Our Magazine
Continuously published since the Society was formed in 1975.
Published and distributed to all members in March, June, September and December, our Magazine is available in both paper and digital formats. It has twice won the Family History Federation's award for Best Overall Journal of the Year. A complete set is available for reference in our Research Room .
Each issue aims to keep members up-to-date with Society business, news and forthcoming events including local talks and fairs. There are regular features such as reports from meetings, progress on projects, members’ research enquiries, details of new publications and a selection of articles about family or local history topics submitted by members.
Your articles, letters and reports should be submitted to the Editor at: editor@bafhs.org.uk.
I was recently looking for details of a marriage in Sleaford, Lincolnshire in 1862. I had the details of the couple from FreeBMD, but needed to know the name of the groom’s father, preferably without buying a copy of the marriage certificate.
Searching for births and marriages in England and Wales has just got a lot easier thanks to developments at Ancestry.
The 1991 census at www.1911census.co.uk seems to have settled down well and avoided the problem of the 1901 census release. All of England is now available, but we are still waiting for Wales, Isle of Man, Channel Islands, and some naval and military records.
Most of you will know by now about the release of the 1911 census. There was a limited release (a beta test) over Christmas which was ostensibly by invitation only, although the invitations were spread quite widely. The general release was on Tuesday 13th January.
Ancestry have recently changed their subscription options, and increased their prices. For the U.K. researcher, “Essentials” membership now costs £83.40 annually and includes birth marriage and death records as well as the census records. “Premium” membership costs £107.40 and includes various other databases, including Irish records. Monthly payment options are available, and you can still do “pay as you go”.
Recent announcements about websites have brought both good and bad news for the family historian. While most developments bring better search features and bigger databases, sometimes things just don’t work out as we would like.
Several people have asked recently if there is any news about progress on the project to scan and transcribe the 1911 census. This work was contracted to the company Scotland Online, which now owns Findmypast.
We start this quarter with a website about the history of Bristol.
One of the gaps in the resources for English family history has been the records of those who were not members of the Church of England. Thanks to an agreement between The National Archives and S & N Genealogy, some of these records are now available online at www.bmdregisters.co.uk.
Some recent additions to the Ancestry website will be invaluable to many of us, and a useful reminder that things are not always what they seem. The first are some documents about transportees to Australia.