Meet the 2023 - 2024 Team
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Dena Fanshawe Chair / Events Coordinator / Website Team.
I am the mother of 2 and grandmother to 3. I was previously the secretary of C.A.D.F.H.S and many other roles since September 2012. I am a retired Business Consultant to SMEs. My life’s pathway took me to the Derbyshire Chamber of Commerce, where I worked with ‘Business Link’ until my retirement. Initially I was part of the ‘Work Force Development’, for businesses. This took me into Business Advice team which was very rewarding and to a degree qualifications [level 5] in Business Advice and a SFEDI business consultant. My early years after leaving school. I did five year apprenticeship and then had my own business for over 30 years. I have always had a passion for learning and continuous personal development for myself and in developing others. I have, degree qualification in Information Technology [level 5] and I am a also qualified Lecturer, Assessor and Internal Verifier, my subjects being Information Technology, Key Skills and Customer Services, Hairdressing.. Over the years I have had many other interests, but one of our major passions has been the world of dogs; showing, exhibiting, breeding and judging at Championship show level. This goes back to 1985. We know longer show dogs but I do judge two breeds at Championship Show level; Rottweilers and Japanese Shiba Inu…….Over most of these years I was continually collecting photographs, snippets of information from asking my relatives questions. I would say I have been researching my Family Tree for 25 years plus. My own personal special passion is the journey and discovery of the past and the fascinating stories that are revealed.
David Wheatcroft. Treasurer and Vice Chair
I have lived in Chesterfield all my life working firstly in foundries as a skilled ‘Iron Moulder’, followed by 25 years on the buses before I retired. In that time I have served as governor on several schools including the Chair of Tapton House School for a spell and was also Vice Chair of Brimington Parish Council for a couple of years.
As a lifelong Trade Unionist, I have held several positions including Branch Secretary & also as an area delegate in the Engineering Union and later in the Transport Union specialising in Pensions & Employee Ownership.
I was a Worker Director at Chesterfield Buses and also a Trustee in the Stagecoach Employee Share Trust. A a Trustee and Administrator of the 450 employee worker owned Sunderland Home Care Ltd.
In retirement from the buses I was a Director of Job Ownership Limited, a London based company which promoted worker ownership in this country and worldwide.
I was also co-founder and director of CASA, a company providing 10,000 weekly hours of home care over the North of England. I have been interested in Family history for some years but only took it up seriously in the last 3 or 4 years. I joined My Heritage for one year before changing over to Ancestry for the last 3 years. I have been lucky up to now to find that 2 of my ancestors have been famous. One had the village pub named after him and the second was the last man in this country to be sentenced to be judiciary hung and beheaded.
I hope that the Treasurers role doesn’t interfere to much with my research.
Valerie Bladon CADFHS Secretary and Correspondence Team – Admin Coordinator . I was born in Old Whittington and brought up in Newbold.I was 16 when I first got the family history bug and have been researching ever since. Many of my ancestors come from Derbyshire. Others from all the middle counties of England plus one line from Roscommon in Ireland. In earlier years I did secretarial work and also Primary school teaching. However my main focus has always been family life. I am enthusiastic about oral history and recording people’s life stories. When someone dies it’s like a library being lost so I’m endeavouring to collect as many memories as I can from my relatives. Since having my DNA tested a few years ago I have become passionate about genetic genealogy. Using DNA matching along with traditional tools such as census, parish records etc has led me to breaking down some brick walls. I look forward to being part of the society and learning and sharing with everyone.
Margaret Linacre – Membership and Surname Interests Teams
I was born in Chesterfield and my working life has always involved records. I started work as a clerk in the Subsidence Registry at the National Coal Board offices in Duckmanton. Then I went to work in the Patient Records Library at Chesterfield Royal Hospital where I undertook a range of duties, including extracting and recording data from the records. Not surprisingly, having spent many years working with indexes, microfilms and data, it was an easy step on retirement to begin researching our family history. I joined CADFHS soon after retiring, and volunteered to help in any way I could, doing some proof-reading and assisting the Membership Secretary, who unfortunately had to relinquish the post. I have now taken over the role manning the Membership Desk at meetings, answering questions regarding membership and keeping the Mojo membership platform and the Surname Interests List updated
Margaret Marsden, Marketing
Keith Fanshawe Committee
I probably first joined the committee around 2009. Since 2012. I have held various positions, Chair, Vice Chair, and general dogs body.
I grew up and spent most of my single life on a small holding on Woodnook Lane, Linacre, so yes really in the old Linacre Woods. By the time I married I was living at Wadshelf, and then moved to Newbold when we married. I have 2 children and 3 grandchildren. Early life I did and apprenticeship in Engineering at Sheepbridge. As soon as I passed my driving test I branched out and spent most of my working life in ‘Large Project Engineering’ This took me around the country..When I finely decided that I had had enough on moving around I settled down and ran my own little cottage industry business where I designed and manufactured bespoke domestic gates and railings before retiring.
I have always enjoyed hearing stories of the past and old photographs and being part of CADFHS has kept me very busy. I enjoy the talks and the social side of the meetings too.
Mary Bullas Editor
I have been researching my family history for 16 years. I have now retired from my job as a Theatre Nurse at Chesterfield Royal Hospital, so am now hoping to be able to dedicate more time to my research. I am looking forward to learning so much more from my more experienced fellow members
Dot Davies Committee
I have lived in Whitwell most of my life although I was born in South Yorkshire. Most of my working life has been in the care sector, starting as a home help I moved to the NHS as a support worker before qualifying as a staff nurse, working in a critical care unit and as a district nurse. I am now retired and a very active granny ! I am a mother of three daughters and six grandchildren aged between five and twenty six years old. I’ve been dabbling with my family history on and off for about fifteen years, often with limited success. I picked it up again during lockdown and realised it was all a bit of a mess and I needed some help and guidance, which decided me to join a family history society as some of my ancestors are from Eckington I thought CADFHS was probably my best choice, so I joined up earlier this year. What a good choice that turned out to be as the society had started the wonderful Zoom meetings were I have discovered a group of friendly helpful members. Hopefully I will discover many new and interesting things as well help others along the way.
Linda Jackson Committee
Jackie Owen
Gillian Glover
