26 September 2024
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The cover of the Leicestershire & Rutland Family History Society (LRFHS) Golden Jubilee September 2024 Journal, featuring 1970s Leicester band Showaddywaddy (Photograph obtained directly from Dave Bartram, lead singer)
This autumn the Leicestershire & Rutland Family History Society celebrate 50 years. Read on to find out what's happening...
Like a number of other family history societies, the Leicestershire and Rutland Family History Society began life in 1974 and so celebrates its Golden Jubilee this year.
Susan Lester reports on the society’s starting point five decades ago, the celebrations in 2024, and the society’s Special Golden Jubilee Membership offer.
How did the Leicestershire & Rutland Family History Society start?
The Leicestershire & Rutland Family History Society began as the ‘Leicester Family History Circle’ and comprised members of family history classes run by local historian Jonathan Wilshere, who became the first chairman. There was an initial limit of 50 members and subscriptions were set up at 50 pence per annum.
The next 49 years saw the society develop in all aspects – membership numbers, meeting venues, libraries/research centres, logos, local groups and numerous indexing projects. Our journal has developed from two sides of A4 back in 1974 to an 80-page booklet by 2024.
Society celebrations on tour
Our 50th year started off with a Zoom talk from Nick Barratt on ‘The Future of Family History.’ We have followed this up by creating an exhibition charting our history and with a range members’ stories. This is touring to various local venues over the course of 2024.
Come to the family history day!
Our main celebratory event will take place on Saturday 5th October – a one-day family history event with a programme of free talks, local exhibitors, a family history help desk and lots of activities for children including the creation of memory boxes.
About the LRFHS Research Centre
Currently, the LRFHS has a Research Centre in Leicester’s famous ‘Every Street’ and which has a great view over the city’s historic Town Hall Square.
Opening times of the LRFHS Research Centre:
We’re open three days a week (plus the second Saturday of the month) and have a team of enthusiastic volunteers who offer assistance to visitors, whether they’re new to research or more experienced.
Alongside our regular opening sessions, we also run half day courses on various aspects of family history research for both members and non-members.
How the family history society Search Service helps
We provide a Search Service via email or post for those with family history queries or challenges and these searches are wide ranging in scope.
We have recently helped with researching the lives of those involved in the Manton Tunnel accident of May 1924 (with the Railway Work, Life and Death Project), someone finding a link with Leicester’s famous suffragette Alice Hawkins and an enquiry which led to us locating a local house where a founder member of Club Athletico, Penarol lived. Our first enquiry from Uruguay!
Unique family history society indexes & resources
Over the last 50 years the society has produced a large number of indexes and although a lot of this data is now available online the LRFHS does have quite a few resources which have not yet been digitalised. These include:
- Leicester School Board indexes 1878-1935;
- over 89,000 county memorial inscriptions;
- three different indexes to local newspapers for WWI casualties/photographs;
- a surname index for events 1939-1945 in the Leicester Chronicle;
- militia lists;
- Hearth Tax indexes;
- and lay subsidy rolls from the 1500s.
How the Leicestershire & Rutland Family History Society can help you find parish register information
In addition, over the years our volunteers have visited many Anglican & Non-Conformist churches and collected information direct from marriage registers still held by them that are not available online or at Register Offices. Information about these marriages is included in our Marriage Index CDs and further information about the marriages can often be made available.
A full list of our 75 resources (available via download, memory stick or CD) can be found under ‘Shop’ on our website and prices start at just £2. They are all available at our Research Centre or we can check resources via our Search Service.
Come to the family history society meetings - local groups, face-to-face & online
The society has four local groups – in Leicester, Market Harborough, Hinckley and Oakham – all of which organise programmes of face-to-face talks. During the winter months we also organise a series of Zoom talks and these have become very popular, especially with our out of county members.
We promote the society as widely as possible, especially at local heritage and history fairs. We have a very active Facebook page (with over 10 posts a week) and we also interact regularly on X (Twitter) with other societies and genealogists.
LRFHS Publicity Officer, Sue Lester, says, ‘Our Golden Jubilee year has been an exciting milestone in the society’s history. We are very grateful to all the members and volunteers who, over the last 50 years, have supported the society and worked hard in so many capacities to ensure we are still in existence today.’
Want to join us in our 51st year – we have a Special Golden Jubilee Membership offer. See ‘Find out More’ for details.
Find out more about Leicestershire & Rutland Family History Society
LRFHS, Rutland Suite,
7-9 Every Street, Leicester
LE1 6AG
Website: www.lrfhs.org.uk
Tel (during opening hours) : 0116 255 9738
