map - Berwick-upon-TweedBerwick-upon-Tweed is a town in Northumberland, England, which is generally known as simply Berwick, and has a VERY long history. This town is situated in England, but is only 4km from the Scottish border.

Now there is a global search on to find descendants of those who used to live in this town. Sounds like a grand plan, but it is for a grand occasion, as 2015 is the 900th anniversary of the town.

As part of the “Berwick 900” celebration preparations the team planning next year’s Berwick 900 festival have brought in local historian Peter Munro to do this research. He is chairman of the Borders Family History Society, and his job is to begin tracking down the descendants of Berwick families around the world. He aims to discover their stories, build new links with families still living in the region, and involve them in events celebrating nine centuries of the town’s history in 2015.

Peter says …

“My key aim is to discover interesting family stories and personalities. We’ll use these in the displays and performances being planned for next year’s celebration of Berwick’s 900-year story. I’ll be using social media to help publicise the project and encouraging people throughout the world to revive their family connections with Berwick and to visit the town. As well as identifying interesting families and collecting their stories, I’ll be searching for material that the families themselves may not know.”

The Our Families Story project is supported by Berwick’s Guild of Freemen, and they’re “hoping it will lead to a more comprehensive Berwick 900 family studies project, to involve local people of all ages and create further international links with descendants of old Berwick families.”

If you have any interesting information about ancestors from your family’s past in Berwick, you can contact Peter Munro via email or by writing to him c/o Berwick Record Office, Wallace Green, Berwick, TD15 1ED, Northumberland, ENGLAND. Or send an emailt to: berwickfamilies@gmail.com.

MORE INFORMATION:
Berwick 900 website

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Berwick-upon-Tweed Northumberland