Sunday 27 January 2013

Getting Started........

Puttenham Church - Copyright Julie Goucher July 2004
As a result of extensive research in the rural Surrey parish of Puttenham, the One Place Study was born.

Almost a decade ago; (where did the time go?) I placed some of the information on line. Over the course of that decade I have received a steady trickle of emails and letters from people whose ancestry lies within the parish. For a small parish and enormous amount of people have a connection to Puttenham!

To be honest, I simply became overwhelmed at the amount of correspondence I was receiving, each one requiring a more comprehensive response that had been anticipated.

In 2003 I had acquired the domain name of www.Puttenham.org.uk which currently points to space on my website, and to about 1/8th of the material. I have exhausted the space available with such a small proportion of the data that I have currently, and of course the study is a continual work in progress.

Something had to be done.

About a year ago, I created this blog with the intention of using that platform to host the Puttenham material. I published a few bits - namely an introduction to the project and a list of material contained within the study currently. I did not advertise the site, but merely wanted some time to reflect and prepare my posts. Was I even happy with the set up?

I am very process driven and wanted to put the material on the blog in order. Now that is simply not an option, especially as the blog always records the latest post as the first item you see. Research of course is not always done in a logical order, because the researcher follows the path of information.

Over the course of 2013, I am going to be placing the information I have on line, at the blog and then move the domain pointers to that address. The material will be placed in the order I get to it. Not scientific, but I am OK with that! I shall use the labels function as a way of identifying an individual, document, picture etc

The Puttenham (and Wanborough) One Place Study commenced in August 1986 and is a work in progress as well as an obsession!

Introduction to this Project

Like the majority of Genealogists I started my research by working from the known to the unknown. My major known fact was that my grandfather was born in the Parish of  Wanborough, which is the neighboring parish. As I worked back to my great grandmother and beyond, my links with the village of Puttenham were firmly bought home.

By the time I was back four generations I reached the surname of BUDD and on looking through the vast amount of material I established that the Budd family was, in one way or another related to most of the inhabitants of the village. I decided to study the Census material for the village more fully and the day I saw my great grandmothers name listed on an official record was a very special one.

This was the great grandmother who I had sat with as a child and suddenly I realized that I was part of this village and I simply wanted to know all that I could about it. I visited the parish of Puttenham, I had heard stories from my grandfather's sisters about who lived where, who married who and so forth, and in the summer of 1986 decided to visit the village. It was beautiful summer's day, not a rain cloud in sight! and as I wandered through the village I tried imagining the atmosphere of the village at a time, several generations before my grandfather was born.

Someone greeted me from the Puttenham and Wanborough History Society and I was welcomed and introduced to the legend of the Curate Charles Kerry, who produced such a wealth of information, in manuscripts form; it is truly a Genealogical and local History treasure and the Puttenham One Place Study was born.

The Puttenham (and Wanborough) One Place Study commenced in August 1986 and is a work in progress. The photograph in the header above was taken in July 2004.