Group Meetings
Because of the area covered by the Society, it is divided into ten geographical Groups. The Groups hold regular meetings, so wherever you are in the two counties there is likely to be a meeting close to you in the near future. Members of the Society, and visitors, are welcome to attend any meeting.
Groups in Dorset
(Click on a name for that Group's Programme of Meetings)
Groups in Somerset
(Click on a name for that Group's Programme of Meetings)
East Dorset
Meetings held at the Allendale Centre, Hanham Road, Wimborne. Doors open 7.30 p.m., meeting starts 8.00 p.m. Click here for a location map.
Meetings are in the Quarterjack Room.
Most Thursday mornings we are at the Local Study Centre, Poole Waterfront Museum.
Programme Secretary:- Pat Hilbert 01202821478 Email = GPHilbert@aol.com
Programme for 2012
| Monday | ||
| Monday | ||
| Monday 19th March | The Broadstone Railway Accident 1890 | Ian Andrews |
| Monday 16th April | The History and Work of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission | Ian Small |
| Monday 21st May | Silas, the Victorian Rural Postman | Alan Stone |
| Monday 18th June | Black Sheep and Skeletons in the cupboard | Steve Chapman |
| Monday 16th July | Manorial Records | David Smith |
| Monday 20th August | Workshop | |
| Monday 17th September | East Dorset industries | Pam Reeks |
| Monday 15th October | Aunt Julia's Holiday | Fred Loxton |
| Monday 19th November | Investigating fashion. What clothes can teach us about social history | Isabel Gilpin |
| Monday 17th December | A slightly alternative Dorset Christmas | Bonny Sartin |
South Dorset
All meetings are held at 7.30 p.m. in the St.Francis Church Hall, Merredin Close, Littlemoor, Weymouth (opposite the Somerfield Store) DT3 6SB. Click here for a map.
Programme Secretary:- David Lane, Tel. 01305 774220 Email = badger@zetnet.co.uk
Programme for 2012
| Wednesday | ||
| Wednesday | ||
| Wednesday 14th March |
AGM - Wishful thinking- an ancestor you would like to have meet. Audience participation |
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| Wednesday 11th April | Presenting your Family History | Ted Udall |
| Wednesday 9th May |
Family History in OLd Newspapers and Periodicals - Expected and unexpected sources |
Colin Chapman |
| Wednesday 13th June | Coroners records and the Family Historian | Michael Johnston |
| Wednesday 11th July | The Kings Statue and a changing Weymouth | Stuart Morris |
| Wednesday 8th August | No meeting - Olympics | |
| Wednesday 12th September |
A holiday diary of 1836 |
Pat Hase |
| Wednesday 10th October | Smuggling tales and trails | Rob Curtis |
| Wednesday 14th November | House history |
Speaker from the Dorset History Centre |
| Wednesday 12th December | Christmas meeting |
West Dorset
West Dorset Group meet in Loders Village Hall, near Bridport, DT6 3SA. Click here for a map. At 2.00p.m. Members £1.50 per session. Non-members £2 per session. Afternoon tea included.
Programme Secretary: Sylvia Creed Castle Tel. Email = sylviabluntshay@btopenworld.com
Programme for 2012
| Saturday | ||
| Saturday | ||
| Saturday 10th March | Justice of the Peace & Quarter Session Records | Colonel Iain Swinnerton |
| Saturday 14th April | Merchant Navy Records | David Hawkings |
| Saturday 12th May | Researching a typical rural village | Colin Dean |
| Saturday 9th June | The Fox-Strangway family of Melbury | Jane Ferentzi-Sheppard |
| Saturday July | Visit to be arranged | |
| Saturday August | No meeting | |
| Saturday 8th September |
History, dating & collecting of Victorian family photograghs Bring your own photographs for dating |
Robin Ansell |
| Saturday 13th October | Probate records | TBA |
| Saturday 10th November | Dorchester, the County Town | Rob Curtis |
| Saturday 8th December | Christmas lunch |
Blackmore Vale
Meetings held at The Exchange, Old Market Hill, Sturminster Newton, DT10 1FH at 7.30 p.m.
Click here for a map.
There is car parking nearby.
Programme Secretary:- James Pitman. Email = james.pitman@talktalk.net
Programme for 2012
| Wednesday | ||
| Wednesday | ||
| Wednesday 14th March | How ancestry can help you | Delia Horsfall |
| Wednesday 11th April | Criminal Ancestors | David Hawkings |
| Wednesday 9th May | Your Questions answered! | |
| Wednesday 13th June | Black sheep & Skeletons | Steve Chapman |
| Wednesday 11th July | Family history research - Fact or fiction | Pat Hase |
| Wednesady August | No meeting | |
| Wednesday 12th September | The history of Coroners | Michael Johnston |
| Wednesday 10th October | Philip Salkeld VC | David Birt |
| Wednesday 14th November |
"Up in arms" |
Bonny Sartin |
| Wednesday 12th December | Manorial records | David Smith |
West Somerset
A new Group formerly known as the "Old Minehead Family History Group"
The Group meets on the last Wednesday of every month at 7pm. Members £1, non-Members £2. Refreshments included.
Venue:- Townsend House Townsend Road, Minehead, Somerset. (next to the Esso Garage) Click here for a map.
Programme Secretary:- Jane Butland 01984-639428 Email = janey68@hotmail.co.uk
Programme for 2012
| Wednesday | ||
| Wednesday 22nd February | Website - Where to look - members participation | |
| Wednesday March | ||
| Wednesday April | ||
| Wednesday May | ||
| Wednesday June | ||
| Wednesday July | ||
| Wednesday August | ||
| Wednesday September | ||
| Wednesday October | ||
| Wednesday November |
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| December 2012 | No meeting |
Mid-Somerset
Please note the new meeting place: The Residents Lounge, Bluestone Court, Oxendale, Street. BA16 0NF. Click here for a map. 7.15p.m. for 7.30p.m. start.
Programme Secretary:- Steve Wilkinson. 01934-712724 Email = as.wilkinson@btinternet.com
Programme for 2012
Meetings are second Thursday of the month. Visitors welcome. AGM to be held 22nd September 2012.
| Thursday | ||
| Thursday | ||
| Thursday 8th March | Visit to SDFHS HQ | |
| Thursday 12th April |
Your ancestors, population & birth control. Conraception delicately delineated. |
Colin Chapman |
| Thursday 10th May | Your family history | Ted Udall |
| Thursday 14th June | Members evening | |
| Thursday 12th July | Charles Palmer's log book 1867 | John Porter |
| Thursday 9th August |
Won't you tell me Daddy? |
Yvonne Bell |
| Thursday 13th September | Glimpses of Old Yeovil | Mike Bolton |
| Thursday 11th October | Potty Parsons | John Crockford-Hawley |
| Thursday 8th November |
Being Editor |
Colin Dean |
| Thursday 13th December |
Coffers, Clysters, Comfrey and Coifs; The lives of our 17th Century ancestors |
Janet Few |
Taunton
Meetings held at Kilkenny Old People's Centre, Kilkenny Court, Taunton TA2 7QL, at the side of the railway station car park. Click here for a map. Meeting starts at 7.30 p.m.
Programme Secretary:- Sue Burne 01278-722706 email is sueburne@aol.com
Programme for 2012
| Tuesday | ||
| Tuesday |
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| Tuesday 6th March | Members evening - "Theme is School Days" | |
| Tuesday 3rd April | Woolavington's Famous Sons | Godfrey Hebdon |
| Tuesday 1st May | T. E. Lawrence in Dorset | Bill Chapman |
| Tuesday June | No meeting | |
| Tuesday 3rd July | "Where did they go?" | Andrew Janes |
| Tuesday 7th August | Members outing - TBA | |
| Tuesday 4th September | The Somerset voices oral archive | Ann Healey |
| Tuesday 2nd October | "Do your own detective work!" | Zaida Haworth |
| Tuesday 6th November | Crime and Punishment | Esther Hoyle (from the Somerset Heritage Centre) |
| Tuesday 4th December | Group social evening |
The Taunton Group also holds a meeting on the third Monday of each month (except August) at the Robin Close Community Hall, Robin Close, Bishops Hull, Taunton. (Robin Close is off Heron Drive the road to St Margaret's Hospice). This is an informal self help meeting, where we try and help each other with research problems.
Yeovil
Meetings held at Holy Trinity Church Hall, Lysander Road Yeovil (opposite B & Q) at 7.30 p.m. Click here for a map.
Programme Secretary:- Sheila Gane, 31 Turner's Barn Lane, Yeovil BA20 2LN
Programme for 2012
| Tuesday | ||
| Tuesday | ||
| Tuesday 13th March |
Templates of Tenure. How freehold, copyhold and leasehold affetcs the appearance and survival of Dorset farmhouses |
Bob Machin |
| Tuesday 10th April | Yetminster Walk. Meet at the Church at 7PM | Bob Machin |
| Tuesday 8th May | The Frome Hoard | David Crisp |
| Tuesday 12th June | Transportation to Australia | David Hawkings |
| Tuesday 10th July | Tales from the Archives | Dorset History Centre |
| Tuesday 14th August | Members evening - My Ancestors' Occupation | |
| Tuesday 11th September | 19th Century rural Somerset | Dr Janet Tall |
| Tuesday October | ||
| Tuesday November | ||
| Tuesday December |
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Sedgemoor
Meetings held in St Johns Church Hall, Highbridge, Somerset TA9 3AG. 7.30p.m. for a 7.45p.m. start
Programme Secretary Christopher Deane, 21 The Grove, Burnham -on-Sea, Somerset TA8 2PA chris_deane101@yahoo.co.uk
Programme for 2012
| January | ||
| Thursday | ||
| Thursday 1st March | Discovering "Yoi" More from the Crosse family | John Porter |
| Thursday 5th April | Visit to the Somerset Heritage Centre | |
| Thursday 3rd May | Members evening | |
| Thursday 7th June | What's new in Family History websites | Ann-Marie Wilkinson |
| Thursday 5th July |
From Shropshire to Sherborne The life and family of Beatrix Walcot 1575-1658 |
Cynthia Walcot |
| August | No meeting | |
| Thursday 6th September |
A flock of black sheep |
Sue Burne |
| Thursday 4th October | More jottings of a family historian | Andrew Janes |
| Thursday 1st November |
The life and times of Rev Charles Marson Vicar of Hambridge |
David Sutcliffe |
| Thursday 6th December | Member's evening and Christmas social |
Frome Area
Meetings held at 7.15pm for a 7.30p.m. start, in The Library, Justice Lane-just off Bridge Street, Frome. BA11 1BE. On the last Tuesday of every month unless otherwise stated. Click here for a map.
Please use the back door of the library - approached via the staff car park next to the Round Tower.
Contact Sue Simpson 01373 464118 Email = cfsimpsom@aol.com
Programme for 2012
| Tuesday | ||
| Tuesday 28th February | Search for the Last Coachman - WW1 family research that led to writing a novel | John Doyle |
| Tuesday 27th March | Dirt, Stink and Disease - Victorian health | Barbara Fuller |
| Tuesday 17th April | Guided tour of the Somerset Heritage Centre - Booking essential | |
| Tuesday 26th April | How to date old photographs | Jane Ferentzi-Sheppard |
| Tuesday 29th May | Frome Town History Walk - Booking essential | John Birkett-Smith |
| Tuesday 26th June | How to research the history of your house. | Jane De Gruchy |
| Tuesday 31st July | The Poor Law. How it affected your ancestors. | Terry Bracher |
| Tuesday Sept |
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| Tuesday October | ||
| Tuesday November | ||
| December | No meeting |