Zoom talk by: John Lyte

Notes by: Stephen Miller

John LYTE, chairman of a local Family History Group, and ancestral link with Henry Francis LYTE (composer of “Abide with Me”) thrilled the 12 attendees with his talk on “Saving Chapel Row”

John bought a derelict property in Briestfield (between Huddersfield and Wakefield) and over a period of several years restored it and researched the history of the property and those that resided there.

Briestfield is a medieval village, whose name derives from the coal fields which surround it. It was first mentioned in the Doomsday book of 1066, showing a value of £2. The name is formed from the word ‘Brere’, meaning a tongue of land between two rivers. In this case Howroyd Beck and Briestfield Beck.

Zoom talk by:  Janet Few

Notes by: Lynda Balmforth

Approximately 36 people joined our Zoom meeting in which Janet made us realise just how much information we were missing out on by not exploring the sources of the twentieth century. We tend to think that we know it already and it can be difficult to research with rules of closures, such as the 100 year rule for releasing a census, also we think of it as not ‘history’ but it is a vital part of our family history with the advantages of concentrating on a time period, a time of great change and therefore interest, especially with the subject of DNA and Janet then gave us an in depth list of twentieth century sources available today.

Zoom presentation by Mr Chris Broom “Humour in Genealogy”

30 Attendees

This was our first Saturday afternoon meeting by Zoom. Usually our meeting at Threshfield, but about 29 members and non-members enjoyed linking up with Chris who lives in Suffolk to hear his amusing talk.

Chris had only taken an interest in genealogy about 10 years ago when his father, Trevor, towards the end of his life, felt he would like to know more about his family so Chris began to research and was surprised to take note of many amusing items he came across in different sources and decided he could put together an interesting talk about them.