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| History of the Society Rodney Hampson and Bill Taylor |
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The Lancashire Family History & Heraldry Society was formed in April 1973 as the Rossendale Society for Genealogy and Heraldry with a mere ten members called to the inaugural meeting by Frank Fell.
Frank was keen to start a family history group and whilst happy to administer it he needed a chairman. In John Mackie, who wished to get involved with a heraldry group, he found that man. Neither of them was too keen on the other man’s subject but they were able to work harmoniously together and got the nascent Society off the ground.
By April 1977 the UK membership had reached forty-six, paying an annual subscription of £2 and at the May meeting, which doubled as the AGM. At the new venue of the Textile Workers’ Rooms in Rawtenstall members were told that the Society had made a trading loss during the previous year of £109. Fortunately George Pelling had taken over as Treasurer and the Society’s fortunes during his term of office would be completely turned around.
George played a major role in the early expansion of the Society. Eric Frankcom who succeeded George as Treasurer summed it up ‘Frank Fell gave it life, George Pelling weaned it’. George was indefatigable running a series of courses for would be family historians around the county which led to the birth of new branches: Bury and Preston (1978); Pendle (1979); Blackburn, and Rochdale in 1982.
Where George led many followed and ever since there have been classes for beginners, the more experienced and even for Reference Librarians run at various points in the County along with Road Shows by individual members and branches. We ran a fair at Lowther Park, Lytham and had time on local radio stations and regularly take stalls at Family History Fairs in the North West and Yorkshire. Other Branches subsequently developed as a result of missionary work and local interest: Heraldry (1982); Fylde, and Lancaster (1984); Ribble Valley (1988); Chorley and London and South (1990); Hyndburn (1995); Irish Ancestry (1996).
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We were the first Family History Society to extend our scope by developing a number of branches across the County. Contacts between branches and the Executive Committee are fostered by Branch representation and through links with the various subcommittees. In the early days of the Society limited funds prevented it from having the journal published as it is today. Initially it was typed on stencils and then printed using an old, second hand Gestetner. This work was done around the then treasurer’s kitchen table and later in the back room at a baby-wear shop in Norden. Having printed the required number of pages they were stacked in great piles on the table and then many happy hours were spent walking around it collating the finished product. The professionally printed journal progressed under Dorothy Frankcom, Andrew and Irene Todd and Hazel Johnson and went from an A4 format to A5, from monochrome to multi coloured, from 20 pages to 64 and now with an electronic version. It contains a vast array of articles, and all members are encouraged to contribute to it; along with book reviews; details of pedigrees; branch and society news; members’ interests and queries. Readers, especially those out of County, can also get details of the ‘Helping Hands’ service run since 2003.
Members of the early Committee had a seminal role in the formation of the national Federation of Family History Societies and the Society was one of the founding six members and subsequently provided them with national Chairman, (twice), Treasurer and Managers of their book selling arm.
Rodney Hampson as Secretary and Administrator was very active and in 1983 oversaw the tenth anniversary, which was celebrated hosting the North West Federation Group Conference at Rivington Barn. Some two hundred members from all the NW Societies attended and enjoyed a day of lectures and conversation. We had also hosted their second Conference a few years earlier at Whalley Abbey. Following these successes Rodney and team triumphantly arranged the very large National Conference of the Federation at the Norbreck Hydro in Blackpool in 1987.
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With the spread of meeting groups and our ever growing membership we wanted to encourage the membership to feel that they belonged to the Society and not only to the local meeting group that they attended. The one day conference and AGM was intended to be a social day, also the groups were encouraged to arrange out visits to places of interest locally to which the wider membership could be invited and after early meetings at Alston Hall because of pressure of space subsequent Conferences and AGM were held at the University of Central Lancashire, in Preston, organised for over 25 years by Derrick Walkden. More recently we have moved to St Cuthbert’s Church Centre on Lytham Road, Preston. Every member of the Society has the right to vote at the Annual General Meeting.
In rotation Branches have hosted convivial Annual Dinners in settings as grand as Rochdale's Victorian Town Hall and on one occasion with Rhodes Boyson MP as our guest speaker. He had recently become a Minister in the Northern Ireland office and was protected in the dining room by security men with suspicious bulges under the armpits of their suits, and all our vehicles entering the car park were checked for bombs.
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The Society was inaugurated as a charity in 1982 and much of what is done has an educational aspect for the benefit of members and family historians in general. Branch projects: The County Wide Marriage Index 1812 -1837, Monumental Inscriptions, Parish Records, Census Transcripts, War memorials, Apprentice books, Newspaper indexes, are provided on fiche, CD and in booklet form at reasonable cost. We have also produced several full length books and the Guide to the location of MIs has run to five editions. Members have produced guides to the family history resources of the Harris Library in Preston and Blackburn Central Library. Two heraldic books have been published covering with detail and illustrations ‘The Heraldry in the Shire Hall, Lancaster Castle’ and ‘Heraldry in the Victoria County History of Lancashire’, alongside a number of smaller projects.
Large numbers of members under the direction of Terry Walsh collaborated over 13 years in indexing the 1881 Census, published by the LDS. We shared with the Manchester and Lancashire Family History and the Liverpool and South West Lancashire Society in the production of surname indices to all of Lancashire for the 1851 Census. Tony Foster is now the organiser for the massive Lancashire BMD project, which is already proving a boon to researchers with free access on the web.
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Over the years the Society has built up a substantial library and sought premises to make them available for members’ use and the general public. For a time we had a room at Rawtenstall before an enforced move to the Toll House at the Heritage Centre at Barrowford, then space at a member’s home in Mellor, then a location within Blackburn Central Library before securing tenure at the Straits at Oswaldtwistle. This has been excellently fitted out and alongside the library there are computers, with web facilities. Additionally the Chorley Branch was able to secure a base at Astley Hall where a second resource centre is located. Several years ago the Society appointed a Web master and now also has an online Forum. The lack of space prevents us from mentioning by name the myriad of members at local and Society level who have contributed to the long term success of the Society and for this we offer our apologies, whilst also offering them our sincerest thanks. |
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