Sheffield family history fair attracts hundreds

Visitors browsed stalls and listened to talks about aspects of researching your ancestors.

Judith Salvin from the group said: “Genealogy, or discovering your family history, is a fascinating hobby but it can be difficult to know where to start or where to get help if you hit brick walls.

“Joining a family history society, whether you’re a beginner or an experienced researcher, is one way of meeting like-minded people who share your interest and it gives you access to resources about your local area and ancestors who lived there.”

The society was founded in 1977 by the late Professor David Hey of the University of Sheffield and promotes the study of local, social and family history.

It covers the whole of Sheffield – from Bradfield in the west to Tinsley in the east, from Stocksbridge in the north to Mosborough and Totley on the Derbyshire border to the south.

The society meets at 7.30pm on the third Monday of every month between January and June and September and November and in July there is a local outing. In 2015 there were guided tours of Sheffield Cathedral and the General Cemetery.

The meetings are held at the Baptist Church on Napier Street (off Cemetery Road), where there is free parking.

The society’s next meeting will be on Monday, June 20 at 7.30pm and the title of the talk is Fulwood Cottage Homes.

Non-members are welcome for a £1 charge and people can also join if they’d like to

There’s an opportunity to consult the help desk and to buy publications and CDs containing records that have been transcribed by society members.

The group has a useful website, www.sheffieldfhs.org.uk, which is in the process of being improved. It includes a message forum and guidance on the excellent resources for researching family history held at Sheffield Archives in Shoreham Street and the Local Studies Library in Surrey Street.

The society offers a low-cost search service for names that people are struggling to find and details of how to use that can be found on the website.

The annual cost of membership is £10 for one person (or £12 for two/overseas airmail). Members receive a welcome pack and then a quarterly journal, The Flowing Stream, four times a year.

The journal is a prime point of contact for members, many of whom live away from Sheffield.

It contains articles, many written by members, and they can submit names they are looking for, hopefully prompting others researching the same family to make contact.

Anyone interested in joining should apply at [email protected] or via www.genfair.co.uk