Family History Society Fees

[somanyrellies]

Clwyd FHS (North Wales) charges £10 per couple, (mr & mrs somanyrellies). Includes free access to the Resource Centre and access to all information on file and on computer.

There is a small charge for making photocopies.

I'm a new member and only made one visit so far.

[malcolm]

The Norfolk Family History Society has its own library. Being a charity it cannot charge members for access to its facilities.

Interesting, the Oxfordshire FHS reading of the situation is that we cannot (as a Registered Charity) charge members and non-members differently. Use of our research centre is free but we 'suggest' that a £1 donation would be welcome from non-members.

Malcolm.

[birdsedge]

Thank you for all of those comments and information - I shall wait until the subject of dwindling membership is brought up again (as it will be sooner or later) and see if they understand. Every time there is a reduction in profits for a "service" (whether it is a private company or a corporation) the immediate reaction is to put up the price - there are only so many pounds/dollars in people's pockets and any increase will further reduce profits.
Marion

My problem is that my family members are scattered across the UK so I'd need to be a member of FHS's in Yorkshire (Huddersfield, Barnsley and Sheffield), Derbyshire, Gloucestershire, Lincolnshire, Stafforshire, Somerset, Oxfordshire, Lancashire Nottinghamshire and Flintshire. (In some cases just to solve one particular problem.) I just plain can't afford that and I can't do the travelling either. I neither have the time, money nor physical stamina.

Are there any reciprocal arrangements between FHSs? If I join my local one (Huddersfield) will that get me any concessions with any of the others? I'm always really happy to help others with local knowledge in my area.

[Ladkyis]

If you can only join one then I suggest that you join the one that will cover the most ancestors. Most societies produce a journal three or four times a year and they have sevices available for helping members who live too far away to travel to meetings.
Bo-Peep - our administrator here on British-Genealogy is setting up members only sections for Family History Societies so we are hoping that a lot of Societies will take advantage of the space to make more things available to their members.
FH societies have so much to offer researchers but at the moment I think they are seeing the internet as the enemy and trying to find ways to defeat it when what they should be doing is seeing it as something that is here to stay and looking for ways to make it work for them.
I would love to start an internet branch of my local society and do things like beginners sessions and local interest sessions. I digress, I'm sorry.
Join a society and if they don't seem very helpful then don't continue as a member, find another one that is helpful.

[Neil Wilson]

A few societies do exchange magazines, so for example Hudderfield and Chesterfield FHS do. I belong to Chesterfield and have the Huddersfield ones out on loan to do some research in that area. I think you will find that societies might do an occasional look up from non members for a donation or even free.
Pick out the one that will benefit you the most or just join your local one, you never know that might have the records you need anyway.

[birdsedge]

If you can only join one then I suggest that you join the one that will cover the most ancestors.<snip useful stuff>

My ancestors are so scattered that there isn't one that's any better than any of the others, so maybe joining a local one makes sense, either Barnsley or Huddersfield, I guess.

[Sue Mackay]

Are there any reciprocal arrangements between FHSs? If I join my local one (Huddersfield) will that get me any concessions with any of the others? I'm always really happy to help others with local knowledge in my area.

Choose a Society that participates in the FFHS exchange journal scheme. Glamorgan FHS exchanges journals with 70 UK based Societies and 30 overseas Societies, and local members can borrow these journals on a library lending system. Admittedly some Societies have pulled out of the scheme because of postage costs and the difficulty of storing the journals locally, which I think is a shame. Older copies of exchange journals are usually sold off for pennies at the Society Open Day.