I'd love to join an FHS but .... [Archive] - B-G Forums sponsored by Parish Chest Ltd.

Fidgetsmum

12-05-2008, 12:39 PM

I'm not going to 'name names', but some 4 years ago I went along as a guest to an FHS meeting with a view to joining and, apart from an extremely interesting and informative talk, I can honestly say it was one of the most unpleasant evenings I've spent.

Three people actually managed to speak to me, one was extremely pleasant and welcoming, eager to find out what stage I was at and we quickly established a common interest in a particular location. Of the other two, one completely lost interest when it became apparent that I didn't have certificates or copies of authenticated documents tracing my family back to the Anglo Saxons and the third, after saying hello and a brief conversation, turned to his friend and, as they walked away, said 'Oh great! Another one who doesn't know anything about anything.'

Needless to say when later, the Membership Secretary handed me a form and asked for £15, I graciously declined and haven't had the nerve to go back again.

Please tell me they're not all the same and, is it really worth joining when I won't be able to attend the meetings and thus not have the pleasure of listening to the expert talks?

Ladkyis

12-05-2008, 03:28 PM

In every Family history Society there are members who are there to learn and to share and there are members who have joined for the express purpose of getting everything they can for the least amount of money and then bu******g off to plunder somewhere else.

Fortunately most societies only have a few plunderers. Most members want to learn more about the area their ancestors lived and what those lives were like. These members also want everyone else to share their enthusiasm for family history. I would have written a short note to the secretary of that society explaining why you didn't join. It might have given them a reason why their membership numbers are falling LOL.
It is unfortunate that you had to meet a couple of plunderers - they might also have been the class show offs too, not pretty!
I always recommend that people join the society close to where they live, even if they don't have ancestors in that area because the talks are usually informative and it is always possible to learn something.
Most societies are friendly, just one or two members forget that they were new to the society once upon a time.

Peter_uk_can

12-05-2008, 04:02 PM

A few weeks back I went to Winnipeg's main library and plundered a huge amount of information. Not content with one raid, I later visited the museum and came away with a wealth of free info.

Free to me, but put together at a huge cost by people with slightly more foresight.

No apologies for putting folks noses out of joint but I am fed up of hearing the bleatings of FH Societies.

Anyone interested in our own genealogy, collected over hundred's of hours, maybe thousands and at a cost of which I care little ?

It can been all seen for free at

www.members.shaw.ca/psmail

v.wells

12-05-2008, 04:23 PM

:)Your site is still as fabulous and I was even more amazed in the amount of history and information you have accumulated and is as factual/true as can possibly be. I have seen your site before but this time I went a little deeper. You should be very proud.

v.wells

12-05-2008, 04:33 PM

"Needless to say when later, the Membership Secretary handed me a form and asked for £15, I graciously declined and haven't had the nerve to go back again.

Please tell me they're not all the same and, is it really worth joining when I won't be able to attend the meetings and thus not have the pleasure of listening to the expert talks?"

Fidgetsmum

I would have to join 3 or 4 FHS and as they all want money I can't do it, especially when I am in Canada and would be unable to attend meetings. Yes they need money to operate and it helps generate grants for developing larger things.

There is always a few rude people in every group, but I think the benefits outweigh that if you live close by and will take away new insights into researching should you attend.

And my rule is "if you don't like the way you are treated, don't be a doormat"! Just my opinion.:D

Peter Goodey

12-05-2008, 06:06 PM

I graciously declined

I think you were quite right. If it's not going to be a sociable occasion, what's the point? You can learn from books or online sources what you might pick up from talks. It's just more fun if you're learning with friends.

Fidgetsmum

13-05-2008, 09:45 AM

I'd still like to join one and perhaps I didn't make it clear originally, that it wasn't the fact that there was a membership fee which put me off, of course I'd expected to pay, but I wasn't prepared to pay to join something where (those particular) people were so rude.

As for being a 'plunderer' - I suppose it would be fair to put myself in that category. I've done quite a bit of research but none of it would have been possible without the help of a great army of unseen people. Someone had to compile those millions of index cards, CDs and microfiche, someone has to collate and work in the archives office, the library, transcribe census forms (E and OA!), write the books, maintain the websites and, of course, the people here who so willingly help others. So yes, I guess I've 'plundered' along with the best of them, but surely the more I learn in the course of this plundering the more information I could use to help someone else who's stuck.

The point is, if I joined my local FHS, work commitments would mean I'd only be able to attend meetings occasionally, so I'd be in danger of looking as though I only turned up when it suited me and (as Ladkyis so graphically put it) then b******d orf!

Peter is right, the information is freely available elsewhere and of course it would be more fun to learn with friends - it's just that the FHS I went to was sadly, neither fun nor friendly. Perhaps I'll give it another go after all ... one day.

Sue Mackay

13-05-2008, 10:06 AM

Joining your local society can be good if you have time to go to meetings and/or get involved in the transcription/indexing/checking of records which most societies do (much of this work can be done at home these days).

However, don't forget that most county FH societies have a quarterly journal which contains articles specific to research in that county, and also a Help Wanted section where your query is likely to be read by the very people most qualified to answer it. It is usually the societies with the best journals that hang on to their out of county members. Indeed, if you hit a brick wall, try writing an article about it for the FHS journal, outlining all the avenues you have tried and what your dilemmas are. I did this once in the Essex journal and two years later someone read it in a library in Canada and contacted me with the missing bit of info that got me back to the 17th century!!

Geoffers

13-05-2008, 10:17 AM

However, don't forget that most county FH societies have a quarterly journal which contains articles specific to research in that county, and also a Help Wanted section where your query is likely to be read by the very people most qualified to answer it.

..........and a list of surname interests as well, so you might pick out someone following the same family line. I'm a member of one society, which is 150 miles from where I live - I don't get to meetings, but its magazine is a way of keeping in touch.

Peter Goodey

13-05-2008, 10:23 AM

You can get involved in transcription without joining an FHS. For example FreeBMD, FreeReg, FreeCen and have the added warm glow of knowing that the fruits of your labours are going to be made available totally free of charge.

I had better not raise the attitude of certain FHS towards thse sorts of projects.

BeeE586

13-05-2008, 12:33 PM

Almost all of what has been written is true of one Society or another - some good, some bad; some friendly some not and on the whole I think I have been lucky over the thirty odd years that I have been researching in meeting only the friendly sort. I still belong to three and must agree with what has been said about the value of the quarterly journal and the lists of Members' Interests now that I can no longer attend meetings.

From reading posts on the Forum it is obvious that not everything is to be found on the net. BMD's and census OK, but anything earlier you need registers, wills and other documents and very many have been transcribed and published by Societies, and it is often funds from these sales that help to keep the Societies running and continuing with the work that they do.

My suggestion would be to find the websites of societies in your areas of interest and see what they have to offer, then perhaps contact them with brief details of your own findings and see how you go. It may be that you have information that would be valuable to another member. Some do publish lists of members' interests on their sites which could also be useful.

Take the plunge - I don't think you would regret it

Eileen

Ladkyis

13-05-2008, 12:49 PM

The plunderers usually complain about the quality of transcription while they are plundering. They also TUT loudly if the particular records that they want to search haven't yet been transcribed and then mutter darkly that "I suppose I'll have to go to the record office because none of this is on the internet you know!"

people who join to learn more are a different type of researcher. They might not have the time to transcribe but they are always ready to learn and to help others as well.

99% of the people in FH societies are great. They want to learn they want to help and they love to talk to new people just incase they are related.

I have no ancestors where I live but I have been a member of the local society for 15 years now because this is one of the ways I can pay back all the help I have received from all over the world. The other way is to be a part of this forum and try to help a bit on here.

This forum is exactly what an online FH Society should be like.

Annie

13-05-2008, 12:54 PM

I am a member of 2 FHS in Wales and look forward to receiving their journals, the Gwent one is quarterly and always full of information that may not be about my ancestors directly but gives a great insight into how they lived. I've never made it to any meetings but when I've sent e-mails to the officers asking for help or information the response has always been friendly.
I've just ordered 13 booklets from another FHS of which I'm not a member but I'm sure without their hardwork of transcribing parish registers my husband's family history brickwalls would stay firmly in place

BeeE586

13-05-2008, 12:55 PM

This forum is exactly what an online FH Society should be like.

Very true.

Eileen

mandychap17@hot

15-05-2008, 01:15 PM

Sue Mackay

15-05-2008, 01:32 PM

I have joined this society but dont know what help I can get from them. Can I request that someone looks up a marriage record at St Gladys Church in Bargoed or information on people who lived there.
Thanks
Mandy

Glamorgan FHS do free lookups for members in their published indexes of parish registers etc, print free requests for help/information in their quarterly journal, and run an internet mailing list for members. Send me a private message if you need more details.

janbooth

15-05-2008, 02:02 PM

My experiences have been totally different to that of yours Fidget. Everywhere we have visited researching our various family histories be it Record Offices, local Family History Societies, Churches, Churchyards and LDS Family History Centres we have been welcomed, helped and (when we were very green and new) pointed in the correct direction!! I'd like to think your experience is definitely the exception rather than the rule, so please don't let it put you off. I have also made many new friends, who are researching the same families as myself, due to Forums and Mailing Lists and let's face it all of us are plunderers to some extent. I hope if you do eventually decide to join a different Society your experience will also be completely different!!

Janet

mandychap17@hot

30-06-2008, 12:29 AM

Thanks very much for your reply. I am trying to find my partners family. His Grandfather was John Gough who married Emily Roberts at St Gladwys in Bargoed in 1912. His father was George James Gough. Apart from the marriage and the address of Park Place Bargoed I cannot find any more info. No birth or death date although the marriage certificate says he was 25 years old in 1912. I wrote to the church but didnt get any reply.
Any help would be very much appreciated

Thanks again
Mandy

Feen

18-07-2008, 09:39 PM

Hello Fidgetsmum, what a pity about the rude unfriendly people... you did say one person was very nice and interesting though..... is it worth speaking to the folks who run this society about your experience, and maybe reconsidering your decision not to join?

I'm very new to family history research and I do hope I don't provoke unfriendly reactions. I've just applied to join the East Ayrshire Family History Society, as that's where the ancestors I'm interested in originated. I'm also keen to see if there are any distant relatives of mine in the area who might have some info... and of course I may have some that would be of interest to them too - if indeed, they turn out to exist AND have an interest in family history!

Does anyone on here have experience of this particular FHS?

Feen

:)

SBSFamilyhistory

18-07-2008, 10:41 PM

ash33au

19-07-2008, 03:41 AM

I was actually given a holiday by our State Library in 1995 after I had the audacity to complain. I found that the old people pushed me out of the way a lot and made comments about me not belonging in the Genie room because I was young (20yo) and had no right to be researching my ancestry. I also found that i would wait at the help desk forever without being served, yet an old person would walk right up, push past me and get served. When I left a complaint notice in the suggestion box, I got an abusive phone call and a 3 month holiday. That was back in the microfiche days and it was a small little room.

Now it's much bigger and a lot more accessible. I've found the staff there are great - particulalrly the male staff who go out of their way to help me. I've also found 50/50 spread of friendly helpful researchers and those who still don't think I belong there - especially as I almost always take my 2yo son in his pram. Someone actually made the comment that he shouldn't be there to which I replied "It's his family I'm researching..." which actually hit the spot because a few other fellows congratulated me on taking an interest in my family history and for standing my ground.

The PRO is also a favourite place of mine these days. The staff are excellent and help out no matter what. One lady offered to show me some easier ways to do broader searches and offered to go through a microfilm for me whilst I was looking at the computer.

HOWEVER the best place I have found in all my years of researching is this very forum :D
Christine, Doug and Michael are always quick to help out - particularly Christine who has nearly all the answers that I'm looking for.

Chisel

28-07-2008, 07:14 AM

ash33au, at the risk of getting told off.....I would hope that if you take a child into a research area it is quiet.
Researching and thinking is hard enough with the general background noise without being disturbed by a child that is bored or fellow researchers chatting about their weekend.
We are tolerent of our own children but not others. Perhaps you need to look from their perspective.
Yes I am a parent and hopefully always considered others right to enjoy the enviroment eg. restaurants cafe's etc.
I also go out of my way to help others, young or old.