Finding history on facebook

Central Ref, May 2014

Now I know social networking comes in for a bit of  stick from some people, and I also accept that it does have its dangers.

But it can also be a pretty neat way of talking to people, exchanging ideas, stories and pictures.

For many it is also an opportunity to share their photographs and get them seen by a wide audience.

The alternative would be a gallery which usually has a long list of people waiting to exhibit and might not want to show an “unknown.”

But out there on flicker and more especially facebook you can do just that and I am constantly impressed by the quality of the material which is posted.

Many of those who post have done a lifetime of work, supporting families, paying the bills and just doing “work” but also have a keen eye for what makes a good picture and here on facebook their talents can be seen.

A ghost sign, 2013

My own favourite is MANCHESTER A PICTORIAL AND FILM HISTORY* and there will be others covering every part of the country.

The site has regular contributors and the occasional photographer, and I just love what they come up with.

But facebook also delivers plenty of history, ranging from sites which are a vehicle for peoples’ memories like Manchester Memories, Stockport Memories, and Classic Salford to those edging towards an attempt to talk about the history of an area, including buildings and events.

Everyone will have their own favourites and mine include Ashton Under Lyne Now and Then and Greater Manchester History, Architecture, Faces and Places.**

The first tram to Sale, 2014

At which point I can’t pass up mentioning my own Chorlton History and Well Hall in Eltham, its stories and its history*** which are specific to places I have lived and still do.

And then there are those like Didsbury Through Time and Hough End Hall which feature a specific place or building.****

What many of these history sites do is provide a popular link into more serious study, and here I am thinking of those which deal with British Home Children who were the young people migrated to Canada, Australia and other parts of the old British Empire from the 1870s.

An 18th century staircase, 2013

Some were found destitute on the streets others had been committed to the workhouse and orphanages and some came from families who were persuaded that a better life was on offer across the Atlantic.

It is not a good story and for all of us with relatives who were sent it was a revelation that it happened to one of our own and that for a large part of the last century governments and the institutions that sent them were at best silent and in some cases obstructive at letting the story come out.

And for those wanting to start out on that journey of discovery the facebook sites like British Home Children Advocacy &  Research Association, provide information, links to other sites and above all a network of people engaged on the same research.*****

I belong to five and all are from Canada, which is not surprising given that 100,000 young people were migrated from 1870 to 1930.

George Everitt Green, 1895

But without facebook as a start I would have found it just a tad more difficult to search out places dealing with BHC.

And the very nature of social networking sites is that they welcome you, accept that you may not know much but are always willing to help and share their historical knowledge.

So less a story about facebook and more a comment on what your facebook site can do for you and what you can do for others.

Pictures; Central Ref, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, May 2014, ghost sign at number 8 Thomas Street,, courtesy of David Easton, May 2013, the first tram on the line from Chorlton to Sale, June 2014, Michael J Thompson,   inside the Pump House, Didsbury, Pierre Grace, April 2013,  George Everitt Green, 1895, from the collection of Lori Oschefski

*MANCHESTER A PICTORIAL AND FILM HISTORY, https://www.facebook.com/groups/248854231451/

**Greater Manchester History, Architecture, Faces and Places, https://www.facebook.com/groups/646597565403712/

***Chorlton History, https://www.facebook.com/groups/ChorltonHistory/ Well Hall, https://www.facebook.com/groups/128166057384739/

****Didsbury Through Time, https://www.facebook.com/groups/didsburyhistory/, Hough End Hall, https://www.facebook.com/groups/houghendhall/

***** British Home Children Advocacy &  Research Association, https://www.facebook.com/groups/Britishhomechildren/