About

Family History Study Day at Copped Hall

Sunday 25th February 2024

Gates open at 9.30am with a prompt start at 10.00am. Finish at 4.00pm.

Tutor Dr Alan White

£25 per person. Maximum of 10 people. Book early to avoid disappointment.

Location

Copped Hall Ground Floor. Suitable for wheelchair users. Wheelchair users wishing to attend should contact the Box Office so that appropriate arrangements can be made. Delegates should bring their own packed lunch, although Tea and Coffee will be available.

Description

Have you ever wondered where your grandparents, or great-grandparents, lived? Or what they did? Or why your parents never talked about them? If you have asked yourself these questions, but don’t know where to start to get the answers, this Study Day is for those who are at the start of their family history research and aimed at complete novices.

Dr Alan White will assume that you are a complete novice and, in the morning session, will guide you through the first steps for creating a family tree using the built-in functionality of the Ancestry.co.uk website. Having done that, we will spend some time looking at what other resources Ancestry offers to free users and how to interpret them. N.B. You will not have to pay a subscription fee to set up your family tree but there are limitations with a free Ancestry account.

In the second session after lunch, we will look at a range of free on-line resources that are available to help you continue your family history journey.

You will need to bring with you:

A working laptop that can connect to wi-fi. Please remember to bring the power cable.

As a minimum, birth/death (where relevant) dates and locations for you, your parents and your paternal and maternal grandparents. Any other information you have (e.g. date and place of marriage, maiden names, occupations etc) will be a bonus. If you have similar information concerning additional generations of your family, please bring that as well.

You may wish to bring a pad and pen to take notes. There will be handouts so you will not need to write down, for example, webpage addresses.

It is designed to be interactive with time for you to work on creating your family tree and to ask questions. There will be at least two people in the room facilitating the session.

A gentle word of warning: When conducting family history research it is not uncommon to discover “skeletons in the closet”.

N.B. If you or your extended family have an historic link with Copped Hall, or the Copped Hall estate, please indicate this when you book a place.

Event Queries?

Please contact the Box Office on Tel No. 07749 397932
or email: tickets@coppedhalltrust.org.uk

Buy Tickets

Tickets can be purchased online
https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/booking/category/RdiEJKhzXNnT
View the event, pay and print your tickets. 
Both debit and credit cards may be used.

If you are having problems with buying tickets via Ticketsource, please contact our Box Office on 07749 397932. Alternatively you may email the Box Office on tickets@coppedhalltrust.org.uk

We recommend tickets are bought in advance. Payment can be made 'On the Door' on the day but will attract the higher price per person.

Guided tours are conducted on a monthly basis on the third Sunday of the month.

About Copped Hall

The saving of Copped Hall has been described a number times as a miracle. In reality, it was achieved by a great deal of hard work against overwhelming odds.

Historic country houses in their parkland are one of the great cultural achievements of previous centuries. Very sadly by the 1950s, historic mansions like Copped Hall were being demolished at a rate of one every two and a half days. With their loss the centrepiece and purpose of the gardens, ancillary buildings and parkland was removed. Often all of these parts were destroyed. In the 1980s the planning authorities acted to preserve the excellent established qualities of Copped Hall and its surroundings by making them into a conservation area in 1984. English Heritage followed by listing the older parkland as Grade II*. After much campaigning the Conservators of Epping Forest (The City of London) purchased the freehold of the parkland in order to preserve and restore it. The specially formed Copped Hall Trust eventually purchased the mansion, stables and gardens in 1995.

The Conservators are committed to the restoration of the parkland, the reintroduction of animals and to the preservation of this important wildlife habitat.

In 1999 the Trust acquired the completely derelict Walled Kitchen Garden, one of the largest in Essex. After 13 years, all the undergrowth has been cleared from the garden and the glasshouses. This work has been largely carried out by volunteers. The garden is now mainly planted with produce sold locally and to visitors. One glasshouse has been restored with two others under way.

The Copped Hall Trust has made substantial progress in the restoration. The Racquets Court and the stables have been largely restored, together with other service buildings. Much work has been carried out clearing the gardens of non-original vegetation. Replacement trees have been planted and lawns re-seeded. Internally, the mansion is to be restored to its 1750s’ form, and since 2001 some of the roof and floor structures have been reinstated and essential structural repairs carried out. Since 1998 the Trust has been supported in its work by a Friends organisation which now has more than 1,000 members. From these members a very committed band of volunteers assists with all aspects of the project.