Family History Group
We have over forty members, many of whom have a local family connection but we welcome anyone who can get to our monthly meetings. Our meetings are have a varied programme, some with speakers who have specialist knowledge – such as the talk on ‘Wills and Probate’ by Sue Stafford, a family history researcher; or Roger Vaughan with his extensive collection of old cartes de visite, teaching us how to date old photographs – or our members’ talks about their own family stories and how they have researched their information.
Our meetings are held on the fourth Tuesday in each month, 7.30pm at the Old Police Station, High Street, Chipping Campden.
Family historians in the North Cotswolds have been taking advantage of a project run by Campden District Branch with opportunities to produce their own printed family stories, thanks to a grant of £8,240 from Awards for All England. The one-year project includes courses on enhancing old and modern photographs and desktop publishing, together with information and guidance from local printers about producing books.
Our first training course, provided by Evesham and Malvern College, was on Photoshop. We learned how to improve our old photos – but not ‘air-brushing’ out renegade members of the family! Now we are doing ‘desk-top publishing’ so that we can put the text of our stories in book form with the inserted photos. Hilary Nutman, our tutor, is very patient with us and we enjoy comparing our efforts.
The first book to be published under our name ‘Campden People’ is Michael Grove’s memoir ‘Life of a Country Lad’, edited by Michael’s son, Robert, with help from members of the Family History Group.
This was launched on Saturday 5 July at Campden Town Hall with displays about Michael Grove and his family tree. Over 70 people attended the coffee morning and enjoyed looking at the displays, reminiscing about Campden family connections. One of the displays is now in the entrance hall of the Old Police Station, to promote the book and the Family History Group.
Michael Grove was a local man who served in both World Wars, volunteering initially when he was only 15 yrs old. His mother got him discharged and sent home but he was restless and enlisted again, still two months underage. His account of life at war is plainly written but very evocative of the times. On discharge he followed the family trade of building—four generations of Grove’s were stone masons in Campden.
Order the book now, price £7 + p&p, from Robert Grove 01386-840595
The next book will be launched over Armistice weekend, 8/9 November, with an exhibition in the Town Hall, Chipping Campden. This book is the long-awaited collection of short biographies of all the men (and a few women) from Campden who were involved in WW1. Paul Hughes has been working on this project for many years and has involved many Campden families in his research. The two-day exhibition will feature displays about some people in the book, the history of Campden Volunteers and the acrimony locally over the War Memorial – not forgetting the German cannon!
Come along if you want to find out more
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