Welcome to the International Group!

This Group has been created to cater for HGS members worldwide and our aim is to provide online talks and presentations to inspire and help you with your research.

Wherever you are in the world, if you have Hampshire roots, this is a chance to join us online and get to know us better. Our speakers will be able to tell you more about the places where your ancestors lived and worked as well as covering a wider range of topics relevant to any family historian researching ancestors in England and Wales.

Joining this group will provide an opportunity for you to meet online with other people who share the same enthusiasm for their Hampshire ancestry. Skills and expertise can be shared during discussions and, whilst perhaps helping others break down ‘brick walls’ in their research, you may have some help with your own.

If you have ideas or requests for talks or discussion topics, please do get in touch to let us know.

Group Events & Meetings

Two meetings, one a repetition of the other, are held every two months, one on a Saturday morning at 10.00 am and the other on a Wednesday evening at 8.00 pm. The timings are GMT or BST (British Summer Time), depending on the time of year, and are to enable members from all parts of the world to participate in one or the other.

To attend a meeting, please contact the Group Organisers by completing the form on this page and specifying exactly which meeting you wish to attend. You will then be added to the invitation list. Remember to include your membership number or indicate if you are a guest.

• February 7, 2024, 8:00 pm: [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.

• April 6, 2024, 10:00 am: [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.

The Group Co-Organisers are Fiona Ranger and Kay Lovell. They can be contacted using the form below.