We meet monthly to discuss the opportunity 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 meetings of any of our 13 active groups – our newest being Winchester! All groups meet in the evening with the exception of the Fareham Afternoon Group – see page via Groups Menu for details.
• Visit their pages via the Groups Menu to see their monthly programme of talks, news and articles.  Contact a Group Organiser using the form at the bottom of each Group’s 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

• February 26, 2020 - Basingstoke Group: Members’ Presentations - Emigration in the Family (not convicts)
• February 27, 2020 - Fareham Evening Group: Members’ Evening – including HGS Bookstall and demo of new website/social media
• March 2, 2020 - Portsmouth Group: My Genealogical Journey - Phil Brown
• March 2, 2020 - Romsey Group: Brick Walls and Lost Ancestors: problem solving for family historians – David Annal

  Even the luckiest of family historians will come up against brick walls from time to time. We’ve all experienced the feeling that our ancestors appeared from thin air. This talk will aim to show that everyone left a paper trail and that it’s almost always possible to find it. It will introduce a number of strategies to help you get around the brick walls and dead ends in your research, paying particular attention to getting the most out of online databases and advanced techniques such as ‘family reconstruction’.

• March 9, 2020 - Alton Group: Demystifying DNA: a Springboard to Your Ancestry? - Neil Littleales

  Science has revolutionised Genealogy, but do you understand what it means, how it works and what the results of your search might bring? This talk explores, with simple explanations and examples, the power of DNA and the way in which it can unlock doors and break down walls that have prevented the discovery of long-lost relatives and the histories of your family.

• March 10, 2020 - Fair Oak Group: Members’ Evening - to include demo of new website/social media - Elaine Boyes/Gwen Newland
• March 11, 2020 - Gosport Group: Murder, Desertion & Death - Mike Hobbs

  Mike's talk features stories of four family members, all merchant seamen from Southampton.

• March 12, 2020 - Andover Group: Paupers, Peasants or Proletariat? Who were the Swing Rioters of Winchester? - Elaine Boyes

  A comparative study of Winchester's rural parishes 1825-1830.

• March 12, 2020 - Fleet & Farnborough Group: Minley Manor – Major Ian Mattison (ret’d)

  A jewel, with compelling architectural history and fascinating story of four generations of the Currie family giving an insight into in late 19th and early twentieth centuries.

• March 13, 2020 - New Milton & Christchurch Group: The Long Road to Universal Suffrage - John Heighes

  From the Barons to Votes for Women.

• March 18, 2020 - Fareham Afternoon Group: Crime and Punishment in the 19th Century - Colin Moretti

  The talk touches on crimes and the system of punishment at the end of the 18th century and then addresses the major reforms to sentencing policy and the prison system that took place in the 19th. Portland Prison is covered at length as an example of the reformed system.

• March 18, 2020 - Ringwood Group: The Beaulieu Finishing School for SOE - Nick Saunders
• March 19, 2020 - Winchester Group: Using DNA to further your research - Graham and Rosemary Mist
• March 25, 2020 - Basingstoke Group: My Ancestor was a Liar - Dave Annal

  Sifting through the evidence to find the truth (or what passes for the truth in the world of genealogy) is a skill which all serious family historians need to develop. The information left by our ancestors is all-too-frequently misleading, inaccurate or just plain wrong! As we become more experienced we find that they had any number of reasons to be economical with the truth.
  Of course, sometimes our ancestors simply didn’t know the answer to the questions thrown at them by the clerks, registrars and enumerators. Using real examples, this talk will look at some of the reasons why our ancestors might have lied and offer suggestions on how to recognise their varying degrees of ignorance, half-truths and wilful deception.

• March 26, 2020 - Fareham Evening Group: The History and Mystery of Maps - Tony Painter
• April 6, 2020 - Portsmouth Group: Winchester: Bishops, buildings and bones: Part 2 - Andrew Negus

  The second talk in Andrew's series on the history of Winchester covers 1100-1600. We shall see how Winchester is involved in national events which brought wealth and prestige but sometimes extreme violence and destruction. We shall meet several rich and crafty bishops and look at the magnificent buildings and institutions they created. We shall see what a profitable businesses they promoted with Winchester’s collection of noble bones. However there will be rats to deal with in Winchester’s streets ‘strewn with donge and other filthy things’. These rats bring devastation to the city but also help create one of England’s most famous schools.

• April 6, 2020 - Romsey Group: The National Archives – Les Mitchinson

  How to get the most from your visit.

• April 8, 2020 - Gosport Group: The Excise at Work - Phoebe Merrick
• April 9, 2020 - Andover Group: Members’ Evening
• April 14, 2020 - Fair Oak Group: Who the Hell is Arthur? - Neil Littleales

  A truly investigative approach to genealogy told through a personal and fascinating account of the search for my father’s parentage and medical ancestry. The journey takes the audience on a countrywide tour, exposing lies, deceit, discovery and deception. Delivering traditional family history techniques with a modern twist.

• April 15, 2020 - Fareham Afternoon Group: Members' Afternoon - A Criminal in Your Family?

  Following on from Colin Moretti's talk last month, we will share details of our criminal ancestors. Maybe they were a vagrant, didn't have a dog license, masterminded a robbery or they were a murderer! What was their punishment?

• April 15, 2020 - Ringwood Group: Members’ Evening - Transcribing
• April 16, 2020 - Winchester Group: Murder, Desertion and Death - Mike Hobbs

  Mike's talk features stories of four family members, all merchant seamen from Southampton.

• April 16, 2020 - Fleet & Farnborough Group: Annual Meeting and Members’ Talks
• April 17, 2020 - New Milton & Christchurch Group: Other Societies and What They Offer - Four of Our Members

  But tell us of any others you belong to.

• April 20, 2020 - Alton Group: Members’ Evening: Transcribing ***Note change to usual date
• April 22, 2020 - Basingstoke Group: Moving Forward: How to bring your research up to date - Antony Marr

  Looking at moving your existing family research forward through the C20th, finding lost family and missing relatives through the use of the records of civil registration, probate, electoral registers and other on-line searches. The talk will look at methods of research, and also the ethical and practical issues you may encounter in this sensitive area.

• April 23, 2020 - Fareham Evening Group: Members’ Evening – To be Arranged
• May 4, 2020 - Portsmouth Group: Members’ Evening - House History
• May 4, 2020 - Romsey Group: In My Father’s Footsteps - Dave Lovell

  Dave will recount his father’s PoW experience during WW2 and the long march he and thousands of others were forced to make across Eastern Europe during 1945 when the war was coming to an end.

• May 11, 2020 - Alton Group: Woodland Industries in Southern England - Tim Winter
• May 12, 2020 - Fair Oak Group: Southampton City Buses in the Post-War Period - David Hutchings
• May 13, 2020 - Gosport Group: Sentiments in Silk - Neil Littleales

  A journey of discovery, taking the audience through a brief history of the silk postcard and its heyday during the First World War. Utilizing Neil’s vast collection of postcards, individual items are selected to demonstrate how the research discovered the story behind the message sent and those to whom, a century ago, the card meant so much.

• May 14, 2020 - Andover Group: Heir Hunt: the Real Deal - Kirsty Gray
• May 14, 2020 - Fleet & Farnborough Group: Birth & Death – Anthony Marr

  Discover the hidden secrets of registration.