Hello all,

Just a quick message to let you know about our Family History Day which is taking place on Sunday 22nd March.

Join us, and discover your roots with the Forest branch of the Gloucestershire Family History Society.

There will also be a "Family and Friend Trees" craft activity to keep our younger visitors busy.

For more information on admission and contact details, please visit our website:
www.deanheritagemuseum.com

I hope to see some of you there.

Kind regards,

Gina Mills
Dean Heritage Centre

what traditionalists , like me , call Mothering Sunday.

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Ἀριστοτέλης A Gloster & Hereford Boy in the Forest of Dean ><((((*>

Standard museum prices apply.
Adult £4.90. Conc £4.20 Child (under 16) £2.50
Family Ticket £14 (2 adult & up to 4 children)
Children under 5 free. 10am - 5pm

Sorry I live too far away to attend but if you are planning another, a few more weeks' notice for it might attract people from further afield.

I have a FOD calender and on March 22, 2009 it says "Mothering Sunday." What exactly is Mothering Sunday?

Mothering Sunday is the fourth Sunday of Lent. Although it's often called Mothers' Day it has no connection with the American festival of that name.( Sorry Seatlle !)

For some Church of England churches, it is the only day in Lent when marriages can be celebrated.

Traditionally, it was a day when children, mainly daughters, who had gone to work as domestic servants were given a day off to visit their mother and family.

Today it is a day when children give presents, flowers, and home-made cards to their mothers.

Short History of Mothering Sunday

Most Sundays in the year churchgoers in England worship at their nearest parish or 'daughter church'.

Centuries ago it was considered important for people to return to their home or 'mother' church once a year. So each year in the middle of Lent, everyone would visit their 'mother' church - the main church or Cathedral of the area.

Inevitably the return to the 'mother' church became an occasion for family reunions when children who were working away returned home. (It was quite common in those days for children to leave home for work once they were ten years old.)

And most historians think that it was the return to the 'Mother' church which led to the tradition of children, particularly those working as domestic servants, or as apprentices, being given the day off to visit their mother and family.

As they walked along the country lanes, children would pick wild flowers or violets to take to church or give to their mother as a small gift.

Also see :-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mothering_Sunday

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Ἀριστοτέλης A Gloster & Hereford Boy in the Forest of Dean ><((((*>

Thanks slowhands. You must be the FOD historian.
Ellie

You obviously don't live in the U.K. I wonder if we're using other terms which people from further afield find mystifying?!!!