This October 03 meeting was very well attended, with lots of new faces coming to listen to Martin Hayes from the West Sussex Records Office give a most interesting talk on how to trace one’s ancestry.

Martin explained that he is based at Worthing Library which is now the centre for public access to the whole country’s population records. These records are not the originals, of course, which are held securely elsewhere but mainly micro-filmed copies.

In the course of his work, Martin had come across some old photos of what appeared to be a works outing by horse drawn charabanc.  Some identification was given of the people portrayed and of the location.

Using this information Martin was able to trace back through old local town and street directories, parish and cemetery records and even old newspapers, to gain an insight into the history of the family shown in the photograph.

Much to our surprise, there was a connection to Burgess Hill as the man in the old photograph was related to the Upton family, who come from this area. It turned out this man was a gardener working at a market garden in Ham Bridge, then a small village just outside Worthing. He had several sons and then a daughter but sadly he died shortly after her birth from a typhoid epidemic then affecting the area.

Using a special projector linked to a laptop computer, Martin was able to show images of the various documents and records he used in this piece of research, the same research that anybody who wants to trace their family tree will need to carry out. The Internet can be used as well, there being various websites (the Mormons have an extensive database and the very useful Cindy’s List) all holding specific information.

Martin gave much useful advice, one being to check and double check old records especially old street directories, some of which were not particularly accurate.