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Aberdeen & North-East Scotland Family History Society

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Aberdeen & North-East Scotland Family History Society

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Aberdeen & NE Scotland FHS is a Scottish Charity, SC012478 SCIO,

The Aberdeen & North-East Scotland Family History Society exists to assist and promote the study of genealogy and family history based on the North-East corner of Scotland.

03/11/2026

Journal 180 is now available online for members, with printed copies on their way!

There's plenty of interesting reading in this issue, including a family mystery solved through DNA, Scottish family connections to Australia and New Zealand, the story of fashion in old photographs, and a useful guide to visiting The National Archives at Kew.

Already a member? Just log in to the Society's website to read the latest issue.

Not a member yet? You're missing out!

Our Journal comes out four times a year, and it's just one of the benefits of Society membership. You'll also have access to a range of family history resources, as well as the chance to learn more through our local group meetings and talks.

Interested in becoming a member?

Visit https://www.anesfhs.org.uk/about-us/members/membership for all of the details or scan the QR code in the graphic below.

31/10/2026

Does your family history research look more like the left side of this picture than the right?

We've all come across those relatives who don't quite fit into our family trees, names that appear with several different spellings, or ancestors who disappear only to turn up somewhere completely unexpected!

How do you keep track of all those records, unanswered questions and research jobs you keep meaning to get back to?

Our Moray/Banff Group will be discussing ways to keep family history research organised, and we'd love to hear what works for you.

Saturday 7 November 2026
1:30 pm – 3:30 pm
Elgin Library, Cooper Park, Elgin

Please note that this is an in-person meeting only.

For more details, please visit:

https://anesfhs.org/meetings-events/events/event/535-mbf2026nov

31/10/2026

Update: Our website is now back up and running. Thanks for your patience!

Our website (www.anesfhs.org.uk) will be unavailable from 00:00 UTC on Sunday, 1st November for an essential upgrade.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

We will have it up and running again as soon as we can!

20/10/2026

Was there a soldier in your family tree?

You've found an ancestor described as a soldier in a census or marriage record. Now what? Where do you go from there, and what records might still exist?

Military records can help fill in some of those gaps, if you know where to look!

Join Ken Nisbet for our five-week online course exploring British Army records from the Jacobite rebellions through the Napoleonic Wars and Victorian campaigns.

Thursdays, 12 November – 10 December 2026
7–9 pm (UK time)
Live on Zoom
£46 standard / £42 concessionary

You'll also receive a handout of useful resources and websites after each session.

Ready to investigate your military ancestors?

Book your place by emailing [email protected].

For more info, visit: https://anesfhs.org/about-us/news/826-military-ancestors-in-the-napoleonic-and-victorian-wars-a-new-five-week-online-course

17/10/2026

Is there someone in your family tree who caused a bit of a scandal? Perhaps a relative whose name was only mentioned in whispers, or someone the family simply said, “We dinna talk aboot him!”

Join our Glasgow Group for “They Tried to Bury Me”, a chance to share the rogues and rascals you've uncovered while researching your family history.

The meeting will be held at the Renfield Centre, 260 Bath Street, Glasgow, G2 4JP from 2 pm – 4 pm on Saturday, 31 October 2026.

Come along and share your discoveries. After all, the most colourful ancestors often have the best stories!

This is an in-person meeting only.

Planning to attend? Please email [email protected] in advance so they can arrange enough chairs and refreshments.

For more information: https://anesfhs.org/meetings-events/glasgow-meetings/event/531-gla2026oct

08/10/2026

Have you ever looked at an old family photograph and wondered when it was taken, or who the people in it might be?

Following a recent presentation to our Southern Ontario Group, Kate Clark will be bringing her fascinating talk to our Aberdeen Group meeting on Saturday 17 October 2026 from 2 pm – 4 pm.

Kate will show us how changing fashions, from dresses and hairstyles to hats and accessories, can help narrow down when a photograph was taken and perhaps bring us a little closer to identifying the people in it.

Even when there's no date or name written on the back, an old photograph can hold some surprisingly useful clues!

Our in-person Aberdeen meetings take place at the Fountainhall Church Centre, 1 Beaconsfield Place, Aberdeen, AB15 4AB. You can also join us via Zoom from wherever you are! Pre-registration is required for the Zoom meeting. If you're a member of the Society, log in to our website at www.anesfhs.org.uk and go to:

https://anesfhs.org/meetings-events/events/event/533-abd2026oct

If you're not (yet!) a member of the Society, please email [email protected] to request an invitation link.

This is a free meeting and everyone is welcome!

Whether you're joining us in Aberdeen or online, we'd love to see you!

01/10/2026

Do you have a military ancestor who served during the Napoleonic or Victorian era?

Our new five-week online course, Researching Your Military Relatives in the Napoleonic and Victorian Wars, will explore the records and sources that can help you uncover the stories of relatives who served in the British Army.

Beginning on Thursday 12 November, military historian Ken Nisbet will take us through more than two centuries of British Army history, from 1700 to 1914, with a particular focus on the Napoleonic and Victorian periods.

We’ll look at the huge expansion of the Army during the Napoleonic Wars, as well as militia, fencible and other non-regular forces.

In the Victorian period, the course will cover conflicts including the Crimean War, the Indian Mutiny, the Zulu and Boer Wars and campaigns across Africa, Asia and beyond.

Ken will also explore how military service changed during these years, including the development of army pensions, changes to terms of service and the major reforms that reshaped the British Army during this time.

This online course will take place on Thursdays from 12 November–10 December 2026 from 7 pm – 9 pm (GMT).

The cost is £46, or £42 concessionary.

This course is open to non-members as well as to Society members. To register your interest, please e-mail [email protected]. A few weeks before the course begins, we’ll contact you about payment to confirm your place; and then Ken will send you out the Zoom link for this course.

For more details: https://anesfhs.org/about-us/news/826-military-ancestors-in-the-napoleonic-and-victorian-wars-a-new-five-week-online-course

01/10/2026

Our Moray & Banff Group is kicking off its new season with an old favourite: Bring Along a Brick Wall. The meeting will be this Saturday, 3 October 2026, from 2 pm – 4 pm (BST)

If you’ve got a family history problem that’s been frustrating you, bring it along to our October Zoom meeting. Sometimes someone else will spot something you’ve missed, suggest a source you haven’t tried, or simply come at the problem from a different direction.

With the long winter evenings approaching, it’s a good time to dust off those notes, revisit your research and see if we can get things moving again!

Pre-registration for this online-only meeting is required. Please visit:

https://anesfhs.org/meetings-events/events/event/530-mbf2026oct

This is an open meeting. You don't need to be a member of the Society in order to attend — everyone is welcome! If you're not a member of the Society, please send an email to [email protected] to request an invitation link.

23/09/2026

Reminder: Southern Ontario Group Meeting - 26 September 2026

This Saturday (26 September 2026), the Southern Ontario Group welcomes Kate Clark for a fascinating look at dating and identifying old photographs.

Kate will explore cartes de visite and photographs produced by North-East Scotland photographers from around 1855–1900, and show how details such as clothing, photographic formats and other visual clues can help you work out when a photograph was taken.

She’ll also be putting her detective skills to work on some of the mystery photographs submitted by participants

Pre-registration is required for this online-only meeting. To register, please visit:

https://anesfhs.org/meetings-events/southern-ontario-group/event/521-ont2025sep

12/09/2026

We've all got them. That ancestor who seems to have vanished from the records, no matter how many different searches we try (and, let's face it, we try a lot!).

They could be missing from a census, their name has been recorded in a way you would never have thought of, or they simply seem to disappear at some point in their lives. What do you try when all the obvious searches have got you nowhere?

At the next meeting of our London Group on Saturday, 19 September 2026, we'll be looking at Finding the Unfindable, with ideas and approaches that might help when someone in your family tree is proving particularly difficult to track down.

This is an in-person meeting only. Our London Group meetings are held from 12 pm – 2 pm at the Crown Court Church of Scotland Hall, Russell Street, WC2 5EZ.

For more information, please visit:

https://anesfhs.org/meetings-events/events/event/508-lon2026sep

Address

164 King Street
Aberdeen
AB245BD

Opening Hours

Monday	10am - 4pm
Tuesday	10am - 4pm
Wednesday	10am - 4pm
Thursday	10am - 4pm
Friday	10am - 4pm
Saturday	10am - 1pm

Telephone

+441224646323

Website

http://www.anesfhs.org.uk/

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