01935 429609

Family History

Snapshots in Time – (second in series)

Posted on 12th April 2023

In the first article in this series we looked at some of the old photographs likely taken by Adam Gosney and collected together by George King (1859-1932), Sherborne Abbey Verger from 1892 until 1929 George lectured on Sherborne and Sherborne Abbey to raise funds for the restoration of the Lady Chapel His photographs, on glass plates and lantern slides, have been located in the library/muniment room in Sherborne Abbey and these have been scanned by Rachel Hassall, Sherborne School... more

The Greenwood Tree – December 2019

Posted on 29th November 2019

The Eureka moments that produce sudden and unexpected breakthroughs in your family history research provide the theme for the December edition of The Greenwood Tree Editor Paul Radford previews the edition which will be mailed to members shortly and which SDFHS members can already view or download from the Members Area of the Society’s website The front cover harks back to the Greek inventor Archimedes who is said to have exclaimed ‘Eureka’, an ancient Greek word meaning ‘I... more

Emigration from the West Country

Posted on 11th May 2018

It is now twenty years since the successful ‘Dorset and the New World’ event took place in Lyme Regis in June 1998 when more than 250 people attended, including a group of Americans from the Mary & John Clearing House who happened to be in the area at that time The Mary and John was the ship that sailed to Dorchester, Mass in 1630 carrying settlers from Dorset, Devon and Somerset The voyage was arranged by the Rev John White, the vicar of St Peters, Dorchester The speakers in... more

Family Tree Maker and the Ancestry App

Posted on 16th February 2018

It was two years ago in February 2016 that I wrote my first blog while trying to understand what was going on between Ancestry and the software Family Tree Maker that I had been using successfully on my desktop computer for some years I am one of those who uses a program on a computer without any idea about what is going on behind the scenes to keep that software up-to-date and working properly Added to this I had discovered the joys of carrying around with me, on an iPad, my family tree so... more

Tales of Local Railways

Posted on 29th November 2017

We were in for a treat as we assembled for two railway themed talks in the Raleigh Hall in Sherborne last Saturday This was the first time our talks were held in this hall and while we clearly regret leaving our Family History Centre in Sherborne, it was good that this, new to us, ground floor venue turned out to be so very convenient and pleasant With the emphasis on local history, the talks attracted many other people as well as members and we would all discover that underpinning these... more