*** With the unpredictable situation surrounding Covid-19, HGS has taken the decision to cancel all in-person group meetings for the time being.

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

If you are interested in attending a talk offered by any of the groups, 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.

Please check back regularly for updates.***

We meet regularly 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 the meetings of any of our 13 Hampshire-based groups.  All of these groups meet in the evening with the exception of the Fareham Afternoon Group.
• The International Group meetings are held every two months via Zoom. 
• 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.

• April 12, 2021 - Portsmouth Group: Members’ Evening: Your House History - via Zoom

  A members' evening following on from the March talk. Fiona Ranger, Portsmouth Group Leader, would love to hear from you. Have you got a house story to tell? To enable the evening to be a success, please contact Fiona with what you would like to share.

• April 12, 2021 - Romsey Group: My Website – Kay Lovell + Members’ accounts of how they share their family history with others - via Zoom [NB Second Monday]
• April 13, 2021 - Fair Oak Group: 20103 - Finding My Foundling - Paul Richardson - via Zoom
• April 14, 2021 - Gosport Group: Victorian Merchant Navy - Simon Wills - via Zoom
• April 15, 2021 - Winchester Group: Murder, Desertion & Death: the story of 4 Southampton seamen - Michael Hobbs - via Zoom
• April 21, 2021 - Fareham Afternoon Group: Members' Afternnon - 'Get outta my pub!' - my brewery or publican ancestor - via Zoom

  Following on from our March talk, share your research on your ancestors in the drinks trade. Or perhaps your ancestor was part of the temperance movement and ran a coffee house instead.

• April 21, 2021 - Ringwood Group: Voyages from the past: what it was like for our ancestors who travel by sea - Simon Wills - via Zoom
• April 22, 2021 - Fareham Evening Group: Ethical Dilemmas in Genealogy - Dr Penny Walters - via Zoom

  This talk will look at how the faster pace of internet research has uncovered many new ethical dilemmas include discovering secrets, lies, bigamy, enslavement, criminals, unexpected DNA relatives, upsetting findings, relatives that aren’t now related, unexpected ethnicities.

• April 28, 2021 - Basingstoke Group: My Ancestor was a Liar: Ignorance, half-truths or wilful deceit - Dave Annal - via Zoom
• May 10, 2021 - Romsey Group: Members’ Evening - “Making the Most of the British Newspaper Archive” 1 hour video - via Zoom
• May 11, 2021 - Portsmouth Group: Our Embarrassing Ancestors - Janet Few - via Zoom [NB This is a Tuesday]

  Not all our ancestors were paragons of virtue. Some behaved in a manner that we now find unacceptable or abhorrent. Are we embarrassed by those family members? What aspects of the lives of our ancestors might make us feel uncomfortable? Does it matter when the ancestor lived; is there a point at which some actions become exciting or interesting, rather than alarming? Have genealogists’ reactions to certain conditions and behaviours changed over time? Are we tempted, like genealogists of the past, to remove them, or their mis-demeanours, from the record?
  This presentation is a thought-provoking and hard-hitting look at our reactions to ancestors who might have been a source for embarrassment. Some sources for discovering those ancestors will also be mentioned.

• May 11, 2021 - Fair Oak Group: Who the Hell is Arthur? - Neil Littleales - via Zoom
• May 12, 2021 - Gosport Group: A Schoolgirl’s War - Mary Smith Jones - Zoom
• May 13, 2021 - Andover Group: My Ancestors’ Travels by Sea - Simon Wills - via Zoom
• May 13, 2021 - Fleet & Farnborough Group: Who the hell is Arthur? - Neil Littleales - via Zoom

  Neil will give an investigative approach to the search for parentage and medical ancestry.

• May 19, 2021 - Ringwood Group: Life aboard the Mary Rose (describing various crew members) - Dr Ken Collins & Jenny Mallinson - via Zoom
• May 20, 2021 - Winchester Group: Who the hell is Arthur? - Neil Littleales - via Zoom
• May 26, 2021 - Basingstoke Group: Members’ Presentation: Presentation by Jane Hussey on Education, along with other members of the group
• June 5, 2021 - International Group: Royal Flying Corps and Hampshire - Colonel Paul Beaver - via Zoom
• June 7, 2021 - Romsey Group: Don’t Believe Everything You’re Told – Jane Fox - via Zoom
• June 8, 2021 - Fair Oak Group: Members’ Evening – To be Arranged
• June 9, 2021 - Gosport Group: Sons of the Soil: Researching our agricultural labouring ancestors - Janet Few - via Zoom
• June 10, 2021 - Andover Group: ’Roast Mongoose, anyone?’: How reliable are church registers? - Dennis Bill - via Zoom

  Dennis shares some of his Family History research journey.

• June 10, 2021 - Fleet & Farnborough Group: Dad's Army: Fact and Fiction - Steve Roberts - via Zoom

  Steve will look at the real Home Guard, its portrayal in the popular TV series.

• June 14, 2021 - Portsmouth Group: My Grandma's Birthday Book - Fiona Ranger - via Zoom

  Using family heirlooms can help you trace your family history, or it can hamper your research!  Fiona uses one particular heirloom to test this theory, she backs her findings using many different resources.

• June 16, 2021 - Ringwood Group: Two Centuries of the Census - Gillian Blanchard - via Zoom
• June 17, 2021 - Winchester Group: Strangers and Aliens - Cheryl Butler - via Zoom
• June 23, 2021 - Basingstoke Group: Moving Forward: How to bring your research up to date - Antony Marr
• July 5, 2021 - Romsey Group: Lifting the Lid – Miranda Pender
• July 8, 2021 - Andover Group: Mixing DNA results and the paper trail - Penny Walters - via Zoom

  Penny gives clear, down-to-earth tips and advice.

• July 9, 2021 - New Milton & Christchurch Group: Members’ Evening - Recent Family History Finds

  Update us with what you have discovered during Lockdown.

• July 12, 2021 - Portsmouth Group: TBA - via Zoom
• July 13, 2021 - Fair Oak Group: World War II: Its Effects on a Small Community in Hampshire - Tony Cross - via Zoom
• July 28, 2021 - Basingstoke Group: Members’ Presentation Queries on a birth, marriage or death certificate - a chance to discuss them with the rest of the group.
• August 2, 2021 - Romsey Group: ** No meeting in August **