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The SDFHS Blog

Lost Dorset – The Villages & Countryside

Posted on 18th November 2019

Lost Dorset - The Villages and Countryside is the title of David Burnett's latest book and also of his recent talk given in Sherborne David founded the Dovecote Press in 1974 in the small hamlet of Stanbridge near Wimborne to initially publish the first of three illustrated books about Dorset All three went on to become best sellers I had a very personal reason for wanting to meet David as I had found, quite by chance while flipping through his first book - A Dorset Camera 1855-1914 - a... more

Provoking memories via Yeovil Library window display

Posted on 23rd September 2019

Congratulations to Anne Warr and John Damon for producing such an eye-catching display to promote our society in the window of Yeovil Library This is the second time we have been featured in this window; on the earlier occasion it was to introduce ourselves to Yeovil, shortly after we moved into our Broadway House headquarters The current display contains our new banners which are now pictorial so cannot get out of date in the foreseeable future, which can so easily happen if we use... more

The Greenwood Tree – September 2019

Posted on 27th August 2019

The September issue of The Greenwood Tree focuses on agricultural labourers, the ‘ag labs' that so many of us have in our family trees, with stories on farming folk sent in by members Editor Paul Radford previews the edition which will be mailed to members at the end of August and which SDFHS members can already view or download from the Members' Area of the Society’s website The front cover shows a scene from the filming on the Mapperton Estate of the 2015 version of Far From... more

The Greenwood Tree – June 2019

Posted on 29th May 2019

The June issue of The Greenwood Tree is a Special Edition featuring wedding photos sent in by members Editor Paul Radford previews the edition which will be mailed to members at the end of May and which SDFHS members can already view or download from the Members’ Area of the Society’s website We asked members for wedding photos from their family history research files and they seemed to arrive in droves, many of them with intriguing stories attached In the end we were able to... more

Our former home in Sherborne transformed

Posted on 6th May 2019

The base for the Somerset & Dorset Family History Society was in Sherborne for nearly twenty years until the recent successful move to Yeovil Many a visitor will have climbed up the stairs of our last home in Sherborne, to our Research Centre and meeting room, housed in the building at the bottom of Cheap Street, right next to the Conduit There was much evidence of its former life, with old fireplaces, interesting windows and much else besides often partly hidden by the necessary... more