Family History Society

Join A Family History Society

Family history societies are found all over the world. You will most likely find a family history society in an area where your ancestor lived and worked.

Family History Society

As they know the area in which your ancestor lived in they will undoubtedly be of great assistance to you.

I, therefore, urge you to join a family history society to help your genealogy research.

Offer you so much help!

They can give you information to help build your family tree. Practical guides for the beginner are almost usually available from them.

Even if you have been tracing your ancestry for many years and you have made great progress they will still be able to offer you help.

You can connect with other society members and buy materials for your research when you join a family history society.

You can repay the help you that receive by helping the society in different ways.

For example, you can donate your time to help others, assist at fairs and open days or even donate money if you prefer.

Please watch this!

Please check out the following video that is presented by expert genealogist Amy Johnson Crow.

Credit:   Amy Johnson Crow

Here she chats with Josh Taylor about the importance of whether there is a need for genealogy societies.

It’s quite an interesting video to watch as you can tell that there is still an importance for these societies.

Oops, sorry to spoil the video for you.

Express Your Thoughts Below

Express Your Thoughts Below!

I would love to hear from you.

Please note!

It will depend on where you live in the world as you may refer to these groups as a genealogy society, rather than a family history society.

Regardless of what it is called this article will show you what you can expect if you decide to join.

Check Out A Genealogy Society!


Consider Being A Member

To access the materials from a family history society you will have to become a member. A society will charge an annual fee for you to be a member.

Consider Being A Member

This fee may vary depending on whether you are a student, adult, senior, or you are overseas. There may also be family and institution packages memberships available as well.

Membership begins on …

Some societies will begin the membership year on a particular date. This will be irrespective of the joining date.

For example, the date may begin from April 1st through to March 31st the following year.

There is generally a reminder when you need to renew your membership before the year ends.

Anyone can be a member!

Members of family history societies will be from all walks of life. They could be doctors, farmers, musicians, or even retired.

You will also meet members of varying age groups.

Take me for an example!

I am in my late 30s and have been researching my family history for at least six or seven years now. A misconception that some may have is that it is a society catering to the older population.

This could not be further from the truth as I have pointed out about myself. I realized relatively young that I needed to act now and preserve my family history before my older relations passed on without passing on any information.

So, with that in mind, anyone who has got an interest in genealogy can join.

It doesn’t matter what you do for a living, your race, culture, gender, or age. As long as you have a passion for family history then that is the only requirement.

You can also benefit from the older members who may have lots of stories of the area or particular research techniques that they have acquired over the years.

There is such a wealth of guidance that you can get from not only the staff that run these societies but also the members as well.

So, take full advantage of the resources and people when you join.


What Do Family History Societies Offer

A family history society can offer you so much help with your genealogy research. It would be silly not to join such a group of like-minded people.

Not only do staff give practical help that will assist you to break down those brick walls in your research but other members can assist you as well.

There are several opportunities throughout the year where you will be able to interact with other members. These will be the usual monthly meetings.

But your local family history society may also hold fairs and open days as well. These are events usually put on to attract new members.

They can though be of great help to existing members who can share information, strategies, and anything they have learned amongst themselves.

There are usually guide books and other materials sold by a local family history society. Many members will contribute to the produce these publications.

They may write their articles about the local area or the people. Or they contribute in other ways such as the publication and distribution of material.

Within these guides, you may find records of your ancestors listed under old parish registers.

So, rather than you dig and poke, and try to find out where to get a particular record why not ask your local family society.

What you can expect:


Monthly Meetings

Each branch though should put on regular monthly meetings. As a member, you will be granted access to these.

Monthly Meetings

Attend a meeting!

Special guests do usually attend these meetings and discuss a topic that they are currently researching.

A question and answer session will generally follow each guest’s speech.

These meetings are a chance for you to connect with people who may share a common interest.

For example, they may have an interest in the same area or even the same person or family as you.

You may learn from other members practical ways to carry out your research, and where to look for information. Or if you’re extremely lucky they may have research that includes members of your family tree.

You can therefore gain knowledge and guidance from other members at these meetings.


Fairs and Open Days

Similar to monthly meetings, a fair or open day is another great way to further your genealogy research. At these events you can learn what the family history society has to offer.

Fairs and Open Days

There will also be a chance to meet seasoned genealogists and people who have only just begun to trace their family tree.

Check out these events!

These events though will take place only a handful of times throughout the year.

Maybe just once or twice during the year.

You should be able to check out online where your nearest family history society event is.

As these events will attract large crowds, (and also other kinds of societies), they may not be near their headquarters.

Besides an event with other kinds of societies and businesses, a family history society may hold an event solely for themselves.

These can therefore be a quieter affair, rather than the hustle and bustle of a fair.

The local council may though be responsible for holding such events. The council will ask many different societies and clubs to participate.

If you cannot find any family history society events then try to contact the local council.

But prepare yourself first!

It is a good idea for you to prepare yourself before you attend such an event.

First of all, you need to organize your material and plan what you are going to inquire about.

This will help you ask the questions that you need to know the answers to.

There is no point blindly going to an event such as this and walking away with hardly anything that will help you with your genealogy research,


Publications

A family history society will produce regular publications and journals. These are generally only available to their members and they incur a fee to cover the cost of printing and material.

Publications

If you cannot purchase a publication in person then expect to pay for it to be posted to you. You should be able to do this with any family history society

Many publications these days come in digital form, (i.e. a PDF file).

So, you could make it easier for yourself by requesting a document to be downloaded to you.

Documents to expect:

  • Parish, Chapel and School Registers,
  • Military Records, and
  • Monumental Inscriptions.

A register of other members’ interests is usually produced by the society. You can then check this register to see if anyone else has the same interests as you.

By doing so you can contact these other members specializing in the same field as you.

These registers, records, and lists will generally be submitted by the family history society staff.

However, there are other publications where the general public can also submit their research.

Depending on the length of the article they may be available individually, (perhaps a few pages), or together with other articles.

Consider the discarded material!

Unwanted birth, death, or marriage certificates may also be purchased at a discounted price. These certificates would have been incorrectly bought by other members of the society.

Rather than throw away these certificates they are made available to other members for a nominal fee.

You can get documents such as these more cheaply this way. Although there is a strong chance that you may not find what you are looking for.

So, be prepared to return empty-handed. But it is always good to look as you may never know your luck.


What Can You Do For Your Society

Not only can you get help from your local genealogy group but you can also offer your assistance as well.

Donate and Volunteer

Donations are always welcome as these will help towards publications, projects, and events.

You can also offer your services at an open day, fair or monthly meeting.

A list of current research projects is usually made available to its members. You can contact the society and offer your services on a project that may interest you.

This could be transcribing records or checking original documents.


My Final Thoughts

There are many benefits that you can gain from joining a local family history society as I have pointed out in this post.

If you do want to progress further with your genealogy research then this is a great step for you to take.

This is especially true if you have hit a brick wall, you don’t know where next to look, or you are just curious as to what else is out there that can help you with your research.

So, why not go on Google today and search for a family history society that is in your area.

Or you may search for one where your ancestors came from.

Either way, they will be a great resource of information for you and can help you immensely.

Further Information!

Why not head on over to the Genealogy Bank website where Gena Philibert-Ortega shares the many benefits of joining a genealogy society.

Her post, entitled Genealogy 101: Genealogy Societies, covers benefits such as the research assistance you can expect, monthly meetings, library access, discounts, and more besides.


Thank You and Please Leave A Comment

I hope you enjoyed this post about what to expect if you join a family history society. If you have any questions or comments then please leave a comment below.

Please share with family and friends if you think this post will help others by using the social media buttons below.

Summary
Article Name
Join A Family History Society
Description
A Family History Society can help you learn about the area in which your ancestors both lived and worked. See what else they can offer you in this guide.
Author
Publisher Name
The Genealogy Guide
Publisher Logo

16 thoughts on “Join A Family History Society”

  1. Please kindly advise further on how I can become a member as I plan to apply for membership.

    This a very important site as there are alot of people out there including myself who would like to trace their family background.

    I have a doubt that I would like to find out from you, is it possible to retrieve records of families some 200-300 years ago?

    Regards,

    Jose

    1. At present I have not got a list of family history societies on the site. But this is something I WILL do in time. You will have to Google search your local society and then apply that way.

      Depending on where you live you maybe able to get records that far back. I have been able to get records to the mid 1700s.

      All the best with your genealogy research.

      Owain

  2. Wow. I’ve always been interested in my ancestry. Just never took the time to do anything about it. But your site has inspired me, maybe I’ll get on the ball sooner than later now. You truly broke the information down in a way that makes it even more exciting. One can find information on your site needed to proceed. Not to mention it seems a lot more simple than I assumed. Thanks for a great read.

    1. I have tried to make the information accessible on my site. I am glad that I have inspired you. It is a wonderful hobby finding out about your ancestors. It can be overwhelming at times though when you are presented with a lot of information. But after you are done you have something to be proud of that can be preserved for generations to come.

      My How Do I Start My Family History In 10 Steps article will be of great use to you

  3. Online with Nerissa S.

    Wow Owain! This article was very intriguing to say the least. You had be wondering from the time that I read sentence in the first paragraph…

    I instantly began to think if it would be difficult for me to trace my ancestry, given that I am African-American– although my grandmothers on both sides of my family are of mixed race and heritage. I am certainly going to look into a Family History Society in the Midwest region of the US.

    Great read. Thanks tons!

    My best,
    Nerissa S.
    #OnlinewithNerissaS

    1. I am glad that you found this article interesting to you and that I have inspired you to join a family history society. I wish you all the best with your genealogy research.

      Owain

  4. I recently commented on this site, but I am happy to write more since family history is so intriguing for most people. My ancestors are from Croatia. My dads last name is BRONOWICZ which is more polish but my mother is croatian. Croatia is a beautiful country and I hope one day to take my wife and family there;. Poland is also a target to travel too as it is veyr inexpensive and you get a lot for 1 american dollar. Anyway, I would want to research my genes before going and your site seems to offer all that I need to know. Where does the data come from that goes into this system> How accurate is it may I ask?

    1. Thank you again for commenting on my genealogy site. For DNA and genetic testing you first purchase a testing kit. Once you get that you provide a saliva sample. Then you will send that off and after a while you will get some results. These results will show the likelihood of where your ancestors came from. I will be discussing this testing in a future post

  5. Genealogy and History Societies are great. Sometimes when I do research, I will donate to those societies I visit or who help me. We need to understand most of them are on very limited budgets and staffed with volunteers. At one time I did join a society in New York and another in Pennsylvania where I had ancestors. I should probably keep my membership current and try do what I can to help them. Eventually I may want to give some of my research to these societies. Thank you for your article. It reminded me I needed to do more..

    Grant

    1. That’s right many of them are on limited budgets and are staffed by volunteers. It is important to give back to genealogy and help out each other who are also tracing their family history. All the best with your family tree research.

  6. I like this idea, but my mom is from Germany and my father is Norwegian and I live in the states. Seems like it might be impossible for me to find a history society that might help me, right? I have lately been fascinated with trying to find out my family history. Seems like I would have a rather hard time being adopted and having so much family overseas, a lot of which (the elders) have passed away.

    1. It does seem hard when you have family all over the world. But there should be family history societies where your parents were born and these days they should be online. I have add success contacting a society while overseas and getting information on my ancestors. So it can work for you

  7. Do you have any advise on joining a Family History Society that is not Local? Much of my family tree is in Massachusetts and I live in Florida.

    1. You can do a Google search and you should be able to find a society in that area. You will be able to join and they will be able to post what you need or even email. I have had great success myself that way.

  8. you would not believe the size of my family and how far spread over the country we are. I have always wanted to do a family tree but I didn’t know where to start as it seemed to be far too complicated once I got past my grandparents. thanks for the great advice and no how. My task does not seem as daunting now

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *