The Federation of Family History Societies (FFHS) is an educational charity. We support, inform and advise our membership, which consists of family history societies and similar bodies across the world.
To achieve our mission, we:
co-ordinate and assist the work of organisations interested in family history, genealogy and heraldry
foster co-operation and projects that help researchers
represent the interests of family historians, especially in the preservation and availability of archives
You can read more about our activities on our "What We Do" page.
Discover 14-18
Over 1.7 million men and women of the Commonwealth forces and civilians died during the two world wars. The vast majority of our readers probably have forebears or fairly close family members amongst those listed on the website of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC). You can use a combination of filters to focus on people of interest who appear in its “Find War Dead” database.
CWGC has recently launched Discover 14-18, a microsite that features richly illustrated timelines and also calendar of events planned to commemorate particular aspects of WW1. Content is themed around major battles and the different roles of the Army, Navy and Air Force, all linking back to the CWGC memorial sites and other online archives.
These new resources provide excellent material for understanding the context and course of the conflict. They will also make locating and visiting memorial sites of relatives killed during the war easier than ever before.
New Discovery Catalogue
The National Archives (TNA) has released an expanded version of its online Discovery catalogue. A further 10 million record descriptions have been added, bringing the grand total to 32 million items. Details from sources such as Access to Archives and the Manorial Documents Register are now included in a single searchable database.
22 million of the references in the catalogue are from TNA itself, with 9 million of these being available for download.
A number of changes have been made to the ways in which you can explore what Discovery has to offer. The current set up is not the final version. You can supply TNA with feedback by using one of its options for sending comments, questions and suggestions about Discovery and other aspects of TNA’s services.
Free Websites Update
One of the great things about family history is how many people and organisations help each other free of charge. One of the easiest ways to tap into this collaboration is online. An enormous range of websites offer useful information to anyone who visits them. Some of the sites also provide opportunities to give something back by contributing our own time, skills and knowledge.
We have just updated our list of free websites that help family historians with interests in the British Isles. Some of them also contain material relating to other parts of the world. They all charge the same price – nothing.
So whether you hope to recover a missing branch of your family tree or want to find out more about a particular person, ancestral village or a type of record, this list is for you. Each entry includes a summary of what the site focuses on and a link to help you discover more.
Anniversary Events
As part of its 40th Anniversary programme, the Federation is providing sponsorship for a number of family history fairs and other events that are organised by our member societies. These are being held at a variety of venues ranging from Essex to Glamorgan and Surrey to Cumbria throughout the course of 2014.
Why not browse through the full list of events to track down the ones that are of greatest interest to you?
First World War Centenary
Are you involved in a project within your own community, local history society, family history society or other group or organisation which is researching the lives of local people who served in WW1 or who were left behind to keep the home fires burning? Do you know of a website which contains information that might help others further their own research into their WW1 ancestors?
If so please contact Philippa McCray the Administrator
so that we can include details within our dedicated WW1 Centenary Pages
