Woking Centre
Trinity Church, Brewery Road, Woking, GU21 4LH
For map click hereCo-ordinator Chris Leech
Email: woking@wsfhs.orgSecond Thursday in month
The doors will open at 7.30pm and the meeting will start at 7.50pm.
2024
| Date | Doors Open | Start Time | Title | Speaker | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thu | 11 Apr | 7.30 pm | 7.50 pm | Who were your Great Grandparents or Grandparents? | Informal Meeting |
| Thu | 9 May | 7.30 pm | 7.50 pm | The History and the Mystery of Funerals | Sue Flipping |
| Thu | 13 Jun | 7.30 pm | 7.50 pm | Family History from Education Records | Colin Chapman |
| Thu | 12 Sep | 7.30 pm | 7.50 pm | Metropolitan Ancestors - Finding Families in Georgian and Victorian London | Dr Nicholas Dixon |
| Thu | 10 Oct | 7.30 pm | 7.50 pm | Posted in the Past | Helen Baggott (via Zoom) |
| Thu | 14 Nov | 7.30 pm | 7.50 pm | Where were your ancestors on D-Day? | Informal Meeting |
| Thu | 12 Dec | 7.30 pm | 7.50 pm | tba | tba |
2025
| Date | Doors Open | Start Time | Title | Speaker | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thu | 9 Jan | 7.30 pm | 7.50 pm | Who do you think they were? | Julian Pooley |
| Thu | 13 Feb | 7.30 pm | 7.50 pm | The rise of Non-Conformism | Sally Gardiner |
| Thu | 13 Mar | 7.30 pm | 7.50 pm | The Royal Navy in WW2 for Family Historians | Richard Marks |
| Thu | 10 Apr | 7.30 pm | 7.50 pm | A Romany Lifestyle | David Rose and Geoff Burch |
| Thu | 8 May | 7.30 pm | 7.50 pm | Skeletons out of your cupboard | Informal Meeting |
Forthcoming Meetings
April 11 2024
Informal Meeting - Who were your Great Grandparents or Grandparents?Introduce us to your ancestors. Bring them along on a memory stick, in a folder of papers and pictures or come and talk to us about them.
May 9
Sue Flipping - The History and the Mystery of FuneralsSue's talk brings together her professional and personal experience. "The History and Mystery of Funerals" holds surprises about the background to many of the funeral traditions we consider 'normal' in the UK and also looks at why those traditions would be considered bizarre by other cultures and at other times.
June 13
Colin Chapman - Family History from Education RecordsDr Chapman is a retired engineeer and scientist, a former part-time lecturer at universities in the south west of England and tutor with the Open University. He studied the history of British education as part of his own teacher training. He began family history research at the age if seven encouraged by his grandparents. He went on to found or co-found six county-based family history societies, three of which he is currently president. He originated the three-letter code for county names.
For centuries, education at all levels for both girls and boys was provided, often free, by a variety of bodies: churches of all denominations, national and local government, military authorities, charities, endowments, professional institutions and individuals.
In this illustrated talk Dr Chapman explains the background to the provision of education in Britain and the records it generated that offer invaluable help when tracing our ancestors.
September 12
Dr Nicholas Dixon - Metropolitan Ancestors - Finding Families in Georgian and Victorian LondonDr Nicholas Dixon is a professional genealogist and historical researcher based in London. He is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists and a student member of the Register of Qualified Genealogists. He also belongs to the West Surrey Family History Society, a number of his ancestors having lived in Woking, Guildford, Chertsey and Farnham.
'It can be particularly challenging for genealogists to locate individuals and families in London and its environs. This is because of the high density of population in the metropolis and the fact that London families often moved between multiple addresses in a relatively short space of time. Given the number of people who migrated to London during the Georgian and Victorian periods, London records often need to be compared with those of other parts of the UK and other countries. This talk will discuss the multifarious records that are useful to those researching London ancestors, including trade directories, newspapers, court records, insurance records and local history publications. Using some relevant and interesting examples from my own ancestry, it will suggest new ways of finding families in London.
October 10
Helen Baggott (via Zoom) - Posted in the PastBased on the books 'Posted in the Past' and 'Posted in the Past Second Delivery', this talk reveals the true stories behind postcards sent in the early years of the 20th century. Using genealogy, Helen has researched the families to reveal their stories. Illustrated by images of postcards, this talk shares some of those stories.
A 10-year-old servant working for a laundress in 19th-century Bath, the man who helped keep the doors to Great Ormond Street Hospital open for more than 30 years, a soldier killed in the First World War – all connected by messages sent using the first real social media phenomenon of the 20th century.
November 14
Informal Meeting - Where were your ancestors on D-Day?An opportunity to share some of your research finds with other members in this 80th Anniversary year. Bring them on a memory stick, in a folder of papers and pictures or just come and talk about them!
December 12
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January 9 2025
Julian Pooley - Who do you think they were?To be added
February 13
Sally Gardiner - The rise of Non-ConformismI describe myself as an enthusiastic amateur family historian; i've been researching for 14 years and have been part of the Woking u3a Genealogy group for the same duration, becoming group lrsfrt in October 2022.
My main goals are motivating group members to maximise their knowledge to make relevant family history discoveries as well as creating a supportive group environment.
The scope of my talk is Non-Conformity, principally focused on non-Anglican Protestant denominations in the period between the late 17th Century and early 19th Century.
March 13
Richard Marks - The Royal Navy in WW2 for Family Historianstba
April 10
David Rose and Geoff Burch - A Romany Lifestyletba
May 8
Informal Meeting - Skeletons out of your cupboardHave you discovered any skeletons in your family tree?Bring them along on a memory stick, in a folder of papers and pictures or come and talk to us about them.