The Society of Genealogists

The Society of Genealogists is a charity whose object is to support, both by research facilities and personal guidance, those interested in tracing their family history. All links are exceptionally clear and, without images, speed is excellent. When the homepage appears it may look complete, but, in fact, you need to scroll down to see it all.


SPECIAL FEATURES


Who, How & Where is the best introduction for newcomers. It tells how to contact the society and gives opening hours. How to Join tells you about subscription rates, and the committe procedure to approve membership. You can't sign up online but, if you've been convinced of the value of joining, you can download an application form.


Library is a massive resource, with over 9,000 transcriptions of Parish Registers, County Records, Census material, Poll Books and Directories. It also contains much material on the professions, the services, the peerage, religious denominations, schools and universities – an absolutely essential starting point. Particularly useful is the 'Before Coming to the Library' advice, which suggests preparatory work you should do to make your visit more productive. Money from the Heritage Lottery Fund has been used to computerise the catalogue of their holdings, but this is unfortunately not available online. Information Leaflets should not be missed. Here you can read about topics such as Note Taking and Keeping for Genealogists, the Right to Arms, and a Practical Guide to Employing a Professional Researcher. Parish Register Copies, found under Society Online will tell you county by county, and then by place name exactly which registers and for what years are in the collection. Some may even be borrowed by members.


Society Publications include books, maps, microfiche, software, and data CDs. Online ordering is secure, but browsing is not easy, and the navigation icons are by no means self evident. If you want to search, click on the row of question marks.


Lectures & Events gives information about the Society's lectures and courses, most of which are held at their own premises in London, with some further afield, as well as visits to such museums and archives.


Society Online gives details of mailing lists, hosted by RootsWeb, and other online material currently available. It also offers Genealogists' Magazine and Computers in Genealogy are links to the Society's own publications, with good details of the contents of both current and past issues. Articles and reviews that are over a year old can be read online.


Links is actually a way in to a very useful page headed 'Essential websites'. Bookmarking this as a first-stop entry point might be a very natty, shortcut way of accessing many other highly useful organisations, without the need to list them all individually. Have a look and see what you think.