Archive for the ‘Family History Events’ Category

As part of its lecture and education program, the Society carries out a number of outside visits and walks. Today I was lucky enough to attend an outside visit to the parish church of St. Bartholomew the Great in London excellently conducted by the Verger.

This Norman church is said to be the oldest church building in London, founded by Rahere, a courtier of Henry I in 1123. It has been the scene of many films and TV series, such as Four Weddings and a Funeral, the latest being the current Sherlock Holmes film in cinemas as I write. The church is just a little way out of the City walls in Smithfield which was originally a field used for jousting and a venue for executions and of course well known today as the site of London’s former cattle market.

The building has gone through many changes and today it is possible to see some of the original 12th Century church with many of the additions that have taken place up to and including the 20th Century.The original Priory was surrendered to the tyrant King Henry VIII who passed them on to Sir Richard Rich who took up residence in the Prior’s House. Under “bloody” Mary it became a Dominican convent until an Act of Parliament of 1559 once again restored it to a Parish Church.

The church had a Charnel House under the Sanctuary which today is a dressing room. Here we saw some of the vestments that are quite old and only used on special occasions such as a rose coloured set used on Mothering Sunday.

The visit finished with a look at fifteen minute film about the church and a fascinating look at some photographs showing the graveyard and local Elizabethan housing from 1877;  then off to the tea room in the Cloisters for a well deserved cup of tea!

The church is open to visitors most days and charges £4 for entry but of course you will have to look around yourself and not get the expert commentary of the Verger or the camaraderie in company with other Society members. In fact the next two outside visits to Lambeth Palace and Goldsmiths’ Hall are both fully booked, and the next after that is the visit to Wesley’s Chapel on 31st March 2010.

I highly recommend an afternoon or day out led by the Society but suggest you book early  to avoid disappointment!

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The Society of Genealogists will be 100 years old in 2011 and we intend to celebrate our anniversary in style.  There will be different activities to commemorate the occasion and we hope all our members and friends will join us in our celebrations.

Details of all our commemorative events planned for 2011 will be posted on our website and in the Genealogists’ Magazine. Here are the first two events to note in your diary

The Society of Genealogists Centenary Conference will take place on
Saturday 7 May 2011
Venue: Royal Overseas League,
Over-Seas House,
Park Place
5 St James’s Terrace,
London SW1A 1LP

Royal Overseas League, London SW1

This will be an all day event culminating in a Conference Banquet in the evening.  More details including lecture streams, prices etc will follow but this is definitely a date to book in your diary.

Society Centenary Celebration Dinner
Friday 6 May 2011
Venue: Royal Overseas League, London
This will be a high profile dinner to formally celebrate the Society’s 100th Anniversary.  Spaces will be limited, ticketing information and pricing will be available soon.

Technorati Tags: Family History News, genealogy, Society of Genealogists

The Society of Genealogists Family History Show workshop programme  at Who Do You Think You Are ?Live 2010 has now been published on the Show website

The workshop timetables show when the Society of Genealogists experts, local societies and exhibitors will be speaking. There are talks for every level of interest in family history.

Tickets are free at the show but some advance boookings are avalable from the show website at £2 each.

Technorati Tags: family history, Family History News, genealogy, Who Do You Think You Are? Live 2010

Saturday, 5 December from 10:30am-5pm with John Hanson and Alec Tritton (£30/£24), must be pre-booked

Finding burial records:
One of the biggest problems facing family historians is trying to tracking down the burial place of an ancestor who died in London (mind the principals discussed can be used in other large areas). The first two lectures of this day looks at the problem, understanding what is available and some of the methods that can be employed. (sessions 1 & 2 John Hanson)

Lost London Burial Grounds
(Not for those with a delicate stomach)
Before the great fire, there was a church equivalent to every 3 acres in the City of London. 86 churches were destroyed in the fire and 34 were not rebuilt. Christopher Wren was given the task of rebuilding 51 of these churches of which 28 no longer exist. Today only 40 parish churches exist and all the burial grounds in the City are closed.
By 1895 there were 362 identifiable burial grounds in London of which 41 were still in use. As London grew at least one graveyard was burying at the rate of 2300 bodies per acre per year. Where are these burial grounds, what is now on the site, where are the records and what happened to the human remains, if the site was built on.
This lecture will discuss some of the more gruesome aspects of burial in the metropolis leading to the closure of the city burial grounds, what happened to those grounds, the bodies interred within and the whereabouts of the records. The audience will get a better understanding of burials and burial records of London. (sessions 3 & 4 with Alec Tritton)

To book a place:
http://www.sog.org.uk
Tel: 020 7553 3290

Lori Weinstein
Events co-ordinator
events@sog.org.uk

Members of the Society of Genealogists have been helping London’s Moorfields Eye Hospital  and UCL Institute of Ophthalmology with a genetic genealogy research project which aims at studying more than 80 families from the UK with a particular form of glaucoma called primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG).

Having discovered how much is involved in compiling family trees Moorfields approached the Society of Genealogists for help in undertaking genealogical research, on the advice of one of its patients who had worked for the SoG some time ago and who is now coincidentally part of the clinical study into this condition.

The genealogists’ task was to identify other members of families who might be related to sufferers, firstly to enable further study into the idea that this form of the disease is genetically related and then to identify distant family members who might well be treatable. Having compiled an extended family history the medical teams can make contact with the more distant family members through existing patients. The project will be completed in early 2010 and has already shown that one in five first degree relatives of patients with PACG may also be at risk.

21 family historians volunteered from the Society of Genealogists, under the direction of the genealogy project leaders, Dr Geoff Swinfield and Diana Bouglas. Beginning in Summer 2008, extensive genealogical research has been needed to identify, expand and link together a number of extended family trees. The project has benefited from the volunteers’ genealogical skills and expertise as well as their extensive knowledge of family history sources both online and in record offices that can be used to compile family trees.

A highlight of the project was a special event at UCL in September called Glaucoma, Genes and Me which brought together the families who are currently taking part in the research with the medical teams who have been treating them and the genealogists who had helped trace the family trees. About 140 people took part in the event and it is thought to be the first such event of its kind in this field. Approximately half of the participants were patients, the rest were family members along with 8 of the genealogists who had helped in the project. One of the key objectives of the event was to discover, through group discussions, the areas of most importance to PACG patients and their families. This will enable future research to focus on those areas and improve patient care. The day included various presentations made by the medical team and the major charities which support people with Glaucoma along with the patients who are taking part in the study. The project and the event are sponsored by The Richard Desmond Charitable Trust via a grant from Fight for Sight, as well as the International Glaucoma Association.

Dr Geoff Swinfield rounded off the day with a presentation about the techniques and sources used by genealogists to compile family trees and trace living relatives. Many of the families who attended were fascinated by their family trees. Some were introduced to relatives they had never met before. Others brought along their own family history research and wanted help and guidance to take it further with which of course the Society of Genealogists is delighted to help.

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