This event is to be held on Saturday 5^th October 2024
at Elmbridge Village Hall, Elmbridge, Droitwich, Worcestershire, WR9 0DA
and Sunday 6^th October 2024
at The Toby Carvery. Bath Road, Worcester, WR5 3HW

Since our last Mini ROWBERRY Family Gathering in 2016, people have been asking me when the next one will be. Well here is your answer! This time it is not a visit of a cousin from the USA to meet her newly found (by normal research) cousins here, although it does involve a visit of a Canadian file:///E:/%23%20POLLY's%20Files/Web%20Site/2024map.htmlR descendant to visit some newly identified R cousins on a whole new tree! In this case she has already been over several times to visit the roots of her English grandmother, who was sent to Canada as a Home Child in 1910. and to meet her immediate family here - her half-siblings and their families. Her quest started when her grandmother died in 1988. Having spent all her life trying to find her younger brother James. she asked her granddaughter Eleanor to carry on the search, which she did.

In 1993 I was put in touch with Eleanor via someone else with R interests in the area and through the RONS index I was able to identify the brother, although sadly he had aready died in 1980. But the records showed that he had left a son, whom I was luckily able to contact, and in 1995 Eleanor came over and met us both in London. He did not know much about his grandmother, although he did remember going to her funeral.

The grandmother's baptism at Tibberton shows that her mother was Jessie RUBERRY, apparently a parishioner. Indeed the 1891 census (the latest one available at that time!) showed her living in Foredraught Lane, Tibberton in the house of Thomas & Elizabeth RICE, and described as their niece. Further back a baptism for Jessie RUBERY was also found in the Tibberton parish register as the illegitimate daughter of Annie RUBERY, described as "Sojourning at Tibberton", meaning that she was not a permanent resident there. As RUBERY is not the variant usually found in the Worcester area and there was a Tailor in the City whose name was Luke RUBERY with a daughter Annie who was unmarried and a suitable age at the time what better candidate for the mother? And as they were reasonably well off and the RICE couple was childless what better way of hiding her condition and providing future adoptive parents for the child? So Jessie was attached to Luke's Family Tree and for a long time nothing came along to dispel this theory!

However recently something not only came along to dispel it, but also to prove that I definitely had the WRONG Annie, and while a Sarah Ann ROWBERRY baptised at Elmbridge in 1870 seemed a strange choice for an Annie RUBERY, DNA proved it! The DNA was that of a lady also living in Canada but actually no direct link to the Rs who started picking up matches with Eleanor and her cousins! There was a common surname on their two trees - which I had already met in my researches! This lady could not wait for September - she came over in April, but I'm looking forward to sharing the very interesting story with you in Elmbridge Village Hall! It was a bit short notice, but provident that it was free on Saturday 5^th October! So I thought another Mini Family Gathering a great chance to share what I think is a really exciting discovery with you all, as well as many other updates to the various family trees. In fact I had recently also added another branch to The ROWBERRY of Whitbourne Tree and so all three combined will become ROWBERRY Tree Six!

We would like to invite you to join us for either or both of the two days if you have any interest in the name ROWBERRY or one of its many variants or aliases found today or in the past. Those still extant, besides ROWBERRY include GOMERY, GUMERY, GUMMERY, REWBURY, ROBERY, ROEBURY, ROVERY, ROWBERY, ROWBORY, ROWBREE, ROWBREY, ROWBURREY, ROWBURY,RUBBERY, RUBBRA, RUBERRY, RUBERY, RUBREY, RUBRA, and RUBURY plus many other variants found in the past. But anyone will be welcome to come along and see the displaysl Hopefully you will learn what a One-Name Study is, or get some help with your own Family History or DNA on the Saturday (see below for further details).

The theme of the weekend is "DNA Reuniting Families" and you can learn about the exciting changes just this one test made!

Saturday 5^th October:
10.30am-4pm "Get-together" at The Village Hall, Elmbridge, Droitwich, WR9 0DA with displays of family trees and ROWBERRY One-Name Study research. We will be happy to answer your questions about your family tree. Please bring along any research you have done , to enable us to help you better, and any family photographs and documents that you have, so that you can share them with others. Everyone who comes that has R ancestors will be able to receive a free, up-to-date family tree for their own branch of the family. If you pre-book this will be ready for you to collect in your goody bag, but others can order one on the day to be posted out, by leaving their name and address and a £1 coin to cover postage etc.

11am Introductory Welcome" followed by Coffee (etc) and Biscuits.

12.30-1.30pm Cold Finger Buffet Lunch, fresh from Lord Morton's Tea Rooms at Cutnall Green, will be available for all those who would like one. Pre-booking and payment will be required to make sure that we have enough food to go around! (Please see the Booking form).

2.30pm A short after-lunch walk to Elmbridge Church, where Sarah Ann ROWBERRY was baptised on 15^th May 1870, in what was then a Chapelry of the parish of Dodderhill. The present building was begun in 1870.

4pm Tea (etc) and Cake followed by Closing Thank you!

Sunday 6^th October:
12noon onwards Sunday Lunch Carvery at The Toby Carvery Worcester West, Bath Road, Worcester,WR5 3HW Telephone 01905 821894. We hope that you will join us for this meal, but tables need to be booked quickly as they are very busy, If you say that you are coming to meet Polly Rubery and Eleanor Orser, they will try and seat you next to us. It will be nice to see and talk to cousins old and new! Please indicate on the Booking Form if you are coming, so that we can bring a goody bag for you, if you have not received one on the Saturday.