Family History Societies

[Diane Grant-Salmon]

I wonder how they all decide what the annual Membership subscription is ...... is there a North/South divide here, as with property prices?

I'm a Member of Huddersfield FHS (£10) and Wakefield FHS (£10 but £8 for 'oldies' like me!) Cleveland FHS is £8 and not surprisingly, some of the 'London' areas are £12 ..... but our capital City prices for nearly everything are a rip-off!

However, why have Cornwall FHS and Somerset FHS jumped on their band-wagon?

[arthurk]

Another £12 one is the North of Ireland FHS, and members receive only 2 journals a year, compared to the 3 or 4 that most societies produce. On the other hand, the Calderdale FHS (for the Halifax area) has an internet-only membership category, which is only £5. You don't actually receive a paper journal for that - just an email with a link to an online version.

I once wondered if the fees related to the costs incurred in publishing transcripts, indexes etc - but the NIFHS list is only a fraction of the size of the Calderdale one, so it doesn't seem to be that. Maybe it's more to do with sales - the more they publish and sell, the less they need to charge in membership fees.

Arthur

[Diane Grant-Salmon]

Maybe it's more to do with sales - the more they publish and sell, the less they need to charge in membership fees.

Arthur

I don't know about that Arthur ...... Cornwall FHS has more members than Wakefield FHS definitely (can't remember offhand about Huddersfield FHS) and I would guess that more Overseas Members have D&D's from Cornwall, when the tin started to run out and they emigrated, than Yorkshire, where coal was mined.

I get 4 journals a year from both Societies, it's just that Cornwall FHS at £12 p.a. seems a bit steep to me, when Cornish Forefathers ....... who also issued 4 journals a year, used to do research for Members too at a cost of £20 p.a. so real value for money!

In case you're wondering, I was a member of Cornish Forefathers, Pam who ran it, only gave it up because she started Parish Chest and didn't have the time to do both.