FENLAND FAMILY HISTORY ON COMPUTERS

At the beginning of our April meeting Mike Petty picked up a book – The Victoria County History of Cambridge & asked a large audience if anyone possessed this book. Needless to say no one had & this led Mike to ask how many of us had computers & the internet & most of the audience put their hands up, so without more ado Mike told us that we do have this book via our computers & this was the basis of his very informative talk.
Mike told how he visited Cambridge public library & ‘found a door’ & ‘being nosey‘ he opened it & found a room heavily stocked with books about Cambridgeshire. On further investigation he found the books in no specific order & it soon became obvious to him that the books hadn’t been touched for years.
Employed as a librarian Mike took it upon himself to read many of the books & found out so much that it became his ‘life’s work’. He then went on to demonstrate that virtually any book can be read on our computers, as can old newspapers, parliamentary documents, maps & much more.
He told how he can access special books through particular sites such as the Cambridgeshire University Library, but all who had a local library card could also get connected.
Mike, who is a lecturer, writer, broadcaster & an historian gave us so much information that we were pleased to see that he had produced a comprehensive list of many sites available to us.
In his light-hearted way of presenting the information we found we had had a most enjoyable evening & Mike answered questions whilst light refreshments were served.
Our may Speaker Is Peter Wadlow, Church Warden of Walsoken Church who will speak on a Wedding, a Funeral & a Bazaar held at the church in times past.
[Barbara Holmes]