01935 429609
Somerset & Dorset
Family History Society
Family History Society
How can we help you? We will help you to find documented facts about the lives of your former family members which will unlock doors to your own personal family story. Although we do specialise in Somerset and Dorset and have extensive records from our two counties, our experienced Research Volunteers have skills which can help you trace your family roots, regardless of where they might have originated.
Our Family History Centre is at Broadway House, Peter St, Yeovil BA20 1PN. Find out more about how we can help with your research and the facilities we have to offer.
The Society’s Family History Centre in Yeovil is still closed to members and other visitors, but we are very pleased to have reopened our bookshop for online sales and orders by post, only – please do not come to the Centre to buy books.
Our Research Volunteers are still working mainly from home but do now have some access to our resources at the Centre, so if you would like any help with your family history research email: [email protected] and we will do our best to help you.
When we are able to reopen the Centre to visitors, we will inform members by electronic newsletter and will also post the information on our website and on Facebook. If you do not already receive e-newsletters, but would like to do so, please email: [email protected].
The final version of the Society Annual Report and Accounts will be posted here in early October once members have had a chance to comment.
EXHIBITION OF PHILLIPS PHOTOGRAPHS at the museum on Saturdays and one day a week (check the website for opening hours).
Bert Phillips had his photographic studio in Wells Market Place. On display inside the museum are some of the wonderful portraits that show the Victorian and Edwardian people of Wells and Mendip with a focus on children, artisans, weddings, women and tradesmen.
#wellsmuseum #museum #museumexhibition #photographyexhibition #wells #wellssomerset
The latest post on the Society's blog looks at the 1642 'Protestation Returns' which list men (and some women) over the age of 18, and is the closest record we have to a national 'census' earlier than 1841. The Returns are held in the Parliamentary Archives and survive for about one-third of English counties (including many from parishes in Somerset and Dorset). Scans of the Returns can be viewed and/or downloaded, free of charge. sdfhs.org/blog/1642-protestation-returns/
The 1642 Protestation Returns | Somerset & Dorset Family History Society
sdfhs.org
One of the things I thought I could usefully do during lockdown was to transcribe some of the wills and other old documents that I’d collected over the past few years. I’d never made much progress...Another virtual conference! Back To Our Past, which starts tomorrow, will be of interest to anyone with Irish #FamilyHistory. Full details: backtoourpast.ie/
Become a surname superstar ... sign up to our mailing list and we'll send you a link to download our 40-page booklet on researching surnames. Sign up here: landing-pages.one-name.org/free-booklet
If you would prefer a printed copy, you can buy one from the Guild Shop one-name.org/product/books
The Society for One-Place Studies has a new Instagram accountAfter a week of experimentation and getting to know the quirks of how it works, it's time to make it official: we're on Instagram!
We hope you will follow us on our newest social media strand at: instagram.com/societyforoneplacestudies/
We plan to use our Instagram account to show the wonderful world of #OnePlaceStudies in general, and the studies of our members in particular, to a wider audience. To do this, members, we need your help—and more specifically, your photos!
So, if you have pics of your Place / its people, or of documents relating to your Place; photos of objects / activities / occupations which could be found in your Place, or graphics illustrating #OnePlaceStudy themes, which we can use on Insta, please email [email protected]
Thank you!
www.rootstech.org
RootsTech conferences are dedicated to celebrating and discovering family connections, both past and present. With over 150 breakout sessions, an exciting lineup of celebrity speakers, and a gigantic ...These journals are a great resource for anyone with an interest in family or local history; they can currently be viewed for free
The Local Historian - free access - One Place Studies Directory
oneplacestudy.org
BALH has made all back issues of The Local Historian (their quarterly journal) free to access for the duration of the pandemic crisis.Free webinar - Researching your family history? Writing a historical novel? Just want to dig up some fascinating stories about women in your local town? Historian and genealogist Emily Brand dips into some research techniques and online sources for uncovering the experiences and the voices of women, and reveals some surprising Nottinghamshire stories on the way …
Wives, Witches and ‘Fallen Women’: A Women & History Workshop
www.eventbrite.co.uk
A women and history workshop with historian and author Emily Brand.A series of podcasts coming soon from AGRA (the Association of Genealogists and Researchers in Archives) on a variety of family history related topics. The first will be available on the AGRA website on 1st September.
More information here:
www.agra.org.uk/attachments/1598455734.pdf
New blog post on the 1642 Protestation Returns, which list men (and some women) over 18, and is the closest record we have to a national 'census' earlier than 1841. Scans of the Returns are available online, free of charge (link in article) https://sdfhs.org/blog/1642-protestation-returns/?fbclid=IwAR0R1kwbihn-_OQkuR7gfhcGdMZcUpmolGJ1DV_kRPLO82IJMLqsJHcg3Vc
