In January 2006 I started watching the very interesting programm on BBC2 'Who do you thing you are ?', on tracing your family and looking into your family history.
You never know where the information is...... Well try Youtube, great place.. This is footage of the type of plane my Uncle Ern used to fly in durng the war...
Well I have been thinking about doing the family tree for a while and got hooked . It does help when you have people at work who are doing the same thing, where you can ask and exchange information. My helper is Cindy Knight from Brown Edge, Staffordshire, who has already done a vast amount of work on her family tree.
British Newsreel. March 21, 1940.HMNZS Achilles was a Leander class cruiser which served with the Royal New Zealand Navy in World War II. She became famous for her part in the Battle of the River Plate, alongside HMS Ajax and HMS Exeter.She was the second of five ships of the Leander class light cruisers, designed as effective follow-ons to the York class.
Albert Bowers sailed on her and is on the clip somewhere. It was seen by his sister Harriott when it was show at the local picture place in Tunstall. You can see more on the blog HERE
I started to look further into my past, but where do you start... The internet for a start, so began the trail. I thought it might be a good idea to record my experiences and publish the web site. Early days.......
I found some useful information on
Staffordshire BMD
Census
1851 to 1901
The beginning........
My name is Nigel Thomas Bowers, Born in Burslem Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire, United Kingdom.
I have been very lucky, in that my mother Mary Olive Bowers, nee Hill kept a fair bit of family history from the Hill side, relating to the period 1900 to 1920. This included birth certificates, mariage certificates and memorial cards from funerals. Very interesting, but a bit limited as research material.
Where to go Next..
Please contact me if you can help with:
Bowers Family - Tunstall, Biddulph, Congleton
Hill Family- Harriseahead, Ball Green, Biddulph
Rogers Family - Biddulph Moor, Horton, Northwich
Clee Family - Burnley
I have been very lucky...... I am indebted to Vicki Backhouse who is the geneologist, head researcher and driving force behind a company she is launching on the internet. Through her research a number of links have been made and I can now go back eight generations with the Hill family to 1675 and six generations with the Bowers family to 1648. I would recommend her company www.staffordshireroots.co.uk
