Welcome to the Family History Social

Saturday 25th June 2022 & Saturday 24th September

The Family History Show is returning to York and London!

After surveying previous attendees, over 81% were looking forward to attending a show in person. With nearly two years of not having the freedom and interaction of a physical show, we found that people were looking forward to enjoying a great day out again, listening to live talks and asking questions face-to-face to experts and exhibitors. We have had many requests to hold another show and we are only too pleased to welcome everyone back!

Help ensure the future of family history events like this by voting with your feet today.

We have the great pleasure of announcing that The Family History Show – York is making a welcome return to the Racecourse at York on Saturday 25th June 2022 and The Family History Show – London to Kempton Park on Saturday 24th September.

Packed with exhibitors attending from all over the UK, plus family history societies and genealogy supplies companies returning at last to a physical show, this long-awaited chance to talk face-to-face with stall holders is a must for your diary.

These events are not just for those who have Yorkshire or London Ancestors – these family history shows will appeal to all visitors. Everyone is very welcome and there will be so much to see throughout the day at both events. There will be plenty of parking, refreshments will be available all day, you can talk with experts who can help with your research queries and watch FREE talks held throughout the day.

These events are organised by family historians for family historians. Do you really know who you are? Come and find out - you may be surprised!

The Knavesmire Exhibition Centre, The Racecourse, York

Each show features:

●     Free talks held throughout the day in two large lecture areas

●     Book a free personal 1-2-1 session with an expert, or visit our special Expert Panel at the end of the day where our experts combine to give a talk full of handy research tips and answer your questions in a Q&A session.

●     Free Parking and Local Train Station

●     All Day Refreshments

●     Wheelchair Friendly Venue

Early-bird Ticket Offer

Get your tickets now and save, Only £6 (£8 on the day) and you’ll also get a goody bag on entry worth over £17.

Save 50% by getting two tickets for £8 for the York show here: https://thefamilyhistoryshow.com/york/tickets/

Talks you can look forward to at the York show include:

Nick Barratt - The Future of Family History

Looking at the ways family history research is changing as a result of technology and the media, with some opportunities that this may present for the future. A timely warning that the excitement around new digital releases should prompt us to think about how we use the wealth of data available.

Mia Bennett - Using DNA to Support Family History Research

This talk is aimed at people who want to practically apply DNA insights to their family history research. DNA is the new tool in our toolkit for helping us take our family history further.  It looks at some of the methods and techniques you can use when working with your DNA results. In addition, little tips will be given along with a few practical examples to help you visualise what you need to do to progress your family history research.

Jackie Depelle - Writing Your Family History

Have you done all your family history research and now wondering what to do with it?

Learn how to organise and develop your hard work and research into a framework that can be shared with others, in a variety of different ways. Move on from record sheets and charts.

Keith Gregson - Walking in your ancestors' footsteps

This talk explores how with research and the right tools you can step back in time looking at where your ancestors lived, worked and spent their leisure time. Following the routes they may have taken, on old maps and looking at the views they may have seen.

Mark Bayley - Breaking Down Brick Walls

Mark shows techniques and data sets that can remove those obstacles to completing your family history.

Mark Bayley - Mapping Your Ancestors

Mark discusses how to get the most out of map-based record sets, what’s available online and demonstrates a fantastic tool for viewing them.

Early-bird Ticket Offer

Get two tickets for £8 for the York show here: https://thefamilyhistoryshow.com/york/tickets/

Check out Family History TV on YouTube with their free short videos. These how-to-guides are by leading experts covering a variety of topics. Their speakers specialise in subjects from the world of British Genealogy, Military History, DNA, House History and Social History and many of them are past and present speakers from The Family History Show. Watch a short video now at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMnBEpCg-QwVzkq-zU4GDGg

Find Out More at: https://thefamilyhistoryshow.com/

After the extremely successful virtual events held online last year, The Family History Show, Online is returning in February so that once more you can enjoy all the features of a physical family history show, but from the comfort of your own home.

The Family History Show, Online is gearing up for its return on Saturday 19th February 2022.

You'll have the opportunity to put your research questions to an expert, watch professionally produced talks and to speak to family history societies, archives and genealogical suppliers by text, audio, video chat or email from the comfort of your own home.

You will also be able to submit your questions to the Ask the Experts panel before the show and you have a choice to either book a free 1-to-1 session or to watch the question panel at 15:30 where our experts answer your questions!

Save the date in your diary and snap up an early bird ticket now for only £7! You'll also get a downloadable goody bag worth over £10.

Featuring All New Talks

From Cradle to Grave

Jackie Depelle - Family History Tutor and Speaker

Jackie's talk shows you how to follow the life of an ancestor, using key family history sources, plus more from maps to house history

Solving Genealogy Brickwalls: A Case Study

Amelia Bennett - Expert Researcher, Census Detective with the SOG

This talk uses an example from Amelia's own family history where she progressed a brickwall using DNA alongside traditional genealogy research. The path to solving this brickwall had a number of surprises along the way with forgeries, quick marriages, criminal ancestors and often more questions than answers. In telling the story, methods and tools for using DNA to break down brickwalls are provided.

The Joy of Surnames

Debbie Kennett - DNA & Surname Expert and Writer 

Each surname has its own story to tell. This lecture provides an overview of the history and distribution of surnames with a focus on surnames originating in the British Isles. The one-name study approach can provide breakthroughs that would not be possible by restricting research to your own family tree.

Family history and the media: behind the scenes of Who Do You Think You Are?

Nick Barratt - Historian, Author and Professional Genealogist

Exploring the impact of Who Do You Think You Are? on the way we research our family stories, with an explanation of how the show was first conceived and produced.

Ask the Experts Live Q&A Panel

with Mark Bayley, Debbie Kennett, Jackie Depelle and Nick Barratt.

Submit your questions to our panel of experts before the show. Either book a free 1-to-1 session or watch the live stream question panel at 15:30 where you can ask your questions live!

Societies, Archives and Companies

Visit exhibitors, societies, archives and companies in our virtual exhibition hall. Here there will be the opportunity to talk to some of the stallholders by text, audio or video from the comfort of your own home.

Show Partners

SoG, AGRA, TheGenealogist, GenFair, S&N Genealogy

Early Bird Ticket Offer

Buy your tickets in advance and save - tickets to attend The Family History Show Online are available from the website at just £7.00 each. You will also get a FREE virtual goody bag on the day worth over £10. https://thefamilyhistoryshow.com/online/tickets/

The Family History Show Online takes place on 25th September, featuring two online lecture theatres, the popular ‘Ask the Experts’ area where you can put questions forward to specialists, live chat and forum where you can talk with other attendees, as well as a whole host of stalls so you can ask for advice as well as buy genealogical products.

New Feature for The Family History Show Online: The main Lecture Theatre now includes Live Chat, so you can post questions and comments as you watch the talk. The speakers will be on hand to answer these during the broadcast time!

Don’t miss out on a day packed with talks by experts including Nick Barratt, get answers to your questions in 1-2-1 expert sessions, and hear advice from a host of Family History Societies and genealogical suppliers. You can also meet the Discover Your Ancestors team.

https://thefamilyhistoryshow.com/online/tickets/

The Family History Show, Online, organised by Discover Your Ancestors Magazine and sponsored by TheGenealogist, is just over the horizon! UK family historians are gearing up to make a virtual visit to the online shown when it makes a welcome return on Saturday 19th June 2021 for the fourth time.

This online event builds on the previous very successful web based Family History Shows staged back in June and September 2020 and once again this last February. At each of these events the feedback was very positive with many happy visitors logging on to enjoy a satisfying and informative day at the virtual show. With extremely strong ticket sales so far, the show organisers are predicting another great day for family historians.

Online access to the show on Saturday 19th June has the advantage that not only are we able to safely enjoy many of the usual features of the physical show, but that it is accessible from wherever we are in the world as well as being convenient for those that have disabilities and who find attending a physical show difficult.

Head over to their website and grab yourself a ticket:

 https://thefamilyhistoryshow.com/online/tickets/

The new RootsTech Connect 2021 website is now live. Create your personal playlists from over 2,000 selections, connect with relatives, research specialists, and make fun, new family discoveries.

Constraints breed innovation—and that is the mindset of the creative geniuses behind RootsTech Connect—the world’s largest family history discovery event that kicks off today at RootsTech.org (25-27 February 2021, 4:00 a.m. GMT, 9:00 p.m. MST). For the first time ever, it’s completely virtual and free. Find out more at RootsTech.org.

The global pandemic served as an accelerant for the popular annual conference (usually hosted in Salt Lake City and London) to go virtual. The challenge was how to create an online platform that would deliver RootsTech’s signature in-person, highly sociable and interactive experience in a free, all-virtual online model, in 11 languages, simultaneously across all time zones, 24 hours a day for 3 days. The RootsTech Connect team believes they’ve done it. More than 500,000 people from 237 countries and territories have already registered for the free buffet of celebrity keynote speakers, the thousands of sessions, and dynamic chat opportunities that celebrate family connections and help make family history discoveries fun.

RootsTech is an annual international event that has drawn people worldwide who are seeking to make family connections. For the past 10 years, research experts, companies, and attendees gather to provide tech solutions, share genealogical expertise, and offer discovery tips and hacks to tens of thousands of ardent and curious ancestral roots seekers.

The innovative new RootsTech website introduces an exciting platform that enables attendees to interact in dynamic chat forums in 11 languages and create playlists from more than 1,000 video sessions and hundreds of additional video digital assets that they can watch on-demand following the event. Attendees can watch content “live” on the main stage, interact with vendors virtually in the Expo Hall, see if they are related to any of the hundreds of thousands of attendees globally, get one-on-one family history help, or experiment with fun, new tech ideas in the Innovators Portal. And it’s amazingly all free—no ads, no strings attached.

“The pandemic, with its restraints against gathering physically, gave us an incredible opportunity to find a way to do what we aspire to do—but totally online. And that is to inspire so many more people worldwide through personal family discovery experiences,” said Steve Rockwood, FamilySearch CEO, the hosting organization of RootsTech.

Rockwood said RootsTech Connect 2021 creates opportunities for people to learn from specialists, get answers to their family history questions, and make meaningful family connections.

Highlights of the New RootsTech Connect 2021 All-Virtual Platform

Main Stage. RootsTech Connect will feature uplifting messages from celebrity keynote speakers and industry experts from around the world. It will be broadcast 24 hours a day for 3 days in 11 languages.

My Playlist. The RootsTech session schedule is now live. With nearly 2,000 sessions and other video assets, you won’t be able to watch everything you want in the 3 days of RootsTech—even if you are an insomniac. The Playlist feature (somewhat like Netflix) allows you to easily add content of interest to you into your personalized playlist on the site. You will have until the next RootsTech event to enjoy your selections.

Explore Sessions. Content is compiled with a variety of tags or categories, so you can quickly find content that pertains to your needs or interests. You can search by language; geographic region; speaker; Finding Living Family; Ancestors; DNA; Researching Places and Records; Memories—Stories, Photos, and Video; Traditions and Heritage; Websites, Tech Tools and Apps; and Entertainment and Events.

Relatives at RootsTech (Connect). The essence of RootsTech is making fun, inspiring family connections. Who better to connect with than your own relatives worldwide? RootsTech attendees, if they choose, will be able to discover and start connecting with relatives attending RootsTech. With hundreds of thousands of registrants, the possibilities of making a connection are high.

Expo Hall. Companies with family history-related products and services from around the world will help you discover your unique story. Explore new product demonstrations, receive personal assistance, and take advantage of exclusive opportunities.

Innovators Portal. If you like to know the latest innovative technology in the family history and genealogy product segment, this feature is for you. Watch emerging product demos and be among the first to “test drive” some of them.

Guide Me. Not sure where to start? The Guide Me feature conveniently compiles popular sessions on various topics for you, for example, Getting Started, Discovery, or Archivist.

RootsTech Connect 2021 is a free 3-day virtual event. Visit RootsTech.org to participate in the many experiences and view on-demand content.

RootsTech Connect 2021 will be hosting Family Discovery Day virtually and  Our Quest for Connection, a RootsTech experience designed for youth and young adults to connect with each other, relatives, friends, and ancestors.

Source: https://media.familysearch.org/free-virtual-rootstech-event-connects-families-worldwide/

The Family History Show, Online, run by Discover Your Ancestors, is back on Saturday 20th February 2021. This online event builds on what were two previous successful online Family History Shows staged back in June and September last year. On both occasions many happy visitors logged on to enjoy a great day at the virtual event.

Online access to Saturday's show will mean that we are all able to safely enjoy many of the usual features of the physical show from wherever we are in the world, as well as making it possible for those that have disabilities to easily attend.

This show has some exciting new features including the following:

New Chat Features

• Forum - discuss topics, seek help, or offer your own advice to others
• Private Messaging - speak directly to exhibitors and other ticketholders
• Browse Users - a list of all visitors that are currently browsing the show so you can socialise (please note that only those who have chosen to receive messages will be seen here)

Free Talks

• Once you've logged in to the show, you will see the different areas of the show as tabs at the top of the page. Click on the "Lecture Theatre" tab and you will see the timetable of the talks. Once each talk starts it will be available to view on the page for 72 hours. You can pause, rewind and rewatch these talks and they will all be subtitled - just click the [cc] in the bottom right of the video to show the subtitles.

NEW Second Lecture Theatre

The Family History Show, Online now has two Lecture Theatres: a Main Theatre and an Exhibitor Theatre.

• Main Theatre

Here will be specially commissioned high quality videos explaining different topics, given by acknowledged experts, Close Captioned to give access to all and now available for 72 hours from when they premiere.

• Exhibitor Theatre

The second Theatre contains all videos and talks produced by our exhibitors. They are both informative and entertaining and once you have finished you can go to that Stallholder who can tell you more.

• Ask the Experts

The ever-popular Ask the Experts sessions will be held via Jitsi, allowing you to talk face-to-face and get help with your research questions.

You can now book your time slot with an expert by clicking on the 'Ask the Experts' tab at the top of the page on the site. (Please note time slots are limited to one per visitor to ensure as many visitors as possible can benefit from this.)

Expert advice is available on the following areas: Apprenticeships, BMD Records, British India, Census, DNA and DNA Research Tools, General Family History, House History, Irish Research, Medical Ancestors and Disease, Military, Poor Law, Parish Records, Probate, Social History, South Wales Research, Seafarers, Ships' Passengers, Women at War, Women's History and Wills.

At the bottom of the Ask the Experts page, you have the option to submit your questions to the Ask the Expert Panel that will be streamed live at 15:30 on the Lecture Theatre page. You can submit as many questions as you like, and selected questions will be answered during the talk.

The Exhibitor Hall

You will be able to see what groups, societies and companies are available by clicking the 'Exhibitor Hall' tab at the top of the page when you are logged into the show. Some exhibitors will be available to video chat and there is a question feed where you can ask your questions either ahead of the day or on the day. You can browse and purchase exhibitors' products and discover more about the societies that are so vital to the family history community. This features Societies, Groups and Family History Companies.

They are here to help you with your research, and to give advice on products and services. Many stalls have free downloads and guides, those manning their stalls and available to video chat will be listed first.

Your Digital Goody Bag

Don't forget to get your FREE Digital Goody bag (worth over £10) by clicking the 'Goody Bag' tab at the top of the page. This includes 12 back issues of Discover Your Ancestors Periodical and a downloadable Family History Guide.

Buy your ticket now by visiting this site: https://thefamilyhistoryshow.com/online/tickets/

Have you got your tickets yet to the Online Family History Show?

The Family History Show – Online will be live on Saturday 20 June 2020. Following closely the format of the very successful live shows, it will feature an online lecture theatre, the popular ‘Ask the expert’ area – where you can put questions forward to their specialists – as well as a whole host of stalls where you can ask for advice as well as buy genealogical products.

The organisers, having cancelled the physical show that would have taken place at York this weekend, have made it possible for people from all over the world to now "visit" the virtual stalls of more than 85 vendors ranging from Family History Societies to Genelogical Suppliers.

Through the wonders of modern technology attendees will be able to talk to some of the stallholders by text, audio or video to ask for advice and help with their family history society or business. You can also purchase from the online stalls their downloadable products that can help you in your research.

A virtual theatre will be running various talks throughout the day from the speakers who would have been at the physical event, had the pandemic not got in the way.

Put this Saturday in your diary so that you don't miss this online family history show.

Tickets to attend the online Family History Show are available for just £5.50 each. All ticket holders will also receive a digital Goody Bag worth over £10 on the day.

To find out more about The Family History Show – Online, and to buy your ticket please visit:

 https://thefamilyhistoryshow.com/online/

While, in these unprecedented times, we are not going to be able to meet as usual at York in June for our customary Family History Show at the racecourse, the good news is that we are still going to be able to safely enjoy access to many of the usual features of the show.

The Family History Show will be coming to you as an online event on the 20th of June featuring a wide range of virtual stalls from family history societies to archives and genealogical suppliers.

The Family History Show Online will, mirroring the format of the very successful live shows, feature an online lecture theatre, the popular ‘Ask the expert’ area – where you can put questions forward to our specialists – as well as a whole host of stalls where you can ask for advice as well as buy genealogical products.

To make this online experience as useful to family historians as attending the physical show would have been, you can “visit” a stall in the virtual exhibition hall. With over 85 present there will be a wide variety of societies and companies. Here there will be the opportunity to talk to some of the stallholders by text, audio or video from the comfort of your own home. With this facility you can ask them for advice regarding their family history society/business and also purchase from their online stall various downloadable products to help you with your research.

In the virtual lecture theatre there will also be the chance to watch webcasts of talks from the same lecturers who would have been at the physical event, had it taken place. These presentations will cover a wide variety of family history topics.

Tickets to attend the online Family History Show are available for just £5.50 each. All ticket holders will also receive a digital Goody Bag worth over £10 on the day.

To find out more about The Family History Show Online, and buy your ticket visit https://thefamilyhistoryshow.com/online/

Many genealogists and family history researchers will be heading to Bristol for The Family History Show, South West in just a weeks' time!

The show takes place on Saturday 8th February at UWE Exhibition Centre, with two Large Lecture Theatres with Free Talks, Free Ask the Experts Area, Societies, Local Archives and Ministry of Defence stands, Free Goody Bag worth over £8 on entry, Free Parking and Free minibus from Station.

Don't miss their Early Bird Offer, Two Tickets for £8, saving £4 on the door price, which you can claim here.

Not in the South West? Don't worry, they are also coming to York in June and London in September.

Are you going to be in York this Saturday 22 June 2019?

If you are then you should consider very stongly coming along to The Family History Show, York.

It is always well attended with lots of exhibitors from near and far including Family History Societies, the Society of Genealogists, FamilySearch, the MOD, Census Detectives, TheGenealogist and many more.

With various free talks through out the day there is also an Ask The Expert area where you can get help with your family history problems.