HGS Family History Groups
Although most HGS group meetings are in-person meetings, some are held via Zoom, so please do check to see the type of meeting.
For meetings that are held via Zoom only, please contact the appropriate Group Organiser no later than 24 hours prior to the talk to be added to the invitation list. Remember to include your membership number or indicate if you are a guest.
If you plan on travelling to an in-person meeting where you are not already on the Group Organiser’s contact list, we suggest that you contact the Group Organiser to let them know: this way, if the meeting is cancelled (e.g. due to speaker unavailability) they will be able to let you know, saving you an unnecessary trip.
We meet regularly to share, learn, exchange ideas and information, as well as to help us each further explore our family history projects. Why not come along and see for yourself?
-
- You can attend the meetings of any of our 8 active Hampshire-based groups.
- The International Group meetings are held every two months via Zoom: these meetings are on alternate months to the National Group meetings.
- The National Group meetings are held every two months via Zoom: these meeting are on alternate months to the International Group meetings.
- Visit a Group’s page (via the menu on the right) to see their programme of talks, news and articles. Contact a Group Organiser using the form at the bottom of their Group page.
- Come and meet like-minded people. HGS Group Meetings are free to members and prospective members.
- They are a good way to gain some new insights on how to further explore your family history.
- Whether you are a beginner or an expert, with a family from within or outside of Hampshire, you will always be welcome and find someone who has something new and interesting to share.
HGS Group Locations
Click on a pin for the address and directions.
HGS Family History Group and Society Events for the next 3 months
To attend a Zoom talk offered by any of the groups, please contact the appropriate group organiser no later than 24 hours prior to the talk. Please include your membership number or indicate if you are a guest.
- January 21, 2026 - Ringwood Group: Explore the Parish Chest beyond the Parish Register - Clare O'Grady - via Zoom
- January 22, 2026 - Fareham Evening Group: Crime and Punishment in the 19th Century: the records, the people, the stories… - Dave Annal - via Zoom
Dave introduces us to the records that help us to trace and reconstruct the stories of those ancestors of ours who, for one reason or another, came into contact with the law. In order to understand the records, we need to set crime in its nineteenth century context and consider how changes in attitudes towards crime had an impact on the legislation that was passed in an attempt to control it. Case studies don’t just tell us about the people who committed the crimes: a whole host of other names appear in the records; witnesses, police officers, judges, jurors and, of course, the victims of the crimes. Viewing the crimes in the context of our ancestors’ lives helps us to understand what was going on in their lives at the time and start to explore deeper aspects of the story.
- January 28, 2026 - Basingstoke Group: Suffragettes - Ian Porter
Ian’s talk will cover the main events and characters of the Votes for Women campaign, through to how the vote was eventually won, securing Mrs Pankhurst’s place in history.
- February 4, 2026 - International Group: [GMT] Emigration from Britain in the second half of the nineteenth century and the age of the ocean liner - Judith Hill - via Zoom
- February 10, 2026 - Fair Oak Group: Is AI in Photo-Genealogy a Help or a Hindrance? - Steve Gill - via Zoom
- February 12, 2026 - Andover Group: A poor Existence: Victorian Life on the streets - Graham Harrison via Zoom
- February 12, 2026 - Fleet & Farnborough Group: Read All About It – Zoom Talk – Dave Annal - via Zoom
By using newspapers to bring your ancestors to life, Dave, fellow of Society of Genealogists, hopes to get you beyond their names & dates.
- February 18, 2026 - Ringwood Group: The Invasion of Salerno: Operation Avalanche - David Bickerton - via Zoom
- February 19, 2026 - Winchester Group: Dating Old Photos - Steve Gill - via Zoom
- February 25, 2026 - Basingstoke Group: The Bare Necessities of Life: Water - Jane Hussey
- February 26, 2026 - Fareham Evening Group: The importance of the 1921 Census - Dr Penny Walters - via Zoom
- March 4, 2026 - National Group: AI for Family History: What It Can (and Can't) Do for You - Linda Hammond - via Zoom
- March 10, 2026 - Fair Oak Group: Members' Evening
- March 12, 2026 - Andover Group: Members’ Evening
- March 12, 2026 - Fleet & Farnborough Group: Southampton: Water, Slaughter & Trade: Part 1 – Andrew Negus - via Zoom
The first of two talks by Andre, a Blue Badge Guide, covering the development of Southampton from the Romans.
- March 18, 2026 - Ringwood Group: DNA for Family Historians - Steve Manning - via Zoom
- March 19, 2026 - Winchester Group: ‘The Forgotten Spy’ - The Secret Life of Ernest Oldham - Nick Barratt - via Zoom
- March 25, 2026 - Basingstoke Group: My ancestor was a Miller - Laurie Page
A teacher of genealogy for more than 20 years, Laurie will talk of the history of milling, of windmills and watermills and the general life of a Miller.
- March 26, 2026 - Fareham Evening Group: Lost Images Reunited, and how to research old photographs - Owen Rowe
Join me in a fun interactive presentation about my hobby of reuniting lost photographs with their families. We will look at a few cases and how I managed to find out who they were and track down their families. Then we'll look at how to date photographs and what resources there are to help you research photographs.
- April 1, 2026 - International Group: [BST] The Rise of Non-Conformity, the various types and how to access records - Sally Gardiner - via Zoom
- April 9, 2026 - Fleet & Farnborough Group: ABM followed by Working Down A Coal Mine – Keith Fletcher
The history of coal mining and the life of miners by our very own Keith, a miner from the Durham coal fields.
- April 14, 2026 - Fair Oak Group: Southampton: Slaughter, Water & Trade – Part II - Andrew Negus
- April 15, 2026 - Ringwood Group: Dating old photos - Steve Gill - via Zoom
- April 16, 2026 - Winchester Group: The Mayflower’s Voyage from Southampton - Cheryl Butler
- May 6, 2026 - National Group: Britain's Railway History for Family Historians - Richard Marks - via Zoom
- May 12, 2026 - Fair Oak Group: Sacrifice and Remembrance - Jeremy Prescott
- May 14, 2026 - Fleet & Farnborough Group: Researching In the Archives – Sarah Pettyfer
Sarah, a member of AGRA, introduces the records held in local archives that are not available online – including the ‘parish chest’.
- May 20, 2026 - Ringwood Group: Isaac Gulliver: The King of Smugglers - Richard Hutley
- May 21, 2026 - Winchester Group: Linley Wood Library - JJ Heath Caldwell
- June 3, 2026 - International Group: [BST] The Mayflower Pilgrims: Myth & Memory - Cheryl Butler - via Zoom
- June 9, 2026 - Fair Oak Group: Building Spitfires without a Factory - Alan Matlock
- June 11, 2026 - Fleet & Farnborough Group: Website Workshop: A Look Beyond Ancestry & Find My Past
A chance to see what websites are out there that you may not have come across – some of them for FREE!
- June 17, 2026 - Ringwood Group: The Lost Buildings of Ringwood - Alex Bancroft, Chair of the Ringwood Society
- June 18, 2026 - Winchester Group: The Commonwealth War Grave Commission - Will Reid
- July 1, 2026 - National Group: Missing from Home - David Ennifer - via Zoom
