2006 Reunion

On a bright and sunny day on Saturday 29th April we wended our way to the countryside of the Mendip Hills in deepest Somerset, finally alighting in the pretty village of Dunkerton. Our meeting this year had been organised by Frank and Sue Wagstaff at the Dunkerton Parish Hall. Members and friends started to gather for a 11.00 a.m. start, in total 18 were in attendance; members coming from as far afield as Yorkshire, Nottingham, London as well as the locals from Somerset.

We were welcomed with tea and coffee, then it was catching up with everything, such as local news and gossip as well as checking through the societies records. John Wagstaff, Member No. 4, brought details of Very Ancient Wagstaffs from far back, which included the following. From the Curia Regia Rolls, Leicestershire: Willaim Wagestaf 1219. From the Rotuli Hundredorum, Oxfordshire: Robert Waggestaff 1279. From the Subsidy Rolls, Yorkshire: Willaim Waggestave 1301.

Frank welcomed everyone and was delighted that we had actually found the village hall, as there is two halls in the village. He gave a brief talk on the history of the village of Dunkerton. It wasn't always agricultural, in fact it has a history of coal-mining. There were also canals in the area which had a viaduct, this helped move the coal around the country, But then approximately 95 years ago the L.M.S. Railway came through the village, the village was that spread out that it had two stations for the local population. But by the second world war the railway had become defunct, but before it completely disappeared a major feature film was shot on location that of the "Titchfield Thunderbolt" which was in black and white.

Then Barbara stepped forward to give a very special thank you to Frank and Sue for all their hard work in organising the reunion. Barbara also thanked Edward Wagstaff for dealing with the Societies Subscriptions and Ian and Robert Wagstaffe for dealing with the Societies Website.

Barbara then announced the sad passing of two members, that of Mrs. Daisy Secker, member No. 10, and Mrs. Joan Taylor, member No. 85.

We were then told about the Harold Wagstaff plate which was on display. The plate was given to the society by Derek the husband of the late Daisy Secker (Member No. 10).

Then Barbara gave us the shock of the day, when she announced that after twenty years in the driving seat she was retiring from the society at the end of the year, This hit home very hard that the Wagstaff Society will finish at the end of the year if no - one picks up the reigns. It can be taken on as it is or changed to a different format. Barbara followed this on that Alan had put the records on to Windows XP. If you wish a copy of the disk from Alan, but Barbara has put the records together in her own style, they may require explaining. Barbara explained that over the last few years the work required to keep the Society going had increased greatly and the time had come to step down.

Lunch was taken in the form of an excellent Ploughmans Lunch, which was prepared by Frank and Sue.

After lunch Frank introduced us to Mr. Marek Lewcun. Marek is an archaeologist and one time professional genealogist. He spoke to us on the A-Z on genealogy, giving details on where information could be obtained for tracing family history. Starting with Apprenticeships, Deeds, Insurance Certificates and so on through the alphabet finishing up with Wills and the Unexpected. Marek was really interesting and the time really flew by. So after the talk we were able to identify a great number of sources which we could search through to gain further information in tracing our family trees. On the following Sunday a number of members spent a pleasant day strolling around Prior Park in Bath.

Our thanks go to Frank and Sue Wagstaff for organizing such a smashing reunion.