FENLAND FAMILY HISTORY GROUP LAUNCHED

A new organisation that will be of interest to local genealogists was launched in Wisbech on Thursday 22nd March 2001 at a meeting attended by over 50 people in the Wisbech & Fenland Museum.

The aims of the Fenland Family History Society will be to promote and encourage the study of family, local and social history with particular reference to the historical area, now known as Fenland, comprising the former Isle of Ely, parts of South Lincolnshire and West Norfolk.

The Society will also assist in the transcription and preservation of archival material and will hope to be engaged in fieldwork such as recording monumental inscriptions from local churchyards.

A programme of lectures, workshops and visits will be organised and members will have the opportunity to share their researches or seek guidance from others.

Anyone interested in genealogy, experienced or just beginning, and wishing to join the new Society is invited to contact Bridget Hunter 01945 587723

A family history database of over 12,000 names has been set up containing details from church registers, census returns and other documents from the villages of Guyhirn, Murrow and Wisbech St Mary, and the hamlets of Tholomas Drove and Thorney Toll which together constitute the historic parish of Wisbech St Mary.

The database also contains information from vestry minutes, gravestones and memorials, school logbooks, parish council minutes and local newspapers.

There is also an expanding collection of photographs dating from the 1850s illustrating life in these typical Fenland villages.

Based only on information which appears in the Wisbech St Mary registers and census returns, family trees have been extracted for the following families: Afford, Bothway, Bradley, Butwright, Cousins, Edis, Garner, Gilby, Grange, Hardy, Holmes, Kingerley, LePla, Marriott, Newsham, Payne, Peck, Pool, Ream, Skeels/Skells, Southwell, Tawn, Tegerdine, Weston, Wilson

To enhance the project, photographs of local families and/or events are always welcome. They can be copied and returned almost immediately. Family trees or information applicable to this parish, already researched by amateur genealogists, would also be most welcome and much appreciated.

The co-ordinator of the project, local historian Brian Payne, will be pleased to research families for a modest charge. He can be contacted on 01945 410755 or e-mail