooks. If your public library subscribes to HeritageQuest Online, you can log in through your library’s website to search 28,000 family and local history books. Both of these sites are free. All the major subscription genealogy websites also have local histories.
Find local histories in print
To find local histories that aren’t online, check WorldCat, a catalog of the holdings of over 10,000 libraries worldwide. Once you find a promising book, you can request it on interlibrary loan or get copies of the pages that pertain to your family.
See article in the March/April 2022 Family Tree Magazine for more tips and advice for accessing local histories" - Download PDF
Bev Lee