Family History Talks

by Mick Rawle

Most talks take between an hour and an hour and a quarter with questions asked and answered as the talk progresses.   Some talks stimulate a great deal of discussion.

All talks are full of interesting facts with amusing quips where necessary.   They have extracts from my own researches and ancestors - Good and Bad !   Handouts are distributed showing important Family History dates for the Family History talks.  

Will travel up to about 50 miles or an hour and a half from my home in Melton Mowbray so if you live within that area and want to hear one of the talks below then get in touch.  I bring my own laptop and video projector but would prefer to use your screen as mine is very big.

I already have many talks booked for 2008 and a few for 2009, so contact me ASAP to avoid disappointment.

HAS YOUR SPEAKER JUST LET YOU DOWN AT THE LAST MINUTE?

I am available to give talks any daytime or evening and can come at a moment's notice.   They are all prepared, so, give me a ring and if I'm not already booked, I'll come.

TALKS

1.    Suffragettes & Granny Rawle

The history of the 'Women's Suffrage Movement'.   All the main players mentioned.   My Granny Rawle was a "Suffragette" when she was a young mum, and I have photographs of her treasures as well as notes on some of the speeches she made.    In 1907 she was jailed for 14 days and has a scroll to prove it.   Lots of surprises in this talk - you'll find out who the real shakers and movers were, but Granny Rawle continued campaigning into her old age.

2.    By The Visitation of God !    

Samuel Rawle my Gt Gt Grandfather - Hatter and Tramp 1795 - 1837.   The story of the research and what was found.  I have his last 24 hours in the greatest detail - or do I ?   If you are a Health & Safety Officer, then you don't want to hear about the hatting industry - about the acids they used and how they tested their strength.

3.    Aspects of Emigration

Mainly 19th Century Emigration, especially to Quebec in Canada from Devon ports, including notes from the journal of an emigrant in 1855.    Astounding facts and figures of emigration to the USA and Canada, the reasons why people emigrated and the ships they sailed in.  However, not everyone made it, mention of a couple of shipwrecks and deaths at sea or at the port they reached.   The main Websites with search facilities shown and discussed.

4.    Enclosure & The Village Labourer 1760-1830

Enclosures and their devastating results !    The story of the horrendous treatment of the Poor at the hands of the rich between 1760 and 1830.   If you aren't moved by this then you have a heart of stone.   The results of this period are all around us, but did so many people have to pay so dearly?   Not a pretty tale, especially when I tell you what our MPs got up to !

5.    Beginning your Family History - Back to 1901

A really entertaining talk for all those people who have never done any Family History research and for those of you who have started but don't know what the next step is.   The RAWLE family is the thread throughout this and the next two talks.  How I researched it and how I fell into all the traps.  Using the Birth, Marriage, Death and Adoption indexes and certificates, and other records back to the 1901 Census Returns.  Am I who I say I am ?   My grandma was a 'Suffragette' and at the end I include a short amusing piece about her activities.

6.    Family History Research - The 19th Century

An excellent continuation to the previous talk.  We continue to follow the RAWLE family as they travelled the country from Cornwall to Edinburgh, via London and Manchester and the talk covers all the most important sources e.g. Census returns, the start of General Registration in 1837 and what can and cannot be found before it.   Indices are great aren't they?   They are if you can find the name you are looking for - but what if it is spelt wrong !

7.    Family History Research 1500 - 1800.  

The story of how I researched the RAWLE family of Cornwall but with some documents relating to associated families.    Where I had to go to and what I found.   Mysteries solved and unsolved.   I still don't know why Francis Rawle died in 1719 in Bodmin Gaol aged about 80, but I do know that my direct ancestor William Rawle had a brother called William Rawle back in the 1590s.   Copies of some wonderful old documents produced for discussion and display going back to the 1550s.  You will be amazed at what can be found in some of these old documents - putting real flesh on the bones.    Recent discoveries in 2007 have proved that my ancestors were Lords of the Manor in the 17th Century.

8.    Further Steps in Family History

A talk which takes you beyond the more usual 19th Century documents and includes Military Records, Poor Law Records, Court Records and Maritime Records.    I have put together the best tales from some of my talks and added some new ones to make a fascinating compilation of stories.   How many years was Ann Starsmore transported for, just for cooking some stolen pork ?   Why was John Rawle on the War Memorial?   Why was Edward Rawle tried for manslaughter?   You'll find the answers here.

9.    Parish Registers & Non-Conformist Documents

The various types and the usual dates that they cover are explained in detail.   What a hotch-potch of wonderful discoveries there are to be made in these documents.   Plagues, tempests, sermons, witches, the cost of the church bells and entries that will make you go "aaaah bless" - the whole spectrum of parish life from the Lords to the poorest paupers, with a murderer and references to fornication thrown in for good measure.   It's all here !

10.    Wills, Administrations and Inventories

Where DID the Money GO?   This talk explains the meanings of the language of wills and shows what can and cannot be found in them.   Using the RAWLE Wills that I have discovered, I take you through over 150 years of Family History, and end up a long long way from here.   The wills can be found in Prerogative, Archdeaconry and Peculiar Courts before 1858, and in the Principal Probate Registry from 1858 to today.

11.   The Old and the New Poor Laws

Photographs and photocopies of some of these wonderful old documents shown, and their significance explained.   Each one has a story attached, some are amazing, but some are truly awful.   The historical reasoning behind the Laws and the effects on the people is also given.   Sounds a bit dry?   You haven't heard the stories - real life is far more bizarre than fiction !

12.    Military Records

Navy, Army and Air Force documents - what is available and where to find them.   Thomas Rawle's records shown - you'll love these.   He joined the army in the 1880s, went AWOL and returned to serve in the Boer War.   He then joined up again in the 1st World War but didn't stay long - you'll find out why.

13.    Indexing

If you think this is a stuffy subject, then you haven't heard this talk.   I have taken my experiences as a Project Coordinator for a Family History Society and put together an informative and amusing talk showing what happens when Computers take over, and many of the problems encountered and the funny things I've found.   I bet you leave this talk and go straight to your computers to see if what I have told you is true.