Plans are already underway to stage the first ever Minney re-union. The location will be Yardley Hastings Memorial Hall,Yardley Hastings Village, Northamptonshire. The date will be Saturday, 16th September 2000, from noon to about 6pm.
I know that not all Minney lines can be traced back to Yardley Hastings but it is a very pretty village with lots of Minney descendents living there still.
As things progress I will keep this page updated. If you have any suggestions on what you would like to do or see on the day then please let me know. If you have anything you can lend or have copied for the displays please get in touch.
It is hoped to have displays of photographs, family trees, history of the name, extracts from parish registers, local history guides, extracts from various Minney web sites. A register will be available for all to sign. It is my intention to copy this to all who sign it as a momento of this millenium get-together.
On the day, I expect people to wander around the village as well to 'soak' up the atmosphere (there are two village pubs to help with the 'soaking-up'!)
More details will also appear in the Summer 2000 Newsletter and there may be selective advertising in a few local parish magazines and newspapers
It would also be great to welcome any overseas visitors.
From Summer 2000 Newsletter;
Arrangements are well in hand for this the very first Minney Reunion. Actually, it’s going to be more of an informal get together. The Yardley Hastings Memorial Hall will be open from around midday, with light refreshments. If you need anything stronger, then there are two village pubs nearby. Inside the hall I plan to have displays of interesting items relating to the name Minney that I have collected or been donated over the last ten years. I also hope to have a couple of laptops displaying the Minney Index (now over 11,000 records) and a copy of the web site. In addition I plan to print off lists pertaining to Yardley Hastings Minneys and possibly Great Barford as well.
Rosemary Minney (who has done most of the work towards this reunion) hopes to have some guide leaflets available (subject to copyright) and possibly some books for sale on the village. Please wander around the village, it is still a very typical English village. The church of St Andrews is a must as well.
I would encourage everyone attending to also visit Clifton Reynes on the way and to have a drink at the Robin Hood pub. You will see that a previous landlord was a Minney (chart on the pub wall).
I would like everyone attending to fill out a visitor’s book. In it I will ask for a brief history of where your family came from and anything else of interest. Once the event is over I will put all the entries together and send a copy to everyone. It will be a millennium souvenir not unlike the WI book mentioned earlier “Bedfordshire Within Living Memory”. I may even take your photo as well!
If you have anything to bring then please do so. The hall is quite large and I don’t have a huge amount of display material. I suggest that photos or documents be put in clear document wallets to protect them.
Depending how everything goes, the hall will close around 6pm. I might even buy Rosemary a drink in the local, either to celebrate or commiserate!!
One last thing - the hire of the hall will already have been paid for but donations at the door will be gratefully received.
See you all in September.
Yardley Hastings location map from www.streetmap.co.uk