Open Day 2014 Research Room and Help Desks
By Maura SellarsThe Research Room in Hall 1 will again provide a wide range of resources for research. Transcripts of the Parish Registers of West Surrey Poor Law Index, Surrey Monumental Inscriptions Indexes, Surrey Soldiers who died in WW1, the IGI and more will be available together with microfiche readers where needed. There will be a large selection from the Society’s Reference Library to look at and will include Surrey items, London/Middlesex items (including the Victorian A-Z of London) and some that cover the whole country such as Phillimore’s Atlas of Parish registers. For those wanting to find out if anyone in the Society is researching the same name, the Members’ Interests files will be available, together with the Total Descent Charts. Volunteers will be on hand to give help and advice with these resources.
Computer help and lookups will be provided by the Census Detectives and by a number of volunteers who will have access to Ancestry, Findmypast, British Newspaper Archive and other online resources on the day, as well as our own extensive range of Surrey publications. All levels of research will be catered for, from beginner to the more seasoned researcher. Please remember to bring relevant documents, photographs and information with you to make the most of your time using the research facilities.
Experienced researchers Valda Hudson, Stephanie Monk and Tim Wilcock will again provide help and advice on family history questions at the ‘Ask the Expert’ table in the Main Hall. In addition, in the Research Hall there will be Specialist Help Desks for more specific research queries for part or all of the day.
Army Research Help Desk – Capt. Graham Bandy Was your ancestor in the army? If you need help in researching their history, Capt. Graham Bandy will be available to give advice. If you have any army memorabilia such as medals, papers, photographs, bring them with you to help you in your research. Always a very popular help desk! Capt. Bandy will be giving a talk, ‘A Short History of the Army Medical Services’ in the Studio on the balcony.
Dating Old Photographs Help Desk – Bob Brock Bob Brock has been researching his family since the 1970s and is a regular contributor to Root and Branch. At the Open Day he hopes to be able to help you to identify your own old photographs from the clues they hold, especially by getting an approximate date for them, particularly those dating from about 1860 to the First World War. If you have any photos that you’d like help with, bring them along, and if they are mounted in an old album, don’t forget to bring that too – along with any details on where you think they might fit in your family tree. Bob can’t promise a definitive identification, but would expect to be able to give you some idea of the most likely subjects and some routes for further research.
Scottish Research Help Desk – Dr. Ian Macdonald Dr. Macdonald completed an MSc in genealogy and is an online tutor for the post-graduate certificate course at The University of Strathclyde. His own Scottish research has focused in the north east – Aberdeenshire, Kincardine and Banff, covering a vast array of Scottish peasants! He writes on family history and publishes articles regularly. Back by popular demand to help with Scottish research, hopefully Dr. Macdonald will have access to various online databases to help answer queries.
Reading Old Documents Help Desk - Isabel Sullivan Almost every family history researcher will come across at least one document that is difficult to make sense of, whether it is down to deciphering the fancy handwriting in a 16th century will, obsolete terms used in a census record or death certificate, or the heavy use of abbreviation in manorial records. Old documents present a number of interesting challenges for genealogists. Isabel Sullivan is an archivist who has worked at Surrey History Centre since it opened in 1998; before that she was at Guildford Muniment Room. If you are having difficulty reading any historic documents, for example census returns, wills and inventories, private correspondence and diaries, manorial documents such as grants of land or court records, bring these along and Isabel will be available to help. In addition to helping with deciphering the text, she will also be able to provide transcriptions or translations where required. Don’t forget to bring your documents with you!
DNA and Genealogy Help Desk – Brian Swann Brian Swann will be running a Helpdesk again on DNA testing. He is extensively involved with the DNA Area at Who Do You Think You Are?Live at Olympia, and is a long-standing member of the West Surrey FHS. Come along and he will be pleased to discuss your family history challenges and roadblocks and what DNA testing might or might not do for you. Brian will also be giving a short talk on the subject in the talks room.
Canadian Research Help Desk - Penny Allen New for this year! If you have ancestors in Canada, Penny Allen will be on hand to assist you with any research queries.