This is a follow-up article to the earlier one entitled "Federation of Family History Societies' conference is a Success." You can read that article at http://eogn.typepad.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2004/08/federation_of_f.html. Perhaps this update should be called "Elvis appears at genealogy conference in England."
The following article was written by and is copyright by Alice Josephs. It cannot be republished elsewhere without permission of the author.
The party's over but the memories linger on. Nearly four hundred delegates savoured lectures ranging from the workhouse system through sources for house history to Australian convict ancestry at the 30th anniversary conference of the Federation of Family History Societies (FFHS), "Flight of Yesterdays" held in Leicestershire, England.
A family history fair open to the public, splendidly hosted by the Leicestershire and Rutland Family History Society, added to the hive of activity. Crowds buzzed excitedly around the many stalls - the Society of Genealogists, the National Archives, numerous family history societies, Family Tree Magazine and much more, with Ancestry.co.uk and 1837online.com demonstrating their websites.
A series of beginners' lectures gave newbies the chance to start their research on the right footing. Meanwhile more advanced lectures covered topics such as surname aliases and probate records amongst many others.
Earlier the Federation had honoured a fresh generation of British school age family historians, 11 year old Lauren Steele and Jonathan Kettle, aged 16. During the final evening there were surprises in store with at least two Elvis Presleys emerging as keen family historians when some of the most eminent and distinguished names in British genealogy boogied the night away in fancy dress.
Still they managed to turn out bright and early in force for the following day's events, culminating in the final lecture when genealogy author David Hey allied his local history academic research on surname clusters with the story of his own West Riding of Yorkshire family in a fitting end to a richly diverse conference. Here's to at least another FFHS thirty years and many more birthday celebrations!
