Family & Community Historical Research Society

Family History Research

There is huge interest nowadays in family history. For many years individuals have pursued a quest for their ancestors and the recent involvement of "celebratory research" has heightened interest. Internet subscriptions to online resources has facilitated ready access to information that previously was only available at County Record Offices and the National Archives. Our Society supports the view that access to records via the Internet is a good thing because it helps individuals make some rapid progress toward finding their ancestors. However finding the record does not really help you understand how your ancestors lived and worked within their community. To understand how your ancestors lived and possibly struggled to survive in a time that was much harsher will involve you in a structured approach and further research.

Much of that research does not involve the Internet but requires a return to the "old way" of visits to a County Record Office or the National Archives in Kew. It will involve visiting the area where your ancestors lived, searching out old addresses, schools, places of work or maybe even the old workhouse. Along the way you will discover the neighbours of your ancestors, the names of their school friends and school teachers. Soon you are able to build up your story including photographs taken during your visit and copies of material extracted from the record office. What you discover will be down to your own original research and there is nothing more satisfying than discovering something new for the first time from original records that no one has looked at for years.

This is the area that members of FACHRS research as they grow their family history into the historical research of the community. Our Society members have a wide variety of skills garnered over many years. Membership includes professional academics, pro-am researchers, enthusiastic amateurs and folk who just want to take their family history research to the next level. Knowing where to look for elusive information is one of the challenges that FACHRS works to resolve.

Here are some links to pages in our web site that tell you a little more about FACHRS and how our members use their interest in Family History to learn more about the lives of their ancestors.