Bob Bliss – A Welcome Visitor
On the evening of Wednesday 17th July 1987, preparations were being made in the Stoke Goldington Reading Rooms for the monthly meeting of the Stoke Goldington Association.
The speaker for the evening had cried off at short notice, leaving the chairman Derek George frantically working on an alternative presentation.
At 7.45 there was a knock on the door and a tall man entered. “Mr George,” he asked, “I understand that you are holding a meeting and I wonder if I might attend.
Before receiving an answer, he went on, “My ancestors were from this village I can trace them back to the mid seventeen hundreds, they were innkeepers, so I can almost claim residential qualifications.”
On being told that there was indeed a meeting about to take place and that he would indeed be very welcome, the visitor introduced himself: “My name is Bob Bliss. I live in Rickmansworth and I am the Chairman of The Bliss Family Historical Society.”
It transpired that Bob Bliss had been visiting the churchyard at St Peters Church undertaking historical research, when he noticed the one of the gravestones marking the grave of John Bliss, buried 1752, had been broken.
During subsequent discussions with the church authorities the activities of The Stoke Goldington Association came into the conversation and he decided to prepare a written history of the family to present to them.
The document is shown in its original form, on the following pages. Rather than type his handwriting we felt that it was critical to scan Bob’s original script which reveals so much about him, his dedication to the cause, his methods of working and gives us an insight into his character. The problem for the viewer is that this involves scrolling both vertically and horizontally to be able to read the whole page.
On balance we feel the advantages listed above far outweigh the downsides.
Bob Bliss agreed to take on the role of speaker for the evening and regaled the meeting with stories of Bliss ancestors being transported to Australia for counterfeiting and others being responsible for the Great Deadwood City Disaster of 1882. Powerful Stuff !!!
Bob Bliss died in 1997 and, at his specific request, is buried in the same grave as his ancestor John Bliss in the churchyard at Stoke Goldington.
Hard copies of the document can be purchased from the Stoke Goldington Association – See Contact Page
For full information on the Bliss Family contact the Bliss Family History Site – https://blissfhs.com
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