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 9 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.

• October 4, 2023 - International Group: [BST] Agricultural unrest and the Swing riots in southern England 1830-32 - Dr Judith Hill - via Zoom

  The riots took place against the increasing pauperisation of labourers and the attacks struck at the very roots of social cohesion.

• October 10, 2023 - Fair Oak Group: Members’ Evening
• October 11, 2023 - Gosport Group: The Percy Toplis affair - Paul Stickler
• October 12, 2023 - Andover Group: Members' Evening - content TBC
• October 12, 2023 - Fleet & Farnborough Group: Winchester, Bishops, Buildings, And Bones – Part 3 - Andrew Negus

  By popular demand Andrew, Historian and Blue Badge Guide, returns with Part 3.

• October 18, 2023 - Ringwood Group: My Seafaring Ancestors - Kay Lovell - via Zoom
• October 19, 2023 - Winchester Group: Researching Ancestors who fought in WW1 & WW2 - Simon Fowler - via Zoom
• October 25, 2023 - Basingstoke Group: Members’ Evening: Short research updates from members – progress, brick walls, etc.
• October 26, 2023 - Fareham Evening Group: Members’ Evening - TBA
• November 1, 2023 - National Group: Portsmouth's Roller Skating Past 1875 - 1950s - Sue Shuttleworth - via Zoom

  Sue wrote Farm's and Market Gardens on Portsea Island 1770-1880, Portsmouth Paper No. 61. She has been working on her family history for the past six years and has become fascinated in their skating connection with the Bandstand Roller Skating Rink on Southsea Common.

• November 8, 2023 - Gosport Group: Jane Austen’s Best Friend - Jane Glennie
• November 9, 2023 - Andover Group: Secret and Lies - Dr Frances Hurd - via Zoom
• November 9, 2023 - Fleet & Farnborough Group: The History Of Dunmow Hill – Part 2 – The Higgins Family - Rosemary & Graham Mist

  Where did the money come from and how did the Higgins family get to buy so much land in Fleet?

• November 14, 2023 - Fair Oak Group: The Experimental Housekeeping of Jane Austen’s Good Friend Martha Lloyd - Jane Glennie
• November 15, 2023 - Ringwood Group: Agricultural Labourers - Ian Waller - via Zoom
• November 16, 2023 - Winchester Group: 1939 Register - Peter De Dulin - via Zoom
• November 22, 2023 - Basingstoke Group: Christmas Festivities - Members Only
• November 23, 2023 - Fareham Evening Group: Talk by Jane Glennie
• December 1, 2023 - Fleet & Farnborough Group: Christmas Party & Member’s Evening – From Post To Person
• December 2, 2023 - International Group: [GMT] Young Dickens and How He 'Invente' Christmas - Ian Porter - via Zoom

  The talk starts with Dickens' early life before he became a writer,then you hear of his writing success and fame not leading to financialstability and thus his need to write a money-sinner, which turned out to be A Christmas Carol. I then change tack to give a brief history of Christmas prior to Victorian Times, before linking it with Dickens,and how he was important in bringing about some of the aspects of modern Christmases that we still enjoy today.

• December 12, 2023 - Fair Oak Group: Christmas Festivities
• December 13, 2023 - Gosport Group: Christmas Festivities
• December 14, 2023 - Andover Group: Christmas Festivities
• December 14, 2023 - Winchester Group: Christmas Social
• December 20, 2023 - Ringwood Group: Christmas Festivities In the afternoon
• January 10, 2024 - National Group: Family History on a Budget - David Ennifer

  Many people are put off by the cost of using family history subscription sites and paying for expensive certificates. This talk covers alternative ways of accessing records, both from the UK and overseas. David aims to advise us how to access free sites that we may not already know about and those that charge just a modest fee. The talk will also cover the use of software and the advantages of collaboration with other researchers will be highlighted, using examples and illustrations.

• January 25, 2024 - Fareham Evening Group: Marginalised Ancestors - Janet Few - via Zoom
• February 7, 2024 - International Group: [GMT] Georgian Southampton: The Age of Spas, Stagecoaches and Highwaymen - Andy Skinner

  During the 18th century Southampton grew into a prosperous spa resort. Discover its story in this talk based on the town in the Georgian era.

• March 6, 2024 - National Group: What’s in a Name? Unusual Forenames in the 19th Century - Debbie Bates

  Researching civil registration records leads to the realisation that some parents took a less than traditional approach to naming their offspring. Discover some of the quirky names in birth records, and what they reveal about the times, and the communities, our ancestors lived in.

• April 6, 2024 - International Group: [BST] The Birth of the English Parish Church: from Romans to Normans - Frances Hurd

  Why do we have parish churches at all, and how did they develop? Were there local churches when the Romans were here? Are there any links between the sites, chosen for Christian churches, and the pagan sites used for worship in earlier times? All these and many more questions are answered in this fully illustrated talk. Discover what a Saxon church looked like inside and out, and what form worship took for ordinary villagers. This talk is relevant to any part of England but draws most of its illustrations from Hampshire, Sussex and Wiltshire.