Future Projects

Peter Blencowe and I have been discussing the possibility of re-publishing Lady Ann Blencowe’s cookbook in full. We have been in touch with a Mrs Christina Stapley who has a special interest in early recipes and herbal remedies. Peter is in the throes of moving house and his copy of the 1920s reprint is in storage; once he and Anna have got their breath back we will arrange a meeting. We will ask Mrs Stapley if she considers it practical to print the original recipes on one page with her comments and up-dates on the facing page. A small book, attractively bound, should not be too costly and could make a nice gift for your relatives and friends.

The main body of Blencowe records is kept on a card index type computer programme that is excellent when ‘searching’ for family links but which will not transfer to genealogy programmes. Daphne Austin is patiently typing the records into a series of large ‘family group reports’; meanwhile Mike Walton had shown me how to transfer the records to a spreadsheet. Now, Allen Blincoe has worked out how to get it all into Gedcom format. This will then go easily into ‘Family Tree Maker’. There are a number of errors and imperfections but most people would be able to find their own part of the family tree and print it out. We’re looking at the possibility of making the large file available by e-mail and maybe up-dating it once a year.