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Library Research Blog – Samuel Levens a baker.


Query 18 July 2020

I wonder if you can help me please.

In my family tree there is a Samuel Levens born Croydon 1753, died 1843 Beckenham.

I have found on the internet (ancestry.co.uk) an article with the headline: Luxury bakers that served up a treat for the fat cats of the past, which I have been told relate to this person. However, it is very poor quality & I'm unable to read it.

I wondered whether it may have been an article which your society may have produced.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Answer 18 July 2020

As a member you can access all our back Journals in the MOA (members only area) of the Society web site. To find any article use the Journal index that not only searches the titles but also the descriptions and keywords. Once you have the volume and page you can download the Journal.

If you are not a member an annual subscription of £10 is in my opinion very good value. You can join online via the home page or eshop.

Looking at the attachment you got from Ancestry.co.uk member, it is a local Newspaper but unfortunately not only can you not read the article, the date, but also who published it.

You have six possible options to discover the details.

1.As an Ancestry member you should be able to message the person who put the article on their web site. They will (should) be able to tell you where the article was published, who published it and when.

2.As you have the headline and name of the person in the article you can search for it in the British National Archive which is the collection of newspapers originally in the Colindale Newspaper Library now digitalised.

3.You might also care to Google the headline to see what comes up, a little lateral thinking for the other details may also find some connections.

4.Have you googled the name 'Samuel Levens', baker?

5.Finally have you tried looking in the directories. Some are freely available at Leicester University where they have been digitised.

6.Lastly perhaps local guide books or history books may help.

Trust these suggestions will help find out more about Samuel Levens


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