Reminder Members

Last Chance to purchase the printed version of the Genealogists’ Magazine in time for the March ’24 edition. (Note, all members receive digital access to the Genealogists’ Magazine but the hard copy is now only available via separate purchase).

Update on SoG Explore

Migration of our digital collections from our old search function, SoG Data Online, to our new tool, SoG Explore, continues at a pace, with a total of 10.9 million names now available for searching. That’s about 75% of all names! Newly migrated data includes 202 Parish Register indexes, with a total of 616,914 names to date.

Heather Nowlan is elected as Vice Chair of the Society of Genealogists

We are pleased to announce the election of Heather Nowlan as Vice Chair to the Society’s Board of Trustees.

Heather is a professional and accomplished genealogist with over 15 years’ experience, a registered Ancestry ProGenealogist contractor, and an AGRA Associate.

Heather has run a number of her own businesses within the wedding industry for nearly 20 years, including eCommerce websites. She is also the Treasurer of the civilian committee for the 5F RAF Air Cadets, a self-funding charity-based organisation governed by the MOD.

SoG Response to Ministry of Justice Consultation on the Storage and Retention of Original Will Documents

On 15 December 2023, the UK government published a consultation paper on the ‘Storage and retention of original will documents’. It proposes the digitalisation of wills, followed by a destruction of the originals. You can see the SoG’s full response to all 10 questions here: Ministry of Justice Consultation on the Storage and Retention of Original Will Documents (sog.org.uk).

The Society of Genealogists urges the Genealogy Community to read the paper and respond by the deadline of 23rd February 2024.

We are also encouraging those concerned to sign the petition to save our wills. The petition text reads: “Do not allow original wills to be destroyed after 25 years. Please #SaveOurWills! The MoJ proposes to digitise and then allow the destruction of original wills after 25 years. We call for the original wills to be preserved in perpetuity in line with current legislation. Do not agree to legislative changes that would allow the destruction of these documents.”

Our first Professional Corner talk with Penny Walters was all about giving talks, with hints and tips on everything from choosing an interesting ancestor to speak about, to considering the accessibility of your slides and marketing yourself.  This talk is accessible to Gold Members in the recording library.  Further Professional Corner talks this year include Contributing to Family History Magazines, help with branding, websites and the highs and lows of running a business, DNA and AI for genealogy businesses, a discussion about writing client reports and help with pricing and accounting.

We could not run our events programme without a wonderful team of volunteers to host the sessions. If you would be interested in opening the Zoom meeting, introducing the speaker and reading out the questions at the end do get in touch at events@sog.org.uk.  Experience of using Zoom is helpful.

National Storytelling Week takes place from 27 January to 4 February, and to celebrate we are looking at What the Great 19th Century Novels Can Tell Us About Our Ancestors with Dave Annal.

Celebrate St Valentine's Day at the Society of Genealogists! In February, our events will help you get to grips with marriage records and customs, as well as explore expressions and consequences of love - from food, charity and benefactors to syphilis and divorce!

• Discover Scottish Marriage Records
• Learn about the history of prostitution, and the alternative for many women, life in the workhouse.
• Go Beyond the Marriage Certificate and consider the Implications of Hardwicke's Marriage Act
• Examine Marriage Licences, at the SoG as well as  Marriage Indexes & Marriage Settlements in our treasures and collections.
• Read The Marriage Certificate by Stephen Molyneux with the SoG Book Club
• Discuss your ancestors courting in our Lunchtime Chat
• Explore the many nuptial beliefs, customs and superstitions of England and Wales

Book of the Month: My Ancestor was a Bastard by Ruth Paley (2011)

Ruth Paley introduces family historians to the world of the unmarried mother and her child. Unless you are very lucky indeed, tracing information about illegitimate ancestors in England and Wales is never straightforward. It may in the end prove to be impossible. This book helps you to understand the economic, cultural and legal boundaries that shaped illegitimacy so that you can make educated guesses about the searches that are most likely to get results.

Included are available sources - where to find them, how to use them and what information they contain. There is a useful glossary for the weird and wonderful synonyms for bastardy that you are likely to encounter in the course of your research. Plus, a step-by-step guide to help you draw up a research plan tailored to your own needs.