Forthcoming Society of Genealogists events

Forthcoming Society of Genealogists events in London:

Sat 19 Jan 14:00-17:00
Practical Blogging for Family History (using Wordpress)

Blogging has entered a realm of its own, from fad to industry. People are entering the blogosphere daily, thousands every day. At one time, a blog would have been called a diary, journal, scrapbook, or storytelling. It is just one form of a website but one that is much simpler to use and needs no knowledge of programming languages. We will look at some of the development of blogs and help you learn more about blogging and how to use and install your own blog using the wordpress platform.We will go through step by step how to install a blog and the different aspects of blogging using plugins, themes, text, images, sounds and videos as well as the common mistakes to avoid.

A half-day course with Alec Tritton £17.50


Wed 23 Jan 16:30-17:30
Records of the Goldsmiths' Company

The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, more commonly known as the Goldsmiths' Company, is one of the Twelve Great Livery Companies of the City of London. The librarian will discuss the company’s library collections, which include over 8,000 books and is also responsible for the Company’s archives, which date back to the 14th century.

A one-hour lecture with David Bersley £6.00


Thu 24 Jan 18:00-20:00
Stage 1 Evening Skills Course

The Society's successful family history skills course begins with the first ten-week series of classes for those who are new to family history or who have had a little experience and want to build upon their initial progress. Our team of professional genealogists will introduce the records and illustrate how they should best be used for the study of family history. Publications, electronic finding aids and the internet will, of course, be included along with all the basic sources needed to start research. (Stage 2 will run from 23 May and Stage 3 will run from 5 Sep)

Thursday evenings, £150.00 (book all 3 courses and receive a 10% discount)


Sat 26 Jan 10:30-17:00
My Ancestor was Irish: Further Sources.

We will look at problems in Irish family history research and how to tackle them, early Irish marriages, the Irish Poor and what’s new online.

A full-day course with Roz McCutcheon, Michael Gandy and Peter Christian £30.00


Wed 30 Jan 14:30-15:30
Visit: (New) Caird Library at the National Maritime Museum

The Caird Library is a specialist reference library which houses unparalleled collection. paper-based collections of Royal Museums Greenwich. Together, the archive and library collections are the most comprehensive maritime resource in the world. £10.00


Sat 2 Feb 10:30-13:00
Marriage & Death in the Church Courts

Often described as the "bawdy courts" or "court of scolds" these records illustrate the moral and religious constraints that governed communities in the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. English family historians are familiar with church court records relating to wills and marriage licences but much more information can be found amongst the records of the church courts. Appearance in the church courts of the seventeenth century might just be as common as a parking ticket today!

A half-day course with Else Churchill £17.50


Sat 2 Feb 14:00-17:00
My Ancestor Came From Hampshire

'Do you have Hampshire ancestors? This course will show you where to look, how to get the most from the records and how to organise your research.

A half-day course with Les Mitchinson £17.50


Sat 9 Feb 10:30 17:00
How to get the Most from Family Pictures

This full-day course is a visual Power Point presentation that provides an in-depth guide to dating, analysing and understanding all types of family portraits, from inherited paintings, drawings and silhouettes, to Victorian studio photographs and 20th century snapshots. Accurate dating is essential when trying to identify and discover more about unlabelled family pictures and the course demonstrates how to establish an accurate time frame, using a variety of techniques and research tools. It also discusses the portrait tradition and considers the historical context in which artworks and, later, photographs were commissioned: what did these special pictures mean to our ancestors and how should we interpret them? You are welcome to submit family photos/artworks from your own collections for analysis.

A full-day course with Jayne Shrimpton £30.00


Sat 16 Feb 10:30-13:00
Assisted Migration Sources for Family History

We will look at assisted immigration sources, how and where to find them, as well as a look at a the Petworth Emigration Project, a case-study of assisted emigration from England to Canada.

A half-day course with Simon Fowler & Alison McCann.
Sponsored by the Halsted Trust £6.00


22-24 Feb
Who Do You Think You Are? Live! show at Olympia, London.

The country’s largest and most comprehensive family history show is back.

The Society of Genealogists is again providing a great line-up of talks as well as advice in the ‘Ask the Experts’ area. Pre-booked tickets 2 for £25 can be purchased at: www.whodoyouthinkyouarelive.co.uk and quote “SOG2425”. Tickets will also be available in the bookshop, as usual (single tickets £13.00)


Wed 27 Feb 14:00-15:00
Inconvenient People: Lunacy, Madness & Mad Doctors in Victorian England

Based on her book of the same title, Sarah will look at the darker side of the Victorian upper and middle classes - fears of inherited madness, financial greed and fraudulence - and evoke the black motives at the heart of sane individuals being locked away in lunatic asylums. With the rise of the 'mad-doctor' profession, English liberty seemed to be threatened by a new generation of medical men willing to incarcerate difficult family members or 'inconvenient persons' in return for a fee, paid by an unscrupulous spouse or friend.

A one-hour lecture with Sarah Wise £6.00


Sat 2 March 10:30-13:00
Tracing North London Ancestors

A half-day course with Michael Gandy £17.50/£14.00


Sat 2 Mar 14:00-17:00
My Ancestor was a Gentleman

What was a gentleman? And how can we find out more about them? This workshop will provide you with some answers to these questions. We will begin by looking at the history of the gentry, and then examine some of the major sources where they can be traced. Has it been done before is an important question for all genealogists. In the case of gentlemen, the answer is probably yes - by heralds of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Heraldic visitation pedigrees will therefore be the first source to be considered. Landed property provided the basis for gentility. The settlements, deeds, and other estate records which they kept in their muniment rooms provided the evidence they needed to prove their title. Now, they provide the evidence we need to trace their land-holdings. Tax records, loyalty oaths, educational records, and occupational sources all provide much further evidence. Gentlemen are amongst the most knowable of our ancestors, as they left behind them so many records. This workshop will suggest many sources that you could exploit to discover more about them.

A half-day course with Stuart Raymond £17.50


Sat 9 Mar 10:30 13:00
How to Find Ancestors and Living Relatives using MyHeritage Trees & Databases

Learn how to create a MyHeritage family tree, effectively search the MyHeritage databases containing more than 4 billion historic records (SuperSearch), and find living relatives A half-day course with Laurence Harris £17.50


Wed 20 Mar 14:00
Living the Poor Life

A one-hour lecture with Gillian Draper £6.00/£4.80


To book a place, visit www.sog.org.uk/shop and select the events tab, or call 020 7553 3290


(With thanks to Lori Weinstein)

Chris

Having a Christmas present crisis?! Check out my range of genealogy books at http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html - perfect for the family historian's Christmas stocking...! Also now out - new Kindle edition of Tracing Your Family History on the Internet, from http://tinyurl.com/d3vqtz5