Is your progress being thwarted by a page of aged and indecipherable handwriting?
Or perhaps you know you’ve made an incorrect connection somewhere on your family tree, but you’re not sure where or how it happened, and now you’ve got a whole branch to unravel.
Maybe you’ve got plenty of dates and locations, but you’d love to connect with the real lived experiences of your ancestors.
When you bump into these roadblocks, it’s difficult to know who to ask for help, you can start to question your abilities, but…
the truth is, genealogy is a complex and intricate puzzle that requires patience and perseverance AND friendly support and guidance.
Founded in 1911, the Society of Genealogists has been championing heritage exploration for over a century.
Our mission is to help you:
Investigate your ancestors
Preserve, organise and analyse your genealogy, and
Delve into social history….
…so you can connect with your past and discover your unique family history.
Elated to find a document relating to an elusive ancestor only to find yourself thwarted by the handwriting? Under the expert eye of archivist Caroline Adam, each month you’ll work on transcribing a real document, looking at letter forms and abbreviations, and honing your palaeography techniques. Learn about various genealogical documents from a wide range of time periods. Remember to book your ticket in advance.
Our 90-minute quarterly Zoom sessions hosted by a range of expert genealogy volunteers. Crowdsource the answers to your brick walls in the company of fellow members. Bring your genealogical conundrum, and we’ll help you bust through it, so you can get back to making steady, satisfying progress with your family history research.
We have a collection of 11,000,000 archived records that we have made available online. Our Library is not a record office of public deposit but often acts as a record office of last resort, taking in records that haven’t found a home at the National Archives or similar repositories.
Our Research Hub on Wharf Road, London, was created by genealogists for genealogists and is designed to be welcoming and inclusive to anyone researching family history, whether they’ve been doing it professionally for a number of years or started just last Tuesday.
There is no need to be nervous or intimidated. Unlike many other archives or libraries, we were created specifically with family historians of all levels of expertise in mind – it was created for you.
Use our computers to access records with Ancestry, FamilySearch, Find My Past, The British Newspaper Archive and The Genealogist
Meet with other Society members in-person
Meet with our onsite experts
See documents from our archive*
Access our collection of 15,000 books*
*Please give advance notice of your visit so we can make sure we have the records or books you need on site
Education Records
Apprenticeship Records
Wills and Probate Records
Court Records
Poor Law
Birth Briefs
Pedigrees
Join our vibrant online community of fellow genealogy enthusiasts for our online meet-ups. From monthly socials hosted by expert speakers, to quarterly catch up sessions and a thriving book club. Engage in discussions, share research findings, and exchange tips and tricks with like-minded individuals who are just as passionate about uncovering their family history as you are. Hosted on Zoom.
We offer a wide range of virtual workshops and courses, covering everything from genealogy skills for beginners to social and local history. From one-day subject-specific sessions to 12-week courses, these are available to buy separately, and all our members can enjoy a special 20% discount.
Our flagship publication is 100 years old. Delivered quarterly to your inbox, our journal provides informative, interesting stories, plus society news.
(The printed version is available to buy separately if you prefer to read a hard copy.)
Below is an outline of what’s exclusive to Gold membership:
Unlock Unlimited Access to Gold Videos in the Learning Hub, plus a minimum of 6 new Expert Talks Every Month – Included with Gold Membership
Gold members have an open invitation to a minimum of 6 new expert-led talks each month. You can watch these live (online) or as a recording after the event in our Learning Hub, which includes over 100+ talks.
As well as accessing the back catalogue of recordings, each month you’ll be able to enjoy watching new talks on:
Gold members can book a ticket to attend live or watch the replay any time within 12-months of the original recording – at no additional charge – it’s all included in the Gold membership fee.
(Standard Members can purchase tickets to watch talks live, but do not have access to recordings.)
We meet quarterly over Zoom with Debbie Kennett, an internationally recognised expert on genetic genealogy. Each session will include updated news from this rapidly evolving field of genealogy exploration. Come along with your DNA questions to get expert help and advice.
We meet quarterly over Zoom with Graham Bandy, a former British Army Officer and a military history expert. Get help deciphering your ancestors’ military papers, to identify where to look for further records or to get those mysterious photos containing badges, caps, and / or uniforms identified.
We meet monthly over Zoom with Clare Wilson, a professional genealogist passionate about writing up family stories creatively. Get help and inspiration to tell your ancestral story with exercises to ignite your imagination. Share your work, exchange ideas and build your story telling confidence.
We meet monthly over Zoom with Dr Janet Few, author of “Remember Then: women’s memories of 1946-1969 and how to write your own” to record our own memoirs for future family historians. Each month features a new writing prompt and a discussion sparking memories.
Download and read over 30 eBook versions of SoG publications, including many from the popular ‘My Ancestor Was…’ series including ‘My Ancestor Was a Railway Worker’ and ‘My Ancestor was an Agricultural Labourer’ (who hasn’t got one of those in their tree?).
Consider this your ‘Dear Agony Aunt’ space, where you can post your own unique questions and learn from the answers given to other people’s questions. Each month, we’ll select at least 5 questions for our experts to answer. Our specialists have expertise in a wide range of archives, DNA, pre-17th century to 21st century records, brick wall busting, Welsh, Scottish, and Irish genealogy, the military, and more.
This private forum space, exclusive to Gold members, is the perfect place for professionals (or those considering going pro) to discuss everything from reporting writing to designing a talk to end-of-year accounts! Each month we also run Professional Corner Talks, included in Gold membership. Use this section of the forum to discuss the questions, ideas, and insights these talks have raised for you.
With the exception of visitor access to the Research Hub on Wharf Road, all features of the Society of Genealogists membership, Standard and Gold level, are delivered online, meaning you can access them from anywhere that has an Internet connection.
| Membership Feature | Standard | Gold |
|---|---|---|
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Online Clubs – Paleography and Book Club! |
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Quarterly Genealogy Hive Mind sessions |
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Online Access to our collection of records |
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Visitor Access to the Research Hub in London |
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Regular Virtual Socials |
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The Genealogists Magazine |
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Discount on Workshops and Courses |
20% off
non-member
price |
20% off non-member price |
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Quarterly Advice Hours (DNA and Armed Forces) |
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Monthly Writing Your Life Story Club |
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Monthly Creative Your Writing Club |
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Ask the Experts Forum |
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Professional Corner Forum |
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Expert Talks |
Book and pay in advance to attend live |
Book in advance to attend live, or watch in the Learning Hub |
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Over 30 SoG Publications as downloadable Ebooks |
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Reminder: The Society of Genealogists is a charity; your membership helps fund our charitable activities, from youth conferences to rescuing at-risk historical documents to keeping the doors of our Research Hub open.
No, there are no requirements or prerequisites.
Please email membership@sog.org.uk and we’ll be delighted to help you
Yes, you can cancel your membership at any time. You will have access to all your membership privileges until the day your next payment was due to go out. Login to the members’ area to request cancellation.
If you cancel within 14 days – Yes, you can cancel and receive a refund for your annual payment (or upgrade fee).
After 14 days – Yes, you can cancel future payments. You will retain access to all the benefits of your membership until the day after your membership was due to renew.
Log in to the members area to request cancellation.
Yes, you’re welcome back at any time, at whatever the current rate is advertised on our sales page.
Your talk bookings are valid for the duration of your Gold membership. Tickets for talks taking place after your membership has lapsed will no longer be valid.
Yes absolutely! You can buy gift membership here. Please email membership@sog.org.uk if you have any issues and we’ll help you to do this.
Gold Membership is suitable for every level of expertise.
We’ll take this into account when we work out your upgrade price.
You’ll get a refund for any talks you are already booked onto. Please get in touch with us on membership@sog.org.uk and we’ll help you.
Yes for Clubs. Talks must be pre-booked if you wish to attend live. But there’s no need to book to view the recording, which will be added to our Gold members library.
You can choose to pay by recurring card payment or direct debit, both of which will auto-renew but the renewal can be cancelled at any time.
You can also pay for annual memberships with a one-payment.
For those upgrading auto-renewal will depend upon how you currently pay and your current renewal date.
Visit our Events page here for full details on all our upcoming talks and courses.
Subscribe today to receive regular updates including The Genealogy Gazette, a monthly newsletter packed with family history news from around the community, hints, tips, and more. Receive information on upcoming events, talks and lectures, and special offers!
