Saggers Family Collection - Day 12 - 21 Day Family Connections Experiment

Today is Day 12 of my 21 Day Family Connections Experiment.

Since I mentioned my Stray Postcard and Photograph Collection yesterday, I thought I might say something about my Saggers Family Collection - and my Saggers Surname Study.

Sarah Frances Saggers was my paternal grandmother. I always knew a little about her family who had all come here to Vancouver from England. I think she coached my dad so he'd remember a few things! 

As far as my Saggers Family Collection goes, it's very small. I've written already about a few of Grandma Sarah's books that I have,  And in the 'Rogers' box dad gave me were some papers relating to her father's estate which Grandpa Joe Rogers (Sarah's husband) helped with. Inside the box was Grandma's photo album, and some loose photos. As well there were school photos and a few papers about my dad and his brother, David. 

Photographs above I believe were taken at Burton End, Stansted, Essex. The ones below say "Dad's Old Home", Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire, England.

Last year, I rescanned the photo album and all of the photos in it. Many are of Saggers relations here in Vancouver. A few must have been sent from England, like the ones above which apparently show the family's last home at Burton End. And my Great Grandpa David Saggers 'old home' in Bassingbourn in Cambridgeshire.  

At some points, Grandma organized most of the photographs onto pages. Many photos are glued down; some are held in with photo corners. On some pages she wrote a descriptive heading. Not always. And it does not appear she kept any of the letters I believe she received from England which may have explained some of the photos. Nor did she note any of her family members, except for one school photo. And a few people might be relatives from Grandpa's side of the family? (Rogers/White)

Unidentified; but I can see Grandpa Rogers there, and Grandma in the front row, I think. Possibly taken in Stanley Park in Vancouver, BC. 

If anyone looks familiar, please do contact me. Last year, I put all these photos in a virtual album and I sent links to some relatives. If you'd like to see them too, let me know. 

I hope that all these stay in the family, but all the information on my Saggers families also is in my Saggers One-Name Study, along with data on all the other Saggers families I've researched up till now around the world. All this surname study information, I hope, will have another 'custodian' someday soon. But in any case, it will be preserved by the Guild of One-Name Studies as I am a member. The Saggers Surname Study is part of the Guild's Member Website Project, currently 300 strong! A photo of Grandma Sarah appeared in the latest Guild newsletter in an article about Guild members blogging and mentioned her Christmas cake recipe. 

For more about the 21 Day Family Connections Experiment, see my first Experiment article here.

Saturday, December 8, 2018, Burnaby – Genealogy Seminar Speakers

More about the Speakers at the December 8th genealogy Seminar in Burnaby, BC. Sponsored by the Guild of One-Name Studies. 

Space is limited; do register now.

[The Guild's website will be briefly unavailable the night of 22-23 November, due to maintenance, for approximately 60 minutes between 11:30 p.m. and 3:00 a.m. GMT. Read more at https://one-name.org/#DBA80cjfuIPX7lUc.99]

Seminar Speakers

Allan Ailo

Allan Ailo is a speaker on various aspects of heraldry as well as being a heraldic artist and illustrator. He has served the Royal Heraldry Society of Canada in several capacities, is the founding President of the Vancouver Branch and currently he’s the Heraldic Art Committee Chair on the National Board. 

Allan co-authored and illustrated a digital publication, “A Municipal Coat of Arms – Using Canadian heraldry in your visual identity program”.

M. Diane Rogers

Diane Rogers is happily teaching and researching genealogy and tackling family history mysteries all week long. She loves cemeteries, old newspapers and photographs, and has authored guides and articles on Canadian and BC genealogy and related topics, including postcards. She volunteers for the BC Genealogical Society (BCGS), the Guild of One-Name Studies (GOONS), the Virtual Genealogical Association (VGA), and the Vancouver Branch of the United Empire Loyalists’ Association of Canada and is President of the Vancouver Postcard Club and a Director and Editor of the BCGS.

She’s been researching local and women’s history since British Columbia’s Centennial in 1958 and her own family history seriously worldwide for over 20 years. She’s a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, the International Society of Family History Writers and Editors and the Genealogical Speakers Guild, teaches on-going genealogy classes, speaks around BC and internationally and she has registered studies with the Guild of One-Name Studies and the Society for One-Place Studies.

 Brenda L. Smith

Brenda Smith Is a writer and researcher in Maple Ridge. Presently she serves as Chair of the Maple Ridge Community Heritage Commission, and is a founding member of the Maple Ridge Family History Group. She has developed and presented programs to teach research, organizational development, public speaking and theatre skills. She is a founder of Island Mountain Arts. Her experience in journalism includes Community Editor of the Quesnel Cariboo Observer.

She presents research methodology programs for libraries, museums and archives, family history societies and other interested groups. She teaches for the Cloverdale Genealogy Collection of Surrey Libraries, was a presenter at Harvest your Roots in Kelowna, developed Local Voices with partners at Maple Ridge Library and presented Spring Training Camp for Genealogists for the Kelowna and District Genealogical Society. and spoke at the 2015 American Historical Society of Germans from Russia convention in Billings, Montana.

Peter Whitlock

Peter Whitlock, a retired CPA, has more than fifty years experience with genealogical research.  He is a long-time member of the BC Genealogical Society, a Director, and one of their Past Presidents.  He has been a member of the Guild of One-Name Studies since it was founded in 1979.

His area of expertise is his One-Name Study of the Whitlock family plus he manages the Whitlock Family Association he founded in 1968 and has published the Whitlock Family Newsletter for more than thirty years and is webmaster of the whitlock@one-name.net & whitlockfamilyassociation.com websites.

Mr. Whitlock has given many talks on genealogical subjects across British Columbia and in Salt Lake City.   His library catalogue of thousands of images of original documents has enabled Whitlocks and Whitlock descendants to accurately document their ancestry, many to the 1400’s.

Who Do You Think You Are Live! 2016 - Day 1

Guild of One Name Studies stand, WDYTYALive 2016.

Today was the second day of Who Do You Think You Are Live 2016 in Birmingham, England (or very near it). I've had no trouble getting there from Birmingham. Nice buses! Although not as cheap as at home. (And a little drizzle to remind me of the wet coast of British Columbia.)

Yesterday I had a quick go round (honest, I only bought a couple of light books and CDs) and after that I was helping at the Guild of One Name Studies stand. It was a busy day, but overall not as crowded as I expected.

Happily, the Guild had lots of visitors though and we were kept on our toes answering questions, and looking up surnames to check if they were available to register or not. And two members manned the computers to show visitors the spread of their names in the 1881 UK census, and give them a copy of the map generated with Archive Software's Surname Atlas.

Many had heard of the Guild but wanted to know more; some were determined already to begin their own surname study. Great to hear! One interesting question that came up twice to me was about specific surname studies begun by someone who had had to abandon them for some reason, perhaps illness. This is one reason I joined the Guild - to have somewhere to 'deposit' my Saggers surname study material so it's not lost 'after I'm gone'.