SAFHS Conference and Family History Fair 2016

We are looking forward to the 27th “Scottish Association of Family History Societies (SAFHS) Conference and Family History Fair” which will take place this year in the wonderful conservation village of New Lanark on Saturday 23 April 2016.

The SAFHS conference is always a highlight in the genealogy calendar. There is a long list of exhibitors and an interesting selection of talks. The theme for the day is "Heritage along the Clyde" so the event will be of particular interest to you if you had ancestors who lived and worked along the banks of the Clyde river.

Emma Maxwell, genealogist
at Scottish Indexes, will be speaking on the
subject ‘Understanding Our Ancestors -
 A Look at Prison Registers and Mental Health Records’

For those of you with ancestors from other areas of Scotland, many of the family history societies will be present and there will also be representatives from commercial companies such as Findmypast and Scottish Monumental Inscriptions, as well as us of course!

There will be four talks given throughout the day, the cost of which is very reasonable: 4 talks £16 or 4 talks and buffet lunch £20.

Speaker 1 is Jane Masters who will give the talk, ‘New Lanark Mill’
Speaker 2 is Dr Irene O'Brien who will give the talk, ‘Industries along the Clyde - Records held in the Mitchell Library’
Speaker 3 is Dr Stephen Mullen who will give the talk, ‘Glasgow, the West of Scotland and New World Slavery, 1660-1838'’
Speaker 4 is Emma Maxwell who will give the talk, ‘Understanding Our Ancestors - A Look at Prison Registers and Mental Health Records’

If you are interested in hearing one or more of the talks it is advisable to book now to ensure you get to hear it. You can book online from the conference website: http://safhs2016.weebly.com/store/c1/Featured_Products.html

We look forward to meeting many of you on the 16th of April, please come along and say hello.

Who Do You Think You Are? Live (this weekend!)

We’re looking forward to Who Do You Think You Are? Live in Glasgow this weekend, where we’ll be enjoying the displays, the talks and the hubbub of excitement when a group of genealogists get together. (How’s the research going? – It’s all relative).

For those not familiar with the television show, Who Do You Think You Are? researches the lineage of celebrities and documents their journey as they uncover secrets and truths about their ancestors. WDYTYA is enormously popular around the world, and the spectacle and scale of the live event is breath-taking. Hundreds of genealogy experts and thousands of enthusiasts gather together to learn from one another, discover some more about the past and to take in the buzz. We’ll be joining them, wearing our Scottish Genealogy Network badges with pride (stop us if you see us, we’d love to answer your questions).

Badges © Scottish Genealogy Network 

On Saturday morning, Graham will be giving a (free!) talk about tracing illegitimate ancestors. While such individuals can provide fascinating and sometimes touching stories, they are also notorious roadblocks in progressing your family tree. In the 1850s, around 9% of births in Scotland were illegitimate, so a number of genealogists will probably have discovered illegitimacy in their family line. Fortunately for posterity, mothers often took the fathers of illegitimate children to court to prove their identities and seek financial support. We still have records of these cases, providing details and facts which are absent from other records. Graham’s talk will explain how both amateur and professional genealogists can use these records to discover paternal lines and progress family trees.

We’re gearing up for the weekend – hopefully see you there!