News and Notices
Using the Census for Family History
February 1, 2021
What is the purpose of taking a census? It certainly was not originally intended to help would-be genealogists! Run by the Office of National Statistics [ONS] and completed every 10 years since 1801, this year it is on Sunday 21st March. They say they are making it easy for everyone to take part because you […] – read more…
Family History research project – Invitation to participate
January 25, 2021
Our research team at the University of Newcastle (Drs Shaw, Donnelly, Burke and Parkes from the School of Education) are conducting research into family history and DNA testing and its impacts on people’s understanding of themselves and their place in history, as well as some general demographic information. To this end, we are conducting an […] – read more…
NEW! An International Group at Hampshire Genealogical Society
January 14, 2021
We are very excited to share some good news. Having turned to Zoom to hold Group meetings and our AGM last year, we have reached not just our out-of-county members but also members from as far afield as Australasia and North America who have managed to attend regardless of the time differences! We are […] – read more…
New historical maps available
October 11, 2020
We’ve recently added 21 new products to our series of ‘Alan Godfrey Historical Maps’. See the whole collection at our online shop at https://www.hgs-familyhistory.com/shop/historical-maps These black and white reproductions of old Ordnance Survey maps are an invaluable resource for family historians. They show towns and villages in detail, with individual buildings marked, as well as […] – read more…
Over 50,000 Hampshire records added to Findmypast
August 12, 2020
The Findmypast collection of Hampshire records is growing with the addition of over 50,000 records for various parishes in the north east of the county. These records have been released in conjunction with Surrey County Council. Parish records pre-date the introduction of civil registration in 1837 and are a vital source of information. Details of […] – read more…
Hampshire Archives and Local Studies has re-opened!
July 25, 2020
We are very pleased to let you know that we have been able to re-open this week following the prolonged lockdown period. This is ahead of most, though not all, archive services across the country. Our new arrangements are quite different due to new distancing, hygiene and quarantining requirements, as might be expected. Please note […] – read more…
Ancestry DNA matches to be removed?
July 16, 2020
ALERT! ALERT! ALERT! It seems that AncestryDNA will be making changes meaning that 1000s of people who currently appear as DNA matches will disappear, as soon as 1st August (exact date not known). This is being reported from various sources, who attended a conference call with Ancestry. There are ways to keep some of these […] – read more…
HGS and Videoconferencing
June 9, 2020
Although there has been some relaxing of the lockdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic in the UK, we are still not allowed to meet in large numbers. In March, we advised groups that they should cancel all meetings until July at the earliest. Who knows when this will change? As you are probably aware, over […] – read more…
Free copies of historical wills from TNA
May 29, 2020
The National Archives (TNA) at Kew is currently closed to the public. While this continues, it is allowing people to download up to 50 digitised items per 30-day period free of charge. Usually the price is £3.50 per will. Only 10 items can be downloaded at a time, but when you have done so you […] – read more…
Fair Oak Group helps celebrate a birthday
May 7, 2020
On Tuesday 10 March, Fair Oak Group were joined by the HGS Secretary, Gwen Newland, and Bookstall Manager, Elaine Boyes, who have been visiting all the Society’s groups to demonstrate the revamped website. The only date available was the slot scheduled for a members’ evening … and the only problem was that this is Elaine’s […] – read more…
Online VE Day event
May 4, 2020
Wessex Film and Sound Archive / Hampshire Archives and LocalStudies VE Day online event. We hope you are keeping safe and well during the current situation, and have enjoyed 100 Days of Film and our social media posts. In common with many organisations, we are moving our planned VE / VJ Day event online, with […] – read more…
Conference cancellation
April 30, 2020
Due to the continued uncertainty of the ‘Lockdown’ in the UK caused by the Covid-19 crisis, we wish to announce that the proposed 2020 Conference Day has been cancelled. I can confirm that the 2021 Conference Day (including AGM) will take place on Saturday 12th June 2021. Monies received for 2020 tickets already booked will be […] – read more…
Free National Archive downloads
April 24, 2020
In normal times, The National Archives at Kew is a great day out for Genealogists. It can be a bit daunting at first because of its size, but it is wonderful to go there and look at old documents that in some cases go back one thousand years. It is amazing to find an ancestor […] – read more…
Request for articles
April 17, 2020
WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING DURING THE COVID-19 CRISIS? Here in the UK, as is the case in other countries where we have HGS members, many of us have been in a state of ‘Lockdown’ for a number of weeks. So what have you been doing during this time? Have you used this as […] – read more…
Notice about online sales
April 14, 2020
Following discussions at HGS, here is the Coronavirus update regarding the effect on sales of CDs and hard copies of the Village Booklets. Email attachments are obviously unaffected. Impact on sales orders from HGS during the global COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic Although the HGS Research Centre is closed, HGS is open for business as usual for […] – read more…
Profitable links to Find My Past for HGS
March 23, 2020
Do you want to help HGS generate income? Those HGS members, who have access to Find My Past, will be aware that the HGS have published many of our Baptism, Marriage and Burial records on Find My Past. These were transcribed by our volunteers from the actual parish registers and have been available on CDs […] – read more…
Coronavirus safeguards
March 17, 2020
With the rapidly developing and unpredictable situation surrounding Coronavirus (COVID-19), we regret to announce the closure of the Research Centre and Sales office from 1.00 pm on Wednesday 18th March until further notice. Clearly, this is to safeguard all HGS volunteers and visitors. We have also asked the many local Group Organisers to cancel all […] – read more…
Burghclere village booklet now available
February 10, 2020
Burghclere, (VB106) is a long, narrow parish just south of the Berkshire border and east of the A34 road between Newbury and Winchester with Newbury 5 miles to the north. Rather unique are the two churches in the parish, the old 12th Century church was dedicated to All Saints whilst the new replacement built in […] – read more…
Andover Group Celebrates
January 17, 2020
At their January meeting, Andover Group devoted part of the evening to celebrating! First, by thanking Brenda for her many years as Speaker Secretary ensuring they have top-notch talks. Then, by marking the 90th Birthday of long-term member, Connie, who is Andover area born and bred and continues to contribute actively to our group. Two […] – read more…
New President for the Hampshire Genealogical Society
October 15, 2019
We are pleased to formally announce the appointment of Dr Nick Barratt as President of HGS. As required by the Society’s Constitution the Executive Committee approached Dr Barratt to ask if he would take on the role and we were immensely pleased that he said he would be honoured to do so. In September our […] – read more…
Beverley Babes turn 80!
October 7, 2019
Who are the ‘Beverley Babes’? At the start of the Second World War, the Portsmouth based Royal Naval and Royal Marine Maternity Home moved to Beverley House, Southwick Road, Wickham. Beverley House was to remain in operation as a naval maternity home until mid-1946. The babies born at Beverley House are affectionately known as […] – read more…
Headley village booklet now available
September 14, 2019
Headley, (VB104) is a large parish reduced in size by the creation of Grayshott in 1901, the creation of Whitehill civil parish in 1929 and the creation of Bordon ecclesiastical parish in 2002. Headley is 4 miles north of Liphook and 8 miles south of Farnham – read more…
New Item in the Members Area
May 29, 2019
We are delighted to announce that we have a new set of data in our members area. The Muster Roll of the 2nd Battalion Hampshire Regiment dated 1889, by kind permission of two of our members, Kay and Dave Lovell, – read more…
Wield MI Correction
May 16, 2019
As with all data that gets indexed or transcribed there is always the possibility that information can be misread due to bad handwriting or general aging. Whilst preparing information for the forthcoming village booklet on Wield I have found a prime example of this. – read more…
Our Amazing Volunteers
May 1, 2019
A big, big thank you to the Bookstall volunteers who made Family Tree Live such a success. We were kept very busy for both days of the event helping people in the search of their Hampshire ancestors. And of course welcoming our many new members. L-R Angela Winteridge, Margaret Bowman, Chris Pavey, Fiona Ranger, Geoff […] – read more…
A New Partnership for HGS
November 29, 2016
HGS are delighted to announce a new partnership with well-known Genealogy company ‘The Genealogist’ (S& N). All the remaining data from our parish register transcripts for Hampshire, will now be online with The Genealogist (S & N) and FHS-online. FHS-online has been developed together with S & N to offer Family History Societies the […] – read more…