Treasure of the Month

Our June "Focus on Genealogical Treasures and Collections" session explored family papers, letters, and diaries - catch up on the latest episode here on YouTube.

Join us on Tuesday 2 July, 14:00-14:30, to catch the next Treasures session in real time! Book your FREE ticket to attend the Zoom. Discover our collections of manuscripts, sheet and roll pedigree trees and how they might help you with your genealogy research.

We are excited about our brand-new DNA Summer School with Michelle Leonard, Debbie Kennett, Mia Bennett and Sophie Kay.

Book now for five days of DNA exploration, learn to harness the power of match grouping, discover the available tools for solving brick walls and unknown parentage, learn your Y-DNA from your X-DNA, consider ethical dilemmas, and much more.

Summer for many is a time for watching or playing sports. We celebrate the Paris Olympics with a range of sporting and French talks; from sports records at the National Archives to a look at the 1908 London Olympics and from Researching Your French Ancestors with Little or No French to Mission France: The True History of the Women of SOE.

Last chance to submit your All About That Place 2024 talk submission! The family and local history virtual event of the year (in our humble opinion) takes place from Friday 27 September to Sunday 6 October 2024. Could you give a 10-minute pre-recorded or live talk? We are open to all ideas, from your research on a particular person or place, to your top tips for tech, to social history, to archive explorations, and ways of sharing your findings. Learn more about contributing here.

To browse all our upcoming talks and courses, please see here.

July’s Book of the Month: My Ancestor Was a Freemason by Pat Lewis (4th ed., 2012)

For the family historian who wants to learn more about ancestors who might have been Freemasons and, maybe, find portraits of them. This book covers Freemasonry in England and Wales, which are under the jurisdiction of The United Grand Lodge.

Pat Lewis provides a brief history of Freemasonry in England and Wales and explains how to find the records of Freemason ancestors. Chapters include Freemasonry publications, female Freemasons, lodges, prisoners of war and record repositories.

The usual cost of My Ancestor was a Freemason is £7.99 and is currently available to SoG members at the discounted price of £6.39 (£7.19) to non-members). A £2.75 postal charge applies within the UK, check our website for postal rates outside the UK.

This book plus the full range of titles published by the Society is available from our bookshop through our website. Offer valid until 31 July 2024.

Who Do You Think You Are? returns to BBC One this summer for its 20th anniversary season, featuring celebrities Mel C, Olly Murs, Vicky McClure, Jessica Ennis-Hill, Gemma Collins, Paddy McGuinness, and Rose Ayling-Ellis. The stars explore diverse family histories, uncovering stories from circus acts to Cold War experiences, and travelling to places such as Ireland, Latvia, Jamaica, and more.

Their Finest Hour Online Archive is now LIVE! Explore 25,000+ newly uncovered Second World War stories and objects. The archive features a wide range of experiences, from the extraordinary to the everyday, highlighting the lives of those who lived through this monumental conflict.

RootsMagic 10, the latest version of RootsMagic genealogy software has been released. This comprehensive edition covers everything from basic data entry to advanced techniques, making it an essential resource for users looking to maximize RootsMagic's capabilities. RootsMagic 10 introduces exciting new features including DNA match management, health history tracking, advanced search capabilities, and enhanced data management tools. To celebrate this launch, they are offering a limited-time discount until July 7, 2024.

ScotlandsPeople has added nearly 4,000 new volumes of Church of Scotland records, totalling around 290,000 digital images, to the previous uploads from 2021. This new release includes over 3,000 kirk session records, as well as presbyteries, synods, and General Assembly records, covering almost 350 years of history from the 1560s to 1900. Available records include minute books, accounts, communion rolls, poor relief, and education records, now searchable online for free, though saving images costs two credits per image. While these church court records are not indexed by name, users can browse using reference numbers, kirk session names, or place names, and perform keyword searches. These records offer valuable insights into the lives of ordinary Scots, documenting local events and parishioners' behaviours, and can aid in researching church, family, local, or social history.

MyHeritage has added:

11.6 million new Nordic newspaper pages to OldNews.com, including historical local, regional and national newspapers, periodicals and gazettes from Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands, with articles dating back to 1666, but mostly from the 19th century.