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Hi John

I do have that marriage (the certificate) thank you - it was kind of you to let me know though. I am just after a trade directory at the moment.

Thanks again :-)

Karen

Fue, Danuslave

I have heard of this course and it sounds as demanding as IHGS ("all weekend from getting up until midnight") but the big difference is that, according to the genealogical blog from which I took that quote, the course is heavily biased toward Scottish records. So, if you have ancestry mainly north of the border this may be for you. I imagine the residential course elements are in Strathclyde University.

Karen

I just thought that, since this seems to be an ongoing thread, I would throw in my two pennyworth. 

I started the IHGS course a couple of years ago when I was working full time and in good health.  I completed the first few lectures and found them interesting, relevant but demanding - the amount of work required would be, in my opinion, incompatible with a busy social life or undertaking other studies.  At the time, the lecture notes were rather dated but Richard has said that they have been re-written.  Personally, I didn't feel that the limited feedback that I received for my assignments was tremendously helpful but that's just my view. One just has to get on with it on one's own, read a lot reference material and try and find other individuals to chat with at a similar point in their studies. The study weekend in Canterbury was fun.

I actually found that doing things the hard way, like drawing your tree by hand was invaluable - I would equate it to learning to drive a car with manual gears rather than starting with an automatic! However, one of my reservations about the course was that there are modules which hold no interest for me personally, for example I don't have any ancestors or interest in Irish genealogy - I think I would have struggled to maintain my efforts there. The course is really designed as a high level qualification for the aspiring professional genealogist, which I had no pretensions about - being an academic, I wanted to learn the 'science' of genealogy thoroughly but I supposed I also wanted to pick and choose the subject areas, rather than do the whole lot.

Unfortunately, I was diagnosed with cancer a few months into the course and simply had to give it up. I wish that I had been able to continue as I am now (hopefully!) well again and, moreover, have retired. This course requires, determination, dedication, a great deal of time and passion. If you don't have these then it's probably not worth starting something that you might not finish!

Regards, Karen

I don't mind - you can call me anything, within reason 

So.... any ideas on the date of the photograph??

Night night

Karen

Gosh... I leave the room for five minutes ... :-)

Right - details. Sorry I didn't give more in the first place but I wasn't sure of relevance.  The pub was called the Coachmaker's Arms. It was situated on the right hand side of Snow Hill, at its junction with Berkeley Street, off Bath's London Road. Snow Hill is completely redeveloped and so there's nothing left of the original at all.   My x3 great uncle, George OLLIS (1816-1885) was the licensee in 1851 and possibly before then. He had retired by 1881 and moved up to his house in Highbury Place. The licence was taken over by George's son Thomas (1845-1885) who died rather unexpectedly three weeks after his father (sorry for misleading info - in my first post I put d.o.d. as 1889). Note that the name OLLIS is on the building, just visible above the group.

As I go to Boots, not Specsavers, I had thought that the smartly dressed chap was holding a trophy or two but I agree it is does seem to be as suggested. I still think that he's the landlord. As to why this might be an occasion, well the date might help!  The connection with Frys is almost coincidental - it relates to the source of the photograph which happened to be a member of the Fry family - it has come to me by a very circuitous route!  The carpentry and builders business, JW & EJ Fry was apparently at 3 Dover Terrace, which is not far away from the pub - I guessed that the men may have been regulars and/or working at Frys but I don't know that for sure.  This photo was obviously taken when photography was a bit of a novelty, since, as observed, there are some ladies looking out of the window at the proceedings.

So, that's all I know, which isn't that much. I was hoping for a clothing, fashion or man's hairstyles expert to give me a better  idea of the date (when I say 'better' I mean any).  Thank you everyone for your interest - don't stop now :-)

Regards, Karen