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Get ready for All About That Place in the new SoG Community.
We’ve opened a dedicated free All About That Place virtual community, open throughout the event and beyond, giving you somewhere to share what you’re discovering, ask questions, swap resources and connect with other family historians.
This is more than your usual set of forums, it’s also a space for taking part in competitions!
Has a talk introduced you to a record set you hadn’t come across before? Have you spotted a useful website, map or archive? Perhaps someone has mentioned a place you’re researching too.
Bring it to the community.
We want the AATP space to be somewhere you can continue the conversations sparked by the event, compare notes with other researchers and pick up ideas that might help with your own family history.
Joining is free, and you’ll just need to create a username and password.
Come and see what people are talking about, then add your own discoveries to the conversation.
Join the new SoG Community
to meet fellow #AATP viewers, join watch parties, enter competitions and so much more!
After AATP the SoG Community will continue to grow with more opportunities for family historians to share knowledge, make connections and explore common research interests, including additional spaces and features for Society of Genealogists members.
Subscribe to our email list
Subscribe free to our emails to ensure you don’t miss any #AATP news!
SoG launches a whole new approach to learning how to trace your family history
Mobile. Interactive. At your fingertips.
The Society of Genealogists has launched Getting Started with Family History, the first in a growing range of self-paced learning modules designed to fit around real life.
Five minutes while the kettle boils. Half an hour on a lunch break. A longer session at your laptop. Learners choose when, where and how they learn.
No course start dates. No fixed timetable. No need to clear an evening in advance.
Learn by doing
This is not another online course built around long articles or hours of video.
Learners interpret clues, make decisions about records, solve problems and build a family tree as they go, using techniques drawn from interactive and game-based learning.
The first module focuses on tracing family history in England and Wales and has been created especially for beginners.
Do it yourself or give as a gift
Ever bought a whole course because one lesson covered the subject you actually needed?
The new modular approach is designed to change that.
As the range grows, learners will be able to choose individual topics to suit their own research. No military ancestors? Skip that module. Found a will? Go straight to probate.
Pick the learning that is useful to you, when it is useful to you.
This also makes it perfect for gifting! Right now you can purchase a gift card for the beginners course, but as the programme grows you’ll be able to buy gift cards for set amounts and let the recipient choose what they want to learn and when.
The Society has designed the new programme to rethink what online family history learning can feel like: flexible, interactive learning that people can explore in their own way, at their own pace and around the research questions that matter to them.
This first module is the beginning of a much bigger programme, with further self-paced modules planned across a growing range of family history topics.
Philip Spedding said:
“The way people want to learn is rapidly changing and that demands new tools. The Society of Genealogists is very excited to be bringing together the latest technology, over 100 years of experience and the greatest collection of family history research in the country to help shape the future of how people learn about their past.”
Try it for free
The first three steps of Getting Started with Family History can be tried for free, giving anyone the chance to experience the format before deciding whether to continue.
Getting Started with Family History is available now at https://sog.org.uk/self-paced-courses/.
Tips from our Recent Talks
Ag Lab Day
- Look at your ancestor’s census neighbours. The people living nearby may be relatives, friends, colleagues or others who can provide clues to your ancestor’s identity and movements.
FamilySearch Workshop: Unlocking the Power of FamilySearch’s Full Text Search
- Approach a research problem from another direction. If your usual searches are not producing results, try thinking about the problem differently and consider what other sources or approaches might reveal.
Creative Writing Workshop
- Keep a research notebook. Record ideas, interesting details and snippets of research as they occur, even when they are not immediately relevant to the story you are working on.
Researching in Cambridgeshire & Huntingdonshire
- Look beyond the major commercial genealogy websites. County and university libraries, archives and specialist resources can contain valuable material that may not be available on sites such as Ancestry.
OCTOBER EVENTS
In Memoriam: Death and the Genealogist
As Halloween approaches and thoughts turn to ghosts, graveyards and things that go bump in the night, the Society of Genealogists is launching In Memoriam: Death and the Genealogist—a season of talks, workshops and visits exploring death, burial and remembrance.
Beginning on 29 September and continuing into November, the season demonstrates that an ancestor’s death is rarely the end of their story. Death certificates, burial registers, wills, undertakers’ records and memorial inscriptions can reveal family relationships, personal circumstances and details found nowhere else.
The programme ranges from an overview of British death records and an exploration of historical causes of death to talks on burial traditions, graveyard symbolism and the development of the undertaking trade. We will investigate burial clubs, funeral directors’ records and funeral trains; tour the National Funeral Museum in person or online; and hear about Glasgow Necropolis and the distinctive memorials known as ‘bedsteads’.
As Halloween draws closer, we will also venture into darker territory with Death and Resurrection: The Body Snatchers, asking whether London had its own counterparts to the notorious Burke and Hare.
Read In Memoriam: What Death Can Reveal About an Ancestor for an introduction to the records and stories awaiting discovery.
Visit www.sog.org.uk/events to browse the complete programme and book your places.
Discover Your Huguenot Heritage
Spend a fascinating day exploring the Huguenots’ legacy in Britain and discovering resources that could help you trace your own Huguenot ancestors. At the SoG Library, Barbara Julien and Huguenot Library Librarian Micol Barengo will introduce the Library’s history and specialist collections, including digitised church registers, consistorial minutes and the name-rich Royal Bounty archive. After lunch, City of London guide Paul Baker will lead a walk through Spitalfields, exploring its Huguenot silk-weaving community alongside later Jewish and Bengali migration.
Make More of Your Membership This October
October offers plenty of opportunities to make the most of your SoG membership. Events included for all members are the members-only Michaelmas Quarter Day Online Social on 2 October, Book Club: The Lodger by Charles Nicholl, October Palaeography Club with Caroline Adams and the friendly SoG Virtual Café. Gold members can also enjoy the Armed Forces Advice Hour with Graham Bandy, Writing Your Life Story Club: Education and Training with Janet Few and Creative Writing Workshop with Clare Wilson. Existing members should remember to book their included places—and if you are not yet a member, this varied programme offers an excellent reason to join.
Dive deeper in October
Those looking to build their knowledge can choose from three courses this month. Joe Saunders explores Migration and Early Modern England, Else Churchill guides researchers through Researching 18th-Century Ancestors, and Andrew Redfern presents Smart Slides: PowerPoint, helping you create clearer and more effective presentations.
Also this month, Researching in Gwent (19 October) introduces the sources and strategies that can help you trace ancestors in this historic Welsh county. This event is free to everyone, so members and non-members alike are welcome to join us.
SPEAKER SPOTLIGHT
Say hello 👋 to Mia Bennett!
Mia is a professional genealogist who specialises in combining documentary and DNA evidence to solve family history mysteries. She has spoken internationally on DNA, English research and genealogy methodology, and brings family historians together at her Escape to the Past retreats run with Fiona Brooker.
We’re particularly pleased to welcome Mia on Saturday 24 October (10:30 to 11:30, on Zoom) for her talk, Probate: Where there is a Will. Finding English and Welsh probate records works very differently before and after 1858, and Mia will guide you through both eras, the types of records you may find and what they contain. She will also show you how to use indexes to track down original wills and administrations, including those hidden away on FamilySearch. You’ll leave ready to unlock the wealth of information in probate records and break down your brick walls.
Before her talk, get to know Mia a little better in our Speaker of the Month Q&A.
Favourite food or drink?
Pancakes (especially with bacon and maple syrup), a nod to my time living in the USA.
Tea or coffee whilst researching?
Tea.
Favourite childhood toy?
Lego (still my favourite).
Favourite genealogy source or database?
FamilySearch, because it’s so big (and so much is hidden away).
What first got you into genealogy?
A love of travel. I thought I could find relatives to go and stay with around the world.
Who is the most distant ancestor you’ve researched so far?
Gylbert KIPPS, my 13xgreat grandfather. He is mentioned in his son’s will dated 1607, so he was probably born in the first half of the 1500s.
Which decade would you most like to live in?
The 1980s, just so I can listen to the music and would only have a couple of TV channels to distract me.
Who is your most frustrating “brick wall” ancestor?
Thomas LAGEU. He appears out of nowhere to get married in 1828 in London. With the unusual name, it should be possible to find, but I currently have a Word doc with about 50 variants and mistranscriptions, which is making it difficult.
What’s one overlooked source that can be especially useful?
All the supporting documents to wills (accounts, act books, etc).
Best Doctor Who?
Peter Davison (from my childhood when I watched) or David Tennant (because why not!).
Favourite historical period (to research or just to read about)?
The 1700s. I may be swayed by the Outlander books (which I read long before the TV series).
Favourite archive or museum?
The SoG library, as it was where I grew as a genealogist and discovered many records. I always find something new and exciting when I browse the shelves.
What’s the most surprising thing you’ve discovered in your own family history?
An RAF operations book that gave a very funny story about my grandfather. It still makes me cry with laughter when I read it.
If you could go back in time and ask one ancestor a question, who would it be, and what would you ask?
I would ask my 3xgreat grandmother who her mother was. I know her father and her grandparents, but just not her mother.
What will attendees be able to do/know by the end of your talk that they couldn’t/didn’t before?
Know how to navigate to all the different types of probate records and use them to break down your brick walls.
LIBRARY NEWS
Collections Update
For the latest on what has been happening in our library and archives, see our October Collections Update, including:
- Our new Virtual Reading Room service
- Links to digital resources updated in the library catalogue
- Our new Featured Collection in the library
Work Experience
Enquiries about student work experience placements can be directed to Volunteer Coordinator Marisa: volunteering@sog.org.uk
Your feedback can help us to continue to improve our collections and services – get in touch if you have any suggestions: collections@sog.org.uk
VOLUNTEERING WITH US
Have you ever thought about volunteering with us?
We have projects designed for the meticulous, the curious, and the creative! From facilitating events, to transcribing Pedigree Rolls – there are plenty of opportunities to learn more about the world of genealogy while also sharing your expertise.
We have over 200 volunteers working from all over the world, and in-person opportunities working from our London-based Research Hub. Training is available for all our projects, and we have a dedicated volunteers’ forum where you can ask questions or have a chat.
So, whether you would like to learn more or would just like to make new friends, why not check out our volunteers page and get in touch?
OCTOBER BOOK OF THE MONTH
My Ancestor was a Railway Worker
by Frank Hardy FSG (2012)
A complete guide to finding the railway workers on your family tree. Frank Hardy writes with passion for the railways, as a professional railway civil engineer from 1959 to 2009, and as a genealogist. The period covered is from the start of the railways to 1948.
This book gives a broad picture of the railway industry, passengers and freight, and describes the jobs that people did. It covers all aspects of this hugely significant industry, including case studies and a comprehensive resources section.
The usual cost of My Ancestor was a Railway Worker is £8.99 and is currently available to SoG members at the discounted price of £7.19 (£8.09 to non-members).
A £3.50 postal charge applies within the UK. This book plus the full range of titles published by the Society available from our bookshop through our website. Offer valid until 31 October 2026
COMPETITION
Win a copy of October 2026’s discounted book, My Ancestor was a Railway Worker. To enter, please answer the following question:
What was the name of the Cornish engineer who designed the Pen-y-Darren locomotive (that covered ten miles by track, taking about four hours)?
Please email your answer to competition@sog.org.uk by midnight UK time on 10 October 2026 with the heading ‘Genealogy Gazette Competition’. Please provide your full name, postal address, and telephone number. Only one entry per person. The winner will be notified by email. Winners outside the UK will receive an eBook edition in place of a printed copy.
The winner of September 2026’s discounted book, My Ancestors Were Gypsies is Joe Northcote. The answer to ‘What was the name of the famous Gypsy who claimed to be 111 years old at her death in Tring, Hertfordshire, in 1874?’ was Elizabeth (Betty) Leatherland.
COMMUNITY NEWS
The Register of British Slave-traders
The Register of British Slave-traders is now available online. It compiles information on all known slave-traders in Britain who invested in the trafficking of captive Africans between 1563 and 1807, and can be used to find out who financed the trade, where they lived, what legacies they left, which other businesses they were involved with and which organisations they were connected to. Produced by researchers at Lancaster University, the University of Manchester and University College London, and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, it focuses on the individuals who sought to profit from the enslavement of over 3 million African men, women and children, whose identities were for the most part erased from the historical record. Search the Register of British Slave-traders.
Cuba Research Project
Historia de Familias Cubanas is now fully indexed and searchable. All nine tomos of the Conde de San Juan de Jaruco’s work have been read through and transcribed, name by name, giving 122,015 people across 841 surnames a record of their own. For anyone researching Cuban ancestry, it opens up a source that was previously hard to search. Search the index at the Cuba Research Project.
Everyday History Heroes announced
Eight sites across England have been named as the first Everyday History Heroes, an award launched by historian David Olusoga and Findmypast to celebrate places preserving the stories of ordinary people and communities.
Discover the winners and their stories
Holkham Estate in Norfolk was named the overall winner following a public vote, with regional winners including Bath Old Jewish Cemetery, Otley Courthouse, Pankhurst Museum in Manchester and Moor Pool Heritage Trust in Birmingham. Thousands of people took part in the vote, which recognised sites bringing local and social history to life.
23andMe updates its ancestry features
23andMe has announced several updates for Premium Ancestry + Health users, including:
- Parental Inheritance, which uses shared DNA with 23andMe relatives to identify which ancestry regions came from each side of the family, without requiring a parent to have taken a DNA test.
- 137 new Genetic Groups across Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia and Madagascar, bringing the total to more than 4,500 genetic regions.
- Historical Matches, connecting users to more than 500 historical figures, with five new individuals added to the Hungarian Royalty group, including King Béla II. The feature also includes connections to the Sarmatians.
RootsTech 2027 Registration Is Open
RootsTech returns on 4 to 6 March 2027, and registration for the free virtual event is now open. Billed as the world’s premier family discovery experience, it’s a great chance to build your research skills from home.
Choose from hundreds of classes to help you tackle your research challenges, pick up new ideas and tools, and connect with relatives around the world.
Keynote speakers for 2027 have also been announced, so you can get a first look at who will be taking the stage.
Prefer to attend in person? Save $30 when you register early.
📺 What’s On the Box?
70 Up
Whether or not you caught this year’s two episodes, this is a series worth watching from the very beginning. The full Up series follows fourteen children from across Britain, first filmed in 1964 at the age of seven and revisited every seven years since. With the final instalment now broadcast, all episodes are available to catch up on ITVX, spanning 63 years in all.
The premise came from the Jesuit motto “Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man”.
It gives a rare cross-section of British lives from the 1960s to today, and it also raises a question every family historian will recognise: how much do our background and family history shape what happens to us later in life?
Catch up with or binge on ITVX, or start at the beginning with Series 1 from 1964.
Also on ITV is a new series (16) of Long Lost Family.
And on the BBC, Stolen Babies is a one-off documentary telling the story of the UK’s forced adoption scandal through the mothers and children who were separated from one another. Over four decades, around 250,000 unmarried mothers were forced by the British state to give up their babies. Their first-hand accounts expose the system that tore families apart, its lasting impact, and the fight to uncover the truth that led to a moment of national reckoning. It will be of particular interest to anyone researching adoption in their own family tree. Watch on BBC iPlayer.
Join the conversation!
Ben Dowell in The Times suggested 70 Up is “arguably the greatest British documentary series ever made”.
Do you agree? Share your thoughts with our community on our Facebook page. We love hearing from you!
THE LATEST DIGITAL COLLECTION NEWS
Ancestry has added:
- Indiana, U.S., Select County Voter Records, 1850-1931
- Baltimore, Maryland, U.S., Birth Certificates, 1875-1922
- Maine, U.S., Business Directories, 1875-1998
- Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., Executive Office Oath Books, 1875-1974
- S., Sons of the American Revolution Patriots List, 1775-1783
- Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, U.S., Enslaved People Name Files, 1633-1830
- S., Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Region 7 (Northeastern) Church Records, 1623-1970
- Indiana, U.S., Funeral Books, 1890-1999
Findmypast has added:
- Surrey, Southwark Marriages and Banns: 15,554 marriage records from Southwark, covering 1810 to 1942.
- New York, Trinity Episcopal Church Baptisms: 37,052 baptism records, spanning 1749 to 1885.
- New York, Trinity Episcopal Church Marriages: marriage records covering 1746 to 1886.
- New York, Trinity Episcopal Church Burials: 47,326 burial records from the 18th and 19th centuries.
- Britain from Above, England Collection, 1919-1953: a unique set of photographs, published in partnership with Historic England.
- Royal School of Needlework Workroom Orders: 14,794 records revealing the school’s commissions between 1932 and 1946, including who worked on each piece and who ordered it.
- Royal School of Needlework Members and Committee Records: 1,791 records charting the governance, membership and administration of the school over 62 years.
- Royal School of Needlework Teaching Staff Records: 5,140 staff records.
- Royal School of Needlework Student Records: 3,441 records, spanning 1895 to 1944.
Newspapers
- Bath and Cheltenham Gazette, 1854, 1877-1879, 1889
- Birmingham Daily Mercury, 1855-1857
- British Gazette, 1926
- Comet (Dublin), 1831-1833
- Croydon Monthly Standard, 1891-1892
- Daily Sketch, 1919
- Dartford Chronicle, 1877, 1879, 1889
- East Ham Recorder, 1912, 1914-1915, 1918, 1922
- Eastern Bengal and Assam Era, 1907-1908, 1910-1914
- Evening Post (Exeter), 1901-1902
- Freeman’s Journal and Daily Commercial Advertiser, 1823-1824
- Greenwood’s Weekly Diary, 1855-1857, 1861-1863, 1881, 1883-1888
- Halfpenny Weekly, 1885-1890
- Highbridge and Burnham Gazette, 1874, 1877
- Hindoo Patriot, 1903-1911, 1913-1920
- Illustrated London Clipper, 1876
- Labour Union Journal, 1892
- Liverpool Journal and Lancashire Weekly Express, 1879
- Middlesbrough Weekly News and Cleveland Advertiser, 1877
- Monmouthshire Chronicle, 1875-1877
- Musician of the Salvation Army, 1897-1985
- Northern Telegraphic News, 1856
- Oldham Evening Chronicle, 1880-1882
- Portadown Express and County Armagh Advertiser, 1906-1920
- Times of Ceylon, 1907-1915, 1921-1922, 1926-1930, 1933-1939, 1943-1944
- Tipton & Great Bridge Times, 1889
- Wellington Weekly News, 1876, 1879
Great Fire of London – 360th anniversary
New London parish and church records covering more than 300,000 individuals, including:
- St Stephen Walbrook and St Benet Sherehog, 1557–1789
- St Mary Woolnoth and St Mary Woolchurch Haw, 1538–1760
- All Hallows, Bread Street and St John the Evangelist, Friday Street, 1538–1892
- St Vedast and St Michael, 1558–1837
- St Edmund the King and Martyr, Lombard Street, 1670–1812
- London Temple Church burials, 1628–1853
- Dutch Reformed Church, Austin Friars, 1568–1872
- Churchyard Inscriptions of London, 1624–1894, covering more than 50 City churches
Also added are historical works including The Old Churches of London, Diary and Correspondence of Samuel Pepys and Old and New London, providing context for the people and places affected by the Great Fire.
Lincolnshire Day
New Lincolnshire publications covering 47,000 names, including parish registers for Coleby, Alford and Rigsby, Bourne, Gainsborough and St Margaret in the Close, Lincoln, together with Lincoln Marriage Licences, 1598–1628.
Historical works include Notices of the History and Antiquities of Spalding, The Lincoln Pocket Guide, Guide to Lincoln Castle and J. Charles Cox’s Lincolnshire.
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