The Charterhouse, a former 14th century Carthusian monastery  is a short walk from the society’s premises, to  the north of what is now Charterhouse Square off of Carthusuian Street, near Smithfield.

The building is formally known as Sutton’s Hospital in Charterhouse and since the dissolution of the monasteries, it has served as a private mansion,  a boys’ school, and is home to 40 “Brothers”.
The Brothers were those who could supply ‘good testimonye and certificat of theire good behaviour and soundnes in religion’, those who had been servants to the King ‘either decrepit or old captaynes either  at sea or land’, maimed or disabled soldiers, merchants fallen on hard times, those ruined by shipwreck or  other calamity’. The brothers are still there, and our tour was given by the very knowledgeable brothers Alan Scrivener and Stephen Green.

Entrance Court

We entered through the large medieval gateway, past Master’s Court to the buildings that housed the chapel. Portions of the medieval wall are still visible and include some wonderful memorials such as the one belonging to Sir Thomas Sutton. Other highlights were the  great hall, the old wood- panelled and galleried dining room and the Norfolk cloister. Inside the cloister, a single monk’s cell still remains, built 1349 and uncovered during post war restoration work.

society group visit

Technorati Tags: Carthusian, family history, London Charterhouse, Society of Genealogists, Sutton's Hospital, visit

The Society of Genealogists will be exhibiting at the National Family History Fair in Newcastle.

Let our Census Detectives Team help you find your missing ancestor

Technorati Tags: family history, Family History News, genealogy

Breaking the Barriers – innovative genealogy in the 20th & 21st centuries

Proposals will be accepted starting 1 May 2010 for the Society of Genealogists’ Centenary Conference, Breaking the Barriers, to be held at The Royal Overseas League, Over-Seas House, Park Place, 5 St James’s Terrace, London SW1A 1LP on Saturday 7th May 2011.

The conference lectures will be a celebration of the past century of genealogy and the Society of Genealogists and will look forward to the future of the subject. The conference will include a full day of lectures, networking luncheons, and workshops featuring nationally and internationally known genealogical speakers. To learn more about forthcoming news on the conference and other centenary celebrations see the SoG Centenary Conference Blog and web pages

Deadline for Submissions — 31 July 2010

Conference Themes
The Society is inviting submissions for papers and presentations on a variety of themes and expects submission topics to include, amongst others:

How the SoG has affected genealogy
Expanding the frontiers in genealogy
The development of genealogy. Then and now and what next?
Expanding the frontiers in genealogy
Problem solving. Breaking the barriers in genealogy
London research and London problems
Technological innovation in genealogy (with a particular look at British innovation).
Social themes from 2011, the end of the Edwardian Age ¬ – Women’s suffrage, pensions etc

General genealogical topics including methodology, skills building, record analysis, problem solving and writing family history

Sessions are generally limited to fifty minutes plus a ten-minute question-and-answer session. Syllabus material (word documents or PDF files), due in early 2011, is required for each lecture or workshop presentation

Guidelines
Anyone wishing to submit a talk for the conference should contact the conference team genealogy@sog.org.uk who will supply a conference proposal form which should include the following information:

• Speaker’s full name, address, telephone and email address.
• Lecture title, not to exceed fourteen words, and a brief but comprehensive outline
• Short summary of the lecture; word count not to exceed 100 words, which will be used in the program, if selected.
• Brief speaker biography, not to exceed 100 words.
• Resume of recent lectures given by the speaker. Those who have not spoken previously at a regional or national conference are encouraged to submit an audio or video tape of a recent lecture.

Speakers are expected to use an electronic presentation program. Such as Powerpoint. The SoG will provide the data projector, VGA cable, stand and power. Talks using OHPs will NOT be accepted.

Individuals may submit any number of proposals. SoG members will be given first consideration as speakers.

Completed proposal forms must be e-mailed to genealogy@sog.org.uk  with the subject: 2011 SoG Family History Conference-Call for Papers.
Selected speakers will be notified in August 2010. Speakers will receive a complimentary full conference registration

Compensation by the Society of Genealogists

Speakers selected by the SoG, and who are not sponsored elsewhere, will receive a speakers fee and reasonable travel expenses, within the UK, agreed in advance with the SoG.

Sponsorship opportunities
Sponsorship for individual lectures and lecturers may be agreed with the Society. Speakers who have their sessions sponsored will receive a complimentary one-day conference registration. Compensation and travel expenses are at the discretion of the sponsoring organization.

Questions  – Contact the Conference Team on genealogy@sog.org.uk  

Technorati Tags: conference, family history, Family History News, Society of Genealogists

A series of four talks aimed at beginners to genealogy who have no prior knowledge of the basic sources. It is also suitable for those who wish to refresh their skills and learn how to access the records and their indexes online. Each session will provide a background to the records and demonstrate how they can be used to their best advantage through the internet.

PROGRAMME
10.30-11.45 Getting Started
Civil Registration of Births, Marriages and Deaths
11.45-12.00 Tea/coffee
12.00-1.00 Census returns 1841-1911
1.00-2.00 Lunch (not provided)
2.00-3.30 Church registers and their indexes
3.30-3.45 Tea/coffee
3.45-5.00 Probate records

with Dr. Geoff Swinfield, £30.00 /£24.00 SoG members, must be pre-booked:

www.sog.org.uk   or tel: 020 7553 3290

Technorati Tags: beginners, class, course, family, genealogy, history, talk

The boundary changes of 1974 affected Lancashire more than any other county in England and
Wales. The industrial areas of the south of the county became Merseyside and Greater
Manchester counties, the area around Warrington was transferred to Cheshire. In the north of
the county, the Furness and Cartmell peninsulas became part of the new county Cumbria.
These changes present family historians with problems in locating the records. This half day
course will address these problems as well as looking at some of the social history of the
birthplace of the industrial revolution.

With Peter Park from 10:30am-1pm £17.50 (£14.00 SoG members).

The course can be booked online or by calling 020 7553 3290

Technorati Tags: family history, genealogy, Lancashire, lecture, Manchester, talk