Technorati Tags: family history, genealogy, Wills

Special Show Offer. £10 off Membership Subscriptions!!

The Society will be waiving its joining administration fee (usually £10) for anyone who wants to become a member of the SoG at the Society of Genealogists Family HistoryShow which is an integral part of Who Do You Think You Are? Live at Olympia February 26-28 2010. 

This means your first year’s UK subscription will be £45 instead of the usual £55 (£27 for overseas members instead of £37). In addition we are including a free 2G SoG usb memory stick as a welcome present to all our new members – perfect for downloading or backing up your family history files. Hurry while stocks last.

Come and see the SoG at stand 1025 where you can fill out the membership application form and meet our staff and volunteers.

Society of Genealogists at Who Do You Think You Are? Live 2009

Infomation about membership benefits can be found on the Society of Genealogists Website

Technorati Tags: family history, genealogy, Society of Genealogists, Who Do You Think You Are? Live 2010

A half-day course on Saturday 30 Jan. from 2-5pm

In this seminar Celia Heritage will give an overview of the civil registration system. She will look at the causes of errors on the GRO index and how they may affect your research. She will also look at the brick walls you may encounter in your research in connectin with the GRO index as well as in your research in general, and how to find ways around them. Cost £17.50/£14.00 (SoG members)

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!

Technorati Tags: Society of Genealogists, St Bartholomew the Great

Natalie Ceeney CBE, Chief Executive of The National Archives, announced today (Monday 11 January) that she will be leaving in mid-March, to take on a new role as Chief Executive of the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Natalie Ceeney

Natalie has been Chief Executive since 2005, and the past four and a half years has seen some significant changes to TNA under her leadership. The National Archives has moved firmly towards the digital age and concentration of digital information management, while providing access to its collection and expertise to an increasingly wide and diverse audience.

The Ministry of Justice will be handling the recruitment of Natalie’s successor through open competition. In the intervening period the Ministry has asked Oliver Morley, currently Director of Customer and Business Development, to take over as interim Chief Executive. In his current role, Oliver is responsible for customer, product and service strategy, partnership and business development, trading services, and marketing and communications. His team led the launch of the online 1911 census and many other leading historical content services via the relaunched nationalarchives.gov.uk. Prior to The National Archives, Oliver was at Thomson Reuters, with global responsibility for improving information services for customers.

Technorati Tags: family history, Family History News, genealogy, The National Archives