I pressed the Go button for this One Place History of Aldershot Before The Army Came, just after 8am on January 5th. Then I took part in #OnePlaceWednesday using @aldershot1853 on Twitter and posting on FaceBook.
That was for the opening chapter on January 1853 together with two other supporting chapters. One serves as an Introduction, the other provided an overview of The Village as a Place.
Subsequent chapters tell the story of the villagers and their family histories as various events unfold during the months of 1853. These have then been released into the wild in serial fashion on the first Wednesday of each of the corresponding months of 2022. #OnePlaceWednesday
The story of the village and the kinship networks of the villagers are constructed from multiple sources, some found online and others requiring visits to archives. The online sources have included parish (and civil) registers of baptisms (births), marriages and burials (deaths) as well as census enumeration books and wills. Access to a variety of correspondence, Poor Law rate books and Land Tax returns have required personal visits. Information on copyhold transactions according to customs that reach back through the Reformation to Anglo-Saxon times has been kindly provided by a collaborating local historian.
I am not new to launching online resources but this is the first time I have researched, written and self-published an online book. It is also my first solo using WordPress. The feedback thus far received has been positive.
With one more chapters to go, for December, due for release on Wednesday December 7th, I am now turning to start this blog; another new venture.
@aldershot1853
Nice to meet you on the train today Peter. Forwarded to SSAFA Armed Forces Charity colleagues m, many of whom will have passed through Aldershot. I’m sure this will fill gaps and give insight to many!