For all family history researchers living in Berkshire and for those researching Berkshire ancestors
page reviewed and revised Tuesday 15th April 2014
Notice of Annual General Meeting: 20th June 2014
The early twentieth century Conflict and change
Saturday, 18th October—a key conference for family and local historians, and a visit programme leading up to it
Daily reminders of events from the remarkable early decades of the last century 20th Century Calendar-see more
15th April 1912 After striking an iceberg in the Atlantic, the 'unsinkable' liner RMS Titanic sinks on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York, with the loss of 1,503 lives
16th April 1917 After a decade in exile, Bolshevik leader Vladimir Ilich Ulyanov (better known by the pseudonym Lenin) arrives at Petrograd's Finland Station to assume leadership of the Russian Revolution
17th April 1924 Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures and Louis B Mayer Pictures join together to create Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios (MGM), in a vertical integration of studio management, film production and theatre management
18th April 1906 In San Francisco, California at 5:13 am an earthquake (estimated strength about 8.0 on the Richter scale) strikes the city: the quake and ensuing fires kill an estimated 3,000 people and destroy 80 per cent of the city's buildings
19th April 1928 The 125th (and final) fascicle of the Oxford English Dictionary is published
20th April 1902 Marie and Pierre Curie successfully isolate radioactive radium salts from the mineral pitchblende in their laboratory in Paris
21st April 1918 Vauz sur Somme, France: 25 year old Manfred von Richtofen, the notorious German pilot known as the 'Red Baron' and credited with 80 victories, is shot down and killed
22nd April 1915 In the Second Battle of Ypres, the German army uses poison gas (in this case, chlorine) against Allied troops for the first time
Conference Programme outline Booking NOW
About Visits Booking NOW
NEXT VISIT Thursday 15th May: Nuffield Place, home of William Morris
19th June: St George's Chapel & Archives— now only THREE places left
3rd August: Halton House & Trenchard Museum—THREE places left
supported by Berkshire Record Office and findmypast
Members' Area - New data added
Berkshire family history publications
NEW Fawley St Mary Parish Registers CD 1540-1987
Data samples in the Members' Area. Product reviews in the Shop)
Berkshire Maps CD OS 1881-1887 ◊ 51 maps, gazetteer and index
Berkshire Baptisms CD ◊ Details of content and coverage
Berkshire Marriages CD ◊ Places and dates
Berkshire Burials CD ◊ Places and dates
Berkshire Probate Index CD 1480-1857 ◊ What wills can tell you
An Historical Atlas of Berkshire ◊ read a review
All CDs and publications sold at the Research Centre
Informed advice wherever your ancestors came from
Join the society Extended membership offer
Explore the Royal County of Berkshire
Friday 25th April—and most Fridays advice at Thatcham library
Tuesday 29th April—drop in advice at Wokingham library
Tuesday 13th May—drop in advice at Bracknell library
Branches meet at Abingdon, Bracknell, Newbury, Reading, Windsor and Woodley—see Main Menu and calendar
Next meetings Woodley (16th) Reading (24th) Windsor (29th)
WHEREVER your ancestors came from...find them at Berkshire's foremost facility for family history research—the society's Research Centre in Reading. Open to all.
FOUR family history online options
Origins - National Wills Index + NEW over 440,000 Devon probate records now available
British Newspaper Archive - search 7.7 million pages across the country; First World War editions of Birmingham's Evening Despatch now online
findmypast - JUST ADDED—Details of the Pals Battalions and their regiments + 100 more record sets in the next 100 days
Ancestry search WORLDWIDE (includes lots for London, but not for Berkshire)
Browse library catalogue Search the catalogue
The Family History Research Centre is in Reading, next to Berkshire Record Office—home of original records of the Royal County—including those of Vale of the White Horse and North Berkshire. Parking is free
You will find society Marriage and Burial transcriptions (but not all of them) online at findmypast See ALL of the society's Berkshire data at the Research Centre.
Quality is key. Who wants unreliable information? Or details that can't be searched intelligently?
Berkshire Family History Society does not publish unchecked material. Almost all Berkshire FHS CDs are fully browsable and searchable, unlike those from some other societies. The society needs more people willing to check transcriptions against original records held at Berkshire Record Office in Reading. And talk to us if you have good experience in assembling and building data CDs.
Why not join in and help?
Projects make more records from the pre-1974 Royal County of Berkshire more readily accessible for more people.
page reviewed and revised Tuesday 15th April 2014
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