Milton Abbas Local History Group
Links
Milton Abbas Street Fair will have a new website for its next 2019 event.
Milton Abbey Heritage Trust is continuing the huge job of refurbishing the magnificent Milton Abbey which was founded in 934, and rebuilt after the fire of 1309. The Exhibition this year, 2018, will focus on the history early yearly years of the Abbey. The weekend of Sat and Sun 14 and 15 July there will be hands on artefacts/authentic replicas and qualified teacher interface, together with an enactment camp with living history demonstrations of the Anglo Saxon period. Can’t wait to see that!
Abandoned Communities. Stephen Fisk includes Milton Abbas in his review.
University of Warwick My Parish Forum is a useful place to get answers to questions. Milton Abbas Local History Group are members.
English to Canada for those interested in emigration from England or immigration into Canada
Milton Abbas Local History Group Facebook page for the latest news and updates.
Dorset Family History Society caters for people in the UK or overseas researching their family history with interests in Dorset, as well as Dorset residents whose families may have lived in other counties or countries.
Online Parish Clerk, Milton Abbas page for Family History Research.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, the full, latest version is available free online if you have a Dorset Library card. Just fill in the “Library Card Login” box with in with “DORSET….” where … is your library card number.
Oxford English Dictionary. The full version online and free of charge if you have a Dorset Library Card.
Libraries West where any book available at a library in the south-west is delivered free to your local library for you to pick up. You will need to log in with your library card number. I have borrowed over 200 books in the last 2 years this way – fantastic.
The National Archives catalogue is essential for searching for those old documents. It includes the doucments which are available at your local history centre and many other archives.
Dorset History Centre catalogue is an essential starting point for searching maps and documents relevant to Milton Abbas. Don’t be put off with the poor search engine, you just have to get used to it. There are 521 references to “MIlton Abbas”. We have photographed many of these and made them available to members. There are some treasures which must be seen at the Dorset History Centre.
Family and Community Historical Research Society carry out academic research, and publish on topics of interest to local history, for example Almshouses, Swing Riots, Occupations.
One-place Studies local history is often known by this name especially from organisations which started in family history and genealogy. There are several one-place study websites, they all charge to join, and it is difficult to know which is best. Time will tell. This site does not yet include any in Dorset.
The One Place Studies Directory is free, and will take you to other local history group websites.
Register of One-Place Studies is what it says on the tin – just a listing of groups doing local history. It does not give details of their findings, but it may link to a website that does.
Winterborne Houghton is an adjacent parish with its own website, but without a history group!
Dorset Ancestors gives an interesting story on one of the mysteries of the suicide of Lord Milton’s eldest son and heir, John Damer, who shot himself in 1776, aged 32, and in debt to the tune of £70 000.
Dorset Museums a listing. None of these websites have an online catalogue for you to search (as far as I know). If you wish to search then you will have to arrange a meeting with one of their curators.
British Agricultural History Society is a very useful website. It allows you to search and download as pdf back issues of their journal Agricultural History Review which has been published since 1955, and without a subsrciption. As an example a search for “water meadows” which were early in Dorset and were here in Milton Abbas in 1652 produces about 80 articles from their journal.
Family and Community Historical Research Society (FACHRS for short). Our Chairman is an individual member. Their journal Family and Community History is academic and sent to members.
British History Online. Another essential resource. Especially useful are the volumes of the Royal Commission on Historic Monuments in England, which are available to view and download. Some articles require payment, it’s £35 per year to view “premium content”. Which is a bit steep since we as taxpayers are already paying.
British Association for Local History publish quarterly ‘The Local Historian’. Back issues are available for free download. as pdf files. I have searched the usual Milton Abbas terms.
Community Archives and Heritage Group have good advice on how to look after, record and store documents, photos, etc.
Parliamentary Archives on the web – the Milton Abbas Local History Group have searched their catalogue for all things Milton Abbas, including Joseph, Lord Milton’s attempt to move the Grammar School from the Old Town. There are House of Lord’s Committee Reports here, although you have to visit to view the document or ask for a quotation to digitize it – which is expensive. The Protestation Returns are however, free to view and download.
The Worldwide Newburgh Project. Anyone doing family history on Newberry, Newburgh or its many variant spellings are advised visit this website. We have people from Milton Abbas in the 14th century with this name. They were also very early migrants to the USA.
Shire Hall Historic Courthouse, Justice Museum, Dorchester. Highly recommended by our members. one entry ticket gets one years entry. Great.
The Family History Federation is an umbrella group of local family history societies, and has free to download guides to research.
Community Archives and Heritage Group, Milton Abbas Local History Group have joined this free site. There is much useful advice, especially on cataloguing records.
LIDAR maps are here
Dorset maps are here
It would be great if we could overlay maps – preferably onto GIS. Anyone know how?
For the history of population from 1801 to 1937 the histpop free website is great. There are plenty of details, not just Census, down to parish level, although no names.
Milton Abbas Local History Group, Dorset, UK 