November 2025

There were 19 of us at the first meeting of the new Genealogy and Family History Group on the morning of Guy Fawkes day and there are more people interested who couldn't make it on the day. We're a mixture of complete beginners and those who have done some or a lot of research either currently or years ago. Our family lines come from all over. I already know that some of us share common surnames, I wonder if we will find any actual connections?

Genealogy is like a giant tree shaped jigsaw. Where do you find the pieces? How do you know if the pieces are correct? And when you have found them, how do you organise the information? We started by having a look at general advice about what to research and some ideas on how to organise it, whether a computer is necessary (it isn't but is very useful), and a look at available resources ranging from the main websites, free and subscription based, to books and newsletters.

Although you can do a lot for free, there comes a point when you need to make sure you are following the right family so you need to get certificates. We had a look at the Birth, Marriage and Death certificates in the UK and the varying information you can get from them. Then we had a look at the logical process of following a family line back - all well and good assuming you can find them on the census or know which certificate to get, but tracking them down is all part of the fun in doing your family history - isn't it?

For me, although what I had planned for the second half of the meeting didn't happen as my presentation took too long, looking around the room as we had our coffee, the best part was seeing people many of whom didn't know each other, chatting about their own family research, passing on advice and just being able to talk to somebody who shared their interest whose eyes don't glaze over.

Anyone who wants to join us is welcome, the more the merrier, just let me know if you are interested in coming along. If you have a particular interest or expertise it would be great to hear from you - we won't just be looking at the nuts and bolts of the tree, but putting our relations in their historical context along the way.

Caroline O'Neill

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This new group welcomes anyone interested in exploring their family tree. We aim to cover all aspects of Genealogy and Family History - not just ancestry research, but any topic loosely connected to family history. u3a members from other local u3a Family History groups are warmly invited to attend any of our monthly talks. If you'd like to join us, please contact the group leader in advance.

Discussions will often be led by the group, though we also plan to host guest speakers and occasionally watch and discuss genealogy-related videos.

There is a small charge of £3 per session to help cover hall costs and build a fund for guest speakers.

Typical meetings will include:

A talk or demonstration focusing on a specific aspect of family history

Following a coffee break, support for personal research, including help getting started on your tree, breaking down brick walls and solving research challenges.

If you're new to family history but would like to have a go, all you need is information about a relative who may appear in the 1901, 1911 or 1921 census. You might even like to explore another family rather than your own.

Although they would be useful, you do not need a subscription to a commercial family history website or your own computer to participate. It is possible to access Ancestry, Findypast and British Newspapers on the computers at an Essex Library at no cost. You must be an Essex Libraries member to use the computers and can pre-book them.

We are investigating the possibility of holding monthly Drop-In sessions at Burnham-on-Crouch Library for members of the group. One computer would be pre-booked, and two others would be available on a first-come first-served basis. Members can also bring their own laptops or tablets to use the library's Wi-Fi.

In the future, we also hope to arrange informal social Genealogical Meets and hosted sessions about specific topics, but this will depend on the interests of the group.