Membership – Annual Individual Overseas

Description

If you are renewing an existing subscription, you will be asked for your membership number. This can be found on the mailing insert for your copies of The Greenwood Tree or can be requested by email.

Why should you join us?

The Somerset & Dorset Family History Society has around 1,500 members worldwide. Most of our members are people tracing their family history in one or both of the two counties but we also have members who have joined because they are interested in local history in our area or because they are researching families elsewhere but live locally and appreciate the advantages of having easy access to the expertise of our many experienced volunteers. Whether you have already spent time tracing your family history or are just starting out on this fascinating hobby, we are sure that joining the SDFHS will be of great benefit to you. Although most people start tracing their family history online and many records are available on the major genealogical websites, these often provide only the basic data and records are often tantalisingly incomplete and sometimes inaccurately transcribed. If your family came from Somerset and/or Dorset we can check basic facts, such as baptisms, marriages and burials, in our individual parish transcripts, and search for those elusive records which are not yet online. However, we can do much more than provide basic data; we can also help you to add context to the information you have collected and to research your ancestors’ lives, the work they did and the places in which they lived. Membership of the SDFHS gives you access to our research facilities and the knowledge and experience of our Volunteers.

Membership benefits:

• Access to the skills and expertise of the Society’s experienced family historians who can help and guide you, or undertake research for you in our own transcripts and databases of parish and other records, and pedigrees deposited with us.
• Our award-winning Journal The Greenwood Tree which is published in four issues each year and is sent free of charge to all members.
• A wide-ranging programme of talks and other events, organised by our active local Groups, at ten centres throughout the two counties.
• Talks and Workshops held at our Family History Centre in Yeovil, or in Sherborne. Members receive a 33% discount on the price of ticketed events.
• Our annual Open Day which includes the Annual General Meeting and talks on family history topics.
• Our bookshop which is well stocked with family history books and books on local history, maps and charts – all can be ordered by post or purchased in person.
• Access to our extensive Library of books, CDs and microfiches on family, local and military history.
• A developing presence on social media (Facebook, Twitter and on our Blog) where you can read reports of our activities, keep up-to-date with our news, and interact with other members. This will be particularly valuable if you are unable to attend our events in Somerset or Dorset.
• Access to a dedicated Members’ Area on our website where you can find data not available elsewhere online.

Special Offer to new Members

As a ‘welcome’ to the Society we are offering new members an hour’s free research by one of our experienced Family Historians.

When you make your first research request, e-mail, state clearly that you are a new member and would like to claim your ‘free’ hour of research, and quote your membership number. If you prefer to send a letter, then post it to SDFHS (New Member Research), Broadway House, Peter St., Yeovil, Somerset BA20 1PN United Kingdom.