News:

This list, written by the Society of Genealogists, has some great Zoom talks for those with British Ancestors. I think I’ll sign up to some of them myself. Here is what they plan:

The Society of Genealogists (SoG) is pleased to offer the following Live Online Events taking place in November to help you trace your family history.  

 

Join the Society of Genealogists on one of their Live Zoom Events, the application is free and easy to use. If you have not attended one of the SoG’s online talks before, more information can be found on their website

 

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Saturday, 7 November 10:30 – Your Buckinghamshire Ancestors

Buckinghamshire has a varied and interesting history. It retains beautiful countryside, especially the Chiltern Hills which are an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. After the Industrial Revolution, Wolverton became known for building railway carriages, while furniture and paper industries grew in the south. The county was famous for its lace industry, giving work to women and children.

Antony Marr looks at the historic County of Buckinghamshire – its history, geography and ancestry. Antony then offers advice and lots of advice to help you research your Buckinghamshire ancestors using the amazing resources available in the County and elsewhere.

A one-hour talk with Antony Marr, cost £10.00/£5.00 SoG members

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Saturday, 7 November 16:00-17:45 – My Ancestor was in the Census – Well they should have been!

An up-to-date look at what census material is available online as well as covering the reasons that you may not find that ancestor may not be there. In this tutorial, we will have an extended Q&A session, so bring your questions along.

A tutorial with John Hanson, cost £16.00/£8.00 SoG members

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Wednesday, 11 November 14:00 – SoG Orientation:

Name Rich Sources that Supplement Parish Registers before 1837 in England and Wales

A one-hour talk with Else Churchill, cost £10.00/£5.00 SoG members

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Saturday, 14 November 10:30 – Death and Taxes: Understanding the Death Duty Registers

One of family history’s best kept secrets – records of death duty payments.

Many of us have found our ancestors’ wills and know that they can often give us really valuable information about our family. But very few of us have thought about looking at related records for death duties. For more than 100 years, from 1796 to 1903, the Inland Revenue maintained a series of registers recording these payments. The National Archives now hold the registers, waiting for us to search them.

In this talk, Dave Annal tells us all about them. He covers what’s in the surviving records. Then he describes how to use them to uncover fascinating facts about the lives and times of our 19th century ancestors.

A one-hour talk with Dave Annal, cost £10.00/£5.00 SoG members

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Saturday, 14 November 16:00 – Nonconformity in Wales

Are records relating to your Welsh ancestors missing from Parish Registers? The answer could lie in them being chapel members. The 1851 Religious Census in Wales revealed that almost 80% of the population worshipped as part of non-conformist congregations.

We will examine online and offline resources available in researching Welsh non-conformity, be it Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Unitarian, Congregationalist or Society of Friends. Non-conformist worship in Wales has been a feature of Welsh culture for hundreds of years – open-air revival meetings; song and culture celebrated at Gymanfa Ganu and the Eisteddfod – the chapel has been the core of many communities in a uniquely Welsh way.

Understanding how our Welsh ancestors worshipped is an essential key to our family histories.

A one-hour talk with Gill Thomas, cost £10.00/£5.00 SoG members

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Wednesday, 18 November 14:00 – Getting the Most from the Society Library Catalogue (SOGCAT)

Join Else Churchill for an interesting talk on SoGCAT, the Society of Genealogists’ online library catalogue. The SoG Library holds about 135,000 items. Where do you start to find information on your ancestors? SoGCAT lists what we hold. So learning how to use it gives you a huge getting started benefit. In this talk, Else will provide you with lots of information on how to use SOGCAT and what it holds to further your research.

A one-hour talk with Else Churchill, the Genealogist at the Society. Places are free and go very quickly, so please book your place in advance.

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Saturday, 21 November 10:30 – The Parish Chest

Discover the importance of the parish – the unit of local government into the 19th century in the lives of our ancestors. Find out how the parish worked, what records were generated and where to find them. Learn how to use such records in family history, local history and house history research.

A one-hour talk with Gill Blanchard, cost £10.00/£5.00 SoG members

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Saturday, 21 November 14:00- Online Resources for Property and Taxation

A look at the wide variety of records available online for ownership or occupation of land or a house.

Beyond civil registration, parish and census records there are few genealogical sources that cover a significant percentage of the population. But property and property-based taxation and electoral records name all those who own, or even just rent, property over a certain value. These sources can not only provide information on wealth and social status but even point to specific buildings or pieces of land owned or occupied by an ancestor.

This talk will look at the range of property-related records available online, to help you discover more about your ancestors from the Middle Ages to 1918, and to unearth the information they can provide for your family history.

A one-hour talk with Peter Christian, cost £10.00/£5.00 SoG members

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Wednesday, 25 November 14:00 – Tracing Brewery & Publican Ancestors

Until fairly recently the public house in its various guises was a centre of the community and innkeepers were often respected figures locally. In addition most towns and villages had a brewery or two providing beer to slake the throats of everybody from princes to paupers.

In this talk Simon Fowler discusses the major sources you need to use if you have a publican or brewer on your family tree. Simon also looks at the changing nature of the tavern from the simple beer house to gaudy gin palace.

Bring your own Beer!

A one-hour talk with Simon Fowler, cost £10.00/£5.00 SoG members

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Thursday, 26 November 14:00- Making your Genealogy more Credible & Useful to Others

Genealogy needs to be shared. It serves no point otherwise.

For those who want to use your work, you offer a huge benefit if you can give some assurance that it is of sound quality. The facts you include need to be seen as coming from reliable sources that can be checked. So assurance depends on you stating where your facts have come from and providing a reference to where you found them.

In this one-hour talk, Ian Waller explains that referencing is critical. Cost £10.00/£5.00 SoG members

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Saturday, 28 November 10:30 – My Ancestor Came from Birmingham

Has your family history taken you to Birmingham? Maybe your ancestors were ‘Brummies born and bred’ or maybe they only spent some of their lives in Birmingham.

Join Doreen Hopwood as she explores and explains the numerous family history sources available so that you can discover how your ancestors lived, worked and played in ‘The City of a Thousand Trades’.

A one-hour talk with Doreen Hopwood. Cost £10.00/£5.00 SoG members

 

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Saturday, 28 November 14:00 – Madness, Mania and Melancholia: the Mental Health of our Ancestors

The history of mental ill-health is poorly understood and many of those who were labelled as ‘idiots’, ‘imbeciles’ or ‘lunatics’ in the past would have a very different diagnosis today.

This presentation looks at the history of reactions to and the treatment of those who we would now recognise as being mentally ill, or as having a learning disability. It also investigates the institutions where sufferers might be held and the sources we can use to find out more about these, often forgotten, members of our family.

A one-hour talk with Dr Janet Few, cost £10.00/£5.00 SoG members

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All events must be pre-booked through the Society of Genealogists website and SoG members should remember to login first, to receive the member’s discounted price.

Join the SoG at one of their Live Zoom Events, the application is free and easy to use. If you have not attended one of their online talks before, more information can be found on their website

 

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