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PROGRAMME OF EVENTS

MONTHLY MEETINGS

Unless otherwise stated, our meetings are in the Church Hall of All Souls Church, Somerset Road, Cheriton, Folkestone, CT19 4HA, on the first Thursday. Doors open at 7pm, the talk to commence at 7.30.

All members and visitors welcome. A minimum donation of £2 is requested from visitors.

Visitors: if you are interested in taking part in a Zoom meeting please contact
webmaster@folkfhs.org.uk to receive a link (7.25 for 7.30 pm for a ZOOM meeting).

LIBRARIES:

Folkestone Library (Grace Hill) has now been closed since 9 Nov 2022.

HOWEVER, since the 20 Nov 2023 the Local History material has been available again just across the road at the Folkestone Library Heritage and Digital Access, 5 Grace Hill, on Mon, Tue, Thu & Fri: 9:30am–1pm & 2pm–4:30pm — Wed: closed — Sat: 9:30am–1pm

OPENING HOURS at the Cheriton Library: Mon: 9am–5pm (closed 1pm–2pm) — Tue: now open 9am–5pm (closed 1pm–2pm) — Wed: 9am–1pm — Thu: 9am–5pm (closed 1pm–2pm) — Fri: 10am–5pm (closed 1pm–2pm) — Sat: 10am–4pm (open an extra two hours). Most Kent Libraries are open, check on line or by ringing 03000 413131.

The microfiche etc. are still in our cupboard in the Cheriton Library.

THE LIBRARY QUESTION:

Consultation about the future of Folkestone Grace Hill Library:

Full details of KCC’s proposals at: www.kent.gov.uk/folkestonelibrary where their proposed ‘best option’ is to permanently close Grace Hill building and relocate all present Library Services (including birth/death registration and local history) to FOLCA (previously Debenhams)... but not to include the Sassoon Gallery space.

Folkestone DC (who own Folca) are not in agreement and would prefer community services provided by KCC Libraries to remain at Grace Hill (see Folk DC website). Apparently there was levelling up funding for a health centre there...

Consultation is open until 11th September 2024.

Details can be obtained from their website, or by collecting a document from any of the Folkestone District Libraries (i.e. Hythe, New Romney, Lydd, Sandgate, Wood Avenue, Cheriton, Lyminge or the temporary Local Studies Centre at 5 Grace Hill).

Questionnaires can be answered on line, or by filling in a paper copy, posting back or handing in at any of the Folkestone District Libraries.

2025

January 2nd

ZOOM – Interactive discussion – Around an Ancestor you would like to have met and why – Group activity

February 6th

HALL – From Bobby & Co. to Folca – The name Bobby & Co was familiar in Folkestone for seven decades and the story of 'Bobbys' starts with the takeover of a 19th century shop. The store relocated to the well-known Sandgate Road location in 1931. Owned by the Debenham Group, the name was eventually changed in the 1970s to Debenhams, under which the shop ran until 2021. Following closure, it was purchased by Folkestone & Hythe District Council, renamed Folca and was used as a vaccination centre during the Covid-19 pandemic. – Vince Williams

March 6th

ZOOM – A grandmother’s legacy: the 170 year old recipe book – A large leather bound book, which was started off by my great great great grandmother, Wilhelmina Hardy in 1844 containing her Portuguese / German / English family recipes was then handed down to her daughter who did the same, and that book kept on getting handed down from generation to generation (my talk centres on the recipes, the history of those recipes and how that book evolves with each generation reflecting where the grandmothers were living at that time (i.e. we come across an early version of the coroma curry which great great grandma Maud wrote in 1900). – Jenny Mallin

April 3rd

VISIT – To Masonic Hall, Folkestone (time tba) – Over 300 years of Freemasonry in Folkestone – The part local Freemasons took in shaping the town – Building: “Mid C19. 2 storeys and basement cement rendered. Pediment with modillion cornice decorated with Masonic tools and the Latin motto “Audi, Vide, Tace”. The 1st floor has 4 Roman Ionic half columns and 2 plain pilasters. 5 round-headed windows. Stone balustrading between ground and lst floor. Rusticated ground floor. Ground floor has cambered headed windows with keystones. Tuscan porch. Balustrading to basement.” (https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101061217-masonic-hall-folkestone) – Tony Hill

May 1st

ZOOM – Unusual first names – The talk focusses on the period, c1750 – c1950. It covers the main types of forename that I have identified, including tribute names, commemorative names and localised names. It looks at the inspiration for these names, their rise (and decline), what they may indicate to a historian about social class or wider society, and the effect that an unusual forename might have on the bearer. – Denise Bates

June 5th

HALL – How to use cemetery records for family history – Rob & Carole Moody

July 3rd

ZOOM – Charity Records and Pauper Ancestors – Learn how records of local charities, combined with numerous other sources, can help illuminate the lives of your pauper ancestors. The talk features a case study. – Richard Holt

August 7th

HALL – Interactive discussion – The Story you will be leaving (about yourself) for future family historians to discover? – Group activty

September 4th

ZOOM – To be decided – Speaker

October 2nd

HALL – AGM followed by “History of a House” – Janet Adamson

November 6th

ZOOM – Newspapers for Family History – How to use newspapers to flesh out your family tree – Celia Heritage

December 4th

HALL – Christmas dinner followed by a Quiz

 

RECORD OFFICE VISITS AT KEW


Owing to age restrictions on the insurance of drivers, we are no longer able to hire a minibus for trips to Kew.


Occasionally members may drive to Kew and can offer lifts to other members, sharing expenses.

If you are interested, please e-mail coaches@folkfhs.org.uk

 

WALKS

Jenny Watson will arrange walks round Canterbury or London if we let her know where we would like to visit.

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