Berkshire Family History Society

When: Thursday 22 October 2026, 13:55 - 15:15 Where: Webinar This all series ticket covers all three talks in the Autumn “Potpourri of Social History” talks series, for the discounted price of £12.50 (members £10.00). You may also book each talk individually – see each separate event page. All three talks are on Thursdays at 2pm and last about an hour. Afterwards there will be time for questions and discussion. This is an online talks series using Zoom.  Thursday 22 October “ Signs of the Times: Reading’s Memorials “ : 2-3.15pm with Malcolm Summers The stories behind Reading’s memorials bring the people and events of Reading’s past to life. This talk will describe aspects of the town’s history by considering some of its, often not well known, plaques, statues, and monuments. Even the better-known memorials have secrets to yield in the tales of their origins. Thursday 26 November “A Timeline of Thames Valley History” : 2-3.15pm with J...

When: Thursday 10 December 2026, 14:00 - 15:15 Where: Webinar Step back into the world of carols, crackers, and candlelight as we explore how the Victorians shaped the Christmas we know today. From Dickens’s A Christmas Carol to the first Christmas cards, decorated trees, and lavish festive feasts, this talk uncovers the traditions, innovations, and social changes that transformed a modest winter holiday into the season of celebration. Drawing on vivid stories and surprising details, it reveals how Victorian enterprise, literature, and family life gave birth to many of the customs we still cherish — and how Christmas became both a cultural phenomenon and a commercial success. This is the last of three talks in the Autumn Potpourri Talks Series. The other talks take place on 22nd October and 26th November. You may book tickets for individual events or for all three talks in the series for a reduced price.   To book Pre-booking is required, because the event link will be sent in ad...

When: Thursday 26 November 2026, 14:00 - 15:15 Where: Webinar This talk explains the layers of history that are around us, but not commonly known.  Our speaker is Jim Donahue, author and prize-winning photographer of the book “The Thames Valley: Past, Present and Future”.  The Thames Valley has played a surprisingly important role in the development of the British Isles as a whole. Jim’s stories range from evidence of some of England’s earliest prehistoric ancestors – to battles between Wessex’s King Arthur and the Vikings – right up to the present day, featuring the rock stars, film studios and high-tech industry that now make their home in the region.  This is the second of three talks in the Autumn Potpourri Talks Series. The other talks take place on 22nd October and 10th December. You may book tickets for individual events or for all three talks in the series for a reduced price.   To book Pre-booking is required, because the event link will be s...

When: Tuesday 4 August 2026, 10:45 - 13:15 Where: Kendrick Conservation Area Lost Turkish baths, schools, Albion Terrace and the original University campus In this walk around the Kendrick Conservation Area, developed by Terry Dixon and Richard Bennett (Chair of Reading Civic Society), you will be taken back over 150 years to when the area looked very different. Highlights include an enormous long lost swimming baths complex, only one pub, Kendrick Court, two secondary schools, Albion Terrace, the original University of Reading campus, Kendrick and Redlands Roads, impressive listed buildings, majestic trees, historic plaques & 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.  Image (above and right): Andrew Smith, Albion Terrace, London Road, Reading, CC BY-SA 2.0 – web To book, scroll down....

When: Wednesday 28 October 2026, 19:00 - 21:00 Where: Webinar The Royal Navy of the Second World War was a vast, complex, and extraordinarily diverse  organisation. It ranged from mighty battleships and fast destroyers to minesweepers, shore establishments, the submarine force and the Fleet Air Arm as well as the Royal Marines. For family historians, uncovering a sailor’s wartime story can be deeply rewarding, but the surviving records are scattered across multiple archives and often wrapped in naval terminology that can be daunting and impenetrable.   This workshop guides you through the key sources for researching Royal Navy personnel during WW2, explaining what records exist, where they are held, and how to interpret them. We’ll explore service records, muster rolls, ship’s logs, medal documentation, and the rich material preserved in Admiralty files. You’ll learn how to follow an ancestor through their training, postings, and operations, how to decode naval ranks and branches, ...

When: Saturday 3 October 2026, 14:30 - 16:30 Where: Webinar This discussion group is aimed at those wanting to get the most out of their DNA results. Facilitated by DNA expert, Debbie Kennett, sessions are held quarterly. However, there is no obligation to attend on a regular basis, first time attendees are always welcomed. This is a great opportunity to ask questions and to gain ideas for how you can use your results to solve questions. We encourage participants to share their success stories. And we particularly welcome short presentations and case reports from group members. All levels of expertise are welcome but you should have some basic experience of working with your DNA matches to get the most out of the group. Tickets are £5 (society members £4). Pre-booking is required however, as full joining instructions will be sent by email to all attendees in advance. Bookings close one day before the event. To be able to join in this discussion group, you will need a computer devic...

When: Saturday 14 November 2026, 11:00 - 13:00 Where: Family Research Centre, Reading Have you been researching your family tree and would like to write it up as a story but don’t know how to start? In the popular workshop, Dr Barry Jerome will help you get started and show you how you can structure it, so that you can write up your family history while still continuing your research.  Pre-booking is required as numbers are limited. Bookings close 24 hours before the workshop.  Tea/coffee and biscuits included.  To book, scroll down.   Full event details and booking

When: Saturday 12 September 2026, 11:00 - 15:30 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 Dair...

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 ...

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

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 ...

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

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...