Seagoe Parish digitises historic parish magazines
Seagoe Parish is in the process of digitising the first 30 years of their parish magazine which first went into production over 100 years ago.
The Portadown parish has a large and very important archive of letters from the front by Colonel Blacker and others, many of which appear in the pages of the magazine. Blacker was a distinguished soldier, initially commanding the 9th Battalion of the Royal Irish Fusiliers in France and Flanders from October 1915 to March 1917. For this he was awarded the DSO, mentioned in despatches three times, and was made an Officer of the Legion d’Honneur and awarded the Croix de Guerre (France). He was also a leading figure in the anti–Home Rule movement and in the Ulster Volunteer Force.
The parish archive, which contains bound copies of every edition of the magazine, attracted the interest of local historians who suggested the digitisation. At £10,000 it is an expensive undertaking but half of the cost will be met by the Heritage Lottery Fund as part of a history project to accompany the restoration of the church tower. This work is also underway and will cost almost £170,000.
On a lighter note it comments: “One effect of the war, noticeable in the Parish, is a great increase in the number of marriages. Khaki weddings are becoming quite common in the Parish Church.”
The digital copies will eventually be placed on a website where everyone will be able to access this historical treasure–trove.