Who Do You Think You Are - LIVE?

Well, several members of BHRS Council spent two enjoyable days at Who Do You Think You Are? at Olympia last weekend, 4 and 5 May. We met lots of family historians who either live in Bedfordshire now or whose ancestors lived there.

The main area of interest was the east of the county, especially around Biggleswade, although the Society's three books on Luton excited some interest - Strawopolis, The Education and Employment of Girls in Luton, and Vauxhall Motors and the Luton Economy 1900-2002 - as did the The Shiny Seventh: the 7th (Service) Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment at War 1915-1918.

People wanted to know "what we had on ..." their village and we were able to direct them to the Bedfordshire Family Society History stand where there was a wider range of books for sale and to BLARS stand for advice on the resources of the Bedfordshire and Luton Archive and Record Service.

I had a long discussion with one lady about the importance of poll books in throwing light on political, economic and social background. With the publication in August of the Society's second volume of poll book transcriptions, the voting patterns in Bedfordshire for the 50-year period 1685-1735 will be available.