Photographs taken by members of the Computer Group

Family History

Due to the great success of the Genealogy Group we have now split into two groups and changed our name to Family History to more accurately reflect what we do.

Beginners’ Group

We meet on the 1^st Wednesday of each month from 11 am – 1 pm in the downstairs room of Holy Trinity Parish Hall. The beginners group is mainly concerned with family research since 1837 (when civil registration began). Over the past few months we have been looking at the initial steps needed to start your family research, what resources we may find in the attic, the clues to our family history and how we can interpret the information to help with our research.

We have looked at the history of civil registration and discovered what information can be gleamed from birth and marriage certificates, where we can source information on births and marriages and how to order certificates. 

Advanced Group

We meet on the 3^rd Tuesday of each month from 1 pm – 3 pm in the downstairs room of Holy Trinity Parish Hall. The advanced group is mainly concerned with family research before 1837 (prior to civil registration). During the last term we started by investigating what documents can be found in the Parish Chest, how we can access them and use them for our research. We then moved on to looking at everything connected with the lives of the poor including the laws that affected them, the workhouses where they may have resided or worked and where we can find the records that will help us take our research further back in time.

Our meetings are fun, informative and social, and everyone helps each other with any research problems they have. There are usually a selection of books, magazines and CDs to look at and updates on future events and specialist courses in and around the area. 

So, whether you’re just thinking about starting your family research or have been doing it for longer than you care to remember, come along and give it a try, you’ll find both groups friendly and helpful, and you are welcome to join either or both groups if you wish. 

Contact Pamela Phillips for any further information by sending an e-mail to the address shown below with ‘Genealogy’ in the subject line.