13 December 2024
|
The Society of Genealogists (SoG) has a wealth of resources to help you learn skills to explore your family history and trace your ancestors’ lives in-depth. Find out much more about the Society of Genealogists and what it has to offer with this in-depth guide.
From educational talks and courses to a community full of people passionate about family history - plus a Research Hub and digitised record collections - the Society of Genealogists offers a wide range of services for family historians.
Quick Links
- Catch Up on the Top 10 Talks from 2024!
- What will you choose to learn about?
- Unique pedigree collection
- Grow your confidence & knowledge – at Palaeography Club
- Collaborate, support, discuss: welcome to Professional Corner
- Hone your family history skills with online courses
- Family History Skills Courses Dates 2025
- The Society of Genealogists - timeline
Catch Up on the Top 10 Talks from 2024!
Here are our top 10 most loved talks from 2024. All still available through SoG’s Gold Membership. To access all these, and many more, please see www.sog.org.uk/join
- Brickwall Buster – Work collaboratively on research queries, the insights gained provide a valuable learning experience for all.
- Armed Forces Hour – Led by military historian Graham Bandy, identify those cap badges and tackle your ancestors’ service records.
- Getting the most out of Goldie May – Ever lose track of websites you have visited? Discover the time-saving research aid Goldie May, helping you keep a note of every website you visit and much more.
- How far did your ancestor travel? – Assess the extent of your ancestors travels and define your geographical research parameters.
- Using a research methodology – Learn how to become more efficient when doing your family history, so that you really are making the most of your precious time!
- Using county archives’ poor law records – Find how to use these major record collections, many of which have yet to be digitised, and learn more about your ancestors’ experiences of poverty.
- Mind the gaps – Improve your research. Learn how to fill in the gaps in your discoveries – from key records yet to be located, to long periods of time unaccounted for.
- Tracing Welsh ancestors – Welsh family history research has its own particular challenges. Learn how to tackle them, and keep progressing with your genealogy.
- Workhouse ancestors – Go beyond the workhouse door, learn what life was like for your ancestors who had no choice but to enter, and get to grips with the range of records to consult.
- Take a virtual tour of the east of the City –Take an online tour and walk the streets of East London paying particular attention to the history that is still there for the observant to enjoy.
What will you choose to learn about?
The Society of Genealogists’ education programme is renowned for the richness and diversity of the presentations provided. From tips to help you start your family tree, to advice to help you dig deeper and grow your research skills. Discover how to correct past mistakes, trace your family history in detail and explore the social history of the times your ancestors lived through.
Unique pedigree collection
The original pedigrees held by the Society of Genealogists are remarkable both for their historical value and artistic beauty.
The Society of Genealogists’ Pedigree Roll archive holds an extensive collection of around 9,000 pedigrees spanning over 20,000 sheets, securely stored in more than 500 boxes at the Society’s offsite facility.
As part of an ambitious five-year project, volunteers have been scanning these documents and creating GEDCOM files to facilitate digital access. A selection of these extraordinary family trees can already be viewed through TreeSearch™, the digital project on the Society’s website, where users can explore detailed images of large pedigree documents containing thousands of names.
Over time, the entire collection will be accessible on our new SoG Explore digital platform. Meanwhile, a spreadsheet inventory listing all available pedigrees can be found in our Archive Finding Aids on the library page of our website: www.sog.org.uk/research-hub/library.
Grow your confidence & knowledge – at Palaeography Club
The free members-only Palaeography Club is a fun hour working together to transcribe historical documents, exploring letter forms and abbreviations. Each session covers records like parish registers, estate documents, and school archives, with background provided along the way.
Highlights include gems such as:
- Church Court records (e.g., disciplining someone for wearing a hat during a sermon)
- The 1590 will of Sybell Tryvett
- A letter by Bess of Hardwick
Members can submit documents in advance, and selected examples are discussed for everyone’s benefit.
About the Tutor
Dr. Caroline Adams, a freelance archivist and historian, previously served as Senior Archivist at West Sussex Record Office.
How to Attend
Meetings are held via Zoom, the second Tuesday of each month, 7.30–8.30pm. Join at www.sog.org.uk/join.
Collaborate, support, discuss: welcome to Professional Corner
Genealogy, and self-employment, can be isolating, no matter how passionate you are about the past. Whether you need advice on research challenges, business tips, or best practices, the Professional Corner forum and talks are here to help. It’s a space to ask tricky questions and gain insights from fellow professionals.
The Society of Genealogists’ Professional Corner talks focus on the needs of professional genealogists. Past topics include branding your genealogy business, AI, and advice on writing and publishing to enhance your profile. Talks are recorded and added to the Gold Library for future viewing.
Members praise the programme: “A superbly organised workshop covering many points... the handout was well-designed with thoughtful questions and space for notes,” says Mandy.
How to Attend
Gold members can access the back catalogue of talks. Live talks are open to all. Join today at www.sog.org.uk/join.
Hone your family history skills with online courses
Become more proficient at genealogy research when you take a skills course.
“If only I had taken the courses 20+ years ago at the outset, I would have saved so much time and achieved so much more!”
This was the feedback from a SoG Family History Skills Course attendee.
Now, we are not wishing to make you have any genealogically-related regrets, but we are definitely wishing to help you save time and to achieve more when it comes to doing your family history. To that end we have developed a series of three online skills courses.
About the Skills Courses: Stages 1, 2 & 3 Each of the three skills courses is 12 weeks long, with a 2-hour weekly online class, tutored by experienced experts, and provides a solid foundation on which to build your family history, with, of course, scope for further reading and research through the week as much as your time allows.
When are the courses run?
The courses run through the year, with January, April and September start dates for the Stage 1, 2 and 3 courses respectively.
Why take a skills course?
Many students are very pleasantly surprised at how swiftly and comprehensively their research skills grow when taking the course. Some people take a skills course as they wish to ensure they’re “doing it right” - and this is a valuable consideration, helping you build both confidence and efficiency when doing your family history.
Family History Skills Courses Dates 2025
- Stage 1 Family History Skills Course with expert tutors (12 weeks of 2 hour Saturday morning classes) Saturday, 11 January 2025 10:30
- Stage 2 Family History Skills Course with Expert Tutors (12 weeks of 2 hour Saturday morning classes) Saturday, 26 April 2025 10:30
- Stage 3 Family History Skills Course with Expert Tutors (12 weeks of 2-hour Saturday morning classes) Saturday, 27 September 2025 10:30
The Society of Genealogists - timeline
The Society of Genealogists has been supporting and leading the genealogy community for over a century, and in 2025 is proudly celebrating its flagship publication, The Genealogist’s 100th birthday.
- 1911 - Society of Genealogists established
- 1925 - The first issue of The Genealogist published
- 2024 - Society of Genealogists opens the doors to its new state-of-the-art Research Hub
- 2025 - Society of Genealogists celebrates the 1st anniversary of the SoG Gold membership
