Penny Mercer describes the experiences of her ancestor Arthur Mercer who served with the AIF in WW1. Patsy Daly talks about her ancestor John Learmonth who was stationed in the camps on Salisbury Plain during WW2.

Martin Lock and Peter Collins provide an early history to Salisbury Plain together with a history of the Defence Forces training areas. Details of the Fovant Badges carved into the hills are discussed. Gayle Nicholas outlines the WW1 experiences of her ancestor Alfred Price who trained in the area.

Stephen Hawke reviews a number of histories of the seven counties of south west England, including an excellent book by Philip Payton on Cornwall. Stephen also covers the Victoria County Histories – a project, still running, that was initiated in the late 1890s in honour of Queen Victoria, and tasked with compiling histories for every parish and county in England. All books discussed are available in (or through) the GSV library, and Stephen provides a few tips for using the catalogue.

Stephen discusses William Bradbrooke's book 'The Parish Register' which was published in 1910. William, as the compiler, describes a number of interesting aspects of social customs as illustrated through parish registers

This webcast examines the records of the Poll Taxes conducted in England during the 14th century. These records are a good resource for tracing your early ancestors.

David talks about the results of his research into four generations of the Cox Family who, in the 18th century, moved steadily west from Dorset into Devon.

Penny Mercer describes her research into her family of Surgeons and Apothecaries living in Cornwall during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Cathy Carman uses the diary of Devon vicar to describe the scenes in a Devon village during the cholera outbreak of 1832.

In this presentation Stephen Hawke explores the major cholera outbreak in the 1830s in south-west England and also the later outbreaks of the pandemic in the UK in the 19th century.

In a series of talks on Online Parish Clerk schemes, Stephen Hawke
speaks about the range of resources available through the Dorset OPC website with some
records going back to the 14 th century.