Berkshire Family History Society

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Everyday lives of ordinary people

July 13, 2026

When: Sunday 20 September 2026, 12:00 - 16:00 Where: Family Research Centre, Reading Come and visit part of the old dairy building, once where students learnt how to make cheese, now the home of Berkshire Family History Society. See a display of everyday lives, the theme of this year’s Heritage Open Days, plus, discover the everyday, and not so everyday, lives of your ancestors with the help and guidance of our expert Research Assistants. The Family Research Centre will be open with its multiple PCs and free access to: Ancestry worldwide Findmypast worldwide The Genealogist British Newspaper Archive The 1939 Register We also have an extensive reference library and handy bookshop. In addition, we are a Family Search Affiliated Library giving you access to hundreds of millions of images of original records relating to Berkshire and beyond, not available at home. If you are just interested in exploring new places in Reading and want to see inside one of the former Dairy ...

Medieval Reading - a walking tour

July 13, 2026

When: Friday 2 October 2026, 13:00 - 15:00 Where: Reading Abbey This tour of Medieval Reading will take you back in time over a 1,000-year period, from 476AD to the 1450s. Reading would have looked and felt so different. Highlights will include the Greatest Knight, the Viking invasion, Reading Abbey, Reading’s 3C’s, food & so much more. The meeting place will be notified a few days before the visit. Please arrive 10 mins early for signing in and safety briefing etc. Numbers are limited, so pre-booking is required. Bookings close three days beforehand. Images (above and right): Reading Abbey by Chris Wood, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped) To book, scroll down. Full event details and booking

British Rail in Berkshire in the 1970s

July 12, 2026

When: Thursday 15 October 2026, 14:30 - 15:45 Where: Abbey Baptist Church, Abbey Square British Rail in the 1970s was a paradox on wheels — bold innovation running alongside baffling neglect. This was the decade of the High Speed Train blazing through a network still dotted with tired 1950s stock, peeling paint, and stations that looked half‑abandoned. Yet elsewhere, commuter lines thrived, platforms gleamed, and modernisation marched on — sometimes sensitively, sometimes with the demolition of beloved Victorian buildings in favour of prefab “progress”. And of course, the catering: a legend of its own, wrapped in foil and folklore. In this talk, railway historian Dr Richard Marks takes you on a lively tour through a decade of extremes, eccentricities, and enduring legacies — the highs, lows, and lunchboxes of a remarkable era in Britain’s railway history. About the venue and how to book Please note the Centre’s face-to-face talks are now being held at a new venue ...

Tour of Family Research Centre

July 05, 2026

When: Monday 22 June 2026, 11:30 - 12:30 Where: Family Research Centre, Reading Join us for a tour of Berkshire Family History Society’s new Family Research Centre. The centre offers the best collection of resources in Berkshire for family history research, wherever in the world your research takes you. The tour will introduce you to the facilities and the new venue. And you can stay afterwards to do some research, if you would like to. So come prepared! You can even purchase lunch, if you haven’t brought a sandwich with you, at The Dairy Cafe next door. The centre is accessible by public transport. However, if you wish to travel by car you may purchase a one day parking permit from the Society. You can pay for this and collect it from the Family Research Centre on arrival. Parking is free on Saturdays. The tour includes tea/coffee and biscuits. Pre-booking required as numbers are limited. FREE. Full event details and booking

Everyday Life & Fatal History in 16th Century Oxfordshire

July 02, 2026

When: Monday 21 September 2026, 19:30 - 21:30 Where: Abingdon Branch, Oxfordshire Tudor England was a dangerous place. There were plagues and wars, perilous childbirths and shocking infant mortality. But what risks did people face as they went about their everyday lives? Using evidence from coroners’ reports preserved in the National Archives this talk explores the history of everyday life, and everyday death. Farming, building and travel were dangerous. Fruit trees killed more people than guns and sheep killed about the same number as coal mines. Men stabbed themselves playing football and women drowned in their hundreds fetching water. From bear attacks in North Oxford to a bowls-on-ice incident on the Thames, this talk brings the stories of common folk back into the big picture of Tudor England, bringing the reality of their world to life and never before. Refreshments: Tea and coffee will be available. Raffle: Join in for a chance to win a prize and help support t...

A History of Tilehurst

June 21, 2026

When: Thursday 25 June 2026, 19:45 - 21:00 Where: Reading Branch, RG30 4PE Now a residential suburb, was Tilehurst ever a village as such? Mike Cooper – who’s written Reading Libraries’ booklet on Tilehurst – looks at the history of the place and its community and how change has affected the area from the break-up of Reading Abbey lands, through the industries which took advantage of its natural assets down to trolleybuses and council housing. This meeting will be held at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 280 The Meadway, Tilehurst 7.15pm for a 7.45pm start. Ample free parking and good company with lively discussion and help for those who are stuck with their research. All are welcome, non-members £5 per person Image: Colin Bastes- St Michaels Church, Tilehurst, CC BY-SA 2.0 Full event details and booking