News Archive
News
Family & Local History conference 28-31 August 2009
The Society of Genealogists is sponsoring a stream of expert speakers at the next national Family & Local History conference ‘Open the Door & Here are the People’. This 4 day conference is being hosted by the Halsted Trust 28-31 August 2009 at the East Midlands Conference Nottingham. The SoG stream covers a series of talks given by Else Churchill, John Hanson, Geoff Swinfield and Alec Tritton, covering everything from Surname searching to the very best websites; DNA and family history to Tracing Living Relatives.
The conference cost of £369 includes en-suite accommodation, all meals, lectures, and entertainment. The day rate, cost of partial attendance, booking form, and full programme are available at www.openthedoor.org.uk Save £40 on the full conference price (reducing it to £329) by going to www.openthedoor.org.uk/booking.html clicking on the special offer code tab, then entering SG101 into both the ‘user name’ and ‘password’ fields.
Other speakers include military historian, broadcaster and author Richard Holmes; historians and authors Kate Williams and Sarah Wise; TV genealogist Nick Barratt; George Redmonds, leading authority on English surnames plus speakers from The Galleries of Justice, Institute for Name-Studies, King’s College, London, The Library & Museum of Freemasonry, The Media Archive for Central England, The National Archives, National Maritime Museum, National Monuments Record, Parliamentary Archives, Royal Geographical Society, The Royal Observatory and The Women’s Library.
June Perring
ceo
Press release
Location of Event: Trinity Square, Hull
Time of event: 10.00-16.00
Name of event: Who Do We Think We Are?
Details of event: This living history event provides fun for all ages. Building on the success of the BBC television programme 'Who Do You Think You Are?' the series of linked events allows young and old alike to discover more about how movement and identity have influenced the development of the region. All events are free to attend and full accessible to all. The events centre on Hull's historic Trinity Quarter, 10.00-16.00 on Saturday, 4th July 2009.
Inside Britain's largest parish church, Hull's Holy Trinity Church, people can meet some of the country's leading experts who have worked on the TV programme 'Who Do You Think You Are' to explore their own heritage. Whether using state of the art technology, learning about family history, exploring the history of the area from the rooftop of Holy Trinity Church, or handling interactive history from the Imperial War Museum in the North, this event looks set to inspire everyone to delve into the people, goods and ideas that have influenced who we think we are.
Outside children and adults in period costume will bring the historic centre of Hull alive in dance, music, and playing games from the days before health and safety controlled what we could and could not do at school. Free English-Heritage approved tour guides will be on hand to help you look at the people, buildings and events that influenced the way Hull evolved as the third largest port in Britain.
At Hull Museums Hands on History Museum everyone will be encouraged to handle the past through a series of engaging and fun events by costumed characters and experts from the City's museums. Come and see costumed characters and learn about Victorian craft making.
Around the City Centre people can experience Victorian Hull through a series of outside events including costumed enables, entertainers, rides in horsedrawn Victorian carriages or musical entertainment.
Participants include: Hull History Centre, University of Hull's History experts, Hull University Archives, Wilberforce Institute for the study of Slavery and Emancipation, East Yorkshire Local History Society, East Yorkshire Treasure House, North East Lincolnshire Archives, Hull Local Studies Library, East Yorkshire Family History Society, Grimsby Family History Society, the Society of Genealogists, Guild of One Name Study Groups, Imperial War Museum in the North, Hull Museums, BBC, experts advisors for Who Do You Think You Are?, Gale Newspapers, Ancestry.com databases.
Further details: For further details please contact: Sarah Carter, Wilberforce Institute for the study of Slavery and Emancipation, University of Hull, 27 Oriel Chambers, High Street, Hull, HU1 1NE. Tel: 01482 305176, or email: sarah.carter@hull.ac.uk
The Society of Genealogists takes its courses online with Pharos
The Society of Genealogists and Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd are pleased to announce a new joint online course called I’m Stuck! How can the Society of Genealogists Help Me? starts 28th May 2009 and is repeated from 2nd July 2009.
In this short two week course, Else Churchill of the Society of Genealogists will guide you through the steps needed to help you think logically about research problems and how to solve them. She also introduces you to records and indexes, held by the Society of Genealogists, which can be used to break down those brick walls, and demonstrates how these resources help you extend your family tree. Emphasis is also placed on learning how to apply research techniques to solve your problems.
Prospective students can pay and enrol via the Pharos website at a price of £23.99 or a discounted price of £19.99 for members of the Society of Genealogists.
The course is suitable for genealogists who have had some experience in family history research in England & Wales but who have found they have been unable to identify where their ancestor might have come from.
It is hoped that this will be the start of a wider collaboration on distance learning courses between the Society and Pharos.
Helen Osborn, Managing Director of Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd, said today "We are very pleased to be given the opportunity of working with the Society of Genealogists in this collaborative way and to bring the vast knowledge of the Society to a wider audience."
Else Churchill, Genealogist at the Society & tutor for Pharos courses, said today "The Society of Genealogists is delighted to offer the first of, what we hope will be many, distance learning opportunities for the Society. This course will enable those who are unable to visit the Society and take part in our extensive education programme to learn more about the techniques of family history research and the Society of Genealogists in particular."
Contacts:Pharos Tutors: Helen Osborn
Telephone: 020 8542 6552
Email: helen@pharostutors.com
Website: http://www.pharostutors.com
Society of Genealogists: Else Churchill
Telephone: 020 7702 5488
Email: genealogy@sog.org.uk
Website: www.sog.org.uk
Print(pdf) a copy of the full Press Notice
Free Library tours at the Society on Sunday 3 May.
Anyone attending the Family History event at the Barbican on Sunday 3rd May is welcome to join the free tours of the Society of Genealogists. The Society will be opening specially on this Sunday for tours around the library, advice on your research from the SoG experts and guidance on starting your family history in our free community family history access area.
The library itself will not be fully staffed or open for research. However, anyone attending the Family History Event or coming to the SoG on the tours will receive a free day search voucher valid for two hours’ free use of the SoG library during normal opening hours. In addition the SoG will be waiving the £10 joining admin fee for anyone who becomes a member of the Society at the event or at the SoG on Sunday 3rd May.
The SoG will pick you up for tours and guide you round to the Society from the Barbican so do come and see us at our stand at the show.
The library will be open, as usual, on Saturday 2 May and will be closed, as usual, on Monday (Bank Holiday) 4th May
Else Churchill - Genealogist
6 March 2008 - BUDGETING, STAFFING AND CHANGES IN LIBRARY OPENING HOURS
In setting the budget for 2009 the Trustees have had to adopt a very realistic approach in times of economic crisis. For the last few years our Finance Report has clearly spelled out that our income from subscriptions does not meet our expenditure. We have been very fortunate that large legacies and payment we received from losing some of our light helped ‘bridge the gap’. The Trustees have been trying to find other ways to help but it has taken two years to finally get someone in the Fundraising post, despite several adverts and interview processes, and one successful applicant even turning down the position. This initiative is now in place but will take time to add any value to future finances.
In 2008 the final accounts are yet to be audited but they will show a substantial loss. The Society had enough reserves from the previous year to carry this but is unable to carry any more loss in 2009. Increasing subscriptions would not be an answer to the problem. People are having to be careful with their finances at the moment and we are already seeing memberships not being renewed. Last year we lost 260 members and this may well increase this year. Although genealogy continues to be popular, fewer people join a Society, more preferring just to pay a subscription to the commercial companies providing online data or spending a day at Kew where no charges are made.
Over the last few years the Society has pared back normal expenditure and the only significant expenditure left to reduce is the staff budget. During the budget process many scenarios were looked at, such as cutting the lecture programme, which appears to make a loss in the Annual Report. However a lot of the associated lecture costs are apportionments of other overheads or salaries and doing this would not make a significant saving. The Trustees also believe this to be one of our main charitable objectives in providing education as are some of our other remits.
To make the saving required the Society has had to shed the equivalent of 100 staff hours across all departments. Priority had to be made on how to achieve this with the minimum of loss of service to you the member, whilst still making it manageable for remaining staff. The Society is committed to its digitisation programme in order to make its data more accessible to you all and does not want to see this area suffer. With only approximately 26% of members actually coming into the physical building it is important we are able to make our records and data available to those not able to come in. With this in mind the Society has re-assessed its opening hours. To enable the remaining staff to cope with the workload that will increase, not only by the loss of 100 hours labour but by the new digitisation projects, the Society will be closing for one extra day a week. We have looked at all the entrance statistics and having found only approximately 50 members come in on a Friday; this seemed the sensible day to close.
We are hoping this will not cause the members who come in that day any major inconvenience but we are really trying to do the best for all our members.
Colin Allen FSG Chairman of the Board of Trustees
25 January 2009 - Changes to access to New Zealand Birth Death and Marriage Indexes
The Society has received notice from the Registrar General of New Zealand that from 25 January 2009 sales of the indexes will no longer be available. The Society of Genealogists holds microfiche indexes of New Zealand Births and Marriages from 1840-1920 and Deaths from 1849-1920 and due to this change the Society will not be able to acquire later fiche.
The removal of the indexes from sale is a requirement the New Zealand Births, Death, Marriages and Relationships Registration Act 1(1995) which comes into force today - 25 January 2009. The Act also provides that "historical information" may be made available by the New Zealand Registrar-General on the Internet.
Historical Information is defined as:
- Births that occurred at least 100 years ago
- Still births that occurred 50 years ago
- Marriages and Civil unions that occurred 80 years ago
- Changes of Names for persons born overseas - if they were born at least 100 years ago
- Deaths of people who dies at least 50 years ago or who were bon at least 80 years ago
The Registrar-General states this Internet service will be made available as close to 25 January 2009 as possible. The service will offer enhanced information that is not currently available on the indexes. We have not been told how much the new internet service will cost.
Individuals and institutions that currently hold the fiche indexes will be able to continue to use this information - subject to Crown Copyright and New Zealand Privacy Act restrictions that currently apply.
However please note that as of January 25 it will be an offence for any person to publish index information unless the information relates to the person publishing it, or if the person to whom it relates has given permission for it to be published, or information is "historical information" or could not reasonably be expected to identify any particular person due to its form.
Please note that these restrictions apply to any information published on "member only" websites or internal "Intranet" sites.
Index information that is currently published on the Internet and that does not comply with the requirements above must be removed within 14 days of the Act coming into force - in other words by Sunday 7th February 2009.
Any breach of these new legislative requirements is punishable "upon summary conviction" by a fine of up to NZ$50,000
Anyone wishing more information about accessing New Zealand Civil registration information might be interested in reading the notes on the Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration Amendment Act as posted by the New Zealand Department for Internal Affairs. Link to www.bdm.govt.nz
Of particular interest are the notes on what may be available on the internet and possible restrictions on access to more modern information. Anyone who requests access to registered information, with some exceptions (e.g. "historical" information), will have his or her full name recorded in the access register. Also recorded in the access register will be the date that the request was made and whether or not the request was complied with.
The subject of the registered information (or a parent if the person is under 18) or other person authorised in writing by the subject will be able to access the new register to find out who has applied for access to the subject’s records. Public sector agencies will also be able to search the access register for maintenance of law purposes
Non-disclosure directions.
A non-disclosure direction may be placed on a person’s records under certain conditions and for a particular length of time (which will be set out in regulations).
A non-disclosure direction means that, generally, only the person who is the subject of the information (or a parent if the person is under 18), or any other person authorised by the subject of the information may access registered information about the subject of the non-disclosure direction. If any other person attempts to access registered information when a non-disclosure direction is in place he or she will be advised that the information exists but that the information cannot be provided. However, a person may seek to verify any information that has been published by the subject of the record, despite a non-disclosure direction being in place on the record.
A non-disclosure direction expires after a certain period of time, and may be reinstated or withdrawn.
Else Churchill
Genealogist
Society of Genealogists
24 January 2009 -The new series of Who Do You Think You Are?
The new series of Who Do You Think You Are? will now begin at 9pm on BBC One on Monday 2 February, the BBC has announced. The series was originally reported to start on Wednesday 4 February, but the BBC has since announced changes to the schedule. The impressionist Rory Bremner will kick-off the much-anticipated new series by delving into his family's fascinating military past. Newsreader Fiona Bruce will trace her Scottish roots a week later. The series will also feature chef Rick Stein, actress Zoë Wanamaker, and actor Kevin Whately.
Check radiotimes.com for more details.
15 January 2009 - 1911 Census Update
At the moment the Society has no arrangement for free access to the 1911 census in the SoG library while the census remains exclusively on the 1911census.co.uk website. However it is our understanding that the exclusive licence issued to Brightsolid/Findmypast as the sole online provider will last only 6 months from the final content launch. Once the full exclusive licence has been operating for 6 months other online providers will have the opportunity to purchase the scanned images and get a licence to provide their own indexes. Once this is done we hope that the 1911 census will be available on those sites such as Findmypast etc which are available free at the SoG.
Note
The 1911census.co.uk site is free to view at the National Archives in Kew. Vouchers to view the 1911cenus.co.uk site will be available from the SoG shop and users may of course use their credit cards on the SoG computers but are reqested to speak to the library staff before do so.
1911 Census index now available to the public
Following the launch today of the 1911 Census on www.1911census.co.uk Else Churchill, Genealogist at the Society of Genealogists says "This endeavour has been eagerly anticipated by the family history community ever since the Data Commissioner announced that Freedom of Information legislation could allow the 1911 Census records to be released early. The National Archives and Findmypast are to be congratulated for having achieved such a great deal in just two years as this has been an enormous project.
This census will be valuable to so many family historians as it provides vital information on our ancestors, particularly those born in the period between 1901 and 1911when the General Register Office birth indexes lack information about the mother’s maiden name. The snapshot of families living in the early part of the twentieth century, just before the First World War provides a fascinating insight into their lives. These families were living in times quite distinct from the Victorian age shown in earlier censuses. I am sure this census will help many more people to start tracing their family history and also help many existing genealogists overcome some long standing "brick walls" in their research.
I personally am eager to look for the first instance of my Welsh grandfather Protheroe Churchill appearing in the census and am looking forward to the completion of this project."
Else Churchill
Genealogist
Society of Genealogists
14 Charterhouse Buildings
Goswell Road
London EC1M 7BA
direct phone 020 7702 5488
visit the Society of Genealogists' Website www.sog.org.uk
WOULD YOU LIKE ADVICE ON YOUR FAMILY HISTORY?
From beginners onwards: all queries and problems welcomed. Phone our dedicated family history advice line on 020 7490 8911 Thursdays 6pm - 7.45 pm; Saturdays 11 am - 1pm and 2pm - 4 pm
2008
SoG index to St Leonard Shoreditch Burials 1813-1853 now online
The St Leonard Shoreditch Burial index, complied by the Society of Genealogists has now been launched on The Origins Network
The Index covers over 32,000 burials in this parish, in the period 1813-1854.
The elegant church of St Leonard Shoreditch was built between 1736 and 1740 after the tower of its predecessor collapsed during a service in 1716. There had been a church on this spot since the 12th century and in the Elizabethan period it was used by many actors working at the two nearby theatres. The grave of Shakespeare’s friend, and builder of the Curtain theatre, Richard Burbage, is in the churchyard. By the middle of the 18th century the parish had a population of about 10,000. The 1801 census showed an increase in just 50 years to 35,000. Between 1822 and 1827 the "Waterloo churches" of St John Hoxton and St Mary Haggerston were built to cope with the rising population and in 1830 they were spilt off to form two new ecclesiastical parishes. In 1831 the population was recorded as 69,000. A third ecclesiastical parish (St James, Curtain Road) was created in 1841. By 1851 the population had risen to 109,000.
Overcrowding, disease and poverty were so great in this area that the Shoreditch vestry levied a special Poor Rate in 1774 to create a workhouse for the parish. This was the first in London to have a separate isolation ward for housing those with infectious diseases, in particular those infected with cholera. The parish burial registers for the 41 years from 1813 to 1853 record the deaths of 32,684 individuals. The average number per year was about 800 but during the cholera epidemics of 1832 and 1849 the number shot up to over a thousand.
There are separate burial registers for the Workhouse 1778-1828 but the bodies of many people who died there were claimed by relatives and buried in St Leonard’s churchyard. These burials are recorded in the registers of the parish church and are included in this index. The coverage of the index will soon be extended backwards to 1805 and forwards to the end of interment in the churchyard in 1858 and to include Workhouse burials 1820 to 1828. Earlier entries relating to adult males buried at Shoreditch between 1560 and 1745 can be found in the Society of Genealogists’ collection ’Boyd’s London Burials", also available on The Origins Network
Else Churchill
Genealogist
SoG St Andrew Holborn marriage data now on British Origins
The Society of Genealogists is pleased to announce that its project to index the parish registers of St Andrew Holborn in London has been published on the British Origins website.
The church of St Andrew Holborn is the largest of Sir Christopher Wren's London parish churches and stands at the western end of Holborn Viaduct by Holborn Circus. It also served one of the biggest parishes in London (it actually spanned the boundary of London and Middlesex) out of which five new parishes were eventually formed. The registers are large and contain many thousands of entries, as the parish has always been a popular place to marry. More significantly, the entries from the marriage registers do not appear on the International Genealogical Index or in Boyd's Marriage Index. Pallot's Marriage index has entries for 1780-1837 but these give only year and omit many of the details from the original registers. It is for these reasons that, in 2003, the Society of Genealogists decided to embark a project to transcribe and index the registers.
The index for the period 1754-1812, comprising 18,724 marriages and around 92,000 names, is now available online.
View more detailed information about this dataset
Earlier and later data will follow in due course.
This data is available to SoG members free of charge as part of their quarterly access to the British Origins site.
Else Churchill
Genealogist
Society of Genealogists
14 Charterhouse Buildings
Goswell Road
London EC1M 7BA
23 September 2008
GRANDPARENTS AND GRANDCHILDREN
My name is Jo Abel and I am a documentary director. I am working on a series for BBC 4 exploring the relationship between grandparents and their grandchildren — what it means, how it is different to the relationship with your own children and how it impacts on the family as a whole. I know from personal experience that the arrival of grandchildren creates a massive shift in family dynamics both exhilarating and challenging. I am keen to learn from grandparents about this relationship and how it impacts on life. We have been given this unique opportunity to make this series, and to give it the thought and understanding it needs I need to talk to grandparents , parents and grandchildren about their experiences and relationships with one another.
I am keen to talk to as many people as possible. I can be contacted at dkahlon@blastfilms.co.uk or jabel@blastfilms.co.uk
Press Notice - FINDMYPAST.COM EXTENDS ONLINE PARISH RECORDS COLLECTION
Online access to millions of nationwide parish marriage records pre- dating the civil registration of births, marriages and deaths
UK family history website findmypast.com today announced it has added 3.2 million marriage records to its Parish Records Collection. The new parish records, dating back to 1538, join the 15 million burial records already available to search on the site.
The Parish Records Collection brings together in one easy-to-search central place the disparate records from local parishes, which have been collated by local family history societies since 1911, coordinated by the Federation of Family History Societies.
The registers are particularly valuable sources of information for people seeking to research their family tree back further than the civil records of birth, marriage and death, which began in 1837, and the nineteenth century censuses.
Easy to search
Thanks to the cross-database search facility at findmypast.com, you will be able to search for your ancestor by surname across all the parish records on the site without needing to know where in the country they came from, helping people to delve even deeper into their ancestors' pasts.
Famous people in the parish marriage records
Among the famous names recorded in the parish marriages is writer Charles John Huffam Dickens, whose marriage to Catherine Thomson Hogarth took place in Chelsea on 2 April 1836, just one year prior to civil registration in England and Wales.
In the same year, on 5 July, engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel's marriage to Mary Elizabeth Horsley is shown in Kensington.
Both records have been contributed by the West Middlesex Family History Society.
Debra Chatfield, Marketing Manager at findmypast.com said: "The parish registers are an essential resource for anyone trying to trace their ancestors back to the early sixteenth century. By publishing these records online, findmypast.com is helping to open up new avenues of research for family historians worldwide from the comfort of their own home."
Over the coming months findmypast.com will be adding parish baptism records to the website too.
ENDS
findmypast.com e-mail: marketing@findmypast.com web: www.findmypast.com 24 Britton Street, London, EC1M 5UA, United KingdomTel: 020 7549 0990 Fax: 020 7549 0949