Saturday already! Where did the week go?
Here is a link to some more information about Family History Societies. Well worth a read – do subscribe to “How to History” . Explore the site, interesting and useful articles galore!
Have a lovely week-end!
Tag: #oneplacestudies
Splendid Societies!
When finding out #AllAboutThatPlace a great place to learn are local history and family history societies. Every one is different and it depends entirely on how proactive the members are. I can only speak for the ones I know about.
Ryedale Family History Group is a small but very active Society. We welcome members with ancestors in our parts of North Yorkshire and members, like myself, who just live here but want to learn how to research or to share our discoveries and frustrations. All others are welcome too. Many join after a research question has been posed and help given or reassurance that everything possible has been covered.
I sometimes wonder how the group find time to actually do any of their own family history – On Mondays we have a Zoom meeting led by member Michele in Canada who always talks for about 20 minutes on a topic of interest, followed by chat. These “Mondays with Michele” are available to all on YouTube as Genealogy:TiesToThePast. e.g. I found the one on Children’s homes opened my eyes to how much I was missing on Peter Higginbotham’s great website, another I showed me how to create an index in word documents (for writing up family history and other applications!) and several help you explore different archives or sources.
Wednesdays once a month is the lecture, usually on Zoom at present, sometimes in person at Hovingham or around the area. A good mix of local and national or internationally renowned speakers. The other Wednesdays there is a DNA discussion (On Zoom) with plenty of help available. Thursday mornings are the time to bring general questions and chat, both at the research room in Hovingham and online. Discussions are wide ranging but nearly always involves some genealogy, sharing of relevant books and perhaps a random topic such as – which end you peel a banana! The group has a huge breadth and depth of knowledge, including those with one-name studies, and go to great lengths to help each other. Meanwhile others are painstakingly photographing and recording memorial inscriptions locally and so on.
Devon Family History Society is a large Society with a very active program of talks, several every month, many on Zoom. Friendly informal chats after the meetings online often continue into the night! Devon has a large number of Parishes and those with expertise or questions about those places are encouraged to meet online – All areas, divided into groups of adjacent parishes, meet at least once in the year, for a general chat and question session. Regular ‘brick wall’ sessions are included in the program too, where anyone is able to submit a case for expert advice and discussion. With extensive use of Zoom, members attend from all over the world. Tree House is very active with research and scanning records.
Membership fees and benefits vary. Increasingly societies will make special arrangements for under 21s. Societies usually offer their electronic journal in basic membership. Many have members-only access to local records online. See your local society website for details. Basic membership for Ryedale FHG or Devon FHS is just £12 for the year.
Finally the British Association for Local History The national charity which promotes local history. In addition to regular talks (reduced rate for members) there are a good selection of 10 minute talks on the website covering many aspects of local history. They have a wide range of their activities, but I am not going to tell you because…
Your Challenge for today – check out BALH and a group local to you!
How to find out about That Place
Obviously I am going to say come to the free 10 day event “All About THAT PLACE!” Sept – Oct 2023. Over 100 free 10 minute talks on all aspects from all around the world. Ok, I know you saw the links in the last two blog posts!
Meanwhile, where do you start to find out about UK places your ancestors lived? Or where you are going on holiday for that matter! Just make sure there is only one place with that name – or make sure you have the right one.
- A general internet search can be a great place to start, certainly worth a try.
- Genuki is my ‘go to’ website next. Lots of information about sources etc and sometimes even a local contact such as an online Parish clerk (send questions once you have done your best research). FamilySearchWiki too.
- Maps – look at lots of maps and get a feel for the area and changes over time (More about maps next week).
- https://www.familysearch.org/mapp/ is brilliant when working out boundaries, the names of nearby Parishes and the Hundred or Wapentake etc. Could enumeration in Sampford Courtenay, birth in Sticklepath, registration in Okehampton and records under Devon all be the same person? Look under all the tabs – Info, Jurisdictions and Options.
I also recommend looking for the local Family History and Local History or Heritage groups. Consider both County and more local groups. Some are listed by the British Association for Local History, others by the Family History Federation. Both BALH and local societies often have events, zoom meetings, and offer local contacts to help with questions. Many are very low cost and good value. Some examples tomorrow – watch this space!
Your challenge for today? Use some of the links above to look at That Place you are interested in. Just #OnePlace! F or Part 2 of how to find out about your place click here
Sticklepath a Village and its People 