The 21st Offley Family Society Meeting

Saturday 20th September 2008

I offered to write an account of the Offley Family Society meeting as it was the first time that I had attended this event and it is sometimes interesting to see things through a fresh pair of eyes. 

Well, we were truly blessed with the first real summer weather of the year. I came prepared with raincoat and umbrella as I couldn’t believe it would stay sunny all day, but it did. 

I have been a family historian for as long as I can remember because my parents would tell me stories of their relatives, my mother in her own quiet way and my father in a much more ebullient fashion. He was the sixth child and first son of Alice Jane and William James Offley. He must have been a welcome arrival in this farming family as his father then had someone to follow in his footsteps. He grew up to be a born raconteur with a great sense of humour, funny but never cruel, and I was regaled with stories of his parents, siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins, all of whom became real characters to me so I was looking forward to meeting some of their descendants.

The first person I met on arrival at the Methodist Church Hall in Huntingdon was Kevin and, having done my homework, I knew him to be my nearest relative in the society and I found yet again that kinship is a wonderful thing as it makes you feel immediately at ease because you have a common heritage. He introduced me to his uncle, Eric, and we were away with people we had both known or known about and as a result I have several new anecdotes to add to my archives. We were talking so much that I was really glad of the coffee Rosemary was providing for us. This branch of the family was of particular interest to me as they have twice as many Offley genes as the rest of us because Eric’s grandfather Goddard married his cousin Caroline Offley.

I have never known a day pass so quickly. I found the A.G.M. interesting and tried to connect names and faces. This was followed by lunch and I joined Eric and Kevin in the Samuel Pepys Diary Rooms which were conveniently opposite the Church Hall and provided a really tasty meal. Some found the local fish and chip shop and as it was such a glorious day ate outside. The afternoon session started with a short talk by the archivist from Huntingdon Record Office who explained that Huntingdon was shortly to have a new Record Office and was spearheading a new approach whereby every item would be bar-coded. After this we had the opportunity to look at and handle some old parish records, wills and maps which had an association with the family. I tried to read John Offley’s will of the mid-1600s with little success. The archivist assured me that it was all a matter of practice but I am not sure that reading old manuscripts will ever come easily to me. Kevin then gave an illustrated talk explaining DNA. This clarified the subject for me and those who find it hard to reconcile Darwin’s theory of evolution and the Bible’s story of the creation may be heartened to learn that DNA contains a mitrochondrial Eve and a y-chromosome Adam. Jack then talked on how the discoveries made by our DNA tests have altered our family groupings and shattered long held beliefs which was very interesting and was the final item on the agenda. Rosemary immediately made more tea and coffee and then it was time to say our goodbyes and make our way home. 

I particularly enjoyed meeting everyone, putting faces to voices or e-mails or John’s elegant writing. I had wondered if there would be an ‘Offley’ face but we were all as different as any other group of people, nevertheless, there was this feeling of belonging. 

For a day to go as smoothly as this we all know that there must have been a great deal of work behind the scenes for many weeks beforehand which deserves a big 'thank you' to all concerned. I am now looking forward to the 22nd Offley Family Meeting next year in Oakham.

Paddy Atkins