31 January 2025
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Expert and friendly, the Family History Federation is a genealogy organisation with more than 50 years of experience in helping people to do their family history. Read on to learn more about the Federation and the many ways it can help you. Guide by Helen Tovey
What is the Family History Federation, and what services do they offer?
The Family History Federation is an umbrella organisation that provides many useful services for the family history community.
From support to family history societies, to running and attending family history shows, publishing family history books, and providing family history advice, and working with archives, the Family History Federation is an organisation that helps the genealogy community in numerous capacities.
Are there local family history societies affiliated with the Family History Federation in my area?
There very well may be so it is definitely working checking out the Federation’s directory of family history societies: click here.
The Federation is well known for the help and support it provides to its member societies, but what are these member societies?
- The societies number well over a hundred family history organisations and include both those based in the UK and worldwide too.
- Many of the societies are locally based, eg for a county, while some are specialist (for a nationality or a name, for instance).
They are each run by a group of volunteers and provide their members with access to monthly meetings, a society journal, and advice, for instance, in the form of a help desk.
What are the benefits of joining a society affiliated with the Family History Federation?
The benefits to you of joining a family history society are numerous and include the following:
- In-person family history help, and advice on family history research skills and records, when you attend the monthly meetings;
- Access to local family history expertise, to help your solve your family research queries, when you join a society in the area your ancestors’ came from (it's a wonderful feeling, being immersed in a community of people who are each as fascinated by the history of the local area as you are);
- Involvement in the genealogy community, meeting like-minded people who share your fascination about history;
- Improved genealogy research skills, gained when you volunteer for a family history project organised by a family history society.
How can I become a member of the Family History Federation or a family history society?
If you currently run a family history group, and would like your group to join as a member organisation of the Federation, see the guidance as to your next step to take here.
If you are an individual family historian, you would be well-advised to join a family history society.
- Many family history fans are members of more than one society. For instance, some people are a member of their local family history society and are also a member of the society, or societies, that relate to the places their ancestors came from.
- The annual membership fees for family history societies tend to be extremely reasonable (very often in the region of just £10-£20 a year). Learn about joining a society here.
How can I access publications from the Family History Federation?
About the Family History Books Online – find family history books to help you.
Family History Books Online is the bookshop of the Family History Federation. Via the online bookstore you’ll find publications by the Federation covering all sorts of genealogy topics, beginner to advanced. Plus find family history titles from many other publishers too, and DNA tests, making for a one-stop shop for many of your family history needs.
For many books and booklets of specialist and/or local interest, see the Parish Chest – the genealogy web story web store run by the Federation, at which you’ll find family history society publications, indexes, transcriptions, guides and more.
(What are the publications of indexes and transcriptions? They are publications, that may cover, for instance, the memorial inscriptions of a graveyard, typed up in a book or available as a digital download, enabling you to locate your ancestors' graves).
Note too, that you can also enjoy shopping in the Federation’s bookshop, in person, at numerous family history events throughout the year.
Does the Family History Federation host events or workshops for genealogy enthusiasts?
Yes it does!
About the family history events – find a family history day near you.
With member societies in numerous locations, keep an eye out for a family history event near you.
- While ‘online’ is great, there’s nothing like meeting up with fellow family history fans in person.
- A typical family history day will include talks by experts on a range of family history topics, a help or ask-the-experts desk stands selling all those genealogy goodies you need – from books and DNA kits, to genealogy software and of course family tree charts!
- Plus you gain the opportunity to speak in person with experts and vendors. You’re sure to come away having learned loads of new things and feel totally inspired to find out more about your family history.
Below are examples of two family history shows for spring 2025:
South West FHF Really Useful Family History Show
Saturday 29th March 2025, 10:00-16:00
Kinson Community Centre (Pelhams), BOURNEMOUTH, BH10 7LH
Working in partnership with Devon Family History Society, Dorset FHS and the Federation present the South West FHF Really Useful Family History Show.
- At the show you can attend talks by knowledgeable speakers (Debbie Kennett & Janet Few), plus book a meet-the-experts slot and get help dating a family photo or deciphering an old family will. DNA advice and general family history help will also be available.
- So come along, ask your questions, and make progress on your family history research.
- Plus there is an extensive list of family history exhibitors at this show – perfect to help you get both good advice and meet your genealogy shopping needs too!
Keep up with the show news at here.
Suffolk FHS Annual Fair
Saturday 26th April 2025, 10:00-16:00
The Hold, Ipswich
- Come to this show and enjoy fascinating talks (by Ian Waller, Nick Barratt and Judith Berry), interesting displays and stalls and a free family history help desk (11am-3pm).
Find out more here.
What other resources does the Family History Federation provide for genealogy?
Find a speaker
If you organise family history talks, for in-person presentations or virtual ones, see the directory of speakers, with their specialisms, on the Federation's website: here
Learn about key projects
To learn more about the history and activities of the Family History Federation over the five decades since its establishment, see the blog post here, which has coverage of some of the important projects the Federation has supported over the decades. Plus it has details of some of the many individual family history societies which celebrated notable milestones over the past year or so.
Get the Federation enews
Note too the Really Useful material from the Federation – such as their regular Really Useful enewsletter. This can be the best way to keep up with Family History Federation news, details of upcoming society shows, new family history books being published and more. Sign up to it here.
