Research and Resources Features
Quarter Sessions’ Record Index
January 27, 2022
Our Bookstall Manager, Elaine Boyes, has indexed some of the Hampshire Quarter Sessions records and they are now available in the Members’ Area of the website as well as writing an article about the records As many of you know my area of research is the Swing Riots. Since the archives opened again, and HGS […] – read more…
Update on HGS move
November 5, 2021
During the summer we were busily organising our move from our former location in Cosham [near Portsmouth] to Hampshire Record Office in Winchester where we have been welcomed with open arms. We ‘opened for business’ on Tuesday 3rd August and we now have a regular presence every Tuesday and Thursday from 10 am till 4.00 pm. […] – read more…
Tips for Research – Dates
April 17, 2020
You may find this information helpful in your research: 1. Regnal Years Regnal years are calculated from the date that a monarch ascends the throne; some documents will show this rather than the actual year. An example is Victoria ascended the throne on 20 June 1837. A document dated 20 October Vic 30 would equate […] – read more…
Portsmouth Road Names (Then and Now)
April 3, 2019
Some of the streets of Portsmouth and Portsea mentioned in the old registers and census returns have had their names changed over the years. In the following table are a few of them which were originally shown in our Journal the Hampshire Family Historian of November 1985. Vol XII No. 3 pages 192-193. – read more…
Poor Law Union Gazette – 2
July 14, 2018
Another interesting entry appeared in the Poor Law Union Gazette on 25 April 1857 naming Lewis POSNER, formerly of Southampton, who the Southampton Union would like to get their hands on. – read more…
Death notices in old Hampshire newspapers
November 17, 2015
Death notices in old Hampshire newspapers can reveal useful information about the deceased. Among the deaths listed in the Hampshire Advertiser of 22 December 1855 were several interesting announcements of deaths home and abroad. Combine the details with information from HGS parish indexes and a personal story emerges. – read more…
West Meon infanticide 1830
November 10, 2015
On 28 January 1830 Frances MARCH aged 32 drowned her infant child Amelia and then herself. The drowning occured in a tub of water usually used as a foot-bath. Her husband Lancelot Foquett March and mother-in-law Mary March were absent at the time. – read more…
Greywell re-marriage in 1855
June 15, 2015
Francis FREEMAN and Sarah Ann ROGERS from Odiham, Hampshire had legally married in 1854. The Hampshire Advertiser reports how they were then induced by their local curate in Greywell to a re-marriage in 1855. – read more…
HGS Hampshire Monumental Inscriptions index
February 28, 2015
What are Monumental Inscriptions and why do they help your research? HGS researcher Roy Montgomery explains all using examples illustrating just how useful the HGS Hampshire Monumental Inscriptions index is. – read more…
1855 Portsea hospital bed shortage
February 22, 2015
An 1855 Portsea Hospital bed shortage raised concerns when a man who was turned away later died. – read more…
Hardship cases in a Portsmouth court
October 19, 2014
After the Napoleonic wars many suffered hardship that often resulted in lawbreaking and people being taken to court. William ATRELL and John CHAMBERLAIN were two such cases reported in the Hampshire Telegraph in 1817. – read more…
Portsmouth bigamy intrigue
October 22, 2013
Bigamy cases can be very interesting but are more intriguing when the accused is a woman. On this occasion the offending marriage took place nearly thirty years before coming to court. – read more…
Bignell Family Bible
September 22, 2013
A family bible that records an interesting sequence of events illustrating how useful these volumes are in tracing family movements. – read more…
English man dies in Newburgh New York – 1850
August 26, 2013
The death was reported in 1850 in Portsmouth local newspaper of George Burton, an English immigrant living in New York. So, who was George Frederick Burton? – read more…
Family Tragedy in 19th Century East Tisted
July 16, 2013
See how HGS resources were used to research the EAMES family of East Tisted who were affected by a series of tragic events that began in 1810. – read more…
Portsmouth couple married in India, 1899
June 20, 2013
A couple from Portsmouth married in Bombay in 1899. The announcement was in a Hampshire newspaper nearly three months later. Who were they and why were they in India? – read more…
The Internet Library of Early Journals
May 10, 2013
Researching family history means having to explore many avenues, one useful free resource is the Internet Library of Early Journals – read more…
What’s in a ‘Hampshire’ Name?
February 14, 2013
Family history research hangs on being able to follow a surname back through time. Take the opportunity to explore the origins of Hampshire surnames using the Hampshire baptism, marriage and burial indexes. – read more…
Tithe Maps at the National Archives
February 8, 2013
What is a tithe? The National Archives have almost 12,000 tithe maps of England and Wales to help your research. – read more…
Useful Research Source Material: Auction Sale Notices
January 19, 2013
Hampshire family historians shouldn’t overlook little used source documents such as this one of an Auction sale, advertised in the Portsmouth Telegraph. Details and surnames abound for the family historian – read more…