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February 20, 2024

How are your pre-1600 research skills?

Next Monday (26 February) is a great opportunity to learn more about researching before Parish Records. Ian Waller is talking to the Bath Group online via Zoom about these underused early records and promises to be a fascinating session. The talk is online via Zoom and begins at 7.30pm – joining details sent to members in advance.
February 6, 2024

Apprenticeship Records

We invite you to join us for the February Bristol Group meeting next Monday (12th February) when Richard Holt will be talking about the history of apprenticeship and the sources that are available to the family historian. Discover how these sources helped research a ‘brick wall’ ancestor. The talk is online and begins at 7.30pm and is available to members only (joining details sent by email).If you are not a member you can join BAFHS here.
January 25, 2024

Digitising and destroying Wills

There is a consultation taking place regarding the digitising of Wills. It is all about saving money, as once digitised, the original Wills will be destroyed and not stored. BAFHS thinks this is a retrograde step, and should something happen to the digitised copy, or if it is incorrectly scanned, the Will can never be obtained again. We ask for your support by emailing your concerns to the ministry about this proposal. The full details are in the link below: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/storage-and-retention-of-original-will-documents
January 24, 2024

Help my Ancestors have vanished!

One of the commonest problems faced by family historians is that ancestors suddenly vanish from the records often for no seeming reason. Next Monday, Simon Fowler will be looking at why this might be so. The Bath Group meeting is online at 7.30pm on Zoom – joining details sent to members in advance. More details at Help my Ancestors have vanished!

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About BAFHS

Founded in 1975, we are a well established Family History Society focussing our activities on Bath, Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire (the former county of Avon 1974 to 1996) and its constituent predecessor and successor counties. We are also frequently referred to by our initials - BAFHS. The hub of our activities is our Research Room where enthusiastic volunteers give their time for the benefit of the Society.

What we do:

  • Encourage the public study of family history with reference to the historic county of Avon and its successor counties.
  • Publish a quarterly Members' Magazine (available in digital or paper format).
  • Transcribe and publish source material of interest to family historians.
  • Hold regular in-person and online meetings with a programme of illustrated talks and lectures.
  • Operate a Research Room where advice and resources are freely available.
  • Operate this website which is dedicated to family history.
  • Organise outings to places of interest.

Members:

Members are at the heart of our Society. By becoming a member, you will be joining a like-minded group of people who support our work. There is also the opportunity to become actively involved with a wide range of activities - you'd be surprised what it takes to run a modern family history society. It is quick and convenient to join online.