HGS Conference Programme 2020

Naval records can sometimes seem as impenetrable as brick walls, and Christopher makes no claim to have all the answers.   However, he will explore sources, attempt to enlighten research into naval people and their environment, and introduce his unique data collection methods in this field.

Christopher served over 30 years in the Royal Navy, in submarines and surface ships.   Since retiring from the Service, he has spent almost as long researching naval records and recording data regarding naval people.

Like us our ancestors were repeatedly taxed and often asked to register for some level of military service but, unlike us, they were often asked to assert their loyalty either to church or state. This talk will run through a whole range of possibilities, many of them national sources, some covering all males, some covering all householders including women and some covering everybody except the very poor.

Michael is  a renowned genealogist, professional researcher, lecturer and author.  He wrote Tracing Your Catholic Ancestors for The National Archives’ award-winning Pocket Guide series and is the author of numerous other books on genealogy. A former chairman of the Catholic History Society, he has been tracing his own ancestry for over 40 years.

A series of cautionary tales for family historians, each designed to show how easy it is to make wrong assumptions or to draw inaccurate conclusions.  The focus will be on British genealogical sources.

John is a professional genealogist, freelance writer and  lecturer. He has written a number of books and articles on accents and dialects, cinema studies and family history and is the author/editor of the latest edition of the Penguin Dictionary of  British Surnames.   He is a Trustee and Chairman of Examiners for the Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies and former Vice–Chairman and Chairman of the Board of Assessors for AGRA.   He is a Fellow of the Society of Genealogists and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.