A recording of this talk was broadcast on 8th April 2021 at 6pm [GMT]
Else Churchill is the Genealogist at the Society Genealogists in London and formerly a professional genealogical librarian and researcher. Else has worked for the SoG since 1994 and now leads on external liaison, representation and communications; the Society's education and publishing programmes as well as being the Society's subject specialist.
The Society of Genealogists (SoG) is the oldest Genealogical Society in the UK and the largest too. They have an extremely large collection of books and have accumulated countless documents and sources over the years. Some collections arrive literally in removal vans, some are not in the remit of other Archives and Libraries and some are quite rare. Hence, SoG has increasingly become an archive for items which no other repository wanted. The Library is currently bursting at the seams having outgrown the fifth building that SoG has occupied since the Society's foundation in 1911.
The Society have recently sold their current building in London and are looking to find suitable premises for the Library and offsite storage. To help them prepare the collection for removal they have leased back the Charterhouse Buildings for a couple of years.
Else outlined the Society’s extensive digitising plans. This is especially good as fragile documents, too delicate to be handled, can be made available to be consulted online. Even books will be digitised and have page turning technology to enable members to read them online wherever they are in the world. Although, digitising is mainly carried out by volunteers some collections are so large that the Society are considering using professional companies to get the job done quicker. Their plan is to have as much of the collection online via their website as soon as they are able http://www.sog.org.uk
Else described various ways members can search records both online and in person at the Charterhouse Buildings. Although, the library is currently closed due to the coronavirus lockdown they normally welcome non-members, who may research at the Library on payment of a fee.
Else continued her informative talk by outlining the unique resources held at The Society of Genealogists. They are now a FamilySearch Affiliate Library, hold The Library of the Jewish Genealogical Society, British in India records and thousands of Family Histories most where possible are digitised. There are also many records of occupations, education and apprenticeships, military service records, tax records, criminal records, poor law, newspapers, trade directories, ecclesiastical licences, church court records, MIs, poll book, places and local histories etc. So long is the list of holdings that it might be easier to just say what they don’t hold!
An interesting afternoon might be spent looking at the Society of Genalogist's website and noting the eclectic array of books, documents and sources available. The indexes may be viewed online but you will need to be a member to see the actual record. Else offered KFHS members present at her talk a discount of 10%. The offer lasts until the end of April 2021, membership currently starts from £56 pa.
Report by Tricia Baxter