Students learn about Selby town's past

Students from Selby High School joined experts from the Selby & District Family History Group on Tuesday 27th June  as part of the “Mariners,  Merchants and Monuments” project, which arose following initiatives  from Selby Town Council.

Thanks to National Lottery players this Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) project will see students in their history lessons learn about the characters who made Selby prosperous during the 19th century, and the methods by which researchers unearth those stories.

A spokesman from the Family History Group commented “Over the past decade we have traced the stories of many of Selby’s important families, and are delighted to share that information with students from Selby High.”

Sarah Burgess, our Curriculum Area Leader for History said “We’d like to think or this as a kind of local version of the ‘Who Do You Think You Are” programme. We want to show our students how you can take information like that on a headstone in a cemetery, and, along with modern research tools like ‘Ancestry’ and’ ‘Find My Past’, show how you can build up someone’s life story. It’ll be great to use the expert help of the Family History Group to guide students in learning about the town’s past – and perhaps even inspire the students to tackle on their own historical research”.

The records needed to do this research are held by Selby Town Council, and they are keen to be involved with the students as well.

Town Council staff were also on hand to show the detail behind every burial at the town’s cemetery, and how that detail can be used to further inform researchers.

The aim of the year-long ‘Mariners, Merchants and Monuments’ project is to encourage wider use of the resources available that are linked to the town’s cemetery. Further public events will be arranged throughout the rest of 2017. Anyone interested in contributing ideas should contact the Town Clerk by email admin@selbytowncouncil.co.uk or on 01757 708449 between 10am – 4pm Monday to Friday.

Students working with members of the Family History Group at Selby Town Hall as they access historic information from the Group's database.