A good turnout of members gathered for our meeting on 25 October and we were enlightened by President Grenville Burrows of the significance of the date. He informed us that St Crispin’s Day falls on 25 October and that King Henry V of England used the St Crispin’s Day speech to rouse his soldiers on the morning of the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. Following news of members, we welcomed our speaker who was fellow member Christian Lang. Christian gave us a very informative and detailed explanation of the science of genealogy. Using his experience of constructing his own family tree, he described where the information could be found and the meticulous process for establishing the validity of it all. It was fascinating to learn for example that the Internet, census records, wills, the 1939 list, parish chests and now even DNA can all provide information about the vast majority of each of us. Beginning with his great, great, great Grandfather he talked us through the amount of research he has done to establish his lineage. Service in India, slavery and consanguinity all featured in his presentation. He concluded his talk by demonstrating to our amazement the ease with which family information about two of our distinguished members can be unearthed. Following a number of searching questions, Grenville thanked him and led our applause. Our next meeting on 1 November will feature a talk about Magic by Peter Wentworth followed by Coolies on the Western Front by David Thorp on 8 November. We meet at 10:00 every Thursday at The Boathouse, Evesham Rowing Club. Full details can be found on our website www.eveshamprobus.co.uk

Chris Donough