News & Diary

Research Centre closing times

 

Please note that the Research Centre at Sherborne will be closed on 3rd & 5th May and 24th & 26th May.

 

Death of Don Steel

Many of you will be saddened to learn of the death after a long illness on Monday 7 April of Don Steel. Don was instrumental in the founding of a number of family history societies, but also, perhaps most importantly, the founding of the Federation of Family History Societies in 1974.

As an accomplished author Don was a driving force behind the early volumes of the Society of Genalogists 'National Index of Parish Registers' series. Later as education officer for BBC South West, Don was the pioneer behind the 1979 BBC TV series 'Family History', narrated by Gordon Honeycombe and based on Gordon's own researches. The following year Don wrote 'Discovering Your Family History' to accompany the series.

For over 40 years Don Steel made a major contribution to the family history world as a speaker and author. He was also a Fellow of the Society of Genealogists.

Headquarters Open Evening

 

The Society HQ will be open on the third Tuesday of every month from 7.00p.m. to 9.00p.m. Also, the Society will be holding Family History Surgeries at the public library in Yeovil on the first Saturday of each month from 10 am until 3.30 pm.

 

Social Diary 2008

Date               Event                                                Location

 

2nd - 4th May    S.O.G. ‘Who Do You Think You Are?    Olympia, London*   N.B. Change of date

18th May          Kent Fair                                        Market Hall, Maidstone. 10am-5pm

14th June         Gwent FHS Open Day                      County Hall, Cwmbran. 10am - 3pm

15th Jun.         Home Counties FH Show                   Bletchley Park, Milton Keynes  (Details to follow)

21st Jun.          Devon FHS Summer Special              The Matford Centre, Exeter.  9.30am - 4.30pm

21st Jun.         Wilts FH Open Day                            The Civic Hall, Trowbridge 10.00am - 3.45pm*

12th July         Glamorgan FH Open Day                    National Maritime Museum, Swansea. 10am - 4pm*

29 - 31 Aug.     National FH Conference                     University of Essex, Colchester (more details later)

13th Sep.        National Family History Fair                Gateshead.* We urgently require help with this event. If you live locally and are able to assist, please                                                                   contact the Sherborne Centre on 01935 389611 or e-mail to sdfhs@btconnect.com.

27th Sep.        SDFHS AGM & Open Day                     Somerset College, Wellington Road, Taunton   Details to follow

28th Sep.       West Middlesex FHS Open Day             White House Community Centre, Hampton. 10am - 4pm*

 

1st Nov.         West Surrey FHS Open Day                  Woking Leisure Centre. 10am - 4pm*

 

                       *Indicates Fairs at which S&DFHS plan to be present.

 

If any member requires further information, or is able to help at any of the above events, please contact the Sherborne Centre on 01935 389611 or e-mail to sdfhs@btconnect.com

E-mail Addresses

In order to combat unwanted e-mails (spam) being sent to contributors to the Society's Web Site, all references to personal e-mail addresses have been removed. Instead, a Reference Number will be given and anyone wishing to make contact will be asked to e-mail the appropriate Society address, when details will be forwarded to genuine researchers.

Copyright

Apparently some American groups are not recognizing British copyright and have been buying indexes or other publications and publishing them on the Internet without permission. Some of the societies involved have complained to these unauthorized users with variable success. In the future, any member society taking part in suspect activity may be asked to resign from the FFHS.

If you find any S&DFHS material being misused in such a way, please contact the Society.

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E-mail address: society@sdfhs.org Postal address: Somerset & Dorset FHS, PO Box 4502, Sherborne DT9 6YL, England; Telephone/Fax: 01935 389611
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