04 September 2024
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www.fibis.org/25-years-conference
The main aim of FIBIS (the Families in British India Society) is to help family historians research their British ancestors in India – something they have been doing successfully for 25 years. Read on to learn about FIBIS's activities and its forthcoming conference
What time period does FIBIS cover?
The historical context of FIBIS’s focus is well-known: between the early 1600s, when the first traders working for the East India Company arrived in India, and 350 years later in 1947 when India achieved independence.
During these centuries, thousands of people from the UK lived, worked, married, had children, and died in India, and many of them returned to the place of their birth.
What sort of records does FIBIS provide to researchers?
Digging more deeply than baptisms, marriages, and burials, FIBIS seeks to locate name-rich sources that mention these individuals, to transcribe the sources, and make them available on its free to use website. Another focus is the compilation of publications that help researchers with specific areas of interest in India. Thirdly, FIBIS’s website contains a wealth of further information and contexts.
Search for your ancestors in British India using the FIBIS online name-search
For a simple name-search, FIBIS’s website offers a huge database of named individuals.
New material to search is constantly being made available via the FIBIS website.
At the time of writing, transcriptions being prepared include:
- ‘Madras Nurses and Midwives Register for 1940’;
- nearly 1,000 individual ‘Certificates of Age’ for mariners seeking work aboard the East India Company’s shipping fleet (1787-1800);
- Europeans employed in the Government Telegraph Department (1886-1896);
- and hundreds of railway contracts of employment (1855-1946).
How to search the FREE Families in British India Society online database
The FIBIS database is completely free for anyone to use: see https://fibis.ourarchives.online/bin/index.php
Note the full geographical extent of FIBIS
It is worth noting that FIBIS’s geographical areas of interest includes countries that were associated with the East India Company’s trading activities, such as the former Burma, Straits Settlements, other parts of south east Asia, Aden, and the island of St Helena.
Discover more on the Fibiwiki
For help with historical contexts and links to other research sources, FIBIS also features a Fibiwiki on its website (https://wiki.fibis.org/w/Main_Page) – an online encyclopaedia about life in British India including many images.
How to join FIBIS
FIBIS Membership costs:
- £15 a year (UK);
- £16 (Europe);
- £18 (elsewhere);
- plus paperless membership at £12.
FIBIS membership provides:
- access to two journals a year;
- personalised research assistance at the British Library and The National Archives;
- including help to access records, society events and discounted prices for FIBIS’s publications.
It is certainly worth joining if you haven’t already done so!
Visiting details: FIBIS conference 27-29 September 2024
FIBIS’s 3-day anniversary conference is to be held near Oxford from 27 to 29 September. The theme of the Conference is: “British India: Exploring Colonial Life and Family History”.
There are 18 speakers in 2 theatres:
Theatre 1 “Historical, Trade & Military Insights”
Theatre 2 “Family History, Research & Resources”.
Full details are available at: www.fibis.org/25-years-conference
