| THE HICKMORE ARCHIVE |
| How it all started |
| Roy Rayment, a retired Telecommunications Technical Officer living in London, England, has been actively researching the surname Hickmore (his maternal great-grandmother’s maiden name) for many years. He first became interested in the history of the Hickmore family in the 1960s, following the gift from his mother of an old family bible that had been handed down to her as the eldest daughter.
In the early 1980s, during the course of his genealogical research, Roy had the good fortune to discover a distant relative, Mr. George Edward Dixon Hickmore, who was also carrying out research into the Hickmore family. Together with George, Roy embarked on a full-scale One-Name Study, which he eventually registered with the Guild of One-Name Studies. Following George’s death from a heart attack in 1997, Roy became increasingly anxious to ensure that the large amounts of research that he and George had carried out for so many years was preserved in some way. Roy was advised that his best course of action was to computerise the results of the research and to make it available on-line, but he lacked the expertise required to design and test the necessary search engines. However, help was at hand from Paul Millington, a professional computer engineer, who happened to serve with Roy on the Guild Committee. The Hickmore Archive first appeared on-line in the year 2001, following registration by Roy of the domain name "hickmore.org" on 22nd July of that year. Although the website is constantly expanding, much work remains to be done and Roy lives in hope that others with an interest in the Hickmer and Hickmore surnames will come forward with more information or offers of help with the on-going research. |
| Funding |
| The costs of all of the research necessary to carry on the Hickmore One-Name Study and the costs of providing and maintaining the Hickmore Archive, together with its associated website, are borne entirely by Roy Rayment from a small pension.
However, if any of the Hickmers or Hickmores ever become millionaires, perhaps they might like to consider making a small donation in order to facilitate even more research! |
| Future Development |
| Plans are in hand to computerise several existing sets of records and to start a number of new research projects. Among these are research into Boyd’s Marriage Index, Burials, Census returns (1841-1901), Ecclesiastical probate (1450-1857), Medal awards, Official Notices, Scottish birth, marriage and death records (1855-date) and War Graves.
It is also hoped to expand the photo gallery and to start a regular research bulletin, provided there is enough interest in these. |
| How to help |
| The best way of helping to expand the Archive is simply to send copies of any relevant documents or old family photos. Copies of birth, marriage, death and adoption certificates are particularly welcome, as are inscriptions from family bibles and funeral cards. Any information, no matter how small, about the various branches of the Hickmer and Hickmore families is always more than welcome! |
| Contacting the Archive Organiser |
| Roy Rayment may be contacted by or by telephone at 01708–509027 (but if calling from outside the UK: +44-1708-509027). |
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