*** With the unpredictable situation surrounding Covid-19, HGS has taken the decision to cancel all in-person group meetings until at least the end of this year.

Many of our groups will run virtual meetings, using Zoom, so please check the individual group pages for details.

If you see a talk offered by ?any? of the groups, please feel free to contact the appropriate group organiser to be added to the invitation list.

Please check back regularly for updates.***?

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

*** All HGS group meetings are cancelled until July 2020.

Perhaps take this time to further your research – even break down a brick wall!

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• August 3, 2020 - Romsey Group: Summer Break - No Meeting
• August 3, 2020 - Portsmouth Group: Summer Break - No meeting
• August 10, 2020 - Alton Group: Summer Break - No Meeting
• August 11, 2020 - Fair Oak Group: Summer Outing: Guided Walk of Old Bursledon - Eric Reed
• August 12, 2020 - Gosport Group: Summer Break - No Meeting
• August 13, 2020 - Fleet & Farnborough Group: Social Event - TBA
• August 13, 2020 - Andover Group: Summer Break - No Meeting
• August 19, 2020 - Ringwood Group: Members' Summer Social - Details to follow
• August 20, 2020 - Winchester Group: Summer Break - No Meeting
• August 26, 2020 - Basingstoke Group: Summer Function
• August 27, 2020 - Fareham Evening Group: Members’ Evening - Ask the Experts - via Zoom
• September 7, 2020 - Portsmouth Group: The Triangle Girls - Cheryl Jewitt and Colin Lay
• September 7, 2020 - Romsey Group: Paupers, Peasants or Proletariat? Who were the Swing Rioters of Winchester? - Elaine Boyes - via Zoom

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

• September 8, 2020 - Fair Oak Group: Voyages from the Past: Passengers at Sea in Your Family Tree - Simon Wills

  What was it like for our ancestors who travelled by sea as passengers to work, emigrate or for pleasure?

• September 9, 2020 - Gosport Group: To be advised (Scheduled meeting by Bob France has been cancelled)
• September 10, 2020 - Andover Group: Counting for People - Dave Annal - via Zoom

  A census of England and Wales has been taken every ten years since 1801 and the surviving records now form one of family history’s key resources. The schedules for the years 1841 to 1911 are now easily accessible online but finding our ancestors isn’t always as easy as we like. Based on more than thirty years experience of working with census returns, this talk will introduce some essential techniques for searching online databases and will provide some vital clues to help you track down your elusive ancestors.

• September 10, 2020 - Fleet & Farnborough Group: 400th Anniversary of the Mayflower sailing – Dr Simon Wills

  What life was like for our ancestors who travelled by sea: the risks and dangers? How has it improved since the 1600s? How can you find ships' passengers?

• September 16, 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.

• September 16, 2020 - Ringwood Group: Dating Old Photographs - Jane Fox
• September 23, 2020 - Basingstoke Group: Getting your stuff in order: Documenting your Family History - Jane Fox - via Zoom
• September 24, 2020 - Fareham Evening Group: TBA
• October 5, 2020 - Portsmouth Group: Droughts, Deluges and Dust-devils: 350 years of Weather - Ian Currie

  Several centuries of weather with particular reference to SE England. From 7 metre high snowdrifts, cricket ball sized hail, blazing summers to violent tornadoes or devastating floods.

• October 5, 2020 - Romsey Group: Family Legends, Part III – Kay Lovell - via Zoom
• October 8, 2020 - Andover Group: Sold, Separated, Divorced - Ian Waller - via Zoom

  Throughout history marriages have always broken down having a significant effect on the family. Not everyone divorced but there are records recording desertion, wife sale, separation and divorce some of which needed an Act of Parliament.

• October 8, 2020 - Fleet & Farnborough Group: Members’ Evening plus HGS Bookstall

  Members Talks and visit by HGS Pop-up Bookstall & update on the HGS website.

• October 13, 2020 - Fair Oak Group: Members’ Evening
• October 14, 2020 - Gosport Group: Members’ Evening
• October 21, 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?

• October 21, 2020 - Ringwood Group: Members' Evening - The Meaning of your Surname?
• October 22, 2020 - Fareham Evening Group: 'Roast Moose anyone?': How reliable are church registers? - Dennis Bill - via Zoom
• October 28, 2020 - Basingstoke Group: Members’ Presentations - Newspaper Findings
• November 2, 2020 - Portsmouth Group: Maps - Les Mitchinson

  Maps are valuable to family historians seeking to locate their ancestor’s property or to place them in a particular location.

• November 2, 2020 - Romsey Group: Members’ Evening – Military Ancestors - via Zoom

  With November being the month of remembrance, and with 2020 being the 75th anniversary of the end of WW2, this meeting will focus on those who served in the military forces. It will be an opportunity for our members to share stories of their own ancestors and relatives.

• November 10, 2020 - Fair Oak Group: The Lady in the Yellow Caravan - Jane Glennie
• November 11, 2020 - Gosport Group: U-boat Enigmas - Tony Babb

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