Trace your Methodist Ancestors at the Wesley Historical Society Library - A One-hour Talk on 17 Oct

• Lori
• 12.10.2018
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This talk will be in three parts:

1) A brief summary of Methodist history for genealogists, to explain when changes happened and Methodist organisation so that you understand what records might survive.

2) Main sources, especially websites and what is available and how it can be used. Other Methodist libraries.

3) Sources available in the WHS Library for genealogists...

Hospitals, Nurses, Barber-Surgeons and Surgeons in History - A Half-day Course on 13 October

• Lori
• 09.10.2018
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Find out about the development of hospitals and the emergence of professional nurses and surgeons. In this half-day course, Kevin Brown covers two topics:

Session 1 Aspects of hospital and nursing history

In the 19th century the ‘deserving poor’ could receive hospital treatment in a voluntary hospital established as a charity and dependent upon subscriptions from wealthy benefactors. The totally indigent were condemned to treatment in the poor law infirmary. The poor law infirmaries were at first attached to workhouses but later were purpose built. The best of them aspired to equal the voluntary hospitals. However, they never quite lost the stigma attached to them. This remained even after local authorities took over control before the NHS was formed in 1948, introducing a unified hospital service for the first time. In the same period that modern hospitals were developing, the status of the nurse advanced from that of a servant to a vocation or profession. This was related to the introduction of the Nightingale system and other reform movements in nursing.

Session 2 The Apprentice Barber-Surgeon to FRCS: Why is a Surgeon a Mr and not a Dr?

Compared to the high status of a university educated physician, the surgeon originally had a low status in the medical hierarchy...

Public Servants: Excise Officers, Customs Officers and Postmen - A One-hour Lecture on 10 October

• Lori
• 03.10.2018
• 0 Comments

Tracing ancestors who were civil servants can be rewarding if you know the right questions to ask. You have a good chance of finding very detailed sources if any of your ancestors were Customs and Excise officers, postmen or central government officials. Sometimes you can find details of their families as well. In this talk, Alan Ruston describes...