e-Muster August 2012 - Central Coast Family History Society Inc.

The Muster – August 20 2012 20 2012
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Journal of the Central Coast Family History Society Inc.
PRESIDENT’S PIECE
It’s great to be able to travel overseas and, despite the jet-lag on our return,
we can rely on modern aircraft to get us to the other side of the world much
more quickly than our first journeys there forty-six years ago when the
mode of travel was a slow boat! In case you hadn’t missed us, Karys and I
have just spent ten weeks based at our son’s flat in London but with side
trips to many counties and three nearby countries.
The main purpose was twofold: to do some holiday sightseeing and to
continue investigating the more difficult parts of the family tree. As we
visited Archives Centres, Registry Offices and Family History Societies we
realised just how privileged we all are here on the Central Coast to be served
and helped by the hard working team at our Centre. Our facilities here are
top class and as you know are being added to all the time. Do try to get to the
Centre as often as you can and discover what is available, even in this Age of
the Internet. Your society really is at the cutting edge of family history
research.
Being on the go for ten weeks makes the selection of highlights none too
easy. As tourists we loved the Diamond Jubilee Pageant on the Thames (no
rain where we were, near the start) and were amazed at the presentation at
the new Titanic Museum in Belfast. If you are ever in London, do some of the
London Walks, two-hour guided adventures into the culture and history of
parts of the city that many visitors never see. We did ten of them and only
wished we could have fitted in a lot more.
We explored Plymouth and Portsmouth in some cold sunshine and spent a
memorable week in the Faroe Islands where the sun did shine, and set at
11.20 pm, and where the eighteen islands are connected by undersea
tunnels and ferries. In London we saw two West End shows, Les Miserables
and The Mousetrap and joined the crowd to watch Henry V at The Globe
Theatre. We were blown away by the breathtaking beauty of Bacharach, a
village on the Rhine, where we had two nights’ accommodation, travelling to
and fro on local trains from Cologne to Mainz.
Our family history forays in England and Ireland are too numerous to
mention here so we hope to cover the findings and methods at meetings in
the months ahead. On the subject of meetings we are looking for speakers
for September and November this year. Unfortunately for us we have missed
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