| Status: | Active, open to new members |
| Leader: | |
| When: | Monthly on Wednesdays 10:00 am-12:00 pm third in month |
| Venue: | Hadleigh and Thundersley Cricket Club |
Group Leader Lynne Middleton
This group started in February 2019 and is still going strong, having continued online during the lockdown period. The group is friendly and inclusive, with all u3a members welcome to attend any of the social history talks given in our monthly meetings.
Studying social history helps family historians build a picture of the lives of previous generations, fleshing out the facts gleaned from their family history research. Nevertheless, some members may want to learn about this for its own sake. It is certainly not essential to be working on your family history to attend. However, the main focus is on Victorian and Georgian life, as these periods yield most information about our forbears, though earlier times are treated with a light touch to provide a context for the themes discussed. The group leader usually shares a slide presentation on a theme of the month at these meetings. She is not an expert, but an enthusiast and keen family historian who enjoys sharing her own learning and research with other members.
For those researching a family tree, there will be opportunities to research their ancestors, using the Ancestry and Find My Past sites which are available in Hadleigh Library at no cost. Dates for Library research are arranged on an ad hoc basis. Family historians can learn about the resources which are available on the internet and elsewhere; how best to interpret the various records; and how to document their findings in a variety of ways.
From time to time group members have taken part in visits including Docklands Museum, Charles Dickens Museum and Kensington Palace, to coincide with exhibitions of interest to us.
One-to-one help can be given to beginners wishing to research their family history using the subscription sites including Ancestry and Find My Past, as well as other online resources. This includes learning how to use a computer for this purpose if you would love to give it a try, but a lack of IT skills is putting you off!