Family History Day: Boats, Trains and Family Names

The Devon Family History Society, celebrating its 50th Anniversary, is hosting a special Family History Day in collaboration with Newton Abbot Museum on Saturday 13th June 2026, from 10.00am to 3.30pm.

The day will feature:
• Talks
• Family history research support
• Stalls with local and family history publications
• Museum exhibits
• Activities and self-guided walks

Whether you are completely new to family history, an experienced researcher, or somewhere in between, all are welcome. The day will focus on occupations, exploring a wide range of local and family history themes. Through the talks, you will discover how to use existing family knowledge to build and share a family story, uncover the lives of ordinary people who are often underrepresented in historical records, and explore examples of more advanced online research. The museum’s exhibits will also highlight the variety of local employment in the past, bringing these histories to life.

About the speakers and their talks

Sally MacDougall
Sally MacDougall has been fascinated by family and local history since hearing her grandmother’s stories. Although a Brummie by birth, she has lived and worked in Devon since the 1980s and has developed a deep appreciation for the county and its rich history. She is actively involved with Devon Family History Society, where she serves as Editor of The Historian magazine, attends events, and delivers talks.

"Ag Labs" and the turnip economy - Those tricky Agricultural labourer ancestors and sources for family history

The discovery of agricultural labourers, ’ag labs' for short, is commonplace in most researchers’ family history. They worked on farms doing jobs like plowing and harvesting and could be as young as six or as old as eighty. Employers usually gave them a place to live, though conditions were often cramped. Researching them may seem challenging because of a lack of written records, but you can find out more about them in a surprising number of sources.

Phil Badcott

Phil Badcott has lived in Devon all his life and after a career at BT and running his own business, Phil now devotes much of his time to studying, writing and speaking about the history of Devon. He is the author of four books.

The Boatmen of Babbacombe Bay

The story of the fishermen and pleasure boat skippers of Babbacombe Bay in Torquay from the 1850s to the 1950s using previously unseen photos from my family’s photo archive and the unheard stories of my nine ancestors who were Babbacombe Boatmen.

Peter Wade
Peter Wade is a Devon-based local historian with a broad interest in history and its social context. Originally from Northamptonshire, his experience living and working on farms sparked his interest in social history. His research interests include the history of football, the village of Abbotskerswell, and the hamlet of Lyson in the parish of Kenton.

The Mamhead Military Railway

This is the amazing story of this little-known railway built to take the processed wood from the forests around the Mamhead Estate in South Devon. It describes in detail the work of 104 Company of the Canadian Forestry Corps, who were based at Stover in World War 1 before expanding to other localities in South Devon, as discovered in the Library Archive Canada.

Info: Lunch break – bring your own which may be eaten in the room or visit one of the many cafes or places to buy lunch in the vicinity.
Free tea and coffee will be available.
There will be the opportunity to view the displays in Newton Abbot Museum in the lunch break including the town’s great connection with railways.
A family history help desk will be available to support people with questions about researching their family history.
There will be activities arranged by Newton Abbot Museum volunteers including self-guided walks in the town centre.

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Host or Publisher Newton Abbot Museum