BerksFHS
Tracing Your Ancestors

Most people know about their grandparents (some even their great grandparents), but do you know who your great, great grandparents were, where they lived and what they did? When you start tracing your ancestors you begin a search into the past - you will become your own 'family detective'. Through your search you will meet many other people united by the same absorbing interest. You will make new friends and acquaintances. No matter how many, or indeed how few, relatives you may have, you begin the search for your ancestry with yourself and immediate family. Start by talking to your relations, particularly the older ones. They will have memories of people past and present. They will have interesting anecdotes that will round out your family history.

It's important to collect as much information as you can as this will save time and effort later. Look at your family documents, photographs, certificates, and wills. Many of you will have a family bible and this may give you a great deal of information about your ancestors. When you have discovered as much as you can from reminiscences and family records, you are ready to go back, generation by generation, and find your family. Many of the records you will need are kept in Record Offices, Register Offices, and Libraries who will respond to postal enquiries, so travel can be limited. However, it's always helpful to visit the places where your ancestors lived.

What can membership of the Berkshire Family History Society offer?

All new members receive an Information Booklet. This contains information, not only where to find and how to use Berkshire records, but advice on other records throughout the country. If you are a beginner you will also be given the help and assistance necessary to make a positive start in tracing your forebears. The Society publishes a quarterly journal, the Berkshire Family Historian. Your interests and questions are published free, a service that has proved extremely popular over the years. The journal is also invaluable for keeping members up to date with the most recent developments in family history, not only in Berkshire but also throughout the country. Members may also attend Society Branch meetings in Abingdon, Bracknell, Newbury, Reading and Windsor where expert speakers are invited to share their experiences. Some branches have a reference library from which books, etc may be borrowed and new publications and books purchased. See the branch details and benefits of membership.

A principle aim of the Society is to assist in the preservation of local records. Indexing of records is continually in progress. Major completed projects include the 1851 census for Berkshire, which includes nearly 200,000 inhabitants, a calendar of the surviving pre-1834 Poor Law records and the inscriptions from Reading Cemetery.

The Research Centre

To house these indexes and many other records the Society has a fine Research Centre adjacent to the Berkshire Record Office in central Reading and is easily accessible by car, bus and train. It is open on three weekdays and one evening each week and on certain Sundays. The Research Centre is the repository for an extensive collection of books, film and fiche records. We also have many indexes to the 1851 census of England and Wales, indexes and transcripts of the 1881 census of England, Wales and Scotland and the International Genealogical Index which contains three hundred million names. In all, there are over 8,000 books and other items. We also have about 10,000 microfiche with fiche readers and printers. We also have a well­stocked bookstall with books for sale. It does not matter that you do not have ancestors in Berkshire for only about 20% of the library covers Berkshire. The rest of the library has material from Cornwall to Yorkshire; Caenarvon to Suffolk; and from Canada to Australia and New Zealand.

Diary of Events

Our journal - The Berkshire Family Historian - will give the precise details of speakers at Branch Meetings. They are also available on this site. Meetings are usually held on weekday evening starting at about 7.30pm.

Bracknell and Wokingham Branch meets at Priestwood Community Centre, Priestwood Court Road, Bracknell.

Computer Branch meets at The Oakwood Centre, Headley Road, Woodley, Reading

Newbury Branch meets in St. Mary's Church Hall, Church Road, Shaw, Newbury.

Reading Branch meets at The Church of Latter Day Saints, Church Hall, The Meadway , Tilehurst, Reading

Vale of White Horse Branch (Abingdon) meets at Long Furlong Community Centre, (at end of) Boulter Drive, off Dunmore Road, Abingdon, Oxon.

Windsor, Slough and Maidenhead Branch meets at Christ Church, United Reform Church, William Street, Windsor.

For more information contact

updated 9th June 2003
rev 9th October 2005